2009 June 18 REVIEW Theatre Homoneurotic Cabaret The Judith Wright SAME SAME
"Evelyn Hartogh performed a comic exposé of her politically confused and disenfranchised South African family roots. Besides an overemphasis on her family’s significant obsession with ‘farting’ (you try spelling fighting in a South African accent) it celebrated the joy of survival and family issues. "
2009 June 4 Life is a Cabaret CITY NEWS p.8
"Colour and glamour are coming to Fortitude Valley. The Judith Wright Centre of Community Arts will clear the stage and bring out the hams tommorow for its Homoneurotic Cabaret. Green Room Award Winner Jocab Diefenbach will headline the event, joining New Albuem, Evelyn Hartogh, Christoopher-Piggot-McKellar and David Dellit on Stage. the even is billed as a celebration of Queensland's gay community."
2009 April 24 Don the Cape for some Serious Dancefloor Fun MX p.4.
"These superheroes have a mission tommorow night to paint the town (and their underwear) red, as part of the Superheroes Ball. Patrons will be treated to theatrical performances, live music and visual art. Top Floor, 99 Elizabeth St, from 7pm."
2008 November 27 West End or Bust Cabaret CITY SOUTH NEWS p.17.
2008 November Featured Contributer QUEENSLAND PRIDE p.8.
"Long known for her performance art appearances as Wonder Woman and other characters, Evelyn Hartogh has been writing for Queensland Pride since 2000 when she began her long running column 'Pop Cult Sheroes'. She has been involved in queer politics since her undergraduate days at teh University of Queensalnd where she made badges which said: "Bisexuality: Piss everyone off". She campaigned for gay law reform and participated in the 'Freedom of Choice' rallies in the early 1990s. She has two Masters degrees: one in Women's Studies and another in Creative Writing. Between 1998 and 2001 she organised teh Brisbane Pride Festival's queer cabaret, Art Love Jam, which sought to combat youth suicide by offereing an accepting environment for emerging and establish queer and queer-freindly performers. In 2006, after fifteen years of performing her original scripts in Brisbane Venues, she debuted her first one-woman show, the full length play Kick Kiss Kill, at the 2006 Brisbane Festival Theatre Fringe. Evelyn continues to publish and perform as a freelance independent artist. She lives in West End."
2008 July 10 Vibe Socials: Trash Video Cabaret Benefit CITY SOUTH NEWS p.21.
2008 July 1 ANNA HILTON Schlock, horror – video trash is community’s treasure MX p.5.
“West End residents are banding together to save one of their own. Trash Video, an alternative film store, has recently introduced a subscription membership and is hosting a gala fundraiser to kick it off. The Carry On Trash Video Cabaret Benefit will be hosted by another West End icon, Evelyn Hartogh, in her popular Wonder Woman persona. “Keeping alive Trash Video’s library is keeping alive our cultural history,” Hartogh said. “The community has really pulled together, because the library we’re keen to save contains films that are no longer in circulation and may otherwise be lost to the world.” Trash Video is Australia’s largest cult film store, specialising in the obscure – from B-grade horror to arthouse to world movies.
The benefit night will be a mix of comedy, magic, burlesque and poetry – an eclectic range not unlike the store. The benefit is on Friday from 7pm at the Ahimsa House, Horan St, West End.” - ANNA HILTON 2008
2008 July Carry On Cabaret QUEENSLAND PRIDE p.12.
2008 July Trash Video Chick Picks LOTL p.14.
2008 July Trailer Trash STYLE p.5.
2008 July Carry On Trash Video SCENE p.?.
2007
2007 Dec 5 GRAHAM REDFERN Fighting Personal Demons Interview TODAY Section THE COURIER MAIL p.47.
Even Superheroes get the blues, Evelyn Hartogh, aka Wonder Woman, tells Graham Redfern
For about 15 years Evelyn Hartogh has been pulling on the iconic bulletproof bracelets and telepathic tiara of her alter ego, the feminist superhero Wonder Woman.
With the strength of a locomotive and a magic truth inducing lasso, the Amazonian princess was the prefect fit for the performance artist’s humanist ideals.
But behind the comedic performances and the bright red boots, Hartogh’s affinity with Wonder Woman has taken an ironic twist.
In 2000 Hartogh, 35, from the inner city of Hill End, was diagnosed with depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and post-traumatic stress, caused by events in her childhood she prefers to keep private.
