PHASES

A performance event created by Joshua Pether in collaboration with Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) students from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) as part of

Phases I II & III explores the notion of duration as an extension of the performance time and space. Each phase of the work is an extension of the performance the night before and builds upon the residue of the performance which was left behind. Created by Joshua Pether, independent artist and CEO of Arts Access Victoria and in collaboration with VCA students with dramaturgical support from Sarah Austin, Phases I II & III builds upon Pether's interest in duration and ritual practice to create a ceremony that extends beyond the space and walls of the performance space. During each 3.5-hour performance audiences are invited to come and go for the duration of the event.

Please note: this is a durational work, where you can enter, leave or return to the performance at any time between 6 and 9.30PM.

COMPANION CARDS

The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music accepts Companion Cards for all our paid ticketed performances and events. If you have a valid Companion Card, please book your ticket and contact with your order details to reserve a second ticket for your companion at no additional cost. This inbox is monitored Monday to Friday, 9AM – 5PM.

AUSLAN INTERPRETED PERFROMANCE

Friday 4 October will be an AUSLAN Interpreted Performance.

VENUE

This performance takes place in Martyn Myer Arena. Entrance to the space is via The Octagon, located on the corner of Grant and Dodds Street.

CREDITS

Director/Choreographer

Joshua Pether

Associate Artist

Dr Sarah Austin

Performers/Devisors*

Bailey Ackling Beecham, Taina Araujo, Halle Blake-Burrows, Delia Breen, Rex Cameron, Gryff Connah, Alex Fimeri, Gisele Forsyth, Cosima Gilbert, Narii Hamill Salmon, Lou Martin, Joshua Mitchell, Brodie Murray, Matias Nunez, Hamish Payne, Diana Quarshie, Mary Schofield, Alexandra Smith, Issy Staiger-Creed, Lana Tancred, Charlotte Vella, Sarah Warren

Composer

Morgan May^

* VCA Theatre Company 2025

^ Bachelor of Music (Interactive Composition) student

ACCESSIBILITY

If you have any specific access needs, please let us know when registering your ticket(s).

All venues at the Southbank campus are wheelchair accessible. To read more about access services available at our venues, please visit: https://finearts-music.unimelb.edu.au/access-our-events

Please note the performance on Saturday 5 October will be photographed.

JOSHUA PETHER

Joshua Pether is of Kalkadoon heritage and lives and works in Naarm. He is an experimental performance artist, ritual practitioner and choreographer of movement, temporary ritual and imagined realties. His practice is influenced by his two cultural histories- indigeneity and disability and the hybridization of the two with particular interest in the aesthetics of the disabled body and also that of the colonized body. As ritual practitioner he has an interest in durational work that allows the body to undergo and manifest energetic transformations that oscillate between the world of now and the hereafter. Joshua's work has been shown nationally and internationally and has been commissioned for various events and institutions such as the Undercover Artist Festival (AU), Yirramboi Festival (AU), Next Wave Festival (AU), APAM (AU), Short Cuts (AU), MoveMe Festival (AU) SuperCell Festival of Contemporary Dance (AU) In Situ (AU) The First Nations Dialogues in New York (US), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) (AU), The Pickle Factory (IND), National Museum of Australia (AU) , RMIT Gallery (AU) and the Kier Choreographic Award (AU), in which he was the first WA artist selected as a finalist for the award since its inception in 2014. He is the creator of two solo works, ‘Monster’ and ‘Jupiter Orbiting’. He is a foundation artist for Alter State presented in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria (AAV). His advocacy position has explored the roles and relationships between dance/performance and the disabled body and most recently the intersection of First Nations culture and disability. He is currently the Executive Director of Arts Access Victoria.

Image by Alexander Mitchell.

ABOUT ALTER STATE

A celebration of disability, creativity and culture.

Alter State is Arts Centre Melbourne’s disability-led arts initiative engaging artists and audiences from Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Our ambition is to alter the current state of the arts by investing in Deaf and Disability Leadership as creative intervention to bring about significant cultural and structural change. Founded and presented by Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria, Alter State aims to:

• Explore Deaf and Disability led art from Australia and Aotearoa
• Enjoy works that engage audiences in new and exciting ways
• Be part of making space for kōrero and storytelling shaped by disability

In October 2024, Alter State features more than 100 Deaf and Disabled artists performing and participating in performances, events and talks in-person and online across ten venues over 12 days.

Banner: Tragedy Project, 2024. Image by TJ Garvie.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Due to current University guidelines, there are a number of conditions currently in place for our in-person events.

• The University continues to strongly encourage individuals to remain up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, but no longer requires evidence of vaccination in order to access campus.
• You are welcome to wear a face mask anywhere on campus for personal and community safety.
• Please stay at home if you feel unwell or have been ordered to isolate.
  Walk-ups and latecomers will be admitted at the discretion of front of house staff.

To read more about the University's COVID-19 response, please visit: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/coronavirus.