Club Ate: Bhenji Ra & Justin Shoulder with Tristan Jallah (PH/AU)

Bhenji Ra is an interdisciplinary artist. Her practice combines dance, choreography, video, installation and club events. She is the Mother of ‘Slé’, a young, Western Sydney-based Vogue house, where she hosts events and Balls at the intersection of community and performance. Ra’s work is often concerned with the dissection of cultural theory and identity, centralising her own personal histories as a tool to reframe performance. Collaboration and consultation are key to her work, and the voices of her own community remain central to her critical practice. For You Are Here, Ra has collaborated with Tristan Jallah, and with Justin Shoulder as part of the collaborative Club Ate. Club Ate (Bhenji Ra & Justin Shoulder) is inspired by their shared Filipino heritage, immersion in Sydney’s underground nightlife and queer communities, as well as an interest in the body as a performative tool. Their practice traverses video, performance and club events with an emphasis on community activation. Collaborating with members of the queer Asia Pacific diaspora in Australia and the Philippines, the collective are invested in creating their own Future Folklore. The collective have performed and exhibited internationally, with highlights including The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGGOMA, Brisbane, 2015-16; Fault-lines: Disparate and Desperate Intimacies, ICA Singapore, 2016; AsiaTOPA, ACMI, Melbourne, 2017; and Balik Bayan, Blacktown Arts Centre, 2017. They were also a finalist in the Singapore Art Prize at the National Museum of Singapore and have recently completed an Asialink Residency hosted by Green Papaya Arts, Philippines, 2018. They are currently working on the next episode of their video project Ex Nilalang; Queen of Horror to premiere in 2020.