INTERVIEW WITH
JESSI RYAN
Photo credit: Storm Bloom
Miss Katalyna: What actually made you decide to do this project?
Jessi Ryan: Yeah it's a really interesting one and I could crack a joke like, we always talk about the inner north being a gay heartland, and I guess I wanted to kind of understand a little bit more why it is that way in Melbourne.
And what I have discovered is there are so many grassroots, kind of organizations and movements that have started from the City of Yarra area. So, to kind of unpack those and the intersections of my own identity, as, you know, non-binary, HIV positive, queer, performer, activist and writer. It's been really amazing to also understand a little bit of my lineage in the queer community.
Miss Katalyna: Did you find that you are connected with each story, or were there stories that you learned something new that it sort of inspired you?
Jessi Ryan: Yeah. So, some of them are very personal to me, particularly the seventh story in the series, which is the disappearance of Bridget Flack, which is also coincidentally how we kind of met, well, that year. And that one was incredibly personal for me and being able to unpack what it was to be like the first journalist on the ground to cover that story and what the community went through in those 10 days as well.
But it's interesting that you mentioned inspiration as well. As the people who are listening to this will see in the gallery, all the paintings here and all these murals and even the material that we've used in the application have been entirely inspired by Keith Haring.
Now, when I started this project, I knew that he had his visit to Melbourne in 1984 and did the two pieces. So the one that's important to this story is the old Collingwood Tech on Johnson Street. So I had this really interesting idea of painting the whole gallery black and doing these white line murals. And then I met with two of the head curators at NGV during the process of this project, and then they handed me all these pieces of like information. And what Keith Haring did in the 1980s before he came to Melbourne, was that he used to actually do the white line drawings on all the black paper that used to cover the advertisements in the New York subway.
So it was really interesting that that was my aesthetic to begin with in this project without even knowing how connected it was to these stories and the people within them, and that was really exciting. So instead of painting the walls of the gallery black here today, you'll notice that the whole walls are covered in black paper and that's very much Haring. And I'm so inspired and just in awe of his craftsmanship, his magnetism, the way that he always wanted to work with children as well and inspire the next generation.
And as someone who has been HIV positive since they were 19; it's a huge thing because we lost so many people, and there's a little bit of survivor's guilt there. How do I get to continue my practice and, you know, live a healthy life on antivirals and the rest of it? But these artists, these forefathers of our community couldn’t.
Miss Katalyna: And with all this lived experience of all these amazing people, where do you think, or how do you think people will connect to these beautiful stories?
Jessi Ryan: Look, I think, just, I think we just we owe so much to so many of the people that are in these interviews like David Menadue and Sue Paxton, you know, who have been long-term activists and survivors of HIV. Their work around Fairfield Hospital and the, you know, infectious diseases department now at The Alfred.
But then also like Barb Creed, like fantastic, amazing woman that I interviewed first in this project. Now, she was out doing vox pops with a microphone and a camera on Swanson Street in the 1970s asking people on the streets what they thought of homosexuals. But when you think about it, that was really dangerous back in the 70s, there was still a lot of like, pushback against the community.
We owe people in these stories so much, you know, even Angela Pucci Love - Bridget’s sister - like her advocacy now and how she stepped into these roles, like so much admiration and respect. Like, you can't help but feel connected to these people because without their efforts and what they've gone through and what they've given us, we wouldn't be in the position we are today.
Miss Katalyna: Did you find that when they were sharing their story, was there anyone that was kind of like reluctant to share? Or you know, just a bit um wary of sharing their story? Because, you know, a lot of members of a community don't want to share, because some stuff is like a trigger, or they’re traumatized from the past.
Jessi Ryan: What I've been really inspired by is also the generosity of story here. There's a lot of things that are hard to talk about. But I guess because of my relationship with the community and my work as a writer people tend to trust me with their stories, and I have so much gratitude and respect for that as well. And, you know, there's a spirit of generosity in this exhibition. Like when you go around and you listen to all these stories, yeah, it's a generosity of spirit there.
Miss Katalyna: And for younger people, and particularly younger people who are going to see this, what is like one or two things that you really want them to walk away with?
Jessi Ryan: Ooh!
Miss Katalyna: I mean could be more, I guess.
Jessi Ryan: Yeah, I think two things: don't take what we have right now for granted because every single right that we have earned can be easily taken away from us in a heartbeat. And also the second thing is I think like you're not alone. You're not alone, like we are a community. We can be a bit fractured, we can fight with each other, but we're like a big family, and no one is alone. No one has to feel alone. No one has to feel like they have to take their own life because they don't have people around them. That's what I would stress, because we see too many young people take their own lives because of ostracization of all these things. You're not alone, there are people who care and love you for who you are.
