Alex Tálamo is a performance artist and director living on the unceded lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation in Sydney, Australia. Her solo works draw on choreographically-based strategies to explore autobiographic research, family mythology and postmemory. Within which, she pays close attention to the slippery, in-between and undocumented ways in which we might understand notions of belonging and relation. Her practice as a theatre director engages a process of slow dramaturgy, often working with ensembles and through devised processes. These productions are physically based and work to unpack the relationship of the human body to inscription through digital platforms, other bodies, and wider socio-political structures.
Her most recent major work, 30,000 Shots, saw the artist pose 30,000 times for a camera over eight hours, replicating a complicated image of police brutality. The action was based on the photograph Manifestacío per les Llibertats, Barcelona 1 Febrer 1976 [Demonstration for Freedoms, Barcelona 1 February, 1976] by Manel Armengol, a widely misattributed image often used as evidence of military brutality in Argentina. In this performance, the artist drew on the media images that the second-generation inherits, to reflect on the 1976-1983 Argentinian military dictatorship that ‘disappeared’ 30,000 of its own citizens. The performance demonstrates how the memories, gestures and mythologies of the period, inherited from her Argentinian-born father, appear and erupt within a contemporary Australian body. ‘Inheritance’ is mobilised to show an artist working within a lineage of work, and a daughter, living within a border-anxious state.
Alex is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation 2012) and a current PhD Candidate in Creative Practice at UNSW, Sydney, where she was also awarded the 2017 University Medal for her BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance Studies. In 2018 she was awarded the Philip Parsons Prize from The Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA). Her work has been presented at Kaffee Kuchen-Action Art III (Weimar International Performance Art Festival, 2018), MCA ARTBAR (2018), Venice International Performance Art Week: Prologue I (2017), Performance Studies international (2016), and Art + Activism month at FCAC (2016). Her PhD research was recently presented at the Queer Art of Feeling conference held at Cambridge University (2019).
Instagram: alextalamoartist // twitter: @alextalamo_
Education:
2023: PhD in Creative Practice (Theatre and Performance Studies), University of New South Wales, Kensington
2017: Honours program, Bachelor of Arts & Social Sciences (Theatre and Performance Studies, First Class Honours), University of New South Wales, Kensington
2012: Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Creation (Animateuring, First Class Honours), Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank
2008: Bachelor of Arts (Politics & Philosophy), University of Melbourne, Parkville
Awards & Grants:
2021: RANT Arts (SEED), Regional Arts Fund delivered in Tasmania
2021: Festivals Australia (SEED), Australian Government
2020: Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups (SEED), Australia Council for the Arts Grant
2018: Philip Parsons Prize, Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies
2017: University Medal, University of New South Wales, NSW
2016: Emerging Cultural Leaders, Footscray Community Arts Centre program
2014: Art Start Grant for an international study tour, Australia Council for the Arts
2013: Professional Development Grant (UK), Ian Potter Cultural Trust
2012: Devising Award for DIG, Melbourne Fringe Festival, University of Melbourne Theatre Board
2012: Recipient of ‘KAGE Coach’ mentorship award, KAGE Physical Theatre
2011: Cultural Leaders of the Future grant, Australia Council for the Arts
2011: Two awards for DIG (Best Production & The People’s Choice Award), Short and Sweet Festival Melbourne
2009: Threshold Emerging Companies Grant, St Martins Youth Arts Theatre
Publications:
2024 (forthcoming): Farrell, C., Trezise, B., Tálamo, A., & White, M., Rewilding Creative Literacies: transformative approaches to learning and teaching in post-pandemic times, BRILL
2023: Tálamo, A., ‘Book Review: Reorientations and Reckonings in Response to Wild Weather’, Performance Research, 27 (5). https://doi-org.wwwproxy1.library.unsw.edu.au/10.1080/13528165.2022.2160915
2022: Trezise, B., Tálamo, A., & White, M., ‘How to play in slow time: Embodying creativity literacies in digital learning environments’, Convergence (Q1 Journal). https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221148106
Presentations:
2023: ‘Dancing in the Mexican Sun: Choreographic Play as Postmemorial Archive’, paper presented at Archives, Artists & Absences ADSA 2023 conference, Flinders University, Adelaide, December
2021: ‘Teaching Creativity – Creatively and Digitally’ (co-authored with Dr Bryoni Trezise and Dr Maria White), UNSW Education Festival, UNSW, Sydney, March
