Them Heavy People

Jackie Leewai has been a dedicated and dutiful advocate for diversity and inclusion in her role at SBS Australia as Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager. Arriving to Australia at the age of two and born in the capital of Suva, Fiji – Jackie comes with generations of mixed race heritage. Her dad is Chinese and (Melanesian) Fijian, her mum is Indian-Fijian, Nepalese with Jewish ancestry on her grandmother’s side, something not yet explored. Her interests in race and international relations, politics and the media are both personal and professional. How do you discern it when it is such a strong part of your tapestry, and what does it mean for the next generation of Leewais?

Sonia Mehrmand is passionate about the arts, access, history and advocacy. As a coordinator at Diversity Arts Australia, she is able to combine all these passions in one place. Born in the USA to an Iranian father and Italian mother, Sonia was always aware that she was never fully here, nor there. Or anywhere for the matter. Especially with parents who are fiercely attached to their cultural identities.

Alana Hicks is a Papua New Guinean-Australian writer, director and digital producer. Alana spearheaded three seasons of the online sketch comedy series The Kvetch Set Sketch Collective. She received the Writing NSW Early Career Writer’s Grant for a TV series in development “Home is a Foreign Country”, and recently was awarded state and national production funding for her short film “Chicken”, currently in post-production. In summary, Alana is super talented. On this night, Alana muses on how to straddle multiple cultures, how to connect, and how to be at home with yourself, all the while reminiscing about that time her high school debate team insisted on coming over to her place, and they saw and experienced more than they bargained for.

Bina Bhattacharya is an award-winning Writer and Director living in Campbelltown. Her father is a Bengali Indian Professor of Political Economy and her mother is a white Australian Historian born in Adelaide. Bina credits her distinctive voice and sensitivity to growing up with two cultures, being exposed to Satyajit Ray and 80s Bollywood through her father and opera and Australian folk music through her mother. Her short films “Wild Dances” and “Musings” have resonated with audiences in festivals all over the world, with themes of diaspora, queer identity, motherhood, alternative lifestyles, regional identities and class and race tensions. Bina runs her own production company, Gemme de la Femme Pictures, with her also-mixed-race husband and is the mother of a “Fil-Indian-Scots-Stralian” four-year-old boy.

Ravi is formerly a strategist who’s award winning career spans over 20 years, working in advertising including for Leo Burnett, John Singleton Advertising and Ogilvy & Mather. In 2013 Ravi shifted the focus of his life and work to pursue his interest in social justice and civil society. His current project is Social Catering by Parliament on King. It addresses the barriers to social, cultural and economic participation faced by asylum seekers and refugees, by offering training, work experience and paid employment to asylum seekers and refugees – funded by the proceeds of its commercial catering operations. The project has been recognised with awards including a Refugee Council Humanitarian Award and the Good Food Guides ‘Food for Good Award’. Ravi is also the recipient of a UTS Human Rights Awards. Ravi talks about being mixed race, his name, and the stories a name can bring.

Not only did Aunty Muhammad and Aunty Amar- aka 2 Boys In Saris serve food on this night, they also brought a brand new performance to stage. The Aunties will be exploring the notion of belonging, queer identity and the South Asian family through imagining a “seat at the table”. Be prepared for the disjointed sadness of Aunty Amar’s spoken word poetry, juxtaposed with Aunty Muhammad’s rendition of an Etta James 1968 classic.

Meet Giti and Rishi - cousins, co-founders and collaborators at Fobgays. Giti wears many metaphorical hats, hardly any actual hats. She spends part of her time as an anthropologist, another part as an alchemist. She also really loves The Golden Girls. Rishi is less sure of what he's doing. About to finish up with his Economics degree, Rishi presents drive time radio shows and pretends to like the music he has to play. Giti and Rishi present to you a moment in their lives, when Giti was stirring the actual chai, and Rishi spilt the metaphorical chai, leading to a journey of them (along with Rishi's brother Sidd) birthing Fobgays.

Introduction by Gary Paramanathan, the curator and organiser of Them Heavy People. Gary Paramanathan works at the intersection of arts, culture and community. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Australia, Gary studied arts management, screen and media. He has written and directed a number of short films, written feature essays and recounted personal narratives. His work can be seen on ABC iView, The Guardian and The Journal of Porn Studies (yes!). He works for AFTRS, the national film school in Australia, based in Sydney. This edition of Them Heavy People is celebrating our queer families. How is it like being queer and brown, growing up queer, stumbling into queerness and maintaining a connection with your community and family? Listen in.

Mojave grew up in Colombo, Sri Lanka and came to Australia just before his 18th birthday. He's lived for the last 21 years in Sydney and recently married his partner of 7 years, Las. This is the story of his personal journey of getting married, and the final step in coming out to family and friends.

Meet Shiva! Born in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, where he has lived for most of his life, shiva is currently a Phd candidate at The University of Sydney. He has a helicopter mother, who wishes she could have microchipped him and he is super close to his sister (pictured). Shiva talks about his journey of sweeping through contemporary ‘gayness’ and looking for the gold nugget at the end. He asks, what does it mean to be a gay man living his life 'meaningfully'? As is often the case, answers are much closer to home then they may seem at the time.

Meet Vasudha (Vas), born in Faridabad, Haryana, they lived there until 2007 and moved to Australia. They are now 19, and identify as a queer non-binary person of colour. They study Advanced Physics at UOW - and are on a gap year for 2019 and returning to studies next year - for now they're working full-time and volunteering with Out For Australia as an Outreach Officer and as the National Communications Manager! Vasu explores what it's like to me brown, queer, gender non binary, and belong to a family of strong women.

Laavanya is a Sri Lankan, Tamil, queer mother born in Canada and raised in Australia. With her background as a chartered accountant, Laavanya has tried to unsuccessfully to apply logic and reason to her chaotic life. As demonstrated by this picture of her trying to instill order to her two amazingly fuel efficient, rocket powered kids. Laavanya spends her days trying to balance work, a wife, 2 kids and watching Netflix. She loves traveling and plans to take her kids to as many countries as possible. Laavanya speaks about falling in love, getting married and having kids, as a queer woman.