Upside Down People

What would the world look like from a different perspective to your own?

Upside-Down People is an invitation to swing yourself upside-down and into the different sensory and social world of an autistic person who struggles with humans, yet belongs with Bats.

Combining hand-drawn animation, multi-sensory materials, sound art, reflected shadow puppetry, and layered moving images, 'Upside-Down People' tells stories about personhood, threatened futures, and the preciousness of hope blossoming in the dark.

Created by autistic Walbanja-Yuin woman Sara Kian-Judge, Upside-Down People is proudly supported by neurodivergent graduates from Melbourne Polytechnic and Youthworx Media. Set underneath a canopy of The Capitol's extraordinary roof lighting system, Upside-Down People features lightscapes designed by students from the RMIT Digital Media's Heightened Multisensory Experience studio.

Join us for an open-hearted flight into the dark guided by intense care for our threatened Bat species and autistic inclusion in the world, stitched together by story-telling that is equal parts raw and whimsical.

 

Presented in partnership with Zoos Victoria.

Supported by Melbourne Polytechnic Creative Arts (Sound, Music & Screen).

The Capitol Innovation Fund contributes to the funding of this work. The fund enables an applied, practice-based approach through creative initiatives.

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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