2020: ‘The War at Home: Choreographies of Transfer Across the Ocean’, Acts of Gathering ADSA conference, UNSW, Sydney, December
2019: ‘Bodies That Remember: Postmemorial Performance and the Choreographies of Transfer’, The Queer Art of Feeling: Sensation, Emotion and the Body in Queer Cultures, Cambridge University, United Kingdom, May
2018: ‘Testimonial Terrarium’, performance-lecture presented at Bodies That Remember: Performance, Power and Community, UNSW School of Arts and Media Seminar Series, Sydney, September
2018: ‘Performance Art and the Communication of Sex, Gender and Sexuality’, roundtable facilitator, Weimar International Performance Art Festival (Kaffee Kuchen-Action Art III: Holding Space – Räume Bergen), Germany, June
2018: ‘Remembering Argentina: The Imprint of Disappearance’, Presented at In Between Program: Performance Papers, AIRspace Projects, Sydney, April
2016: ‘DoubleSpeak’, presented at The Performance Studies International Conference (PSi #22): Performance Climates, Melbourne, July
2014: ‘The future will demand new leaders, new cultural and social models of practice and more importantly community engagement’, presenter and panelist at The Circus Futures Forum, Melbourne, October
2010: ‘The language of circus performance’, presented at SPRUIK!: special event for Melbourne Fringe Festival, September
Convenor:
2020-2022: Future Advisory Board programs, Performance Studies international, online
2020: Postgraduate Day co-convenor for ADSA 2020 Conference, UNSW Sydney
Professional Practice:
2021: SEED, Major public art work, The Unconformity Festival, lutruwita/Tasmania
2020: 30,000 Shots: Gestures from the 1976 Argentinian Dictatorship, Solo exhibition, 107 Gallery, Sydney
2019: Salt Drop, Rituals of Reconciliation with the Ocean series Action #3, Esme Timbery Launch, Creative Practice Lab, UNSW Sydney
2019: Untitled (Return), Three Actions in Farmland, Heathcote, Victoria
2019: Salt of my Body (Objects), Performance Gifts, Marrickville, Sydney
2018: Testimonial Terrarium, MCA ARTBAR: Continuation, Curated by Hoda Afshar, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2018: Testimonial Terrarium, Weimar International Performance Art Festival (Kaffee Kuchen-Action Art III: Holding Space – Räume Bergen), Stellwerk Theater, Germany
2018: Cut Piece for 2018, Weimar International Performance Art Festival (Kaffee Kuchen-Action Art III: Holding Space – Räume Bergen), Stellwerk Theater, Germany
2018: Learning to Love the Ocean Again After Argentina, 1976, The Open Body, Scratch Art Space, Sydney
2017: Cut Piece for 2017, Venice International Performance Art Week: Co-creation Live Factory Prologue 1, International performance art exhibition curated by VestAndPage and Francesca Carol Rolla, Palazzo Mora, Italy
2017: Collective Performance Opera, Venice International Performance Art Week: Co-creation Live Factory Prologue 1, Palazzo Mora, Italy
2017: D+NA, hillsceneLIVE festival, a three day arts festival supporting experimental and emerging art, Birdsland Reserve in the Yarra Ranges – Director
2017: 30,000 steps in a circle around a pile of rubble carrying a rock with my family name engraved on it to re-enact the protests against disappearance by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, UNSW, Kensington
2017: Collective Performance Opera, Venice International Performance Art Week: Workshop Series IV with VestAndPage and La Pocha Nostra, C32 Performing Arts Workspace, Forte Marghera, Italy – Curated artist
2017: D+NA, Art Spring, Neue Botschaft Pankow, Germany, A new festival celebrating artist run studios and theatres in Berlin – Director
2017: The Trump Card, Art Spring, Neue Botschaft Pankow, Germany – Director
2017: Collective Return, FOMA (Festival of Music and Art), Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart
2017: Experiments with Lady Chatterly’s First Time, Small and Loud script readings, Arts Centre Melbourne – Director
2016: D+NA, Festival Fatale, Sydney, Inaugural Australian women’s theatre festival – Director
2016: Snout In Soliloquy, short film, In Soliloquy and V&T collaborations, Award winning digital performance platform – Director
2016: DoubleSpeak, Performance Studies International Conference: Performance Climates – Director
2016: DoubleSpeak, Art + Activism month, Footscray Community Arts, part of a series of curated events that included an exhibition by proppaNOW – Director
2015: DoubleSpeak, Metanoia Theatre, Melbourne Fringe Festival, “[With an] Orwellian soundtrack and dialogue and two performers one could not take one’s eyes off of, this was a mesmerizing night at the theatre” (MINT Magazine) – Director
2015: Open Veins of Latin America (After Galeano), MUDFEST, “One of the most talked about and celebrated works… beautiful, haunting, and important” (Bonnie Leigh-Dodds, Mudfest 2015 Artistic Director)
2015: The Dig Collective Starts A Revolution (With Dinner), MUDFEST, Australia’s largest youth arts festival – Director
2015: My Father, Your Gaze, New Works Program, Metanoia