“Everyone has to put on a strong face to the world and everyone has their own problems," she says.
“That’s maybe why Wonder Woman is so appealing because we all feel the pressure to be more than we really are.
“I can get frustrated because there's more that I would like to achieve, but my body sometimes lets me down.”
Hartogh was born in Perth and came to Brisbane in 1989 to take a degree in English literature and philosophy at University of Queensland.
She has also completed two masters degrees – one in women's studies and another in creative writing.
“When I started performing I had mania without realising it – people would ask me where I got all this energy from. Now I have to be a lot more disciplined and rest a lot. Sometimes the only thing I can do is rest,” she says.
The fatigue leaves her with “chronic muscle pain and incredible exhaustion” which also exacerbates her depression.
“I had a lot of shame about it. People thought I was just being weak,” she says. You get a lot of negativity about the diagnosis rather than encouragement.
“I'm fortunate because my friends are very supportive and I have found a really great psychiatrist, but I have to be very disciplined to make sure I don't burn out.”
Hartogh has now added public attitudes to mental health into her routines, along with feminism, human rights and homophobia.
She also continues continues to add to her collection of Wonder Woman figurines and about 200 issues of the Wonder Woman comic book.
“She was embraced by the feminist movements in the 70s, and she represents an ideal that I embrace, and reading the comic books always cheers me up.
“I work more in the alternative performance sector but occassionally I'm at more public events.” Hartogh says. “wearing the costume, people can immediately identify where I stand she is known as a humanist and for her compassion.”
As well as Wonder Woman, Hartogh also takes on the personas of Barbie and the ancient goddess, Lillith.
Her next appearance will be as Wonder Woman to host Amnesty International Australia's open mike event, That Takes Ovaries, for the second time.
At the event, members of the public are invited to share stories of inspirational women or to share their experiences.
“Sometimes the women will reveal something which are quite private about themselves,” Hartogh says.
“For some, it might be the first time they have ever told anyone – but the audience is always very encouraging.
It reminds us that we all have struggles.”
2007 GRAHAM REDFERN
2007 Dec That Takes Ovaries Ten Excellent Things to do in December LOTL magazine p.13.
2007 Dec 1 That Takes Ovaries Promotional Interview and Reading MEGAHERZ 4ZZZ RADIO
2007 Nov 11 “That Takes Ovaries!” Wonder Woman Hosts A Night Of Celebrating The Bravery Of Women THE WESTENDER on-line-newspaper.
“THAT TAKES OVARIES!” WONDER WOMAN HOSTS A NIGHT OF CELEBRATING THE BRAVERY OF WOMEN … Performance Artist Evelyn Hartogh will once again don one of her Wonder Woman costumes, as she did at last year’s highly successful THAT TAKES OVARIES! OPEN MIKE event, and will encourage women to share their experiences in a safe, supportive environment. Sasha Jesperson from Amnesty International Australia states, “All women are encouraged to share a story, whether biological or not [and] men are encouraged to speak, but as this event is about courageous women, they must share stories of bold women in their lives; mothers, sisters, girlfriends, daughters” …THAT TAKES OVARIES! OPEN MIKE evenings are run all around the world, originating from Rivka Solomon’s book THAT TAKES OVARIES! The book is a collection of stories about brave, bold and brazen women who have had the Ovaries! to face various challenges in life”
2007 Oct 20 THE MERMAIDS NECKLACE Brisbane Short Film Festival MEGAHERZ 4ZZZ RADIO
2007 Oct 17 Mermaid film makes a splash SOUTH-EAST ADVERTISER p.69
2007 Oct 8 One Man’s Trash – F****d up Superheroes PEOPLE MAGAZINE p.87.
2007 June MELISSA GILES A goirl's [sic] gotta do what a goirl's [sic] gotta do LINK DISABILITY MAGAZINE Vol 16/2 p.2-3
"Performing off the wall comic routines as Barbie, Wonder Woman or Lillith is not for sissies – but Evelyn Hartogh find it relaxing! It's especially surprising given the talented social critic, writer and performance artist lives with depression, She spoke to Melissa Giles about her work and how she deals with the grim times.
Some years ago people strolling along Brisbane’s Queens Street Mall were startled to see Wonder Woman vacuuming the street. The Sisyphean task was impossible even for Wonder Woman – and that was the point performance artist Evelyn Hartogh was making: society’s expectations of Women are absurdly unrealistic.
