m e r i: kirapim skin blo yu (virtual series)

The global pandemic has interrupted creative and artistic plans the world over. For playwright and photographer Wendy Mocke, this disruption to planned theatre and gallery projects has been significant however, the changes have also encouraged the artist to develop new conversations and avenues to connect and engage.

Mocke’s project ‘m e r i’ – a series that delves into the layers of what it means to be a contemporary Papua New Guinean woman – was due to open in photographic exhibition format in March 2020. Over several years of photographing and interviewing PNG women, artist Wendy Mocke, has developed the project that seeks to create a dialogue exploring the journey of Black womanhood and the way in which culture still influences PNG women’s lives.

The exhibition is the outcome of this series, it has been postponed for a time when women can (hopefully) physically come together, and will now be showcased at NorthSite in November 2021.

Prompted by these historical and significant world events, Mocke has now also created a virtual storytelling series as a lead in to the exhibition next year, as a way of encouraging more conversation.

Mocke has invited numerous PNG women to respond to provocation postcards, each postcard evoking various themes. Their responses will feature in this virtual storytelling series entitled: ‘m e r i: kirapim skin blo yu’.

Every week for the entire month of August, Northsite Contemporary Arts and Melanin Haus will stream a different story.

Please tune in here, Facebook and Instagram to hear PNG women unpack and generously share with us their strengths, vulnerabilities and the layers and textures in which they exist.

Also – be sure Follow Melanin Haus on Facebook and Check out Melanin Haus via Instagram, where the Kirapim Skin Blo Yu virtual series will also be broadcast each week.

The creative concept of the 'm e r i' project focuses on the re-contextualising of PNG women. It allows PNG women to voice, reshape and guide their own narratives. This idea is artistically explored through photography, written text and oral storytelling of and from these women. Tune in during the month of August for responses to provocations posed and the responses of these young Papua New Guinean women. ”