Miss Katalyna: Like for me when I see this, all these wonderful, amazing people, they've really have- they're elders, and they've really set the tone back in their time. Do you feel that there are people or groups and organizations that are carrying on their legacy? Like, do you feel like their legacy is- because you don't want their legacy to be, you know, done and dusted and done in vain, um-
Jessi Ryan: That was one of the biggest things. Like, I'll get back to the point in a second, but I was very against the idea of having really record of this exhibition, like capturing these elders' voices, you know, because we're losing we're losing so many of our elders. We have during the 1980s and the AIDs epidemic and the elders that we have left now are getting older. They're passing, because we've lost so many recently. We lost Miss Vic, you know, Yvonne Gardner a few years ago, all these beautiful people, you know, and once they’re gone, they're gone.
Miss Katalyna: Yeah, exactly.
Jessi Ryan: And that's really sad.
Miss Katalyna: Yeah.
Fairfield Hospital, um I don't think people- I mean, that's the first time I've ever heard about Fairfield Hospital. And I was like, wow. So, I think there's going to be a lot of people in that same position as well.
Because in that interview they mentioned that even though there's less, you know, people afflicted with AIDs and HIV, but the education… where do you think- or education: is it needed? Do we still keep going?
Jessi Ryan: Yeah, look, there’s stigma around HIV, we definitely need more education in that field. Like, we had the U=U campaign and I'm going to go out a limb here and probably get shot down for it; I don't think the U=U campaign was very effective within the queer community. It hasn't really broken down stigma. And yeah, look, I think the stigma still persists. The HIV positive community is very staunch. You know, it's a staunch community. It's really hard for me to speak on this, but the stigma is still there for sure.
Miss Katalyna: We know First Nations people have always existed, you know, here and especially here in Fitzroy, but um the Blak and First Nations queer history, tell me more about that?
Jessi Ryan: Yeah, so there's a really interesting correlation between, as you mentioned before, the Q&A parties and the Blak queer history, because The Builders's Arms on Gertrude Street had long been a Blak pub, but then it kind of morphed into like Blak queer pub in a little while there.
So, I love Bryan Andy, a Yorta Yorta man from up Cummeragunja way, which is in Shepparton if people don't know it. We met working at the Beyond Leather parties back in the day, I think working with the cloak room together. But we have to honor that legacy as well, we had Uncle Jack Charles there, we had Vicky Liddy. We've got a whole lineage of like local queer Blak Mob that you know, it really focuses on the 1970s through to now this project, but it doesn't as well.
The thing about like Bryan Andy's story and how it opens the exhibition is because these stories and this queer lineage has been here long before colonization has, um and we can't talk about Fitzroy and we can't talk about these areas without talking about, you know, Aboriginal Mob, you know, the parkies getting sent up to the missions and then coming back into the city and how that kind of fluctuation still happens, you know.
Yeah, look, I think Bryan Andy's is probably one of my favorite, favorite pieces in the whole puzzle here, because again, unfortunately, within the queer community as Bryan Andy said, it was really validating for him as a Blak queer man to win marriage equality. But then a few years later to be kicked in the guts, when all the Blak Mob kind of voted for marriage equality, but then the majority of the country didn't vote for a Voice to Parliament. It's those kind of intersections that we really need to like hone in on and like really-
Miss Katalyna: I think you are doing a wonderful job, you know, you're bringing people that I've never heard of, that are actually important to our community. So, that's really important that we get to know these people, no matter who they are, they've done some amazing work. Um so, I mean that's not even a question, it's just me telling you that.
Jessi Ryan: Yeah no, it's gorgeous, yeah
Miss Katalyna: Just wanted to remind you. You know, because I mean you've actually put all these stories that nobody has even heard of, you put it in one place, and we need that.
Miss Katalyna, a proud Pasifika, Fa’afafine, Transwoman is a powerhouse with experience that extends back 30 years in music, activism, and community leadership. Starting her journey at 16 as a songwriter, performer, and producer, she honed her craft creating mixtapes and collaborating with artists worldwide. A celebrated DJ who has performed at: All The Queens Men, Sydney Mardi Gras - Kaftana, Sydney Mardi Gras Closing PARTY, Sydney Opera House's Blak & Deadly Gala, Sydney World Pride, and Midsumma Pride March.
Jessi Ryan gave Miss Katalyna her first night club gig and she’s continued to perform locally and nationally.
Beyond music, she is a fierce advocate for LGBTQIA+ and QTIPOC communities. Co-founder of Trans Pride March Melbourne and the Trans Pride Concert, co founder Trans Sisters United, founding member of PacifiqueX, she has created vital spaces for trans and POC voices and has often and continuously passed the mic. As the award-winning host of The Bent Spoon (Thorne Harbour Health) a queer multicultural cooking show on Channel 31, she blends culture, advocacy, and culinary passion with featured special guests.