Hello everyone, really hoping you can join us!
We warmly invite you to this premier and would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to support and promote this community event by forwarding to your contacts and networks.
Please find event poster attached and Facebook event link. This is a one off event!
The Big Exhale is simply about the vital need to be free from the cage, the fences and how deeply this is needed. The simplest desire to breathe in and exhale deeply, with the relief of freedom - to be yourself. It is about the heartbreak for the lack of humanity, for the cruelty inflicted on people simply trying to be safe and live a life in peace.
Local Brunswick resident Jenell Quinsee and Brunswick production company Wendyhouse Films have produced a music video and song with Farhad Bandesh, a Kurdish artist imprisoned now for nearly 6 years on Manus Island.
The Big Exhale is written by Jenell Quinsee and Farhad Bandesh who met through Writing Through Fences – a group founded by Janet Galbraith. This is a group of people who create – write or make art and who have mostly been or currently are incarcerated within Australia’s immigration detention regime. A small group of non-refugee artists are involved in collaborative, amplification and supportive roles.
Wendyhouse Films generously contributed their time and expertise to produce this music video which is choreographed by the Melbourne Ballet Company with Bilal Zeine performing the dance of The Big Exhale. This is Bilal’s premier performance as a dancer. The Big Exhale is being released by Wantok Musik.
Farhad is a Kurdish artist. He uses music and art to reach people and make sure they know ‘we are still here indefinitely imprisoned and tortured’. His artistic talents include being a guitar maker, singer, musician, painter and poet and has also worked with stones and gems. He has previously released a number of songs collaborating with many Australian musicians and singers, and his art, which has all been done whilst imprisoned, has been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout Australia.
We invite you to the premier of The Big Exhale on Friday 26 April at 6pm - Blak Dot Gallery in Brunswick.
More than 50 of Farhad's paintings he has done whilst imprisoned brought here from Manus Island will be exhibited at this event.
Some words from Farhad on Manus Island:
To keep myself from going crazy I lose myself in art, and also in nature. I have to find a way to escape the stress, pain and hopelessness. I create, I go out and find the beauty in nature and take photos of it. In the flowers, the animals, in an act of kindness, in the sky, you can find moments of happiness. I lose myself in my music, art and writing. I can find peace, pride and purpose.
When I create something, it means I am alive, I am not a forgotten person. I see this in the eyes of many people here who have lost their fight, broken beyond repair. My heart aches for them and their loved ones who are so far from these shores.
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