Changing Habitats - Are Children and Young People Democratising Culture?

CHANGING HABITATSAre children and young people

democratising culture?

www.ypaa.net

A national conversation exploring the connections between arts, culture and the creative lives of children and young people

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Young People and the Arts Australia

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ARE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE DEMOCRATISING CULTURE?

Welcome to Changing Habitats If you are reading this newspaper, then you have probably realised that there is a national symposium with the same name occurring in Brisbane, QLD in June 2010. For every person who will physically a!end the national symposium, also called Changing Habitats, we realised that there were in fact many more people who could not a!end for whatever reason.

We feel that these people should also be engaged in the conversations we wish to have during our symposium, conversations about the creative lives of children and young people in Australia and about the arts and cultural sectors, about democracy, about access and information, about input and cultural authority. "erefore we felt one of the best ways to instigate more conversation about these topics and all the associated possible topics would be through inhabiting di#erent forms of media.

"e team at Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) have been inhabiting a range of di#erent forms of media over the last $ve months, we have been in dialogue with journalists and radio presenters, we have established a You-Tube channel and invited children and young people to share their understanding of culture with us. We have established an online network through Placestories group Pollinate h!p://ps3beta.com/project/7641 . We have engaged 15 young artists to respond to the key question, creating arts works to be exhibited during the live symposium and documented and shared post the event with the rest of the country. Finally we have created this newspaper – a companion project – not a program and not a mouth piece for our organisation, but a sharing of research, ideas and opinions. Some people we have engaged in the process of the Symposium. We have also included content we have found in books, online, in magazines and great ideas we have heard, even those you may have shared with us.

Some things in this newspaper might make obvious sense, others might be a stretch, but all are re%ective of our search for an answer to this big question: Are Children and Young People Democratising Culture?

While the YPAA national symposium will provide delegates with a dynamic experience, weaving through a range of physical spaces across the cultural precinct at Southbank, Brisbane, and activating di#erent modes of engagement through a mixture of key-note addresses, panels, facilitated discussion groups, performances, exhibitions, project engagement and networking opportunities. We wanted this newspaper, to also take its reader on a journey to re%ect the di#erent modes of thinking and provoke not only kitchen table conversation, but also bus travel conversation and conversations with strangers in the supermarket.

We are delighted to present a program over%owing with internationally and nationally respected leaders, artists, thinkers, trendse!ers, educators, curators, producers and performers. We have worked extremely hard to combine the best parts of events, conferences and symposia with some unique YPAA happenings, ensuring you are completely safe, engaged with a hint of risk and challenge at the same time. Likewise we have included a broad range of opportunities for people to contribute to the newspaper also.

Our overarching question, “Are children and young people democratising culture?” will focus and guide our program of 2 international key-note speakers, 10 leading national thinkers, 15 national arts industry presenters, 4 industry events, 4 national meetings, 1 masterclass, along with the opportunity to see, hear and explore a range of performances and exhibitions at the Out of the Box festival.

"e $nal ingredient for a stand out event is your participation, your contributions, and your ideas, which we hope you will enjoy sharing with us – we are really excited to have citizens engaged in the arts or not, email us and tell us what you think about this topic, post us stu# on You-Tube, or join our Facebook group. We want the entire country to be talking about the importance of arts and cultural expression for children and young people and how their current lives and experiences are shaping the arts and cultures across Australia and indeed the world.

It is our intent to start with a massive question that is deliberately provocative and problematic; one that is complex enough to spark a wide range of other questions. We are not interested in talking about $nished products, or completed ideas, but keen to see and hear about trends, research, opinions, vision, projects in development, ideas in progress. We have put together a range of projects including this newspaper to guide each of us through a process of thinking, re%ecting and sharing.

"roughout this paper we will grapple with broader topics of access, decision making, art form development, cultural shi&s, leadership and inclusion, learning, technology, audiences and touring, to name just a few, as well as $nding out some good places to eat, some changing neighbourhoods and some new blogs to keep up with.

Get set for some strange, exciting and thought-provoking reading for anyone interested in the connections between arts, culture and the creative lives of Australia’s children and young people.

I look forward to being in conversation with you soon.

Lenine BourkeExecutive DirectorYoung People and the Arts Australia / ASSITEJ Australia

Young People & the Arts Australia present

www.ypaa.net

CHANGING HABITATS

3Welcome

4Young People and the Arts Australia

Breakout Groups, unpacking the approach

5From Consumption to Participation

"e Nature of the Question

6"e Household Ecology During Out of the Box festival

7"e Democratisation of Information

8Who is Lenore Skenazy?

