Awarded sonic and visual artist, Tina Stefanou, returns with another poignant installation, that premieres on Melbourne Cup week, and will run from Thursday 3 November until Saturday 5 November at Mission to Seafarers, in Melbourne.
In Stefanou’s new film installation ‘Hym(e)nals’, six teenage girls, draped in luminescent skins, ride horses underneath a dark sky while whispering, laughing, and humming. The film will be projected onto the Norla Dome ceiling at Mission to Seafarers, from 7pm each night, accompanied by live musical performances.
Hym(e)nals both mimics and challenges themes in religious paintings, speaking to local ecologies and communities as well as current global events of female solidarity and equality, collective strength, and interspecies communication, while at the same time providing an imaginative relief to the competitive sport.
Stefanou has performed and exhibited locally and internationally, and was the recipient of the 2020 Schenberg Arts Fellowship amongst other accolades.
Stefanou has spent the last nine years working with retired horses. Recently she has been working with teenage girls at ‘pony club’ to build confidence with their voices, where at the same time they develop the ability to communicate and build trust with these large beautiful creatures. Moving beyond the affluent and problematic cultures around the show pony or heroic thoroughbred, Tina Stefanou draws on mythologies of the workhorse, agriculture, song,
The musical performances each night include Melbourne songwriter and performer Lisa Salvo (On Diamond) and multi-instrumentalist and composer Genevieve Fry, on Thursday 3/11, Melbourne vocal ensemble Khyaal on Friday 4/11 and local voice and bass duo Deborah Kayser and Nick Tsiavos.
For tickets, visit https: events.humanitix.com/hym-e-nals/tickets
For more information on the Greek Australian artist visit www.tinastefanou.com
