Performance Contemporary
Dr Christian Thompson AO
Christian Thompson AO’s music is a haunting synthesis of Bidjara heritage and classical tradition—an intimate sound world shaped by ancestral memory and operatic depth. Drawing on his Aboriginal Australian heritage and European classical training, his compositions weave traditional rhythms, pop sensibilities, and layered vocals into lush sonic tapestries that explore identity, language, and cultural hybridity.
At Sydney Contemporary 2025, Thompson performed Recital, joined by composer Adam Rudegeair. The live performance and sound work was built on over 25 years of engagement with recorded sound and the revival of his family’s endangered Bidjara language. Recital enacts a powerful reclamation through vocalisation. Each utterance is a deliberate act of revival and re-energising. His performances—guided by restrained musical and visual gestures—offer a truly immersive experience, transforming contemporary art spaces into living sites for the resurgence of language.
Kalisolaite 'Uhila
Kalisolaite ‘Uhila’s performance practice engages with endurance, silence, and social critique, and he creates durational works, which are informed by his Tongan heritage and explore ideas of tradition, masculinity, and cultural bias.
At Sydney Contemporary, ‘Uhila presented Kelekele Mo’ui (Living Soil). This work explores the relationship between land, labour, and life, drawing on the Tongan words kelekele (soil, earth, ground) and mo’ui (life, living). The day-long performance work involves ‘Uhila sitting still while buried up to his neck in a pile of soil. The work contrasts moments of intense physical exertion with the stillness of maumau-taimi—a concept translated as “wasting time”—to question the value systems shaping our understanding of productivity, gender, and the body. Through sustained engagement with the elemental qualities of soil—its texture, weight, and scent—‘Uhila affirms the ground as both a site of sustenance and a register of lived experience.
Presented by Michael Lett and UNSW Galleries
Meet the Curator: José Da Silva
José Da Silva is an Australian curator and the Director of Sydney’s UNSW Galleries, where he has led a dynamic program of contemporary Australian art and design since 2018. In 2024, he curated the 18th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art and became Chair of University Art Museums Australia.
