Things to do this week

Having grown up between cultures, Hodges lives in the skin of a Thai-Chinese migrant and grew up on unceded Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri land. Land and country are important here; coming from a diasporic identity there is a strong desire to find spaces that sit on the margins of white development. This space exists in the form of urban-bushland, backing the outer suburbs of Belconnen where Hodges moved between houses in a constant state of relocation and removal (though some things stayed constant, like the sound of cicadas every summer).

Hodges' work constructs fictive spaces combining found natural objects such as banksia cones and cicada shells, manufactured objects such as fabric sent by their grandmother in Thailand (who was once a dress maker), poetic prose, and traditional paintings. Their work responds to fear of ambiguity - Zarine Rocha theorises that mixed heritage people are historically pathologized by western culture as being caught between two worlds, destined to never belong in either. By creating work that relies on multiple modes of making, Hodges carves out space for plural identity to exist as a unified whole.

Dean Cross was born and raised on Ngunnawal/Ngambri County and is of Worimi descent. He is a transdisciplinary artist, working across media to create powerful and expressive installations that balance the poetic and the political.

For this, his first major solo in the region where he spent his younger years, Cross turns to the ancient Greek tragedy of Icarus and Daedalus. The boy who falls after flying too high. A tragedy that has played out across the millennia in a myriad of ways. But what did Icarus leave behind, or perhaps more importantly, who. This exhibition will examine the too common experience of rural and regional people who need to leave their homes, their Country, in search of opportunities not available to them.

A semi-autobiographical exhibition 'Icarus, my Son' will ruminate on ideas of home, ambition, cataclysm and loss. It will evoke every young Icarus still out there, delicately perched on ambitions ledge and ask what do you want? And how far are you willing to go to get it?This project was initiated by Goulburn Regional Art Gallery as part of The Good Initiative, a biennial $20,000 award to living artists. As exhibition partner, Carriageworks further invests in a major commission of new work from Dean Cross, the inaugural recipient of the award in 2020.

The Lieder Theatre Company presents 'Fool For Love' by Sam Shepard and is directed by Ryan Paranthoiene. Through searing truth and dark humour, Fool for Love shows the story of two people who just can't live without each other whether they like it or not. To book the tickets for opening night fundraiser for Goulburn West Public School P&C on August 4 at 7.30pm book via eventbrite. The season continues until August 21.

Do you have an upcoming event you'd like to share? Get in touch with neha.attre@austcommunitymedia.com.au.

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