I am a performance artist and maker of Maori and European descent. Last week, nine performers and I presented a seven day performance ritual, Where We Stand, at the Victorian College of the Arts. This performance was inspired, shaped and is communally owned by the Indigenous, people of colour (PoC)/Blak people in my life. Hearing stories and reflecting on my own experiences, I felt there was something to be said about the Indigenous/PoC/Blak person’s experience of being in institutionalised and colonised spaces, and in fact, our country as a whole.
For Indigenous/PoC/Blak peoples in Australia, racism, discrimination and marginalisation are inherent parts of one’s experience. The people I love often talk about how they are regularly made to feel less than welcome, less than safe, less than respected and generally less than, in most spaces. We speak about the ongoing violence and discrimination faced by our people. We speak about the trauma of not having access to cultural knowledges and language. We worry for the future of our knowledges in a world where the preservation and practice of our cultures is widely deemed “unnecessary”. We feel the inherited trauma of murdered and abused elders and ancestors. We mourn the stealing and destruction of the land we love.
Making Where We Stand, I wanted to ask audiences to reflect on their position in the colonial and eurocentric nation we live in – ask them to consider how they are complicit in the continuation of a system that marginalises, discriminates and oppresses. I wanted to prioritise the experience of people who are usually not considered in eurocentric spaces.
We did this by creating two different performances held in different spaces, both their own components of the ritual. Indigenous/PoC/Blak identifying people were invited into a theatre, which was designed to feel as culturally safe, comforting and welcoming as possible, and performers shared their own experiences and cultural knowledges with the audience. In the foyer, performers outlined the history of colonisation in this nation and shared reflections on how their whiteness affords them privilege and power. Having experienced this, the audience from the foyer was invited to enter the theatre after signing a sheet stating “I acknowledge where I stand” as a commitment to continuing this dialogue beyond the show.
There has been a great deal of controversy around my performance ritual. Having not attended the ritual themselves, the media and the public slammed me and my work for its engagement in racial discourse; something that I believe is a greater reflection of the public’s inability to hear hard truths than of the performance ritual itself. The story was picked up by newspapers, radio stations and news channels, and commented on by politicians. A rightwing political group claimed it was “blatant racism/apartheid.” The controversy even stretched to international media.
For a work that is centred around being informed of one’s position in order to respond with self-awareness, I found it ironic that those writing and speaking about it had not made themselves informed as to what they were talking about. Myself and my community watched as the media exploded with outrage against a ritual that prioritised Indigenous/PoC/Blak comfort, and we mourned the realities of the colonised nation we live in. The media effectively exposed themselves in their address; which at once centred and gave platform to white voices, prioritised white feelings and opinions, and gave major exposure, voice and opportunity to a white body (my own – I am a white-passing Indigenous person). Where We Stand is not a first, but I received massive media response. The type that my friends and family who are visibly non-white, would not have received if this were them.
Evidently, mainstream media seems more interested in covering a politically charged performance by a white-passing, 20-year-old arts student than acknowledging the realities of discrimination and abuse against marginalised peoples in this country. Often, I see Indigenous/PoC/Blak people demonised and criminalised in mainstream media. Rarely do I see reporting on police brutality and intimidation, Bla(c)k and brown deaths in custody, youth detention and racial discrimination on the front pages of these papers. My work is insignificant news to be plastered across this nation’s media when there are countless crimes being committed against Indigenous/PoC/Blak people regularly, that receive little to no address.
Although I am distressed by what I see, I am proud to present a mirror with which others can see themselves. This is the agenda our “news” holds. These are the voices you will, and those you won’t hear. These are the opinions of the people around you.
Understanding the realities of the legacy our nation holds post-colonisation is essential to being able to move forward with understanding and compassion. These uncomfortable conversations play a necessary role in moving towards greater solidarity with marginalised peoples. Unless we are actively resisting systems of oppression, injustice and discrimination, we are complicit to their continuation. Racism, discrimination and oppression are systemically sewn into the fabrics of our society, and white privilege therefore inherently keeps functioning.