The Pleiades Project
Enriching and empowering the work of Australian and Indonesian female and femme artists is central to The Pleiades Project. This is actualised by creating opportunities for connections through international residencies and performance.
Juliet Widyasari Burnett and Karina Utomo, Kasekten. Photo Daniel Boud
The Pleiades Project is named after the constellation, which inspired the Indigenous dreaming story of the Seven Sisters and a similar telling of Seven Princesses in Java. This project seeks new ways to engage female and femme artists between Australia and Indonesia, amplifying unique and shared stories and cultivating sustained connections through their work.
Ishvara Devati, CYVASA 2.0 development. Photo Liz Ham
Since 2025, this project has facilitated two cultural exchanges that have yielded performance outcomes: for Kasekten, a collaboration between Javanese-Australian dance artist Juliet Widyasari Burnett and Javanese metal vocalist Karina Utomo; and CYVASA 2.0, a collaboration between Burnett and Javanese-Balinese dance artist Ishvara Devati, with Yogyakarta feminist noise group Metatesis (Nadya Hatta and Dyah Isaka).
The vision at the heart of the Pleiades Project is a spirit of crossing bridges between Indonesian and Australian cultures, platforming female and femme artists who are challenging patriarchal systems in their work and artistic practice.
Pleiades Project artists are afforded the opportunity to travel to Indonesia or Australia to engage with local artists through a residency. A performance outcome isn’t necessary; for artist development, cross-cultural exchange in and of itself can be vital.
Pleiades Project Team
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Juliet Widyasari Burnett
founder and artist
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Michaela Coventry
producer
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Ishvara Devati
artist
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Karina Utomo
artist
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Metatesis
artist
Activities
March 2025
Initial creative development for new collaborative dance/performance art work CYVASA 2.0, including a cultural sharing workshop and a development showing. Juliet Widyasari Burnett and Ishvara Devati were the recipients of the prestigious Experimental Choreographic Residency hosted by Performance Space and Critical Path, Warrane/Sydney.
July 2025
Residency for new collaborative, interdisciplinary work Kasekten for creative development, workshops and development showing at Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja, Jogjakarta.
November 2025
Residency and performance of CYVASA 2.0 at Temperance Hall’s inaugural Temper program, Naarm/Melbourne.
October 2026
Performance of CYVASA 2.0 at HOTA for Bleach Festival, Kombumerri Country/Gold Coast
2027
Premiere of Kasekten TBC
Juliet Widyasari Burnett and Karina Utomo, Kasekten. Photo Daniel Boud
Juliet Widyasari Burnett and Ishvara Devati, CYVASA 2.0. Photo by Ellamay Khongroj Fitzgerald
Impact
Despite a female/female-identifying majority of artists across dance, music, visual arts and theatre, a gender power imbalance remains, permeating industry culture and compromising opportunities for female/femme voices. This is particularly prevalent in Indonesia, where outdated patriarchal everyday practices adversely impact Indonesian women and queer people. Kasekten as a work seeks to rewrite patriarchal histories to recreate ancient stories and mantras about men, for women, using the spiritual concept of ‘kasekten’ to articulate a purity of power untouched by societal ideals. The Pleiades Project seeks to elevate other female/femme artists to augment this message, in an ambitious broadening of the project outside of the artwork itself.
Pleiades Project/Kasekten artists at the Yogjakarta Kraton
A_PART and The Pleiades Project team believe in the power of the collective, and in the importance of soft diplomacy between neighbouring countries, by cultivating sustained relationships between artists. Artists whose work questions and reflects the world we live in, and invites us to look not only deeper into ourselves but also outside to the perceived ‘other’, so that we may better understand and dance onward together.
if you’d like to know more and support this project, please contact us
The Pleiades Project has been supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body; Performance Space and Critical Path through the Experimental Choreographic Residency; and Temperance Hall