2015: 12 x 12 x 12, Open Stage theatre
2015: Airgirl, short film, Patch Adams Productions, Västerås Film Festival Adelaide Film Showcase, Blackbird Film Fest – Choreographer
2015: Oddity, White Night Festival, Melbourne City – Director
2014: Roam, Signal Live Art Festival, Parkville – Director
2014: Running Man, Tower Theatre, Malthouse – Director
2014: Running Man,White Night Festival, Melbourne City – Director
2014: Uncorked: Gigi Rhinestone’s F*ck Off We’re Fully Booked Cabaret,MUST Container Festival, Monash University, “Their mash of cabaret-physical- theatre-clowning-poetry-comedy-drama is as visceral as it is funny” (The Plus Ones) – Director
2013: Unprovoked #2: Festival of Short Works, The DIG Collective, Guild Theatre – Curator & Dramaturge
2013: Unprovoked: Festival of Short Works, The DIG Collective, Guild Theatre – Curator & Dramaturge
2012: My Father, Your Gaze, VCA Independent Project, VCA Southbank
2012: Four Fantastic Failed Love Affairs, VCA Independent Project, VCA Southbank
2012, DIG: A Comedy About Misery, Lithuanian Club Ballroom, Melbourne Fringe Festival 2012 – DirectorMy Father, Your Gaze, VCA Independent Project, VCA Southbank
2011: DIG, Chapel off Chapel, Short and Sweet Festival, Best Production and Audience Choice Award – Director
2011, MM, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Heist Productions – Director
2011: HAMLET, Union Theatre, Melbourne University Shakespeare Company – Director
Teaching:
2023: Tutor, ‘Performance and Ideas 2’, National Institute of the Dramatic Arts (NIDA), The study of key aesthetics and political contexts for theatre movements of the 20th and 21st century, second-year level
2022: Tutor, ‘Experiencing Theatre’, UNSW, Introduction to theatre and performance studies and collaborative theatre making, first-year level
2022: Tutor, ‘Performance and Ideas’, National Institute of the Dramatic Arts (NIDA), History of key theatre practices from First Nations performance to digitally-integrated contemporary performance, first-year level
2022: Tutor, ‘Presentation Skills’, UNSW, Practical workshop in presentation and communication skills, multi-year level, cross-faculty access
2021: Tutor, ‘Creativity’, UNSW, Develops skills in creative processes for wide-ranging contexts and applications, multi-year level, cross-faculty access
2021: Tutor, ‘The Life of Performance’, UNSW, The study of performance across a broad spectrum of events, through case studies and practical fieldwork, first- and second-year level
2021: Tutor, ‘Presentation Skills’, UNSW, Practical workshop in presentation and communication skills, multi-year level, cross-faculty access
2020: Tutor, ‘Experiencing Theatre’, UNSW, Introduction to theatre and performance studies and collaborative theatre making, first-year level
2020: Tutor, ‘Presentation Skills’, UNSW, Practical workshop in presentation and communication skills, multi-year level, cross-faculty access
2016 – 2017: Lecturer, Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne, Introduction to devised performance, first- and second-year level
2014: Guest lecturer, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, Processes of devised performance, first- and second-year level
Residencies & Training
2020: SEED Queenstown residency, Supported by Situate Arts in Festivals and The Unconformity Festival, Tasmania
2019: 360 Xochi Quetzal residency, two week residency in Lake Chapala, Mexico.
2018: Experimental Choreographic Residency (ECR), a joint Performance Space and Critical Path residency, Sydney. Undertaken alongside Rajni Shah and Victoria Hunt. The sole project chosen for the ECR that year.
2017: Venice International Performance Art Week: Workshop Series IV, led jointly by performance art groups La Pocha Nostra (US/MX) and Vest&Page (DE/IT). One of twenty-five international artists selected.
2016: GobSquad (UK) masterclass in performance devising with video. One of fifteen Australian artists selected.
2016: John Britton masterclass in physical performance.
2015: Andrew Morrish solo Improvisation workshop.
2014: Leisa Shelton training five-week series for the development of new live art work.
2013: Artist In Residence (with The DIG Collective) at Union House Theatre
2013: Responsive performance practice week-long workshop series led jointly by John Bolton and Leisa Shelton.
2013: Rajni Shah (UK) formal mentorship. Part of a fully funded solo international study tour.
2013: Jessica Wilson masterclass in performance devising based on object-play.
2012: KAGE Physical Theatre residency as part of ‘KAGE Coach’ mentorship
2012: University of Melbourne Creative Development Residency
2012: Emma Rice (Knee High Theatre, UK) week-long directing lab. One of eight Australian artists selected.
2012: Performing the Drawn Line workshops with Barbara Campbell.
2012: Movement creation workshops led jointly by Prue Lang and Mathieu Briand (FR).
2012: Rude Mechs (US) masterclass in theatre devising.
2011: Canberra Youth Theatre emerging artists’ creative development residency
