Latai and Peter in Residence

'The fern frond unfolds and a cyryllic neon font says "Welcome to the Realm of Rayon Island" In this place all our tenses have merged, it's past, present and future. An oracle is welcoming us and she tells us the history of the water levelling up, debris filling our breath and the missing Christmas Beatles. In this tradgedy, she documents the others who warned us and you listen to this priestess and patient, realising the more ancient they are, the more relevant it all is.'⠀

Latai Taumoepeau is a contemporary Punake — a body-centred performance artist whose powerful artistic practice tells the stories of her homelands, the Island Kingdom of Tonga, and her birthplace of the Eora Nation, Sydney. Her work addresses issues of race, class and the female body. In her recent practice, Taumoepeau explores the effects of climate change in the Pacific, probing existing power structures and the looming possibility of dispossession that many island communities face.

Peter Polites is a writer of Greek descent from Western Sydney. As part of the SWEATSHOP writers collective, Peter has written and performed pieces all over Australia. His first novel, Down the Hume, was shortlisted for a NSW Premier’s Literary Award in 2017. The Pillars is his second novel.

Bankstown Arts Centre

Sidney McMahon