Art Underground

I descend the stairs into the Beyond Q bookshop, Curtin, and I’m bemused by the Platform 9 ¾ vibe that I get from the entrance. It is there, tucked away in that unremarkable corner, where the magic of Art Underground happens. I enter, and the space transforms.

The ceiling is all blue fairy lights, their speckles winking at the tables beneath them, which groan from the weight of old books. The reception area surprisingly opens up into quite a decent sized area – complete with café – where shelf after shelf stands bearing books.  A woman wearing all blue greets me warmly, clipboard in hand, asking if I want to sign up for the open mic.

This is the second incarnation of Art Underground, with a brand new team ready to deliver more evenings of open mic, performance and visual art every second Friday in Beyond Q. The first team took a bow after a successful year and seven months. It is a space that features the sublime and the silly. There was a man who performed burlesque wearing nothing but balloons. Another simply tied his friend up with duct tape. “We never really know what we’re gonna get,” says Abby Townsend, one of the behind the scenes organisers. “You sort of get the full gamut of acts, which is great.” “That’s part of the fun!” adds Monique Wilson, another behind the scenes organiser.

As the first act searches for a guitar lead, it strikes me as oddly fitting that this underground bookshop by day occasionally morphs into a performance space by night. He finishes his performance with his arm raised high, and the crowd applauds.

Kate Gainer, a Canberra based visual artist, is interviewed by Alice Lafferty and Andrew Richey, Art Underground’s co-hosts, on her works that currently adorn the walls behind them. She explains her pieces, both of which were concerned with the female body image, and fields questions from the audience. There is a nurturing atmosphere here, something that attracted Lafferty to help organise the second iteration of the event. “I was a feature artist,” she begins “I came to this and put my art up on the walls… Then I got to help run the thing.  It’s like a full progression.”

Betty Altenburg, a singer-songwriter who goes by Betty Marshall, steps up and plays a beautiful song entitled “Loose Lips.” I ask her what the allure of this night is for her as an artist. “I came here to perform because generally you have people listen. My lyrics are the most important thing to me and sometimes you play at a pub and as much as people might enjoy it, they’re just like ‘ah, music.’ It’s nice to have somewhere where people actually listen to your words.”