Amrita Hepi | Narrm/Melbourne, Australia

Amri­ta Hepi (b.1989 Townsville of Bundjulung/Ngapuhi territories) is an artist work­ing with dance and chore­og­ra­phy through video, the social func­tion of per­for­mance spaces, instal­la­tion and objects. Using hybrid­i­ty and the exten­sion of chore­o­graph­ic or per­for­ma­tive prac­tices, Hepi cre­ates work that con­sid­ers the body’s rela­tion­ship to per­son­al his­to­ries and the archive. She is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery. 

In 2022 Hepi is a Gertrude Con­tem­po­rary artist in res­i­dence (2020 – 2022).  Most recently she has worked with Kaldor projects/Serpentine UK as a par­tic­i­pat­ing DOit artist; and has been com­mis­sioned by ACCA to produce Neigh­bour, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales to make ~ CASS ~ both taking the form of text bots interacting with A.I. and Hepi's interest in the gulf between lived experience and its representation and the semantics of language. In 2022 she will present Monumental at Perth Institute for Contemporary Art and RINSE at performance space Carriageworks. 

 In 2019 she was a com­mis­sioned artist for The Nation­al: New Aus­tralian Art 2019 and the recip­i­ent of the dance web schol­ar­ship to be men­tored by Anne Juren, Mette Ing­varsten and Annie Dors­en. In 2018 and again in 2020 she was the recip­i­ent of the peo­ple’s choice award for the Keir Chore­o­graph­ic award for RINSE and A caltex spectrum and was named one of Forbes Asia 30 under 30. Hepi trained at NAIS­DA and Alvin Ailey NYC.

Hepi's work has tak­en var­i­ous forms (film, per­for­mance, sculp­ture, text, lec­ture, par­tic­i­pa­to­ry instal­la­tion), but always begins with the body as a point of archive, mem­o­ry, dance and resistance.

See more on Amrita Hepi's website and Instagram.

Amrita Hepi's residency was generously supported by the Jarislowsky Foundation.