Her career as a performance artist began 15 years ago and since then, the 35 year old has presented shows at festivals, cabarets – and malls.
Comedy, satire, and irony, have been used for centuries to deliver serious messages about prejudice and injustice, and Hartogh draws on well-known figures from popular culture to undermine sexism, racism and homophobia. “My work is about trying to understand how we allow human rights to be violated on a day-to-day basis,” she explains.
Apart from writing and performing, Hartogh has also completed two Masters degrees part-time. All of this was achieved despite her being diagnosed in 2000 with Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hartogh has been reluctant to discuss her disability publicly “because of the stigmas attached to it and a fear it will make people think I am not reliable,” she admits. “However, I’m now tired of being ashamed of my depression – I’m doing my best to manage it and make a contribution to society.
Like many people with major depression, she finds her ability to work restricted. “I survive on the Disability Support Pension and earn a small amount from freelance writing, performing or teaching. I am often out of action for several months and have to wind things down, which makes it hard to re-establish contacts and get back in touch with editors and producers.”
Performing is exhausting and demanding but Hartogh derives great satisfaction from making costumes, assuming different characters and keeping an audience entertained.
“I feel very relaxed on stage – it's like I'm a different person. I wear costumes and wigs so people will not recognize me. There is a freedom with performing that I don't feel normally, “ she commented. “Being on stage is the only place when my mind is still and the words just roll out once I'm in front of an audience.”
Hartogh finds that seeing a psychiatrist regularly, cognitive therapy, and anti-depressant medication, as well as maintaining a healthy diet and doing yoga to help her cope. She also goes for leisurely rides on her 1970s Dragstar bike. And she takes catnaps when she is fatigued.
Dealing with people who consider depression a sign of weakness or who suggest it could be overcome merely by making the decision to be happy, is extremely frustrating she says. “A person with a broken leg would never be told to just decide it is not broken, nor would someone with diabetes be told to just get over it [but] there is a persistent myth that [mental illness] is not real because 'it's all in your head'.”
2007 MELISSA GILES
2007 Jan-Dec (Sept) ROB MACCOL Photo: Miss September Brisbane Entertainer Evelyn Hartogh COURIER MAIL’S VIEWS OF QUEENSLAND CALENDER the Courier Mail’s Children’s Fund.
2006
2006 Dec 20 Calender honours a true local hero THE COURIER MAIL p. 21.
”Views of Queensland 2007 calendar QUEENSLAND wonder Evelyn Hartogh, who features in Views of Queensland 2007 calendar. As Courier Mail photographer Rob Maccoll drove towards "Wonder Woman's West End headquarters" he knew exactly the picture he would take. A weathered apartment block, cutting a clear hot sky and fronted by umbrella trees and airconditioning units, it would make the perfect backdrop for "just a true Queensland character”. The character was Brisbane entertainer Evelyn Hartogh decked out in her loud Wonder Woman costume. Her photograph is the September illustration of the Courier Mail's Views of Queensland 2007 calendar. “It really shows Queensland and Queensland lifestyle and I thin that's what Courier Mail photographers are good at – recording Queensland lifestyle in their own way,” Maccoll, a Walkley Award winner said. The high quality calender costs $14.94 with $5 from each going to The Courier Mail Children's Fund. Order your calendar from www.news.com.au/couriermail or call into our office at 41 Campell Street, Bowen Hills, to pick one up.”
2006 Aug 5 Graduates in the News Chapter GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY ALUMNI
2006 Aug 2 DAN EVANS Theatre Fringe Round-Up SCENE #652 p.38
“FRINGE REVIEWS IN A NUTSHELL ’Kick Kiss Kill’ Evelyn Hartogh has an MA degree in Women’s Studies and Creative Writing [actually two Masters degrees, Women's Studies, Griffith University 1997, and Creative Writing, University of Queensland 2002] which probably explains why ‘Kick Kiss Kill’ feels like an academic dissertation that’s been repackaged in pop culture and made more accessible for a theatre-going crowd. This one-woman-show delivered by Evelyn Hartogh gets severely lost in the translation and descends into a preachy soapbox piece that accuses the audience of being racist, sexist, homophobic bigots. In a nutshell: A great idea that needs to return to the drawing board. HIGHLIGHTS … Evelyn Hartogh simulating sex with two Barbie Dolls” [NOTE: I did this in a puppet show of the creation myth with Ken and Barbie playing Eve, Adam, and Lillith, no dolls were inserted internally]
2006 DAN EVANS
2006 July 27 Eccentric Theatrics CITY SOUTH NEWS p.24.
2006 July 27 Three in One, The Vibe CITY NEWS p.35.
2006 July 26 Comedy Pair of Heroic Proportions SOUTH EAST ADVERTISER p.75
2006 July 24 NICK BRAY Comic Justice Today COURIER MAIL p.33.
Evelyn Hartogh has a lot to say about many serious issues, from racism to homophobia and all sorts of oppression in between, but she chooses unusual vehicles in which to express it.
