Issue 48: Groundswell launch
20 Oct 2024
Exhibition
We’re thrilled to announce the VIC launch of our forthcoming Issue 48: Groundswell, guest-edited by Maya Hodge, on Sunday 20 October from 3-6:30pm.
Please join us at Black Spark Cultural Centre for a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, followed by an introduction to the new issue by Guest Editor Maya Hodge and Runway Journal.
Maya will be in-conversation with Issue 48 contributors Bebe Oliver, Hope Kuchel and Alice Skye. There will be readings by Issue 48 contributor Lucy Norton, and hot drinks and catering provided by Talwali Coffee Roasters and Aheda’s Kitchen. This event is free and open to the public. RSVP here.
This venue is wheelchair accessible, however there are no accessible bathrooms. Please contact us in advance via email if you require Auslan interpretation. For further access information, please reach out to Black Spark.
This event takes place on unceded Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country; we pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Runway Journal’s Issue 48: Groundswell launch event is supported by Black Spark Cultural Centre.
Black Spark Cultural Centre
126A Gladstone Ave, Northcote VIC
About the issue
Issue 48 features nine new commissions that expand on pathways and tools for collective reckoning through forms of everyday and organised actions of resistance, building towards futures of regeneration, justice, and First Nations sovereignty.
Featuring contributions by:
Lulu Houdini
Hope Kuchel
Lucy Norton
Bebe Oliver
Abdaljawad Omar + Bassem Saad
Daley Rangi
Alice Skye
Tian Zhang
Issue 48 launch program
3pm
Soft start / Catering provided by Aheda’s Kitchen
4pm
Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony
Aunty Mandy Nicholson
followed by Issue 48 introduction
4.30pm
Maya Hodge in-conversation with Issue 48 contributors Alice Skye, Bebe Oliver, Hope Kuchel
5.30pm
Reading by Issue 48 contributor Lucy Norton
5.45pm
Music from Naycab
6:30pm
Event concludes
About our Guest Speakers
Maya Hodge is a proud Lardil woman from Mildura now based on Wurundjeri Country. Working across text, curation, and other creative projects, she focuses on uplifting First Peoples’ storytelling and autonomy.
Alice Skye is a Wergaia and Wemba Wemba person raised on Wotjobaluk Country in the Wimmera region. Known predominantly as a singer-songwriter, she has released two albums, Friends with Feelings and I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good. Both explore feelings, healing and escapism. Alice learnt young that when your surroundings are out of your control, there is comfort to be found in words, diaries, stories and songs. It is her hope to continue to foster that world or healing in whatever outlet that may be, including the written word.
Bebe Oliver is a descendant of the Bardi Jawi people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and an award-winning writer based in Naarm. Beginning his artistic practice as a classical pianist and composer, Bebe later solidified a career as a producer and director of theatre, festivals, and public art projects across Australia, including international dance and theatre projects in New Zealand, France, and Belgium. A leader in Aboriginal advancement, Bebe is Chairperson of Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival, and a Board Director of Magabala Books, Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house. His senior leadership positions at prolific organisations across Naarm have seen him foster many opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives to showcase their work in mainstream platforms, allowing Traditional Culture to thrive in a public space. A writer, poet, illustrator, speaker, and facilitator living on the unceded land of the Kulin peoples, Bebe’s widely published work encompasses love, loss, identity, Aboriginal and gay existence, place, and Country. Bebe’s debut solo poetry collection is more than these bones (Magabala, 2023).
Hope Kuchel is a proud Barkindji woman based in Mildura, on Latji Latji Country. Growing up along the Murray River, she has lived and worked between Wurundjeri and Latji Latji country. Hope’s artistic practice includes weaving and painting, with creative projects that highlight Aboriginal resistance and celebrate her culture. She has contributed to various art projects, including the Changefest 2024 local artist design competition, the 2023 Sunraysia Community Health Services NAIDOC Week T-shirt design competition, Under Bunjil Magazine, and Glen Eira City Council’s gallery exhibition “Aussie Rules: Passion and Pain.” She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne in 2020 and is currently studying for her honours at Deakin University. Her focus is on disrupting colonial research paradigms and asserting Aboriginal epistemology and ontology in research to better our communities.
Lucy Norton is a storyteller of Dharug and Quechua heritage living and creating on Gadigal land. Her work explores themes of ancestral heritage, connection and lived experience. They’re a recipient of the Varuna First Nations Fellowships 2023, Red Room Emerging Poet’s Residency 2024 and their work has been published by Red Room Poetry, kindling & sage, and Right Now Magazine.