Join MJ Flamiano and Catherine Ortega-Sandow of for the opening of Fugitive Archives: otherwise or elsewhere from 5pm - 6pm at MADA Gallery as part of their curatorial residency at Monash University Art, Architecture and Design School. RSVP here.

The exhibition features artists:

• Alfred Marasigan (PH)

• Czar Kristoff J.P. (PH)

• Gary Lee (AUS)

• Lesley-Anne Cao (PH)

• Nice Buenaventura (PH)

• Pagbasa Archive (AUS)

• Pio Abad (UK)

• Stephanie Misa (AU)

• Stephanie Syjuco (US)
  

Fugitive Archives is a curatorial project that critically examines the role of artist-led, community-based, and independent archives as transformative tools for collective organising and knowledge production.

otherwise or elsewhere unfolds through eight distinct artist projects in dialogue with the Pagbasa Archive Reading Room. Here, the fraught, the imaginary, the inaccurate, the goofy, the hidden, the desired, the forgotten, the livid, the horny, the detached, and the nostalgic emerge as fragments within each artist’s practice—drawing out the complex and ambivalent relationship between artist and archive.

Where: MADA Gallery, located on the ground floor of Building D at Monash University Caulifled Campus, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East. Access via train, tram, bus, or car. Paid parking is available onsite in J carpark or along the adjacent Sir John Monash Drive or Dandenong Road.

When: Thursday 31 July, 5-8pm

Accessibility: MADA Gallery is step free and wheelchair and pram accessible. The gallery entrance is located on the ground level.  There is easy access from Caulfield train station or the Caulfield Campus building J car park. Distance from the train station is approx. 450 metres.

Plan your trip using MADA Gallery’s useful guide here.

Join Saluhan for the screening of Macho Dancer (1988), a queer feature film by celebrated Filipino filmmaker Lino Brocka as part of King’s DRIVEWAY Program on Thursday 3 July at 5.30pm.

MJ Flamiano will introduce Macho Dancer and her new artwork, queerness isn’t a translation; it’s a white-hot burn in your cheeks, inspired by the film.

The menu will include Tanduay hot toddys + toasted marshmallows + savoury snacks. The screening is taking place outdoors, so rug up and BYO blanket!

Set under the neon lights of 1980s Manila, the film follows Pol, a young man forced to leave his provincial hometown after the departure of his American lover and former sugar daddy. Determined to support his family, he relocates to the city and finds work as a macho dancer and hustler at Mama Charlie’s gay nightclub. As he navigates the harsh realities of urban poverty, he finds moments of romance and connection with fellow dancer Noel and seasoned sex worker Bambi. Through these relationships, Brocka offers a layered portrayal of queer life, sexual fluidity, and the bonds formed through shared struggle, heartache, love, and friendship. 

• 2hrs, 16min + intermission

• Tagalog, English subtitles

• Film themes include rape/sexual assault, sex worker exploitation, self-harm, addiction and drug use. Recommended rating for viewers aged 15+ years.

• If the event is rained out or we get too cold to finish, we’ll send all ticket-holders a viewing copy of the film, Pirate Bay-style!

Venue:
Kings ARI
69 Capel Street,
Naarm/West Melbourne

Favourable impressions: Join us to celebrate the mythic trio that is Dodong and the Dai’s at Blindside on Thursday 29 May from 6-8pm.

Favourable impressions is a new video installation presented by Saluhan Collective members Catherine Ortega-Sandow, Kenneth L. Suico, and MJ Flamiano. The work builds on the artist’s earlier video work, Dodong and the Dai’s developed during Mainit Illusion/Mainit Fantasy at Arts House in 2024. Exploring contemporary Filipino aesthetics, they draw on karaoke culture, New Wave influences, and the queering of Catholic rituals and iconography.

Venue:
Blindside,
Nicholas Building
Level 7, Room 14
37 Swanston Street,
Naarm/Melbourne

To launch the exhibition, Mainit Illusion, join the artists for Mainit Fantasy, a one-night curated spectacle of sweet and salty art, sound, and performance from 8.30pm.

Then at 9.00pm, Mariam Ella Arcilla presents an aperitif of A mango is shaped like a heart, but its own heart is a stone, a new video installation and reading.

At 9.30pm, join our Venus, Kenneth Suico for a voyeuristic rendition of the Pointer Sisters in a steamy clam.

At 10pm, descend on the smokey basement for a Midori-laced shot and back-to-back DJ sets by the Holy Trinity of Kuya Neil x Del Lumanta x Various Asses, presenting their rendition of experimental club meets NuMetal, prepped for the dancefloor.

Be sure to pack your sweatrag. 

Get tickets  
Standard $35  
Reduced $20  
BLAKTIX $10   

Image: MJ Flamiano, Mainit Fantasy (or visions from Limasawa Island), 2024, digital collage.

Overshare Video Festival is curated by Garden Reflexxx and recess; creatively produced by Lana Nguyen; and hosted by Testing Grounds.

The Kalampag Tracking Agency + Saluhan collaborate for an evening of films, Filipino food and archives at Testing Grounds Emporium from 6.30pm.
Free event - tickets essential.