Exhibition: Kat Kats 'What more do you want from me'
Come. Witness. Share. Take. What more do you want from me is a deeply compelling and radical act of exposure, exploring trauma, invisible disability, and the impacts of childhood sexual abuse.
The artist’s personal phone photo archive has been transformed into a participatory installation that challenges conventional modes of spectatorship and authorship. This project’s powerful and nuanced interrogation of identity, consent, and memory – through the lens of trauma and invisible disability – marks a bold and significant evolution in Kat Kats’ practice, from text-based performance to large-scale visual installation.
Opening: Friday 9 October
Panel Discussion: Friday 16 October
Exhibition Open: 10–23 October Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 4pm
About the artist
Kat Kats is a versatile artist with experience in stage writing, live art, festival curation, and visual art installations.
In 2022, she curated the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival in Nicosia, Cyprus, featuring artists from Cyprus, France, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Greece, and Kurdistan. She delivered a keynote at the Festival Academy Atelier Nicosia and developed her performance piece, Awaiting Your Response, with Cypriot actors Popi Avraam and Antonis Katsaris, and musicians Monsieur Doumani. The initial version of Awaiting Your Response premiered in December 2020 at the Buffer Fringe Festival.
Kat created an immersive experience by placing pop art posters of her grandparents around Cyprus, including the UN buffer zone. These posters featured QR codes linking to a website with 134 love letters from her grandparents, available in original and audio forms. Kat invited her grandparents to re-read their letters, recording their voices, and translated each letter from Greek to English. This project explored themes of love, culture, aging, and displacement, marking Kat’s shift from performance writing to a more personal, visual practice.
In 2018, Kat received the Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant, enabling her to work with Sibyl Kempson at The Whitney Museum in New York as well as Mac Wellman, 7 Daughters of Eve, the New York Theatre Workshop, and the Centre for Performance Research, Brooklyn. Whilst in New York, Kat presented a reading of her play Scotch and Handsoap.
She holds a BA (Hons) in English and a Masters in Writing for Performance from the VCA and has trained with notable artists in Australia and New York. Kat is a regular contributor to Mamamia.com.au and the ABC, and she believes in the transformative power of the written word, especially in empowering young people.
Artist Mentor / Project Curator: Leisa Shelton Installation
Design and Production: James McAllister
Contact
Next Wave
Maddie Lakos,
Communications and Development Manager
Phone: (03) 9387 3376
Email: nextwave@nextwave.org.au
Further information
https://nextwave.org.au/news/exhibition-kat-kats-what-more-do-you-want-from-me
Opening: https://events.humanitix.com/kat-kats-what-more-do-you-want-from-me
In conversation session: In Conversation: Kat Kats, 'What more do you want from me'