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WE CAN ALL SPEAK IN TONGUES
POLITIKANT//DARWIN VISUAL ARTS//26.06.2020

For the Pentecostal, speaking in tongues is a sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, evidence of one’s full immersion into the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of Christian life. As a practice it represents a boundary that articulates an inside and therefore an outside of the faith community. This boundary encompasses and excludes based on many varied practices, informed by particular interpretations of scripture.

Current national discourse around redefining the boundaries of religious freedom vis-a-vis anti-discrimination within Australian law has been driven largely by a Pentecostal world view. Political leadership has determined the importance of these discussions as paramount. This work seeks to contribute to the discussion through an interrogation of the porousness of the boundaries against which discrimination seeks its justification.

I was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ at the age of 11 and subsequently can speak in tongues. Although I left the church at 22, I have managed to retain the 'gift' of speaking in tongues. Perhaps it was for this very moment in our national history when our political leaders need us to speak in a mode they can relate to and in a language they can understand.

WE CAN ALL SPEAK IN TONGUES
BRAVING TIME//QUEER CONTEMPORARY//NATIONAL ART SCHOOL//03.02.2023

We can all speak in tongues was reconfigured and exhibited in Braving Time: Contemporary art in Queer Australia at Sydney’s National Art School (NAS). Curated By Richard Perram OAM for NAS’ Queer Contemporary programing, the exhibition was part of the arts offering for Sydney World Pride 2023.

Braving time is a queer exhibition that celebrates the work of artists who identify as part of the Australian LGBTIQA+ community. This significant exhibition has been curated by Richard Perram OAM for the National Art School in celebration of Sydney WorldPride in 2023. The artists represented in the exhibition celebrate the diverse voices of LGBTIQA+ people in contemporary Australia society, reflecting the breath of genders and sexualities within the community, including artists who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, inter-sex, asexual and non-binary.

The artists present artworks that explore queerness in ways that are direct and indirect through historical and contemporary artworks that are critical, experimental and political, connecting to our contemporary culture. Together these works instigate conversations about queer experience; what it is and what it means to be queer in Australia today.

Artists
Tony Albert, Brook Andrew, Liam Benson, Vivienne Binns, Leigh Bowery, Gary Carsley, Michelle Collocott, Peter Cooley, Christine Dean, Karla Dickens, Todd Fuller, Amos Gebhardt, Tina Havelock Stevens, Brenton Heath-Kerr, Kate Just, Deborah Kelly, MO’JU, Clinton Naina, Nell, Claudia Nicholson, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Emily Parsons-Lord, Troye Sivan, Ali Tahayori, Salote Tawale, Renjie Teoh, Athena Thebus, Dr Christian Thompson AO, Tim Silver, Matthew van Roden, and William Yang.

I acknowledge The Larrakia People who are the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of this land and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty of Country was never ceded.