The Wilin Centre is Australia’s peak tertiary incubator for Australian Indigenous arts and cultural development. Located at the heart of Australia’s premier arts training institution, the Wilin Centre engages, supports, profiles and promotes Indigenous artists, Indigenous cultures and Indigenous communities.
Having met the Head of the centre a few days ago i was kindly invited to their regular lunch where the scholarship students all come together. I was chuffed to bits to be invited and was amazed to hear that there are students studying all manner of art including opera. I dont know why, but studying opera totally blew me away.
The Wilin Centre has engaged with the CLP programme in the UK in previous years and has made strides to link students with international practice. Their scholarship programme is purely based on quality rather than money with students coming through from across Australia.
I attended what was to be the last ever Sketch City in Melbourne if the city council have anything to do with it. Imagine…….a huge warehouse where all creatives find refuge and amazing work is there for all. This space has been the home of Sketch City Melburn for the past 2years and just this Saturday when i visited they had found out that morning they were being evicted. Something about the council not allowing ‘illegal events’ – so short sighted.
The Sketch City gang have been working hard for 2years to turn the space into something of value. So much so that the impact they have on the city’s artistic landscape is around most corners with stencils, graffiti and all manner of unusual pieces of free art for all.
Right across Melbourne there is a surge of the affluent wanting to move into creative space/areas and once there, they seem to lose sight of what first attracted them to the space and start moaning about this that n the other causing councils to ‘make their mark’. This is NOT the way for community cohesion, especially when artistically groups like Sketch City are what make Melbourne so unique.
Rachee who runs Sketch City was quite optimistic and knows Sketch City will rise from the ashes like the Phoenix it is.
Provocative, funny and profoundly moving, Bastardy is the inspirational story of a self proclaimed Robin Hood of the streets. For Forty years and with infectious humour and optimism, Jack Charles has juggled a life of crime with another successful career- acting.
Since founding the first Aboriginal theatre company in the 1970’s, Jack has performed with Australia’s most renowned actors (Geoffrey Rush, David Gulpilil, Bill Hunter) and directors in feature films (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Bedevil) TV series and hundreds of plays.
Filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson follows Jack over seven years- gradually blurring the line between director and accomplice as Jack continually traverses the criminal and acting worlds. However the law finally catches up with Jack and when he faces a jail sentence he might not survive, he is forced to decide if he can go straight for the first time in his life.
Bastardy is the story of one man’s journey into the light.
OMG!…….i saw, heard, experienced something really special last night. The Arts Centre kindly sorted out tickets for me to go see Chunky Move’s, Mortal Engine. Where do i even start with this……..
It was a dark room, a slightly raised flat stage and then…BOOOOOOOOM….the music started. Not your usual stuffy theatre performance music, but hard club music that was so beautiful and mesmerizing you found yourself in a bit of a trancelike state.
Then one by one the dancers appeared from the top of the stage in their see-through-gauze outfits revealing their ever-so-beautiful bodies. It was enough to make me want to be a dancer. Interestingly they were all different shapes and sizes which was refreshing not to see theatrical clones.
The combination of dancing, movement, sound, visuals, stage moving up and down was breathtaking. The way the dancers contorted their bodies was incredible – how did they do what they did? The mechanics of the visuals was captivating – i wanted to know what equipment was being used, how did the light manage to follow the dancers and create the layers of shadows or create light – it was seriously fucking AMAZING.
But just as you think youve seen it all, the entire theatre fills with smoke. You can hardly see anything and you know whats coming……the LAZERS. OH MY DAYS…….im so thankful to of been a part of something so special. The lazers were so powerfully effective with the dancers moving between them, pushing the lines and creating movement with them. Truly spectacular.
The entire crew involved from director, composer, lazer/sound artist, dancers, lighting, costume designer and engineers – i applaud you all. You’re too kool for skool.
Some exciting news for Kala Phool and Indy. Indy has been included in the WOMEN 2 WATCH 2010 list.
Featuring 50 female leaders, directors, producers and curators from across the UK, the CLP 2010 ‘Women to Watch’ list celebrates women who are already making a huge contribution to the rich cultural life of the UK, and have the potential to rise to the very top.
The 50 women were selected by a high profile judging panel chaired by Jenni Murray OBE.
The list celebrates the rich diversity of women in the sector, highlighting talent from a variety of backgrounds – from independent consultants to business directors and those working within some of our leading organisations – and aims to inspire future generations to be equally dynamic and ambitious.
Sorry we haven’t been in touch for a while, internet connection and finding the time has been hard.
The MI21 tour to Australia was a huge success due to the efforts of The Arts Centre in Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House. None of which would be possible without the support of British Council Australia.
We did 2 out of our scheduled 3 performances in Melbourne. The final day was cancelled as im sure some of you heard about the flooding that took place in the city? The flooding all started when we were delivering our workshop at Footscray Community Arts Centre and saw us holding up wires inside as the water was coming in at such a rate. Im pleased to say no one was hurt and we managed to deliver the workshop.
The performances at The Arts Centre were fantastic with gigantic projection of the Mother India visual up the wall of the National Museum. The crwod was really mixed and the response was fantastic, really supportive and lovely.
Heading to Sydney was great and to be in the iconic Sydney Opera House was immense. The show was a sell out and most people even stayed afterwards for the q&a which was chaired by Jaimie Leonander. We all has a blast in Sydney and took many silly photos of ourselves or tried to buy the most silliest bit of tourist tat – i think David won with his Kangaroo testicle cigarette lighter!
I am back in Melbourne now where i will be staying till i head to Singapore to meet further venues and festivals who are keen to link with MI21 and Kala Phool. Ill be working with the fantastic team at The Arts Centre and inputting from ideas, development and meeting loads of really interesting people/venues/festivals.
Last night saw MI21 deliver its first show at Melbourne’s highly respected venue, The Arts Centre.
Picture this……stage set up in huge flower beds, film projected up against the National Gallery building behind the musicians…crowds sitting on grass hills, deckchairs laid out, people at every point of viewing as possible. The evening was warm and an ideal start to the Kenneth Myer Theatre Series at the venue.
The MI21 performance was met with applause all the way through with an extended round at the end. The teams received much praise which was well deserved too.
We all feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. The support from the British Council and The Arts Centre has been instrumental including Allens Music who even stepped in to help when we urgently needed some equipment.
We have two more shows in Melbourne before heading off to the Sydney Opera House.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved, who have attended and have supported us thus far.