Giraru Galing Ganhagirri means “The Wind Will Bring Rain” in Wiradjuri. It speaks to the implacable force of Country– of the assurance that, in nature, one thing follows another and the meeting of the elements of air and water. Always have and always will. In these times, solace is to be found in the ‘ancientness’ and endurance of Country. Whatever happens, the wind will always bring the rain.
This work is the result of an exciting new collaboration between Wiradjuri choreographer Joel Bray, filmmaker James Wright and composer Daniel Nixon. Giraru Galing Ganhagirri is a multi-channel screen video installation of pure dance- a poetic, choreographic meditation on the elements. In a nod to ancient ceremony and filmed entirely on Joel’s ancestral Wiradjuri Country, Joel gently inhabits the landscape with his body literally ‘painted’ with Country.
We show the German premiere at the end of the exhibition Songlines. Tracking the Seven Sisters.
15 October 2022, 6.00pm Artist talk with Joel Bray
An artist living in Naarm (Melbourne), Joel Bray is a proud Wiradjuri man whose practice springs from his cultural heritage. His works are intimate encounters in unorthodox spaces, in which audience-members are invited in as co-storytellers to explore the experiences of fair-skinned Aboriginal people, and the experiences of contemporary gay men in an increasingly digital and isolated world. His body becomes the intersection site of those songlines- Indigenous heritage, skin-colour and queer sexuality.
Joel trained at NAISDA and WAAPA before pursuing a career in Europe and Israel with Jean-Claude Gallotta, Company CeDeCe , Kolben Dance, Machol Shalem Dance House, Yoram Karmi’s FRESCO Dance Company, Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor and Roy Assaf. He returned to Australia in 2015 to work with CHUNKY MOVE.
Joel’s first work as a choreographer Biladurang won three Melbourne Fringe Awards in 2016. Since then Joel has created solo and ensemble dance works including Dharawungara, Daddy, Considerable Sexual License and I Liked it BUT…
Joel is currently developing a new large scale work Garabari, which premieres in Melbourne in December 2022.
During the pandemic Joel created a multichannel video installation Giraru Galing Ganhagirri. This 7 channel work premiered at the National Gallery of Australia’s 2022 Ceremony exhibition curated by Hetti Perkins.
