Mother Tongue

On International Women’s Day, female poets, musicians, singers and storytellers sought safe self-expression in a hidden lounge awash with art.

To start, Jayne Anderson’s excerpt from Working It Out, her book on working women: it intrigued but lacked the pull deeper passages could provide. Meditation from Louise Charman-James washed the audience into a trance broken only by moving and grooving songs of human rights, ‘90s hooks and an alphabet on ex-dumping.

Poetry came hard and heady – in gaudy costume slam poet Lou Steer played provocatively with prose about the Madonna/whore complex. Riled up from bunny ears, sequins and aprons, Aprile Alexande’s meditation was lost but wild whoops greeted the dangers of love in Tara Resch’s Condom For The Heart.

Musician Lady Cool, with her double bassist, embodied her name performing women’s lib anthems - “Sisters are doing it for themselves” - and brazen originals - "I want to date a vegan man.”

More poetry – a rousing Maori call from Marisa Pene, rejecting obscurity and ‘Kardashian consciousness' to declare intent. Corina Inkleman advised against discrimination, seeking compassion for the marginalised. Other tales – career change, transplanted families and battling bipolar – proved privilege was no picnic before the crowd roared for Renata Bialkowska’s survival story of the Mummy Mafia.

As diverse as it was delightful, Mother Tongue’s atmosphere cultivated creativity and community.