Jessi Ryan (they/them) is a Naarm/Melbourne based artist, who has been creating contemporary performances and exhibitions for 21 years. They have worked as a journalist and critic for the past decade, working closely with queer communities and delving into the AIDS epidemic in the City of Yarra and Birrarung Marr; the thread tying together their new project, QRAVE.
Can you explain what QRAVE is to somebody that may not work in the arts?
QRAVE is a three-tiered project, based on research, visuals and performance. The exhibition entails mural art, with eight QR code trigger points which link to recorded histories from the City of Yarra. From there, we’ve taken the recorded histories and the exhibition elements to create a performance in the round. So, think like a fashion show which incorporates nightlife beats and nightlife culture into a tight 45-minute contemporary performance work, which incorporates physical theatre, spoken word, vogue and ballroom styles.
As an artist, where do you think queer art in Melbourne is heading and where would you like it to head?
Oh, it’s just getting stronger, isn’t it? I’ve witnessed the evolution of queer arts as a critic from a very privileged position and I just love it. I don’t think you can really talk about contemporary art without talking about queer art. [Where I would like it to head] is a loaded question. This part of me would wish one day that it’s not queer art, it’s just art – but is that losing our identities? I can’t answer that, truthfully.
So, how does queer art sit within the community you feel most at home with?
Queer art is my community. It’s kind of like when I step out of the inner north of Melbourne, I start to feel a little uncomfortable, which is interesting, given the remit of this project has been all about the City of Yarra. It is my community, and there is so much queer art and so many queer artists. Going along Smith Street any given night of the week, you’ve got drag performers, you’ve got queer DJ’s – you know, you’ve just got people mingling. It’s just lovely.
What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t an artist?
Well, see, I went through a whole bunch of health issues pretending I was a lawyer for a hot minute. I went into my Honours year as a lawyer at La Trobe and then realised that performing in a courtroom is never going to feel the same as being on stage. So, I don’t think I could be anything else.
Can you tell us about some of the sections in your research that appear in QRAVE and why you chose to cover them?
So, I think the first queer history I’d like to talk about is Barbara Creed, who was one of the founding members of the Gay Liberation Movement in Melbourne, and the first interview that I did in the series. When I interviewed Barb, I didn’t really have an idea of what this project was going to form. And I walked away with a great sense of admiration and respect for those early days in the 1970s.
Barb created this film called Homosexuality: a film for discussion. As part of that, she went out Vox Pop style with a camera and a microphone on Swanston St and asked members of the public what they thought of homosexuals. And you know, it’s kind of humorous when we think back with today’s mindset, but at the time that kind of stuff was incredibly dangerous and it had a risk factor to it that is still present today, but less present, you know, so it gives a good context to the rest of the of the work.
The second is just across the Yarra from here, and that’s Fairfield Hospital. When we think back today about contemporary society, we think about COVID and lockdowns, but for the queer community, it wasn’t the first pandemic that we dealt with. In the early 80s, HIV and AIDS arrived in so-called Australia and very quickly spread throughout the community.
I’ve been HIV positive since I was 19 and I’ve been quite open about my diagnosis; my status. In those early days we had Fairfield Hospital, which kind of morphed from the old polio wards there. So, the infectious disease ward there picked up the cause and that’s where a lot of people went to for treatment and also went sadly to pass away.
In the context of QRAVE, I spoke to David Managu and Sue Paxton, who were both diagnosed in the late 80s and early 90s and are long term survivors. I chose to include particularly Sue Paxton’s story because, rightly, a lot of the HIV discourse is around gay men. But we have to remember that HIV affects everyone and the kind of discourse around HIV positive women has been lacking for a lot of years. So, they speak about, as example, Peacocks on the grounds at the Fairfield hospital and in the work we reference Peacock sounds. And when you come to the Convent as well, you’ll be greeted by Peacock sounds as you walk through the grounds. Those two were really important to me.
Lastly, I wasn’t going to mention this one, but I would like to talk about another story which happened very close to Abbotsford Convent, and that was the disappearance and search for Bridget Flack; a story which features in the histories here and a story that as a journalist, I broke. I was the first person to report on it, and I reported on the inquest as recently as October last year for Crikey.
As we’ve got these past histories, I also wanted to incorporate these contemporary histories. When we talk about pride and struggle and the inquest into Bridget Flack’s suicide and other suicides linked to that; unfortunately, there were failings by Victoria Police and there were failings by the services that are so often meant to look after us as equal citizens but continue to fail our community. This work is politically charged and it does say some things. But being a queer person, our lives and bodies are political, and we can’t escape that.
The exhibition: 29 – 1 Feb | 4 – 8 Feb, 12pm – 8pm
The performance: 29 – 31 Jan, 8pm and 1 Feb, 6pm or 9.30pm