10Eating is Art

11Who is Alexander Devriendt

12What Language Should "e Show be in?

14"e Democratisation of Culture by Children and Young People "rough Social Networking

15Digital Life on "e Edge

16Stones Corner: Creative Community Development Within a Changing Urban Habitat

18Research Projects:

"eatre for the Very YoungResearching ArtPlay"eatreSpaceOut of the Box Bloggers

20YPAA Sta# & Project Team

21Transformation of "e Edge into an Urban Ecosystem

22Volunteers

25Program Highlights

28Word On "e Street

30Artists Involved in Changing Habitats

32Leading "inkers, Practitioners, Academics, Artists

35Other Ways to Engage with YPAA

36Adapting "eatre for an International Audience

38Youtube Us What You Really "ink

39Time To "ink

CONTENTS

The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper are that of the relevant

the organisation YPAA

Please do not throw this newspaper away - but pass it on, donate it to a library, or

THANK YOU...

Jenny Galligan, Roberta Henry, Susan Richer, Madonna Townsley, Arts Queensland, Athol Young, Jeremy Wellard, Jade Lillie, Clare McFadden, Charlie Cush, Michael Peterson, Brisbane City Council, Amy Piekkala-Fletcher, Matt Fallon, Damien DeGroot Rod, The Edge, Stella Read, Stephen Bourne, Rebekah Waite, State Library of Queensland, Rosemary Myers, Jenny Hodgson, Brett Howe, Brendan Ross, Belinda McCarthy, Stefan Treyvaud, Rebecca Lamoine, QPAC and Out of the Box festival for children 8 years and under, Julie Woodward, Caro Jende and the Youth Arts Queensland team, Deb Wilks and Flipside Circus, Jonathon Oxlade, Trent Barton, Zero Hour Collective, ABC Printers, Jane Jennison, Katie Edmiston, Karen Batten, Duncan Maurice, Jacki Mckean, Raju Purna Pariyar, Fiona McDonald, Kerryanne Farrer, Thea, Oli, Sina, Sefo, Nikki Tarau and Tom Everingham.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this paper, and to all volunteers who have donated your time to make this event happen, you will see them featured on page 22. We could not have done it without you and your generosity is a testament to what is exciting, ethical and possible in our vast and overlapping arts communities.

Thank you to Feral Arts for letting us use the boardroom as an art space and bringing us into the online realm.

Thank you to speakers, panellists, artists, caterers, sponsors and funding agencies, we sincerely appreciate your ongoing support of YPAA and the Changing Habitats Symposium.

Thank you to our families, partners, friends and housemates for enduring us in pulling together this event.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 2 3/6/10 10:12:22 AM

www.ypaa.net


Welcome to Changing Habitats If you are reading this newspaper, then you have probably realised that there is a national symposium with the same name occurring in Brisbane, QLD in June 2010. For every person who will physically a!end the national symposium, also called Changing Habitats, we realised that there were in fact many more people who could not a!end for whatever reason.

We feel that these people should also be engaged in the conversations we wish to have during our symposium, conversations about the creative lives of children and young people in Australia and about the arts and cultural sectors, about democracy, about access and information, about input and cultural authority. "erefore we felt one of the best ways to instigate more conversation about these topics and all the associated possible topics would be through inhabiting di#erent forms of media.

"e team at Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) have been inhabiting a range of di#erent forms of media over the last $ve months, we have been in dialogue with journalists and radio presenters, we have established a You-Tube channel and invited children and young people to share their understanding of culture with us. We have established an online network through Placestories group Pollinate h!p://ps3beta.com/project/7641 . We have engaged 15 young artists to respond to the key question, creating arts works to be exhibited during the live symposium and documented and shared post the event with the rest of the country. Finally we have created this newspaper – a companion project – not a program and not a mouth piece for our organisation, but a sharing of research, ideas and opinions. Some people we have engaged in the process of the Symposium. We have also included content we have found in books, online, in magazines and great ideas we have heard, even those you may have shared with us.

Some things in this newspaper might make obvious sense, others might be a stretch, but all are re%ective of our search for an answer to this big question: Are Children and Young People Democratising Culture?

