Jazz Money is a poet and artist of Wiradjuri and Irish heritage based in Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.
Her practice is centred around story and narrative while producing works encompassing installation, digital, film and print.
She won the David Unaipon Award for her debut poetry collection, “How to Make a Basket”, in 2021.
Her poetry has been widely published nationally and internationally, and she received the prestigious Dreaming Award from the Australia Council for the Arts in 2022.
What are you presenting in the Adelaide Biennial? ‘
“This is How We Love” is an installation of immersive choral audio. The audio component of the work is a recording of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir singing a song called ‘This is How We Love’ with lyrics written by me and music composed by Joe Twist. Originally written as the anthem for World Pride Sydney 2023 and the song was premiered by a 400+ person choir at the Out & Loud & Proud international queer choir festival in February 2023.
In Adelaide, the work will be presented as a series of suspended illuminated fabric sculptures that house the pendant speakers playing the acappella recording of ‘This is How We Love.’ The positioning of the work will evoke the enveloping sense of community that singing in a choir brings. At the same time, the lyrics speak to the importance of care, friendship and acceptance, which are core values of the queer community.
Is there a theme behind your work?
Togetherness, care, love, acceptance and community. In presentations of queerness often, romance and sexuality are centred as being the defining elements of the community. Still, queerness is centred around something far more significant than our romantic partnerships.
The queer community is bound together by collective care that, at its best, can transcend race, gender, class and religion. These values are essential tools that can be shared across all people in our society.
Who or what has inspired this project for the Biennial?
Working with the assembled choir of queer singers that were brought together as a part of World Pride Sydney 2023 changed the way I think about performance and collective actions. As a poet, I am used to being alone on a stage with my voice, which gets a bit boring.
There was something profoundly moving about being in the presence of hundreds of people worldwide singing a single set of lyrics, sharing stories, rhythm, and breath. Since the first performance of ‘This is How We Love,’ I have been eager to work again with a choir and play with that story and values communicated through orality, rhythm, and togetherness.
What does being part of the Adelaide Biennial mean to you?
I am honoured to be a part of the Adelaide Biennial. It is a massive milestone in my career and enables me to reach new audiences on a national platform. The work I am creating feels like a significant realisation of thinking I have been developing over my career as someone who works in poetry and visual art. José has brought together such a beautiful cohort of artists who think deeply about humanity, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the lineup.
This year’s Biennial is themed ‘Inner Sanctum’. What are the places that make you feel safe and comforted?
I grew up in insecure housing and have spent my life moving every year or so. So, the place has always had a temporal understanding of safety and comfort. Instead, to me, safety and comfort come from the people within a space. My family and loved ones are home, no matter where their bodies may be.
That… and fresh water. I feel at home in a river that has welcomed me.
