Ira Ferris (1983) is a Zagreb-born, Sydney-based dance and multidisciplinary artist, also working as a writer and radio journalist, art curator and producer. She has a background in contemporary dance, trains in Japanese Bodyweather dance methodology with de Quincey Co, and has devised and performed in site-specific improvised dance performances at Wentworth Galleries, the Corridor project, Draw Space, Articulate, ESCAC, Benalla Art Gallery, etc. She is a dancer in Lux Eterna’s multi-channel video installation ‘The 8th Day’, filmed at Lake Mungo.

Ira holds MA in Journalism (University of Zagreb) and BA in Art History (University of Sydney) and produces and hosts ‘Arts Monday: Sympoiesis’ on Eastside Radio 89.7FM. She currently works as a research assistant at UNSW as part of ‘Dance Archives and the Museum’ research network. Prior to that, she has worked as a Producer at Critical Path choreographic research centre, and as an events and communications coordinator at the Power Institute, Sydney Ideas, Sydney Film School. Her dance essays and reviews have appeared in Delving into Dance (VIC), Dance Art Journal (UK), Kulturpunkt (CRO), ADSR Zine (NSW). Her visual art essays have been commissioned for the Orange Regional Gallery (NSW), Kronenberg Mais Wright gallery (NSW), Artspace at Realm (VIC), Nevven Gallery (Sweden). In 2024, she edited Critical Dialogues: TIME, a dance-specialising publication published by Critical Path and is currently editing the 16th edition. In 2021, with Elia Bosshard, she co-authored SPACE BODY HABIT.

Interested in ripping-open the Western concept of time and decolonising the body from the tyranny of the clock, Ira makes works that insert a gentler pace into busy social environments, and consider environmental consequences of speed and non-stop production. She has made and collaborated on projects that deal with fatigue, and advocate for boredom and idleness as forms of resistance.

Ira makes works and takes time on the unceded land of the Eora nation and pays respect to the ongoing custodians; the Elders past, present, and emerging. Always was, always will be.

CV || PORTFOLIO || Instagram: @artemisprojects

SELECTED PROJECTS

(RE)

A movement game for several performers: Ira Ferris w/ Ryuichi Fujimura, Lian Loke, Maddy Backen, Kristina Mah, Elly Brickhill, Gideon Payten-Griffiths. Performed at DRAW Space (Sydney), 6 January 2025. With live sound by Andrea Lim. More here.

BY MEASURE

COUNTERBALANCE (collaboration with Harriet Goodall)

COUNTERBALANCE is a growing dance/installation collaboration with visual artist Harriet Goodall. We started the process in 2024 while on a short residency at the Corridor project in Cowra. Harriet handcrafted a kinetic sculpture from natural materials that is activated by human touch and movement, and I developed a 20-min improvised performance with it, presented as part of Erthwrx24 festival for National Science Week. The possibilities of this work keep inspiring our continued research towards new performances. More to come!

SOFT STRUCTURES: THE ARCHITECTURE OF REST

A durational performance, developed for the BLOT exhibition at Articulate (Sydney). Performed alongside Ryuichi Fujimura and Maddy Menca, on 4 September 2022. The work takes inspiration from my recent experiences at ImpulsTanz IDOCDE symposium ‘The Rest of Art’ and particularly the ‘MA: Pregnant Nothingness’ residency space created by Defne Erdur. Expression ‘the architecture of rest’ came from Carol Brown during the symposium. The work was developed in Sydney, through conversations and experiments with Cynthia Florek. Photos: video footage, Sue Callanan, Beata Geyer, Elia Bosshard.

TEMPORARY ECOSYSTEMS

A series of site-specific performances, responding to the St Peters’ Town Hall (Sydenham, Sydney) and the surrounds. Project envisioned and curated by Kate Sherman for the 2022 Inner West Fest and performed on 10 April 2022 after a short scores-based development. The project explores the micro and macro inter-relationships. The way the inner effects the outer. The way we connect and disconnect. Performers include: Kit Bylett, Renata Commisso, Ira Ferris, Cynthia Florek, Ryuichi Fujimura, and more… Photos by: Daniel Kukec

STEEL ZONE (VORTEX): What slows you down?

Movement w/ sound installation, developed and presented as part of the Temporary Ecosystems project, curated by Kate Sherman for the 2022 Inner West Festival. Originally presented in the St Peters Town Hall Community Room, on 10 April 2022.

8TH DAY

I am taking part in a hybrid dance multi-channel audio visual work by Lux Eterna. The work was developed through the 2022 March Dance residency, and is a recipient of the Inaugural 2022 March Dance Keir Foundation 'Start-up Commission' and the Australian Council for the Arts project grant. For more about this work, have a listen to Lux’s and mine Eastside Radio conversation.

CHOREOGRAPHING CINEMA

If cinema is made of movement, then cinema is made of dance … A short video-essay made in 2019, to explore and acknowledge the way filmmakers work with dance (knowingly or un-knowingly).

IS TIME REAL?

A multi-media research project on marking and sensing time through the body. Mediums: movement | video | sound | poetry | conversation. Developed as part of the BigCi residency (May - June, 2021). ~ MORE ~

SLEEPING RESIDENCY (2019 - …)

We sleep around the work we need to do, obligations we have; around the stress of having to wake up because something needs to be done. We don’t know what our natural sleeping rhythms are. What if we prioritised sleep over work, if we worked around sleeping, not the other way around? FIND OUT MORE

POETRY.

MORE VIDEOS

CURATING

WRITING

BROADCAST/PODCAST

SYMPOIESIS
A radio show on art and environmentalism. Every second Monday on Eastside Radio 89.7FM