I cannot introduce myself I am not here?

Strangers and Intimacy is a three part exchange project between Australia and Britain. The project addresses each artist, within their context, their location, and their personal intimacies.

Participating Artists
Alice Hui-sheng Chang – Melbourne / Taiwan
Brian Fuata – Sydney
Elidh Macaskill – Glasgow
Lalage Harries – Glasgow/ Alberta
Madeleine Hodge – Melbourne
Pete Harrison – Antwerp
Robert Walton – Glasgow/London
Sarah Rodigari – Melbourne

Part One = Letters – The strangers meet via hand written letters, they reveal themselves, become intimate, share pasts, stories, memories and daily life.

Part Two = Melbourne – They establish a working relationship upon meeting at West Space in Melbourne, they stand face to face, sort through all the material, share ideas and create performances.

Part Three = Glasgow – The artists then travel together to Glasgow, the temperature drops, the poles shift and new intimacies form.

The project began in September 2004 when eight artists were assigned a pen pal living in a city on the other side of the world. On the first day of September they all wrote a four line letter of introduction to their foreign pen friend. Over the four months, between September and December they continued writing letters to each other each week.

“And now that we have begun this exchange, how am I different? Have the notions, transmitted through your letters, somehow changed me? Do I grow further away from myself with each line that I write, with each word that I read? Or do we grow closer?”

Exhibition and durational habitation Wed-Fri 12-6, Sat 12-5 Performances: Wed-Sat 8pm. Bookings on (03) 9328 8712

reader is a collaborative performance group based in Glasgow. They are dedicated to the production of new theatre, site specific works and associated projects in digital media, video and installation. Shared authorship through processes of collaboration is at the heart of the group’s work. reader formed in 2001 and since then they have produced three full studio pieces: So Long (2001), Your Hand on my skin and the Earths still turning (2002), and Dumb Bunny (2003). They have also performed numerous events for alternative and site specific spaces. reader currently has a 12 month Creative Lab residency at CCA, where they are presenting a series of works entitled burning beds and 5 week residency Strangers and Intimacy.

Madeleine is a live artist and performance maker based in Melbourne. She is interested in the intersections between live art forms. She is currently curious about the intersections between documentary form and live performance.

Sarah is an independent performance maker of Macedonian/Italian heritage; she was born in the USA and is currently based in Melbourne. She is currently investigating the semiotics of the body and physical language of performance.

Alice is a Taiwanese video, sound and performance installation artist whose main area of practice is in temporal media. She is interested in searching through little moments in our every-day life, to express them with voice and body performance in a digital medium.

Brian Fuata is a writer and theatre maker of Samoan heritage in the fifth year of his practice. He has written and performed for both solo and group shows and over the years has developed a particular interest in hybrid and interdisciplinary practices.

The artists gratefully acknowledge Arts Victoria’s support of Part 3 of the project in Glasgow, through the International Exchange Program.