The Land Remembers
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2022
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Bodies carry memories. Places as well. Joel Bray examines in his performance, in a “response”, the most diverse layers of memory of place: memories of a very long coexistence, of conquerors, floods, fires and successful self-assertion. A journey through place and body, for and in the Humboldt Forum.
An artist living in Naarm (Melbourne), Joel Bray is a proud Wiradjuri man whose practice springs from his cultural heritage. His works are intimate encounters in unorthodox spaces, in which audience-members are invited in as co-storytellers to explore the experiences of fair-skinned Aboriginal people, and the experiences of contemporary gay men in an increasingly digital and isolated world. His body becomes the intersection site of those songlines- Indigenous heritage, skin-colour and queer sexuality.
Joel trained at NAISDA and WAAPA before pursuing a career in Europe and Israel with Jean-Claude Gallotta, Company CeDeCe , Kolben Dance, Machol Shalem Dance House, Yoram Karmi’s FRESCO Dance Company, Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor and Roy Assaf. He returned to Australia in 2015 to work with CHUNKY MOVE.
Joel’s first work as a choreographer Biladurang won three Melbourne Fringe Awards in 2016. Since then Joel has created solo and ensemble dance works including Dharawungara, Daddy, Considerable Sexual License and I Liked it BUT…
Joel is currently developing a new large scale work Garabari, which premieres in Melbourne in December 2022.
During the pandemic Joel created a multichannel video installation Giraru Galing Ganhagirri. This 7 channel work premiered at the National Gallery of Australia’s 2022 Ceremony exhibition curated by Hetti Perkins.
