Join us for an online in-conversation event with Filipina-Australian artist Bhenji Ra and Filipina poet and thinker Jaya Jacobo. Ra and Jacobo will expand on the themes of intergenerational learning, pre-colonial movement practices and interpretations of gender in the Asia-Pacific region presented within Ra’s new moving image work Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon (2024). During the event, Jacobo will also read a selection of her poems, exploring different notions of being and becoming that stem from her experiences as a transgender artist.

Auto Italia’s commissions are made possible by our Exhibition Circle and Member supporters.

This event is free and will be held on Zoom. Registration is necessary. Please follow the link above to book your ticket.

Jaya Jacobo (b. 1981, Philippines) is an artist, critic and scholar, investigating trans feminist pedagogies in literature, art and performance. She has worked alongside travesti and transsexual women artists, academics and community workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as with trans, queer and nonbinary Filipina/x/o performers from the Philippines and Filipino diaspora abroad. Jacobo was a Board Member of the Society of Trans Women of the Philippines (STRAP) (2021-23); Postdoctoral Fellow, University of the Philippines Diliman (2018-20); and President of the Film Desk of the Young Critics Circle (YCC) of the Philippines (2011, 2016).

Bhenji Ra (b. 1990, Australia) is a Filipina-Australian artist currently based on Gadigal land, Eora Nation. Ra’s projects combine choreography and video and are deeply rooted in social justice practices. Her recent exhibitions include Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2023); Plimsoll Gallery, Tasmania (2023); Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2022); National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2021); 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020); M+ Museum, Hong Kong (2017); and the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2015–16).