Arts space Cement Fondu have turned to African American writer, feminist and activist Audre Lorde for inspiration for their latest public project. Inspired by Lorde’s 1981 speech to America’s National Women’s Studies Association, in which she argued that anger was “an appropriate reaction” to the racism experienced by African American women, the gallery has curated a series of exhibitions and live events from women artists of colour responding to Lorde’s speech and examining the ways in which anger is used as a reductive, racist and gendered stereotype to devalue and dismiss them.
Headlining the project is an exhibition of video performance works from French artist Tabita Rezaire, who is of Guyanese and Danish descent and whose work examines the legacies of colonialism and patriarchy on African women. Accompanying it will be an exhibition from Sydney-based Filipinx artist Eme, live events from Maori-Australian musician DJ Sezzo and Brisbane-based visual artist Hannah Brontë, and a new work from performance company Black Birds, who created the excellent Te Molimau earlier this year.