wāni toaishara (Writer/performer) is a Congolese artist based in Melbourne whose works span various mediums including image-making, performance, installation and film. His practice explores African visual culture and representation, dislocation and Indigeneity as well as the effects of colonialism on Africa and its diaspora. His Practice celebrates Black life and interrogates the complexities of Black sociality in urban spaces, often using his personal history to create intimate and personal works.
wāni was the Australian Poetry Slam champion 2019, and won a Green Room Award for Best Performer (Contemporary and Experimental) for Tales of an Afronaut (Arts House, 2017). His Image works have been exhibited at varying galleries including NGV, HOTA, and the National Portrait Gallery. He was a National Portrait Prize finalist (2024), William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize finalist (2024), Josephine Ulrick and Schubert Photography Award winner (2022), Darebin Art Prize winner (2021), and Wyndham Art Prize winner (2019).
Gideon Wilonja (Director) is a Congolese born – multidisciplinary artist based Naarm. Gideons ability to play with feminine and masculine aesthetics gives a unique perspective and a sensitivity to his work, creating bold and often soft imageries and stories that challenge gender and sexuality. Gideons work predominantly centres Black and queer voices, he uses his experience as a queer Black man to tell stories that are often overlooked by mainstream media. Through his newly established theatre company Mwangaza Theatre (which is the first African theatre company in Australia) Gideon has produced groundbreaking work that is reshaping the future of theatre in Melbourne and challenging the status quo.
Gideon made his playwright debut with his critically acclaimed play Do Black Boys Go To Heaven? and recently producer and directed an all-Black cast reimagination of the off-Broadway classic Bare: The musical. Gideon works closely with his community to encourage them to reclaim autonomy over their own narratives. Gideons work title Soft was honoured with grand prize at the 2021 Wyndham Art Prize.