Ep.8 - Leah Avene Why Are We Like This?

10/16/18 • 29 min

As we return with part 2 of 'Hey Aunty! Why are we like this?' we talk with the incredible Leah Avene. A Tuvaluan mother, musician, broadcaster and educator who’s works focuses on decolonising our spirits, spaces and systems. Leah is the co presenter of ALL OUR STORIES on PBSfm. She performs music as Philemon. Story telling and narrative healing are central to Leah’s writing, public speaking and therapy work, as powerful ways to reclaiming identity, heal trauma and resisting the dominant culture. We share a beautifully honest convo on the growing pains and pitfalls of seeking belonging. Sometimes being hurt, sometimes being mean and learning to expand into our lushness. Such a rich and rewarding chat. Check it out, you’ll love it. Photo by Ivanna Oksenyuk

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Ep.7 - Lisa Hilli Why are We Like This?

We're delving deep and asking 3 incredible black pillars of our community the tough question: Hey Aunty! Why are we like this? In part 1 Shantel catches up with the wonderful Lisa Hilli. Lisa is a contemporary artist, a Collection Manager for Melbourne Museum and a proud descendant of the Tolai and Gunantuna people of Papua New Guinea. Throughout her work Lisa centres indigenous knowledge and matriarchal structures in powerful and moving ways. She’s an artistic and cultural force! Yet she faces the same struggles as the rest of us. Here we get personal and share a beautiful chat about hurting and healing, at the hands of our sisters. Give it a listen, we’d love to hear what you think. Photo by Atong Atem

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Ep.9 Léuli Eshraghi Why Are We Like This?

We continue with part 3 of 'Hey Aunty! Why are we like this?' with the wonderful Léuli Eshrāghi (ia, ū pronouns). Léuli is an artist, curator, writer from the Sāmoan archipelago, Pārs plateau, Guangdong delta, and other ancestries. Ia makes performances, installations, writing and curatorial projects centred on embodied knowledges, ceremonial-political practices, language renewal and Indigenous futures throughout the Great Ocean and further afield through expanded kinships. And yet Léuli faces challenges and criticisms that many of us fear in stepping forward within community. Shantel and Léuli share their mutual fear of being called out as an imposter by their own. If you’ve ever feared being told you aren’t black/fem/indigenous, hell anything enough... We hope you’ll find this powerful chat as freeing and affirming as we did