1.30PM – 2.30PM 6 APRIL 2019

NEWCASTLE WRITERS FESTIVAL

THE MARQUEE, WHEELER PLACE
NOTE: Not at The Lock-Up

Presented in partnership with Newcastle Writers Festival and in conjunction with The Lock-Up exhibition KNOWN | UNKNOWN, creative practitioners discuss how they have utilised their own bodies to explore notions of personal, cultural and social identity and the body as a site for questioning, understanding, integration and polarity.

Panelists: Caro Llewellyn (writer), Rakini Devi (dancer and performance artist), Bleck (emerging artist). Facilitator: Jessi England.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

BLECK

Bleck is a trans-feminine emerging creative based in Newcastle whose practice encompasses performance practice, film, dance, poetry, sound, graphic and wearable design. Drawing on their visions, nightmares and life spent processing their trauma, Bleck’s practice creates a means of exploring gender and representations of non-binary experience and a space of escape for the artist for self-exploration and actualisation.

DR. RAKINI DEVI

Dr. Rakini Devi Kolkata is an Indian born and Sydney based multidisciplinary performance artist who explores cultural identity as an artist originating from the East and located in the West. Trained in Indian classical dance, her practice integrates both Indian and western performance techniques, creating her own idiosyncratic performance language and aesthetic. Drawing on Eastern and Western female religious iconography and mythologies, her work acts as a protest against global misogynist atrocities including female infanticide, dowry deaths and femicide.

CARO LLEWELLYN

Caro Llewellyn is the author of three previous works of nonfiction. She is the former director of several large-scale literary festivals and cultural events. She has hosted writers from every corner of the globe, including a number of Nobel Prize winners. She is currently a director at Museums Victoria. Diving into Glass is her first work of autobiography.

JESSI ENGLAND
Jessi England is the Director of The Lock-Up, Cultural Manager for Newcastle Historic Reserve Land Manager, and Curator of The Lock-Up exhibition KNOWN | UNKNOWN. Jessi has been working in the creative industries sector for over 19 years and has an extensive background in cultural curation, creative production, arts administration and project management. As Director Jessi has overseen the relaunching of The Lock-Up as a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts space and creative hub, guiding its artistic vision and developing the small independent Newcastle contemporary art space into a nationally recognised arts organisation.