The lightning furies

2016 – 2018

CRACK THEATRE FESTIVAL, 2016
DOING FEMINISM / SHARING THE WORLD, 2018

From 2016-2018, The Furies took over streets in Perth, Newcastle and Melbourne.

This project was originally a response to Perth’s bike-unfriendly infrastructure, and the resulting gender imbalance among the city’s bike riders. As casual bike riders ourselves, pedalling around on our rusty second-hand steeds, we couldn’t help noticing that the majority of cyclists appeared to be Serious Men in Lycra, with Serious Bikes, who often responded to other (slower) riders, particularly anyone female-coded, with annoyance and disdain. We also discovered that many of our female & non binary friends were nervous about riding on the roads. And it was hard to miss the packs of lycra-clad men who took over the streets (and cafes) every weekend, oblivious to pedestrians and other cyclists.

Enter our bike gang, the Lightning Furies: a crew of tough women and non-binary people, dedicated to a feminist mission of utopic bad-assery. Wearing denim vests, bikes adorned with pennants and streamers, the Furies rode en masse through urban streets, winding through laneways and holding up traffic.

We held six community rides in Perth throughout 2016, pedalling from the city to far-flung destinations.

While the lycra cyclists’ aesthetics were streamlined and expensive, we leaned into maximum glitter and handmade accessories. Aesthetically, we fell somewhere in between an outlaw bikie gang, a troupe of Girl Guides, and the Vuvelini from 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

We had a Manifesto and an Oath; we had gang colours and patches; we were ready to smash the patriarchy with boots and glitter.

We also partnered with the the City of Perth and amazing Melbourne group Projector Bike to present a women-only city night ride, stopping in empty carparks to project films by Snapcat, other women artists and bike documentary makers onto the walls. Set to a solid soundtrack of Grimes and headed up by Fury Danni on the Projector Bike, this was truly a thrilling night!

In September 2016, The Lightning Furies travelled to Crack Theatre Festival, part of This Is Not Art, in Newcastle. This performance was listed in the Guardian as one of Australian theatre’s “10 most groundbreaking shows by women” in 2016!

Lightning Furies rides were preceded by public craft sessions for prospective riders. We found that coming together to make our outfits and accessories built an incredible sense of community. While hot-gluing gold rick-rack to pink felt and stitching patches onto our vests, we had rich conversations, developed amazing friendships, and found joy in creative self-expression and silliness.

The Lightning Furies revelled in the subversive potential of crafting, and honoured the long history of women embracing bicycles as an accessible mode of transport, freeing them to travel, work and play.

Lightning Furies forever!