While the YPAA national symposium will provide delegates with a dynamic experience, weaving through a range of physical spaces across the cultural precinct at Southbank, Brisbane, and activating di#erent modes of engagement through a mixture of key-note addresses, panels, facilitated discussion groups, performances, exhibitions, project engagement and networking opportunities. We wanted this newspaper, to also take its reader on a journey to re%ect the di#erent modes of thinking and provoke not only kitchen table conversation, but also bus travel conversation and conversations with strangers in the supermarket.

We are delighted to present a program over%owing with internationally and nationally respected leaders, artists, thinkers, trendse!ers, educators, curators, producers and performers. We have worked extremely hard to combine the best parts of events, conferences and symposia with some unique YPAA happenings, ensuring you are completely safe, engaged with a hint of risk and challenge at the same time. Likewise we have included a broad range of opportunities for people to contribute to the newspaper also.

Our overarching question, “Are children and young people democratising culture?” will focus and guide our program of 2 international key-note speakers, 10 leading national thinkers, 15 national arts industry presenters, 4 industry events, 4 national meetings, 1 masterclass, along with the opportunity to see, hear and explore a range of performances and exhibitions at the Out of the Box festival.

"e $nal ingredient for a stand out event is your participation, your contributions, and your ideas, which we hope you will enjoy sharing with us – we are really excited to have citizens engaged in the arts or not, email us and tell us what you think about this topic, post us stu# on You-Tube, or join our Facebook group. We want the entire country to be talking about the importance of arts and cultural expression for children and young people and how their current lives and experiences are shaping the arts and cultures across Australia and indeed the world.

It is our intent to start with a massive question that is deliberately provocative and problematic; one that is complex enough to spark a wide range of other questions. We are not interested in talking about $nished products, or completed ideas, but keen to see and hear about trends, research, opinions, vision, projects in development, ideas in progress. We have put together a range of projects including this newspaper to guide each of us through a process of thinking, re%ecting and sharing.

"roughout this paper we will grapple with broader topics of access, decision making, art form development, cultural shi&s, leadership and inclusion, learning, technology, audiences and touring, to name just a few, as well as $nding out some good places to eat, some changing neighbourhoods and some new blogs to keep up with.

Get set for some strange, exciting and thought-provoking reading for anyone interested in the connections between arts, culture and the creative lives of Australia’s children and young people.

I look forward to being in conversation with you soon.

Lenine BourkeExecutive DirectorYoung People and the Arts Australia / ASSITEJ Australia

CHANGING HABITATSYoung People & the Arts Australia present

www.ypaa.net

Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) is the Australian peak body for professional organisations and practitioners that engage children and young people in the arts.

YPAA activates, promotes and sustainably develops the children and young people’s arts sector nationally. We do this by providing services and activities that assist, in!uence, inform and develop opportunities to increase arts engagement for children and young people. In doing so, we support participation in the arts as a fundamental right to developing children and young people’s imagination, creativity and individual potential.

YPAA provides a crucial link between members, the arts sector, the wider community and government, and services members across the country in professional services and sector development.

"e content of Changing Habitats has been developed through contact with our membership by way of conversations, through feedback and requests as a result of professional development, through in-depth discussions at our Blueprint groups, and through rigorous roundtable discussions with government and other arts and community leaders.

Contact:

Young People and the Art Australia , ASSITEJ Australia Inc (YPAA)

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +61 (0)7 3254-0553

Postal: PO Box 1236. New Farm QLD 4005 Australia

Visit: 1c, 158 Moray Street New Farm, QLD 4005

Web: www.ypaa.net

BREAK-OUT GROUPS

Unpacking the approach

Karin Adam

The best dinner parties start with “What do you think about …?” At #rst, there may be silence, but soon the o$erings of perspectives and ideas begin, and an animated, engaging discussion ensues on particular aspects of the broader question. "is is the idea of the breakout groups. As children and young people are central to this symposium, it makes sense to approach these communications with a sense of curiousity and creative inquiry.

De#ning the symposium question terms such as ‘democratising’ and ‘culture’ will generate diverse opinions – and that is the intention. "e breakout groups will explore speci#c components of the democratisation concept in bite-sized pieces, allowing the overwhelming feast to be more easily digestible.

On day one, the breakout topics relate to family and community and include sessions on language usage, the role of family, Indigenous children and young people shaping the nation’s future, education and cultural diversity. On the second day, art and culture subjects such as community engagement, curating, technology, national festival programming and collaboration are raised.

