A two-part presentation comprising a film screening followed by a live performance in a newly transformed setting.

Imago is a deeply moving response to the experiences of Australians affected by forced adoption. The evening begins with a film captured at Phoenix Central Park, featuring the original performance with Butoh artist Helen Smith. Following the screening, audiences are invited into a reconfigured performance environment where the work is reimagined live. The movement artist’s body remains absent, leaving traces, memories and resonances that continue to inhabit the work.

Layering text derived from victim testimonies, interviews and parliamentary hearings with flute, voice, live electronics and musique concrète created from domestic soundscapes, Imago traces the emotional landscape of forced adoption in Australia and reflects on changing social attitudes culminating in the National Apology delivered in 2013.

The title Imago refers to the final stage of metamorphosis, when an insect reaches maturity and emerges transformed. Inspired by Judith Hendriksen’s memoir Coming Home to Truth, in which she describes herself as “the butterfly lady”, the work becomes a meditation on resilience, healing and transformation. It honours those affected by forced adoption and their emergence through trauma into renewed identity and strength.

Film Presentation

Filmed by Phoenix Central Park

• Lamorna Nightingale, flute
• Jane Sheldon, soprano
• Fiona Hill, live electronics
• Helen Smith, Butoh artist

Live Performance

• Lamorna Nightingale, flute
• Jessica O’Donoghue, soprano
• Fiona Hill, live electronics

Doors: 7:00pm
Performance: 7:30pm
Tickets: $30 / $20 concession

Imago was created with the generous support of Marian Quartly, Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University, and Judith Hendriksen, whose memoir Coming Home to Truth forms the narrative framework of the work.

The piece also features on the album Other Voices, curated and performed by Lamorna Nightingale.