Which is another way of saying she spends an awful lot of time dressed up as Wonder Woman. Or Barbie. Or Lillith, the bride of Satan.
All will be on stage for Hartogh’s forthcoming one-woman show, Kick Kiss Kill, part of the inaugural Fringe component of the Brisbane Festival.
“Comedy is the most effective way of talking about social justice issues,” says Hartogh from her secret headquaters in innner city Hill End.
“And also humour is about the unexpected, the illogical, and all forms of oppression are illogical, too.”
But there is logic to Hartogh’s actions, as well as a great deal of academic research. The Brisbane-based performance artist and author has two masters of arts under her magic belt buckle.
The first in creative writing, the next in women’s studies, for which she wrote a thesis about the role of Barbie in society.
So when it is put to her that while Wonder Woman and Lillith are obvious, but Barbie appears to be a rather passive character, Hartogh is able to leap to her defence with conviction.
“Barbie's power in her popularity, “ she explains.
“She's ubiquitous, there are more than six billion Barbie dolls on the planet, more than there are people, and its likely that one day in the future they will be perceived as the idols of Western society.”
So in Kick Kiss Kill, Hartogh's Barbie is presented as a popular princess, butone who is naïve about the ways of the world.
“She's very worried about everyone copying her, bleaching their hair blonde,” she says.
Wonder Woman who has been part of Hartogh's repetoire for more than a decade. She famously appeared in the Queen Street Mall with a vacuum cleaner, pledging to “clean up the city”.
I have loved Wonder Woman since I was a child,” Hartogh says. “She's the princess of peace. It's cool that all her weapons are defensive, such as her lasso as truth, and I really like that she is a woman, whereas all the other female superheroes are girls.
In the play Wonder Woman embarks on a tour of the world’s leaders.
“She’s a diplomat from a world of equality visiting a man’s world,” Hartogh says.
“She starts off in Australia where she asks to meet John Howard. He’s happy to see her because she’s a princess and he’s a monarchist, but he has some difficulty answering some of her questions.
“She has to get the lasso of truth and she gets some very disturbing answers from him”.
The third member of Hartogh's trio is less well-known.
“Lillith is an ancient goddess, she was around before God,” she explains.
“She was absorbed and rewritten as the patriarchal religons took over, so God ended up marrying her to Adam.
“But that was never going to work, was it, so she is replaced by Eve and she moves in with Satan in Hell.”
In the play, the ancient goddess decides to leave the mortal realm and become more involved in human affairs.
Hartogh plays them all for laughs, as well as doing wicked impressions of peripheral characters such as John Howard.
And she makes her own costumes.
She truly is a wonder woman.
2006 NICK BRAY
2006 July 15-16 Festival on the Fringe ETC Section COURIER MAIL p.10-11.
2006 July Ev’s Wonderous Women will Kick Kiss Kill QUEENSLAND PRIDE p.31.
2006 July 3 FRONT COVER Evelyn Hartogh SCENE #648 p.27.
2006 July 3 DAN EVANS Box Office Critics Pick SCENE #648 p.27.
"Dan Evans picks ‘Kick Kiss Kill’. “Wonder Woman, Barbie and Lillith all in one performance? All facing a postmodern existential crisis? Hell yeah! Why Not? In an age of comic-book movie remakes, it’s about time some of these characters migrated to the boards. Writer/ Performer Evelyn Hartogh gives us an altered perspective on some famous pop culutre [sic] icons that promises to be both comical and off the wall.”
2006 DAN EVANS
2006 July 1-2 ANDREW FRASER The Face: Evelyn Hartogh performer Review WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN p.3.
