Ex Nilalang is a cumulative moving image project by Australian-Filipino collective Club Ate, founded by multidisciplinary video and performance artists, Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra. Three episodes were created in 2015 and ACMI is proud to have commissioned the fourth for Asia TOPA.
The work seeks to transform existing Filipino mythologies that were once used to demonise queer identities by colonial powers. ‘Nilalang’, which means both ‘to create’ and ‘creature’, describes the work’s transformation of existing mythologies and its imagining of future folklore.
The artists draw from their own narratives, lived experiences and personal relationships to forge new connections between queer, migrant, spiritual and intercultural experiences.
This latest video portrait will also screen alongside the first three episodes ‘Balud’, ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Lolo ex Machina’ in ACMI’s cinemas as part of its regular ART+FILM program on Wednesday 1 March at 6.30pm, followed by a conversation with Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra.
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