Interview with Kori Miles

Kori Miles is a genderfluid trickster of Māori, Anglo-Celtic and Italian ancestry, who predominantly uses performance, installation & sculpture as modes of expression. At Liveworks, they will present WHO CARES?!

In these ceremonial performances, Kori Miles uses breath, sound and movement to summon the energies of protest, resistance and transformation. Through repetition and layering, they abstract the familiar visual and auditory iconography of political resistance, creating a mystical ambience for an audience to navigate - a space for contemplation on justice, liberation, rage and love.

While the first performance is a solo presentation, the second performance of WHO CARES?! is a collaboration between Kori Miles, Agnes Whalan and Irihipeti Waretini.

Performance art, to me, is its broadest definition, is the use of the body as a medium in one’s creative practice. Therefore, a lot of what I do with my body in my day-to-day life is synthesized in my performance artworks. I regularly practice Mau Rākau (a Māori fighting art). I am part of a Takatāpui Waiata Rōpū (Queer + Māori community choir group). I am an activist who is frequently engaged in protest demonstrations. I am an interdisciplinary artist involved in organising and facilitating events in grassroots community arts spaces. I engage in ritual. I meditate. I shout. I heal. I fuck. I breathe. I care.