BHENJI RA
MEET
BHENJI
HI!
My name is Bhenji Ra and I am an artist who loves to perform and teach Voguing – a dance style created by transgender women of colour. I also make art about identity and my own personal and cultural histories. I am a vogue house mother of the house of Slé and love dancing with my family.
For Fambo Slow Mo I look forward to archiving friendship and sisterhood between trans femmes and their families.
For Fambo Slo-Mo, Bhenji
Through two half-day workshops at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the group explored self and global identity through movement, mapping, drawing and discussion.
In a wide ranging discussion, they also debated the importance of names, nailcare, Ariana Grande and clothes that fit!
Print and Trim
Download, print and trim your own special “Future Self” booklet by artist Bhenji Ra, designed by Roshan Ramesh.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BHENJI
Do you believe in aliens?
Yes, I believe in life and endless possibilities, I have no doubt aliens exist because the universe is THAT cool.
How did you learn your techniques?
I learnt my techniques through the women in my family, everything I know has been passed down to me from someone from my family and even people who I have never met.
What were you like when you were eight?
It was the most perfect time for me! I remember feeling very agile and unstoppable. I was curious and cheeky, I felt like I could get away with anything because I was not only the youngest sibling at the time but also the youngest cousin out of 34 of us!
If you could be a sound what would you be?
I would be the sound of wind blowing through the forest and singing into the trees!
What feels exciting for you right now?
Getting my license and becoming a real ADULT!
Fambo acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waterways on which we raise our children and make work.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present and to the generations of families who have gathered on this land for over 65,000 years.
Indigenous sovereignty was never ceded and resistance to ongoing colonisation continues.
Fambo Slo-Mo acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands and waterways on which we live,
raise our children and make work; The Gadigal, Wangal, Darug, Wurundjeri, and Dharwaral people.
We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
We thank and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, staff and families contributing to this project.
Fambo Slo-Mo is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body; and the NSW Government through Create NSW