Like a child’s #rst taste of food picked straight from the garden, approaching these facilitated discussions with an adventurous spirit can help delegates connect with the joy of discovery. "e process of learning o$ered by Ryan Stewart’s blog entry, 10 Ways to Enrich Your Life by Learning Something New, invites us to ask, read, search, slow down, re!ect and use all the senses - touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing - to embrace this process.

Conversations are most e$ective when participants look for the wisdom in each contribution and #nd connection in diversity. Using David Cooperrider’s Appreciative Inquiry approach, as outlined on worldcafe.com, the idea is not to #nd the truth but “to reach a shared understanding about what is meaningful to each individual”.

Marilee Goldberg adds in her book "e Art of "e Question*, “a paradigm shi% occurs when a question is asked inside the current paradigm that can only be answered from outside it.” "is exploration liberates the status quo and allows innovation and inspiration to arise.

Breakout groups unpacking powerful questions give participants the opportunity to stimulate re!ective conversation, generate forward movement, and reach a place of deeper meaning.

*as quoted in !e Art of Powerful Question by Voigt, Brown and Isaacs "om worldcafe.com

CONVERSATION HAS BECOME AN ARTFORM

Using conversation as a tool for learning is not a new concept and in fact many organisations globally use various methodologies.

The World Café http://www.theworldcafe.com/what.htm

As a conversational process, the World Café is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community. As a process, the World Café can evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of any group, thus increasing people’s capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims.



www.ypaa.net


FROM CONSUMPTION TO PARTCIPATION

Ben Cameron from the Doris Duke Foundation (USA) was the keynote speaker for the Australia Council’s Marking Summit in 2009. It was during this speech that Lenine Bourke YPAA Executive Director scrawled some notes in her workbook inspired by Cameron’s speech:

People don’t want to consume they want to participate – how would my members feel about this ideas? Does the youth sector really share our cultural authority with young people, or are we still a!empting to be seen as having some cultural authority in the broader industry?

!is became the inspiration for the "rst stages of research for the Changing Habitats Symposium. Please enjoy below just a small excerpt from Cameron’s controversial and well informed presentation during the Summit.

Source: http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_f i le/0005/59864/Ben_Cameron_Speech_"nal_speech.pdf

The means of artistic distribution have been democratised. Again, in the 30’s, the major studios played that role; now upload your "lm onto YouTube or Facebook, and you have instant world-wide distribution with the click of a bu#on.

!is double impact is occasioning a massive rede"nition of authorship and the cultural market. Today everyone is a potential author$and the market paradigm is shi%ing from one of traditional consumption to one of participation. In the future, value will not be consumed: value will be co-created. Let me say that again: in the future, value will no longer be consumed$value will be co-created.

We already see the power of consumer participation in other industries. !e monolithic power of the restaurant critic has been sha#ered in the United States by Zagat, a restaurant guide where the collective consumer passes judgment and de"nes a restaurant value. iPod cornered the MP3 market by going beyond downloading as a sales point to emphasize co-creation$the ability to create a personally curated playlist, to create or download podcasts$essentially to enter a world where you the consumer became you the creator as well. Dancing with the

Stars, Australian Idol$all are predicated on the active involvement of the consumer.

We are witnessing the emergence of a class of amateurs doing work at a professional level$a group dubbed elsewhere as the Pro-Ams$a group whose work populates YouTube, Film festivals, dance competitions and more, a group who are expanding our aesthetic vocabulary. But they also assault our traditional notions of cultural authority and undermine the assumed ability of traditional arts organizations to set the cultural agenda.

In thinking about the future, how do we think, not only about presentation, but about engagement$about interacting with this growing tsunami of creative energy that typically exists beyond the purview of our classrooms, our buildings and our performing arts centers? How do we engage audiences in the creative process, not merely in the "nished work? How do we expand our vision beyond producing to be the orchestrators of social interaction$interaction in which a performance is a piece but only a piece of what we are called to do?

All of this challenges the very nature of what you, as marketing professionals are called to do. Artists essentially place brackets around experience and o&er it to a larger world for consideration. As marketing professionals seeking to promote the survival of your organizations, your job has been at minimum to clearly communicate what the experience is, why it is worth consideration, and to convey that in compelling and inescapable terms through arguments emphasizing emotion, aesthetics, di&erentiation, impact, ergonomics or ease of use, predictability and quality$elements that must be controlled in every print piece, every postcard, every graphic image and whose consistent execution lies at the heart of brand positioning.