ANDREW FRASER meets EVELYN HARTOGH Performer [and Writer]
Wonder Woman greets met at the door of her inner-city flat and apologises for the mess, “It's all Princess Leia's fault,” she says cheerfully. “I'm always picking up after her.” [No I didn't say that at all, I said I had just been playing with my cat in the garden]
Evelyn Hartogh will take to the stage as Wonder Woman as part of her one-woman show at this month’s Brisbane Festival but her enthusiasm for the comic strip characters goes well beyond the professional.
Her flat at Brisbane’s West End, shared with Princess Leia, her cat, not only has a poster of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman in the 1970s television series but also the first Wonder Woman costume that Hartogh made in 1991 for an Halloween Adrenalin Dance Party.
“I have always loved Wonder Woman,” she says, “I’ve always been interested in comics, and she has a far more complex character than all the other superheroes, who are kind of regular people who go to the gym a lot.
”I like how all her weapons are defensive rather than offensive like the bracelet and the lasso of truth. Who wouldn’t want a lasso of truth, It's cool.
“She does take off her tiara and use it as a boomerang and that's cool, too. I mean what's not to love about Wonder Woman?”
Hartogh, who is originally from Mount Isa, [no actually I just went to high school in Mount Isa, I have lived in more than ten towns in Australia and New Zealand] has worked on the Brisbane cabaret and events circuit for about a decade, since graduating from the University of Queensland [I did my undergrad at UQ, graduating in 1991, and then went on to do two Masters Degrees, the second at UQ was completed in 2002].
She is still amazed she can pursue a career as a performer and writer in Brisbane, and says it's sign of how much the city has changed.
“Since I started performing, Brisbane has triple in size and the arts scene has exploded. There's so many new people, it's actually a little overwhelming at times.”
In many ways the Brisbane Festival reflects these changes, particularly in comparison with the Bjelke-Peterson era, when many artists left town. The festival has only been running since 1996. this year it has a new artisitic director, Lydon Terracini and a marked emphasis on local involvement, with the addition of a fringe festival for the first time.
Festival goers will not only see big national names such as Bell Shakespeare and international acts such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the South African group that sang with Paul Simon on Graceland, but also local artists such as Hartogh, Ben Eltham, Sally McKenzie and musicians such as Nick Stewart from the band George. Hartogh has appeared intermittently as Wonder Woman during the past decade.
She once appeared in costume wielding a vacuum cleaner in the middle of Brisbane, “cleaning up the city”, as she puts it in a deep voice-over tone.
Her show at the festival will include not only Wonder Woman but Barbie and Lillith. Barbie is, of course, the celebrated doll of the same name, who in Hartogh's hands wants to be taken seriously as a mature woman.
Hartogh admits that Lillith is less well known. According to Jewish folklore, she was the first wife of Adam, but was banished from the Garden of Eden when she refused to make herself subservient to Adam, specifically during sex.
In Hartogh's show, Lillith wants to leave the immortal realm and become more involved in human affairs.
“Barbie always gets a lot more laughs, she's a bit of a bimbo who realises she's spent her whole life being thin, white, straight and famous, all with really big hair,” she says.
“You can always get a lot of laughs pointing out how painfully spoilt she is,” she says, adopted a high pitched squeal: “Ohh look, I've only been aroudn since 1959 and already I'm really popular, I'm kind of like you know a sorta goddess'.”
Hartogh's flat hosts a large collection of comic-book figurines; she began collecting in Mount Isa but the only one figurine has survived from her girlhood: Princess Leia of Star Wars fame.
There wasn't enough room in my suitcase for the others,” she explains. “It's all those warrior princess types that I've always been fascinated by.” And with that she looks over to the couch wher the feline Princess Leia stretches out beside her collectable namesake.
2006 ANDREW FRASER
2006 June EVENTS: Kick Kiss Kill THE PROGRAM
2006 June Arty Site Kick Kick Kill BIZOO #25 p.34.
2006 May KICK KISS KILL QUEENSLAND PRIDE, p.7.
2006 April Wonder Woman vs Hollywood SEMPER, p.6.
2005
2005 Nov 4 Ladyfest Art Gallery LADYFEST BRISBANE
2005 Oct 5 Brisbane’s own Wonder Woman Beats and Pieces SCENE p. 7.
"Brisbane’s own Wonder Woman, performance artist Evelyn Hartogh, will be a part of the grand opening celebrations of the Fox Gallery’s space @610 Ann St”
