The Poetry of Survival or How Love Saved Me…
This is a story about survival. You’re used to hearing that from me though. You’re used to my stories of resilience and strength. This is a different story. This is about the poetry of death beckoning, of almost relenting. This is a story of suffering – endless fucking suffering. This is a story about the power of love to save a life, of persisting even when one has forgotten why one is persisting at all. It’s about resisting the call of the ending – self inflicted, tired of one unknown,... Read The Rest →
They keep telling us we can’t, because they’re afraid we will.
This International Women’s Day, I feel it is important for me to express the suffering of women the world over as a way to honour those women amongst us, including myself and most of the women I know, who have experienced physical, emotional or sexual violence. That violence is about the retention of power by wielding fear. Fear is the greatest form of control. When we speak out about that fear we reduce its hold on all of us. I have been told many times that anger is a... Read The Rest →
The Language of Loss is the Language of Victory
I was recently asked to speak at the Stella Prize which promotes the writing of our greatest female writers in Australia, as well as awarding one a huge cash prize for a recent book deemed to be a great writing feat. Due to many requests, here’s the piece I wrote and shared at the Stella Prize. Feel free to share this around and to leave your own comments. Seeds there are always seeds that thread us and carried on the wind set us apart does the wind come from... Read The Rest →
F*CK YOU 2016 or What 2016 taught me and what I’m doing differently next year
This is not a letter of resignation not a suicide note this is not a piece of great revelations I’ve got no answers I’m just holding on … This year I’ve been so filled with consternation, fear and confusion. I’ve been astounded, incredulous and utterly devastated. I lost Prince, Bowie, Fidel, Ali and the wondrous Sharon Jones. I lost my faith in my race and my health has continued to be a struggle unlike any other I’ve faced. For a large portion of the year, I privately fell into a... Read The Rest →
The political act of Silencing “Others”
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the Art Gallery of NSW to talk about feminism, multiculturalism and art and the way artworks embody global politics in 2016. This was in relation to an exhibition currently on at the gallery, entitled “Beyond Words”, an incredible display of ancient and contemporary Islamic art from around Asia, Arab and Persian nations and North Africa. The sensation I experienced in viewing this exhibition, was the same as the full body response I had in 2005 when I attended Mona Hatoum’s... Read The Rest →
An Open Letter to Artshub re: Claims of Sexism
Recently, an Artshub reviewer came to my latest show at Melbourne venue The Toff in Town where my band The Freed Radicals and I were launching our new album “Birthing the Sky Birthing the Sea”. Whilst the majority of the review was wonderful, the reviewer went on to make extraordinary claims that were so incredibly offensive, I had to write a response. When someone accuses you of being sexist, and you have worked hard at being an outspoken feminist, it’s important to answer back. I understand that Artshub as an... Read The Rest →
Here come the Habibs – and recycled racial stereotypes…
On January 7, I saw a posting on Facebook for a new show out in February on Channel 9 called “Here come the Habibs”. With much trepidation, I pressed play – and sat cringing through the 45 second promo. For those who haven’t seen it, the general premise is that an Australian Lebanese family wins the lottery and moves from the lower socio-economic suburb of Lakemba in Sydney’s west to the affluent Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The promo includes an introduction to the characters – Fou Fou the patriarch is... Read The Rest →
Resiliently Vulnerable
Recently, on Facebook, I wrote a status update as follows: “It is impossible to create without being resiliently vulnerable”. This statement elicited quite a response, most of which was positive. People also raised questions around the statement and though I don’t think I have any greater answers about vulnerability than anyone else, I thought I would try to address the whole idea of my version of vulnerability and put it out there. Much of this blog comes from a letter I sent to a friend a few days ago addressing... Read The Rest →
Artivism
And so another tax year has come and gone and luckily I earned less than the required minimum to actually pay income tax! Don’t worry, this is not another “poor artist” rant, though I will briefly tell you that my previous blog “We Can’t Eat Elation” received the highest number of hits I have ever seen on my website – it evidently struck a chord with many people (particularly with artists of course). In any case, thanks for passing it around and spreading the word – I think that at... Read The Rest →
We can’t eat elation…
So I’ve been pretty lazy with writing my blogs, and I know any self promoting artist must constantly put out information and work but I wanted to make sure I had something valid to say, something more than my poetry. So the following is a call to action, and like always, I want to hear back from you – I want your responses, comments, criticisms (constructive or otherwise), I want to know what you think. During my work I come into contact with so many amazing, creative individuals from all... Read The Rest →