Pink Regenesis of the Curse

a place-specific durational performance by Ryuichi Fujimura and WeiZen Ho

commissioned by EDGE Inner West, 24th Biennale of Sydney

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle

12pm-3pm, 7 & 27 April 2024

**Unless otherwise stated, all images of *Pink Regenesis of the Curse* performance on 7 April 2024, photo copyright 2024 Vsevolod Vlaskine.**

Pink Regenesis of the Curse; an interstitial ‘dance ritual’ that intricately intertwines the cultural geography, place memory and essence of White Bay, with the fragmented histories residing in Ryuichi’s and WeiZen’s socio-cultural bodies.

This work responds intimately to the real and imagined memories embedded in the land, waterways, and architecture. Informed by the belief in CHIREI from Ryuichi’s Japanese upbringing, and WeiZen’s SouthEast Asian practice in the ‘livingness’ and inter-relationship of all things, they perceive place as inhabited by spirit, aligning with the notion of uncovering what once was and what remains. A framework they employed imagines the original saltwater landscape as it changes over time, experienced through the senses of the leather jacket fish (from Balmain’s original name, Baludarri) when its habitat was “wooded and rocky with small bays at the edge of the flooded river”.

Their methodology involves extensive choreographic research, multiple site visits including walking as much of the original foreshore line between Balmain and Rozelle, and foraging from thrown out objects in the area. They collected historical images and literature to inform their creative journey, weaving re-imagined stories across place. Underpinning their entire process is “…what wisdom learnt is relevant for the here, and now?”

Our deepest thanks to Jennifer Chua for co-designing and fabricating the costume, and Alan Schacher for being our Outside Eye and Performance Assistant.