SYMPOIESIS
THU FEB 20–THU APR 17
MULTIPLE EVENTS
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THU 20 FEB
THE CLOUD MAKER
Te Kahureremoa Taumata, Aviva Endean, Freya Schack-Arnott, Maria Moles, and Sunny KimFRI 21 FEB—THU 17 APR
HONEY FINGERS COLLECTIVE
Exhibition opening event: Friday 21 FEBFRI 21 MAR —SAT 22 MAR
SLIP
Rebecca Jensen + Aviva EndeanTicketing as well as workshops and additional programs will be published in JAN.
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Platform Arts is wheelchair-accessible via our Gheringhap St entrance. Unlocked, accessible bathrooms are available on both ground and first floors.
For accessibility enquiries, please directly contact us at hello@platformarts.org.au
Sympoiesis, meaning "making-with" or "making together," describes human and non-human existence as inherently collaborative, contextual, and emergent, where nothing exists in isolation and everything is perpetually in a state of interdependent becoming. For our first 2025 thematic, we chose Sympoiesis because it speaks to a growing area of exploration and curiosity.
In the work of Lynn Margulis and Donna Haraway, sympoiesis represents a radical reimagining of how life and systems are created and sustained. Biologist Margulis developed a theoretical context for sympoiesis through her work on symbiogenesis, exploring the idea that life evolves through complex, collaborative relationships where organisms are not distinct entities but intricate networks of cooperation.
Donna Haraway, a leading scholar in contemporary ecofeminism, further expanded this concept, using sympoiesis as a way to understand interconnectedness across biological, technological, and cultural domains. She sees it as a method of thinking that breaks down rigid boundaries between species, disciplines, and ways of knowing.
Through Sympoiesis, we invite you to consider, interpret, and celebrate the collective process of mutual becoming.
The Cloud Maker (Te Kahureremoa Taumata, Aviva Endean, Freya Schack-Arnott, Maria Moles, and Sunny Kim). Costume by Kate Davis, image by Sung Hyun Sohn.
THE CLOUD MAKER
THU 20 FEB | PERFORMANCE SPACE
The Cloud Maker’s music celebrates goddesses from its five female master musician’s cultures.
Channelling ancient tales of fierce battles, shaman dances, journeys to the afterlife, and a moth goddess singing the most beautiful song of all time, The Cloud Maker harnesses the power of these archetypal stories to transport listeners across time and space. The all-star lineup features the sounds of Te Kahureremoa Taumata (Voice/Taonga Pūoro- Maori Singing Treasures), Aviva Endean (Bass clarinet, Harmonic flutes and electronics) Freya Schack-Arnott (Cello/Nyckelharpa - Nordic fiddle), Maria Moles (Drums) and Sunny Kim (Voice).
Winner of the APRA AMCOS Art Music Award (Performance of the Year). Their debut album will be released in February 2025. Ahead of their debut release and an upcoming performance at WOMAD, The Cloud Maker will present a special one-off concert at Platform Arts. The Cloud Maker was supported by the Ukaria residency through The Australia Council for the Arts and Australian Art Orchestra (AAO).
Mud Lamp, archival print. Mud Australia, Nic Dowse, Phillip Huynh, 2021.
HONEY FINGERS COLLECTIVE
FRI 21 FEB—THU 17 APR | GALLERY ONE
Opening event: Friday 21 FEB
An incredible interspecies exhibition, culminating from the microbiomes in beehives, humans, and the bread we share.
Honey Fingers Collective centres on the intricate connections between the common honeybee (Apis mellifera) and humanity. Collaborative projects explore and cultivate "bee cultures," reflecting shared spaces of interaction, cohabitation, and co-creation between honeybees and humans. The collective’s work functions as a dynamic ecosystem, where the symbiosis between species is continually activated, reimagined, and celebrated.
Spanning farming, food, artistic practice, design, and education, Honey Fingers Collective positions Apis mellifera as vital co-creators. This exhibition is shaped by an ongoing dialogue between human and non-human life forms—including the microbiomes that thrive in beehives, human bodies, and the bread we share—embracing experimentation and relational exchange to illuminate the interconnectedness of all living beings.
The exhibition will include Symphagia, a performative gallery picnic centred around a simple, communal meal featuring bread inoculated with microbes from Honey Fingers’ hives, seasonal honeycomb, and other honey-based ferments. This event invites participants to engage in a live exploration of fermentation—both as a food technology and as a form of interspecies collaboration.
Rebecca Jensen in Slip. Photo by Zan Wimberley.
SLIP
FRI 21 MAR—SAT 22 MAR
Image, sound, and time untether in a combined live foley and dance performance by Aviva Endean and Rebecca Jensen.
In Slip, dance and sound interconnect in a unique duet between award-winning artists, dancer Rebecca Jensen and musician Aviva Endean. Central to Slip is the sound-effect technique of Foley, used in film where sounds on screen are recreated in post-production using unlikely objects and body movements in a practice of substitutions, such as waving a pair of leather gloves to make the sound of flapping bird wings.
Slip connects the illusion of Foley to the complexity of our present moment. As the world becomes less comprehensible through the layers of data that feed our daily experiences, algorithmic protocols assist in organising content. These invisible processes are akin to the incantations of medieval occultists, drawing us into relational webs of desire, imagination, and premonition, leading us into a new dark age—an age of unverified truths.
Slip is a 50min work that was developed and presented in Naarm and Sydney as a short work for the Kier Choreographic Award 2022. It was then presented as a full-length work in FRAME Biennial 2023.
More information on ticketing, workshops, programs, and gatherings for Sympoiesis will be published on our website in mid-January.