2005 Oct Amnesty Freedom Festival Live Wonder Woman Photos IN THE MIX
2005 Sept 29 Evelyn primed for festival SOUTHERN NEWS p. 8.
”West End’s Evelyn Hartogh will be Mistress of Ceremonies at the Amnesty International Freedom Festival at The Globe in the Valley tomorrow. The event raises awareness of Amnesty’s ‘stop violence against women’ campaign”
2005 Sept 8 SUE GARDINER Event set to be wonderful CITY NEWS p.14.
“WONDER Woman will use comedy as a weapon against evil when she appears at a seven day festival celebrating the interests and creativity of women this week. The superhero, otherwise known as performance artist Evelyn Hartogh, will showcase her unique brand of political satire at Ladyfest …”
2005 Sept Evelyn Hartogh performs as Wonder Woman QUEENSLAND PRIDE, p. 25.
2003
2003 Nov Arts Show Interview Community Radio 4ZZZ FM 102.1
2003 Feb 4 Lampshade Performers SCENE p. 42.
2003 Jan 28 Lampshade Performers & New Babylon Nights SCENE p.32.
2003 24 Jan Lampshade Moments QUEENSLAND PRIDE, p.13.
“the artists from highly successful Lampshade Moments at last year’s SOOB festival kick off their 2003 season of performances at 7pm … Art Love Jam’s Evelyn Hartogh will do a few hat and cane tap dance numbers in drag as Frank Sinatra”
2002
2002 Sept 22 (Not so) Straight Out Of Brisbane Festival QUEENSLAND PRIDE, p.19.
"Perhaps her best known performance was vacuuming the Queen St Mall while dressed as Wonder Woman … Among the events at the SOOB festival is Razor Blades And Flouro Wigs a panel discussion on the ‘out there’ nature of live performance featuring … Queensland Pride’s own Wonder Woman, Evelyn Hartogh”
2001
2001 July 6 Art Love Jam 4 brispop.com
2001 July 4 BRIDGET HAYES Love is the Answer SCENE MAGAZINE p.42.
Art Love Jam 4 at the Zoo as part of Pride Festival.
All you need is love. Art Love Jam is back for 2001 with its particular brand of fruity, frivolous fun. Art Love Jam is an annual experimental cabaret event run in conjunction with the Brisbane Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Festival. The first Art Love Jam took place in the Hub Café and was produced by performance artist and author, Evelyn Hartogh in 1998.
Since then using the theme 'Love is the common denominator' the event has flourished under the direction of Evelyn and James Lees, an event co-ordinator for the 1999 Pride Festival. As Evelyn puts it, “With that theme, it is an event that is there to combat homophobia and to bring people together, because love is one thing we all share and every human can agree on. It is the thing we all have in common and want for each other and want for themselves.”
When James came on board the event moved to its current venue – The Zoo. “Since 1999 we've been having it every year at the Zoo and it is great because it is a much bigger space. We can incorporate acrobats, small films, little booths, something unusual and new every year,” says Evelyn, “So of course it has been larger.”
The daring duo then produced the highly successful Glam Slam in 1999 and continued Art Love Jam in 2000, receiving support from the Brisbane City Council and a wonderful response from Brisbane's artistic community.
Now in its fourth year, the multimedia event celebrates a wide range of creative talent from drag artists, poets, singers, musicians and performers coming together in the spirit of all things love.
There is no doubt that Art Love Jam provides an amazing platform for LGBT artists but that isn't the only commendable things about it. This event has a continuing commitment to mixing experimental performers with newcomers. “I sort of had that back in first one, but now I've got more time, more space, more exposure. Last year we formalised that link by having everytime in a star search, and a dance competition. It was great. One of out success stories was with Venus Goddess of Love. She entered our competition last year, had only just started doing drag, and now she's playing regularly around Brisbane. She told me how it really boosted her confidence in performing in Art Love Jam last year, and this year I decided to formally book her.”
Listening to the enthusiasm with which she talks about it, it is obvious that this is one of the most important parts of the event according to Evelyn. “I am really happy with the way this event has become well known enough that we can attract emerging people and they get to network with the performance community and get further work out of it.”
As well as Venus Goddess of Love, the event features hip hop stars Vario Air, Flaunt Acrobatics, spoken word/ soundscape performance by Silver Circus, a debut performance by 17 year old singer Stephanie Lim, new movement/spoken word piece by Angel Kosch, poetry by Dorje Norbu, solo songs by Jami, performance poetry by The Barefoot Deva, modern indie mixed with Macedonian traditional music by the Golden Circles, Dj Brettski, and MC Gai Lemon who Evelyn calls 'one of the wise women, and she's bloody hilarious!”.
