RIPAIRIAN LIVESTREAM [2025]

Proscenium Finale viewed from Mandoon Bilya. Photo Rebecca Mansell.

Ripairian was an interdisciplinary site-specific work presented as a livestreamed performance (and immersive exhibition) in conversation with a site at Mandoon Bilya / Helena River in Perth, Western Australia. Guided by three cue – rubbish, weeds, and graffiti – a group of professional and volunteer artists respond to ecological and social complexities to reveal a place that’s vulnerable to waste and neglect and is vibrant and resilient despite this. 20 artists performed from the site, with live music (Michael Terren) performing at Midland Junction Arts Centre while Georgi Ivers video mixed the six-channel livestream.

TL: Trash Tail Ensemble Susan Hauri-Downing, Siân Roberts and Vahri McKenzie. TR: Michelle Hall, Vanessa Yeomans, Lee Symington and Jacob Lehrer full-body printing weed inks. BL: Youth graffiti Flash Mob as seen from MJAC Auditorium. BR: Proscenium Finale as seen from MJAC Auditorium. Photos by Rebecca Mansell.

Throughout our creative development (May to September 2025), Vahri McKenzie and Cassandra Tytler captured video portraits of the Ripairian Ensemble and any guests joining us at the site. As the water level rose, these became harder to capture, but offer a sense of the water’s rhythm over time. This video sequence was accompanied by riverstories, as seen in the video above.

Image credit: Cassandra Tytler in Vahri McKenzie’s Ripairian. Photo by Emily Fenner Wilson.

Reviews:

• SeeSaw Magazine (Eduardo Cossio)
• Dispatch Review (Annette Peterson)
• Garland Magazine (Annette Peterson)

News:

• Sydney Environment Institute
• ECU Matters
• Art on the Move September newsletter  
• BoorYul-Bah-Bilya Djurrinj Newsletter, Issue 4
• NatureLink Perth September newsletter

Public talks:

• Ripairian: Trash tales and weedy words enlivening shadow places. Storytelling for Lost and Threatened Places: An Environmental Humanities Symposium. Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney.
• Ripairian: site specific work for self-producing artists. Guest lecture for Bachelor of Performing Arts students, WAAPA, ECU.

Supported by:

• WA Government DCITS Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups ($41,109).
• WAAPA Strategic Research Funding ($4000).
• Midland Junction Arts Centre
• Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association and BoorYul-Bah-Bilya