THE NATURE OF THE QUESTION

Changing Habitats: Are children and young people democratising culture?

Karin Adam

Some may hurridly search for the right answer to this question, as there is o%en an assumption the question is less important than the answer. !e fear of answering ‘incorrectly’ can sti'e innovation:

“Between our deep a#achment to the answer - any answer - and our anxiety about not knowing, we have inadvertently thwarted our collective capacity for deep creativity and fresh perspectives.” (!e Art of Powerful Questions, worldcafe.com)

Profound thinkers like Einstein have been revered for asking great questions. Einstein said solutions require di&erent thought: “!e problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them”.

!is particular question regarding the democratising of culture is generated by the role of children and young people in Australian arts and culture. Today’s participatory digital environment means children and young people have the ability to create and contribute. Social media and web 2.0 have changed communication models from one-way message delivery to two-way (or more) conversations where the audience (children and young people) is now also the producer of content and criticism.

ABS statistics show children and young people predominantly a#end one live performing arts production per year. It seems there is some disconnect between their eagerness to be active participants and their desire to be cultural consumers.

Posing a powerful question like this can lead to insightful conversations and encourage fresh ideas to emerge. !is is the concept of the symposium: being okay with the uncomfortable place of the unknown, and where deep consideration and debate is promoted to allow space for new possibilities to arise.

Young People and the Art Australia ,

Activity:Create your own SMS Poll Receive audience votes by sending an SMS to a local number and the results will be updated before your eyes, in real-time in your PowerPoint presentation or on your website. www.smspoll.net

Like a child’s "rst taste of food picked straight from the garden, approaching these facilitated discussions with an adventurous spirit can help delegates connect with the joy of discovery. !e process of learning o&ered by Ryan Stewart’s blog entry, 10 Ways to Enrich Your Life by Learning Something New, invites us to ask, read, search, slow down, re'ect and use all the senses - touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing - to embrace this process.

Conversations are most e&ective when participants look for the wisdom in each contribution and "nd connection in diversity. Using David Cooperrider’s Appreciative Inquiry approach, as outlined on worldcafe.com, the idea is not to "nd the truth but “to reach a shared understanding about what is meaningful to each individual”.

Marilee Goldberg adds in her book !e Art of !e Question*, “a paradigm shi% occurs when a question is asked inside the current paradigm that can only be answered from outside it.” !is exploration liberates the status quo and allows innovation and inspiration to arise.

Breakout groups unpacking powerful questions give participants the opportunity to stimulate re'ective conversation, generate forward movement, and reach a place of deeper meaning.

*as quoted in "e Art of Powerful Question

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 5 3/6/10 10:12:29 AM


www.ypaa.net www.ypaa.net


THE HOUSEHOLD ECOLOGY DURING OUT OF THE BOX FESTIVALRosemary Myers

For seven days, Out of the Box festival for children 8 years and under devotes a big chunk of the city’s most prestigious cultural real estate to an arts event for young children and their posse. !at is a big-vision gesture about entitlement.

It is hard not to be impressed by this cultural precinct and when I walked around it, from the Galleries to the Museum, the Library and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, I wanted to create a festival that felt like a humming, drumming ecosystem. For me, the arts are an escape from the incessant focus on individualism at the centre of our late capitalist culture. Engagement in the arts fosters connection via the communal act of converging imaginations. I wanted to extend this lens throughout the festival program highlighting the notion that we are part of a complex ecology and our interconnection is as much social as it is environmental. For instance, at the festival you can experience an orchestra (instant or symphonic) or a circus troupe as an ecosystem; you can also explore spaces as habitats to be viewed from new perspectives through art works like Amococo, Zoom and On Air.

!e Changing Habitats national symposium takes this idea even further by asking us to explore the contemporary landscapes in which young people are creative.

Last year I heard John Holden from DEMOS – a UK independent think tank – discussing the democratisation of culture. He says,

!e distinction between amateur and professional is disappearing as ‘amateurs’ a"ain ‘professional’ standards through access to be"er technology and means of communication and as professionals work more and more with ‘amateurs’.

!is throws up provocative questions about the role of the professional artist and certainly some of the most exciting art I encounter is informed by this idea. Just see Ontroerend Goed’s incredible production, Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen, and some of the other projects featured in this paper.

