Unsettling Suite

Overview

What is the effect of this country's colonial history on the present day? Performance artist Sarah-Jane Norman uses the body as a canvas to explore this question in Unsettling Suite, part of Performance Space's Matters of Life and Death series of performance and installation.

Of mixed Aboriginal and British heritage herself, Norman has a deeply personal involvement with the subject matter. As the title suggests, Unsettling Suite aims to unsettle, drawing the viewer into an otherworldly house whose rooms are illuminated by unnatural light. Each space presents a different installation tackling the legacy of Australia's race relations, and select dates feature a live performance. Steeped in history and emotion, the artwork promises a tight connection to the guiding theme of the Matters of Life and Death program: our fear of death.

Also included in Performance Space's Matters of Life and Death program of Aussie and international works is dance piece Performance Anxiety, macabre foodie event The Last Supper, an Eddie Sharp-curated instalment of NightTime, and the Death Knocks Supper Club of impolite dinner table conversation. Read what the artists had to say in our feature 'Seven Positive Ways to Think About Death at Performance Space'.