This year's YIRRAMBOI Festival focuses on First Nations people reclaiming space, identity and cultural expression through performance, storytelling and connection.

Taungurung and Filipino co-lead and lead creative, Sherene Stewart, said Reclamation underpins many of the works featured in the program.

"YIRRAMBOI fosters space for First Nations creatives to reclaim and celebrate their identity, cultural expressions and visibility," Ms Stewart said.

Among the key performances is Monster in the Cyborg Body, a 12-hour durational work by Kalkadoon artist Joshua Pether.

Combining two defining works from his career - Monster and Cyborg Body - Mr Pether reclaims his own artistic and cultural journey through embodiment and time-based practice.

The performance invites audiences to come and go freely between 7am and 7pm on 3 May at The Channel, Arts Centre Melbourne.

Also engaging with the theme is Cut the Sky by intercultural dance company Marrugeku, co-founded by Dalisa Pigram of the Yawuru Nation.

Performed on 9 and 10 May at The Merlyn, Malthouse, the work addresses climate collapse and colonial extraction from a First Nations perspective, challenging audiences to imagine alternative futures.

Featuring music by Ngaiire and Inuk artist Tanya Tagaq, Cut the Sky blends choreography, video, and theatre to speak to both rupture and resistance.

Ms Stewart said the festival allows complex, urgent stories to take up space unapologetically.

"It is a space where evolutionary expressions of art, music and performance can reflect both where we've come from and where we're going," she said.

The Motherless Collective contributes to the Reclamation pillar with Three Blak Ravers, a queer horror story blending supernatural tension with deeply personal themes of identity and survival.

The production, featuring Blak LGBTQIA+ characters, will run from 1 to 3 May at The Beckett, Malthouse.

Through its genre-defying approach, Three Blak Ravers reclaims theatrical space for Blak queer storytelling often overlooked or stereotyped in mainstream performance.

Wakka Wakka and Kabi Kabi co-lead and lead creative producer, J-Maine Beezley, said reclaiming narrative control is essential to the festival's purpose.

"We remove the red tape on what's perceived to be First Nations art, we highlight our diversity and bring the stories of now, to centre stage," Mr Beezley said.

Gunnai, Kurnai, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri DJ and music producer Sky Thomas (aka Soju Gang) said YIRRAMBOI provides space for community expression that isn't policed by external frameworks.

"There isn't a set idea of what First Nations art or performance looks like, sounds like, feels like," Ms Thomas said.

Ms Thomas said Reclamation is also about long-term care.

"Our job and responsibility to mob does not finish when the festival does," she said.

"We continue and build our relationships with our artists, we check in with community and participate in community events."

J-Maine Beezley said the act of reclaiming isn't only cultural but generational.

"We deeply understand as First Nations people that we carry the legacy of the past with us as we forge new paths for the future," he said.

Ms Stewart said the power of the festival lies in how it enables artists to define their identity and vision beyond external expectations.

"YIRRAMBOI empowers and amplifies First Nations voices by creating a platform that is unapologetically ours," she said.

"It's about reclaiming our narratives, celebrating our resilience, and making sure our voices are heard on our own terms."

YIRRAMBOI Festival 2025 will run from 1 to 11 May across venues in Naarm/Melbourne.