OMAR Musa will explore longing and escapism in his one-night only exhibition and performance at M16 Artspace, “Welcome to Leopard Beach”. 

Along with his 30-minute set of poetry and music, which Omar says will be “hopefully poetic, at times moving and mostly tongue-in-cheek”, the exhibition will include Leopard Beach woodcuts, combining poetry and pop iconography with techniques he learned while visiting his homeland of Borneo, East Malaysia, where woodcuts are a popular art form, especially in the punk rock scene. 

The author, poet and rapper says Leopard Beach is a place he once invented in his head to escape to when he was feeling depressed. 

“In Leopard Beach, the weather is sweet as a kiss. It is plastic-free, hater-free and 100 per cent body positive!” Omar says.

“The endangered clouded leopard of Borneo flourishes here, the ocean is full of fish and the laksa is free-flowing.” 

In “Welcome to Leopard Beach”, Omar asks whether escapism is merely a distraction, a suppressant, a fearful response to the brutal, banal reality of our lives. Or is it expansive, something that can be used to set the templates for social and environmental change and imagine worlds in the way they could be?

DJ Roshambo will play a tropical-themed music set, and there will be catering and piña coladas. 

“Welcome to Leopard Beach”, M16 Artspace, Griffith. Wednesday, December 18, 6pm-9pm. Tickets $15, bookings to eventbrite.com.au