I was thinking about the time when I #nished uni and began working as an artist. At that time I didn’t have a particular interest in children and young people as audiences, but I was naturally a"racted to opportunities that allowed me to create new work and particularly work that was adventurous in form. I felt most excited about theatre that related directly to its audience and work that was in dialogue with the popular culture and the contemporary world. I was instinctively a"racted to these kinds of projects. What I found was that the places where this kind of work was happening$and the artists that were most engaged with the same curiosity for form and content as me$were the companies and artists that were creating work for and with young people. !at seems even more of a compelling proposition for art- making today than ever before.

Social commentator Douglas Rushko% sums it up perfectly for me when he says in his book Playing the Future:

Our children, ironically, have already made their move. !ey are leading us in our evolution past linear thinking, duality, mechanism, hierarchy, metaphor and God himself towards a dynamic, animistic, weightless and recapitulated culture. Chaos is their actual environment.

h"p://www.outo&heboxfestival.com.au/

OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGYht tp:/ /www.openspacewor ld .org/cg i /w ik i .cgi?AboutOpenSpace

Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. Over the last 20+ years, it has also become clear that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations, where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity.

Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse,

are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday. It’s been called passion bounded by responsibility, the energy of a good coffee break, intentional self-organization, spirit at work, chaos and creativity, evolution in organization, and a simple, powerful way to get people and organizations moving -- when and where it’s needed most.

ISSUE ELEVEN: CONVERSATIONSource: www.runway.org.au/issues/issue11.htmRunway Magazine, features artists who utilse conversation throughout their work.

Jay Adelson, Times Online, February 14, 2008

Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/related_reports/business_ideas/article3364558.ece

Anyway, this piece is called the democratisation of information. But before I get started, I want to ask you to think about how most of us traditionally learn about the world around us – or at least how we did up until very recently. For example, you’ve probably had the experience of discovering a cool new song that you heard on the radio, and you probably learn about the news and events of the day, at least in part, from newspapers or local TV programmes or internet news sites. In these instances a person, or a small group of people, such as an editor, or a radio personality, make decisions about what’s important, interesting or entertaining on our behalf. !ey o&en do a great job of it, considering the constraints. Actually, until the internet, this was the only way. News editors had to make such judgments because space in newspapers

and time in a television newscast were limited. !e internet, of course, changes everything.

!e internet has made information abundant and accessible to anyone with a computer or mobile phone. !ere’s virtually no time or space limit like you #nd in print or broadcast media, beyond our own a"ention spans and ability to make use of all the content and information available to us. And anyone can produce and distribute content for virtually no cost. Crazy as it sounds, I recently read that a terabyte of data is added to the internet every day.

Clearly the content is out there and the means to get to it, but how do you #nd it? !e unlimited volume and dynamically changing amount of information on the internet o&en leaves people overwhelmed by their inability to locate or prioritise new content – whether it’s an article, a song, a video or whatever – that’s relevant to them. !is is exacerbated by the proliferation of blogs and other sites that o%er a wealth of content, but aren’t easily organised, searched or prioritised. With limited time,

people typically surf through or aggregate content from a number of websites, or rely upon news and other sites where content is prioritised for them by editors that dictate what content is relevant.

At the same time, there’s a groundswell of interest among internet users in actively contributing to the internet content and, perhaps more importantly, in'uencing the way information is viewed by others. While most people are passive viewers of information as it’s presented by the editorial #lters of websites, blogs and news organisations, internet users are increasingly participating in the kind of digital democracy the internet enables. Relatively new concepts such as the social graph, social networking, citizen journalism and participatory media have emerged that enable people to connect and interact online in entirely new and interesting ways, as well as to si& through the abundance of stu% on the web. Many of these new communication models and mechanisms leverage community participation, or harness the collective ‘wisdom of crowds’.

THE DEMOCRATISATION OF INFORMATION

Source: weblogcartoons.com

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THE HOUSEHOLD ECOLOGY DURING OUT OF THE BOX FESTIVALRosemary Myers

For seven days, Out of the Box festival for children 8 years and under devotes a big chunk of the city’s most prestigious cultural real estate to an arts event for young children and their posse. !at is a big-vision gesture about entitlement.

