Day for Night: A note from Artistic Director Jeff Khan...
Performance Space has always been a hub for queer art and performance. We believe that queer work is a vital and important part of the diverse, exciting and sometimes messy thing that is Australian art and culture. From working with pioneering queer artists such as the late Stephen Cummins—whose legacy enabled our Queer Development Program to come into being—to anarchic programs such as cLUB bENT, Taboo Parlour and Quick & Dirty, we have always championed queer practice across its full spectrum of possibilities: from the glittery to the dark, subversive, joyous, chaotic and exploratory.
Queer work opens up new possibilities for how we see the world, and how we live in it. By disrupting rigid notions of gender, sexuality and identity, queer art invites us to re-imagine our relationship with each other, resist the dominant powers of our time, and imagine alternative ways of being.
In 2014, we presented our first Day for Night: a heady fusion of queer art and club culture—curated by myself and Emma Price—that sought new ways for queer work to be made and experienced. The first edition featured Justin Shoulder, Hissy Fit, Dean Walsh, Fran Barrett and a host of other phenomenal queer artists, culminating in a huge dance party helmed by Stereogamous. Melding the performance space with the party space, Day for Night continued a long legacy of queer work supported by Performance Space, and the project continues to mutate and evolve to bring new artists, perspectives and dancefloors to the fore. Day for Night joined initiatives like the Queer Development Program in creating space for new queer possibilities to emerge.
This year’s Day for Night presents a series of performances that create alternative forms of community and expand our ideas about what queer spaces can look and sound like. Often taking shape as quiet, playful or ritualistic interactions between performers and audience members, the 2019 Day for Night artists generously offer up new visions of community, before taking a deep breath and diving into the party.
We’re excited to welcome Maori and Pacific perspectives through the work of Jermaine Dean and Th3 Order. The brilliant Melbourne-based musician Nina Buchanan offers a surround sound electronic wonderland that opens up new spaces for queer music and queer listening beyond the dancefloor. GIRL’s performance MASC invites audience members to offer their views on masculinity throughout the day, then mixes these recordings into a storming set at the Day for Night party. Elsewhere, Zaya Barosso brings trans experience to the fore with her extraordinary fusion of movement, performance and live music.
Day for Night begins as an unfolding series of performances by these artists, gradually building up into one of Sydney’s most extraordinary queer dance parties. Join us for a day and night of radical togetherness…see you in the performance space, and on the dancefloor!
- Jeff Khan
Artistic Director & CEO
Book Day for Night tickets here.
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