Throughout November and December, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) will throw open its doors for a free series of late-night music, art, and film events for PICA After Dark.
Every Friday until 9pm visitors can explore PICA’s galleries after dark with a free* drink in hand thanks to Rocky Ridge Brewing, and enjoy specially curated performances from local artists, musicians, and thinkers.
First up is Aiyana’s homage to Latin American music and ode to Latinx artist Pilar Mata Dupont’s current exhibition Las Hormigas/The Ants (18 November); followed by a film screening of the classic musical The King and I (1956) (25 November).
The film is a key influence on Australian-Thai artist Nathan Beard’s current exhibition A Puzzlement. The King and I will be accompanied by a discussion with Beard and Curtin University lecturer Dr Christina Lee. The pair will unpick the multitude of ways the film – which is banned in Thailand due to its inaccuracy yet beloved by Hollywood – intersects with complex cultural stereotypes.
To complete the summer series is the RTRFM Edition featuring the unique dancehall, disco, and underground house beats of Girlname (2 December), electro duo Hi. Ok, Sorry.’s mesmerising soundscapes (9 December), and a joyful Bla(c)k sonic dance party from local faves Soul Alphabet (16 December).
After wandering through Nathan Beard’s mischievous exploration of Thai identity, everyone is invited to create their own Thai-inspired Lanna lantern at PICA’s art-making activity station before heading onto the City of Perth’s ever-popular Christmas Lights Trail.
PICA After Dark runs from Friday 18 November to Friday 16 December 2022 and is supported by City of Perth. The series is part of the City’s summer celebrations.
*While drinks stocks last.
For further information and to arrange an interview with the artists, please contact:
Sam Leung
Communications Manager
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
08 9228 6307 | sam.leung@pica.org.au
PICA After Dark
Music, art, and balmy nights every Friday
PICA After Dark: Aiyana
Friday 18 November | 5–9pm
Kick off PICA After Dark with a homage to Latin American music from Aiyana. Known for co-creating Tabula Raza – a high-energy Latino-Caribbean fusion band – Aiyana has brought her extensive music knowledge to Pilar Mata Dupont’s Las Hormigas performance. Enjoy an acoustic set while roaming the galleries with a free* beer in hand after dark.
About Aiyana
Aiyana has travelled, lived, and played in many countries and cultures. Her story and connection with the land, people, and music of South and Central America has spanned almost two decades.
PICA After Dark: ‘The King and I’ Film Screening
Friday 25 November | 5:30–9pm | Tickets $10 from pica.org.au
Join PICA exhibiting artist Nathan Beard for a screening of the classic film The King and I. Nathan’s solo exhibition A Puzzlement draws on the film as key source material in representing the ways in which Thailand is viewed in the Western cultural imagination.
This screening will be followed by a conversation with Nathan and Curtin University’s Senior Lecturer in Communication and Cultural Studies, Dr Christina Lee. The pair will unpick the multitude of ways in which The King and I – a film banned in Thailand due to its inaccuracy yet beloved by Hollywood – intersects with complex cultural stereotypes and colonial fantasies.
About ‘The King and I’ (1956)
Based on the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name – which in turn was based on Margaret Landon’s novel, Anna and the King of Siam (1944), itself based on the 1860s memoirs of Indian-born Anna Leonowens – the 1956 film follows Anna (Deborah Kerr), a widowed schoolteacher and governess, as she arrives in the court of King Mongkut of Siam (Yul Brynner).
About Nathan Beard
Nathan Beard (born 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Boorloo, Perth, Western Australia. Recent exhibitions include White Gilt 2.0, Firstdraft, NSW (2020); Here&Now20: Perfectly Queer, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, WA (2020); White Gilt, Cool Change Contemporary, WA (2019); A dense intimacy, Bus Projects, VIC (2019); Siamese Smize, Turner Galleries, WA (2018); and WA Focus: Nathan Beard, Art Gallery of Western Australia, WA (2017). In 2017 Beard participated in the 4A Beijing Studio Program and is undertaking the Australia Council Residency at ACME Studios, London in 2022. He has been a finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize (2021), The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize (2020) John Stringer Prize (2017), and Fremantle Art Centre Print Award (2015, 2016, Highly Commended 2017, 2018). In 2021 Beard guest edited Runway Journal 43: Divine.
About Dr Christina Lee
Christina Lee is Senior Lecturer in the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University. She specialises in Film and Cultural Studies, with a focus on cultural memory, spaces of spectrality and imagination, fandom and popular culture. She is the author of Screening Generation X: The Politics and Popular Memory of Youth in Contemporary Cinema, and editor and co-editor of four scholarly anthologies (forthcoming book is Living with Precariousness, I.B. Tauris). Before becoming an academic, Christina worked a variety of art and media-related roles, including as research consultant and videographer on performance-video-installation art works.
PICA After Dark: RTRFM Edition
Presented in collaboration with RTRFM
Friday 2 December | 5–9pm
Wander through the galleries after dark accompanied by the sounds of local DJ and producer, Girlname in the PICA After Dark: RTRFM Edition. Experience their unique blend of underground house, techno, jungle, electro, bass, dancehall, gqom, hip hop, and disco.
About Girlname
Girlname is a gender non-conforming DJ, producer, radio host, vocalist and activist for social change. They push for progressiveness, diversity, and inclusion on event line ups, and throughout the music industry. Girlname plays Black music and acknowledges that (dance) music has a Black history.
PICA After Dark: Hi. Ok, Sorry.
Friday 9 December | 5–9pm
Expect an immersive, mesmerising set from experimental electro duo Hi. Ok, Sorry. Using analogue synthesisers, the duo will build a rhythmic soundscape in the galleries for a unique, unconstrained performance, never to be repeated.
About Hi. Ok, Sorry.
Hi. Ok, Sorry. are an experimental electronic duo from Perth, WA. Using analogue synthesisers as performance tools, the duo creates mesmerising rhythmic tracks with an immersive presence.
PICA After Dark: Soul Alphabet
Friday 16 December | 5–9pm
Soul Alphabet DJs PopcornGyal and ADEBOII herald in the final PICA After Dark of the year with a joyful Bla(c)k sonic dance party covering everything from dancehall to amapiano.
About Soul Alphabet
Soul Alphabet is a Boorloo-based collective supporting Bla(c)k and Brown communities through art, music, and other creative work.
Stepping into the DJ scene just over a year ago is PopcornGyal, a multi-faceted talent from Aotearoa/New Zealand. You can catch her whining her waist and radiating glorious energy as she takes you through a journey filled with sounds from all corners of Mama Africa to dancehall, R&B and genres in between. Dubbed as the throwback queen by her peers, PopcornGyal is sure to have you feeling moments of nostalgia as she phenomenally mixes the great classics into her sets. Her style is as versatile as she is.
ADEBOII is a Nigerian-born DJ who fell in love with the art because of the freedom it gives him to create unique blends. From selections reflective of his Nigerian roots to more futuristic waveforms, ADEBOII will have you on the dance floor all night.
PICA After Dark is supported by Community Engagement Partner City of Perth and Beverage Partner Rocky Ridge Brewing.
