Impossible Dance (iii)

Part of Midsumma Festival Westside

“Impossible Dance (iii)” (titled after Fiona Buckland’s 2002 queer world-building and dance-floor analysis PhD), is a collection of photographic images taken from over the last decade by artist Matto Luca’s photographic practice, on display at Laneway Gallery, an outdoor exhibition space in Laverton during January and February as part of 2022 Midsumma Festival.

Black and white anachronistic documentation photographs activate the outdoor exhibition space’s billboards, while the projection window lights up the night with a slideshow of various photographic works, taken from queer club performances and spaces over the past decade.

“These images were captured from within events, parties and clubs in which I authentically belong to, but can be perceived from the outside as counter and sub-culture spheres (such as queer clubs, gay parties, punk and underground events) from across Naarm (Melbourne) including the West. In presenting our community in a public space such as the Laneway Gallery at Woods Street Arts Space, we empower those who have been systematically oppressed and ostracised for decades and celebrate the places and people who authentically occupy that space. In being able to make the ‘private public’ there is a transgression of power and control which aims to erase, exclude and whitewash our identities and experiences. The works also invite others to enter, be included and celebrate a sub-culture that they may not have had an entry point to do so previously.’’