And lastly there is Evelyn Hartogh herself. “Yeah, I'm Doris (Gay) Day,” she says. “I've been really attracted to her lately. She's really happy, compassionate soul that sees the beauty in everything. When I started performing in the early 90s everything was sort of satiric, quite angry. Art Love Jam has seen a shift in me; it's about promoting happiness and joy. So I do a beautiful song by Doris Day.
Art Love Jam is not an ordinary night for performer and audience, which makes it a bright spot on the entertainment landscape. “We say to performers that tonight's the night to do something that you are really afraid of, or maybe you thought was too daring and strange, something you've been holding back or censoring in your work”, states Evelyn. “Because, we can guarantee that the audience is really warm and responsive and comes to it with a very open heart. They are ready to experience the kind of performance that they won't generally and regularly see in Brisbane."
2001 BRIDGET HAYES
2001 July 4 TRENT DALTON Love In BRISBANE NEWS p.12.
“When Brisbane performance artist Evelyn Hartogh first conceived of Art love Jam (pictured) a gathering of performance poets and musicians with a focus on gay and lesbian artists she couldn’t have imagined the shape it would take. The first Art Love Jam in 1998 was a low kep but successful event that took place at the Hub café. Word of the gathering ogt around to event co-ordinator James Lees, who picked it up and squeezed it into a larger venue, the Zoo. The second Art Love Jam featured physical theatre performers, acrobats and electronic artists, as well as some very talented writers. By lat year, the Brisbane city council had got wind of the event and donated a government grant to Evelyn so she could pay the artists involved. Art Love Jam 3 was a smash. The Zoo was bursting with performers old and new and punters paying the bills. Art Love Jam 4 is tipped to be the biggest yet and with performers such as poet Dorje Norbu and singer Stephanie Lim, Evelyn concept should happily spin further out of control. The event will be at the Zoo, 711 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley on Friday night”
2001 June 29 Art Love Jam, Q NEWS p.8.
2001 June Community Radio 4ZZZ FM 102.1 Arts Show Interview
2000
2000 July 26 LAWRENCE ENGLISH Art Love Jam: Sweet Flavours TIME OFF p.38
If the annual Pride Festival needed any assurance of support from the community and government bodies, then the grant passed on to fund this year’s Art Love Jam is a sign they can’t ignore. Coming into it’s third year, Art Love Jam is a multimedia event that celebrates the wide array of creative talent that sometimes lies undetected here in Brisbane.
“ArtLoveJam celebrates love as the common denominator of us all,” coordinator Evelyn Hartogh explains. “It's a mixture of people from all sexualites performing together on one night. There'll be drag, acrobats, musicians, singers and performance artists performance artists, perofrming this year. We like to call it a multimedia cabaret show; ther'es a little bit of something for everyone.
This year we've got free lollies for everyone and we're hoping to get everyone pumped up with sugar so they can take part in the 'star search' competition. We've had a whole lot of prizes donated to us, so anyone who takes part will receive a prize. It's going to be a lot of fun.”
What's made this particular ArtLoveJam so enjoyable for its organisers has been the support of the Brisbane City Council.
“This year's so exciting because we have been given this grant by the BCC,” Hartogh explains. “It's the BCC Local Cultural and Festival Grant and its made all the differnce to us. 4ZZZ helped us out with it as well. I think it really shows that community attitudes are changing here in Brisbane.”
If nothing else, this grant does demonstrate that Pride and everything it stands for is tryly making a difference in Queensland. Projects like ArtLoveJam and the countless other events that constitute the Pride Festival, not only bring a sense of community to Brisbane, but also ensure that public education and an open dialogue can be maintained.
“You have to realise that when Pride started in 1990, it was illegal for two consenting males to have sex with each other,” Hartogh says. “that law wasn't repealed until 1992. the Pride Festival has really become legitimate and represents a significant part of the population. It's made a huge difference to the whole community. When it helped repeal the laws, the main arguments were that Brisbane was ready. As a community we were ready to acknowledge this. Now , having the support of the BCC, it's kind of taken things up again and really shows there's a difference being made.”
2000 LAWRENCE ENGLISH
2000 July Arts Show Interview Community Radio 4ZZZ FM 102.1
2000 Art Love Jam Website