It is hard not to be impressed by this cultural precinct and when I walked around it, from the Galleries to the Museum, the Library and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, I wanted to create a festival that felt like a humming, drumming ecosystem. For me, the arts are an escape from the incessant focus on individualism at the centre of our late capitalist culture. Engagement in the arts fosters connection via the communal act of converging imaginations. I wanted to extend this lens throughout the festival program highlighting the notion that we are part of a complex ecology and our interconnection is as much social as it is environmental. For instance, at the festival you can experience an orchestra (instant or symphonic) or a circus troupe as an ecosystem; you can also explore spaces as habitats to be viewed from new perspectives through art works like Amococo, Zoom and On Air.

!e Changing Habitats national symposium takes this idea even further by asking us to explore the contemporary landscapes in which young people are creative.

Last year I heard John Holden from DEMOS – a UK independent think tank – discussing the democratisation of culture. He says,

!e distinction between amateur and professional is disappearing as ‘amateurs’ a"ain ‘professional’ standards through access to be"er technology and means of communication and as professionals work more and more with ‘amateurs’.

!is throws up provocative questions about the role of the professional artist and certainly some of the most exciting art I encounter is informed by this idea. Just see Ontroerend Goed’s incredible production, Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen, and some of the other projects featured in this paper.

I was thinking about the time when I #nished uni and began working as an artist. At that time I didn’t have a particular interest in children and young people as audiences, but I was naturally a"racted to opportunities that allowed me to create new work and particularly work that was adventurous in form. I felt most excited about theatre that related directly to its audience and work that was in dialogue with the popular culture and the contemporary world. I was instinctively a"racted to these kinds of projects. What I found was that the places where this kind of work was happening$and the artists that were most engaged with the same curiosity for form and content as me$were the companies and artists that were creating work for and with young people. !at seems even more of a compelling proposition for art- making today than ever before.

Social commentator Douglas Rushko% sums it up perfectly for me when he says in his book Playing the Future:

Our children, ironically, have already made their move. !ey are leading us in our evolution past linear thinking, duality, mechanism, hierarchy, metaphor and God himself towards a dynamic, animistic, weightless and recapitulated culture. Chaos is their actual environment.

h"p://www.outo&heboxfestival.com.au/

OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGYht tp:/ /www.openspacewor ld .org/cg i /w ik i .cgi?AboutOpenSpace

Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. Over the last 20+ years, it has also become clear that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations, where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity.

Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse,

are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday. It’s been called passion bounded by responsibility, the energy of a good coffee break, intentional self-organization, spirit at work, chaos and creativity, evolution in organization, and a simple, powerful way to get people and organizations moving -- when and where it’s needed most.

ISSUE ELEVEN: CONVERSATIONSource: www.runway.org.au/issues/issue11.htmRunway Magazine, features artists who utilse conversation throughout their work.

Jay Adelson, Times Online, February 14, 2008

Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/related_reports/business_ideas/article3364558.ece

Anyway, this piece is called the democratisation of information. But before I get started, I want to ask you to think about how most of us traditionally learn about the world around us – or at least how we did up until very recently. For example, you’ve probably had the experience of discovering a cool new song that you heard on the radio, and you probably learn about the news and events of the day, at least in part, from newspapers or local TV programmes or internet news sites. In these instances a person, or a small group of people, such as an editor, or a radio personality, make decisions about what’s important, interesting or entertaining on our behalf. !ey o&en do a great job of it, considering the constraints. Actually, until the internet, this was the only way. News editors had to make such judgments because space in newspapers

and time in a television newscast were limited. !e internet, of course, changes everything.

!e internet has made information abundant and accessible to anyone with a computer or mobile phone. !ere’s virtually no time or space limit like you #nd in print or broadcast media, beyond our own a"ention spans and ability to make use of all the content and information available to us. And anyone can produce and distribute content for virtually no cost. Crazy as it sounds, I recently read that a terabyte of data is added to the internet every day.

Clearly the content is out there and the means to get to it, but how do you #nd it? !e unlimited volume and dynamically changing amount of information on the internet o&en leaves people overwhelmed by their inability to locate or prioritise new content – whether it’s an article, a song, a video or whatever – that’s relevant to them. !is is exacerbated by the proliferation of blogs and other sites that o%er a wealth of content, but aren’t easily organised, searched or prioritised. With limited time,

people typically surf through or aggregate content from a number of websites, or rely upon news and other sites where content is prioritised for them by editors that dictate what content is relevant.

At the same time, there’s a groundswell of interest among internet users in actively contributing to the internet content and, perhaps more importantly, in'uencing the way information is viewed by others. While most people are passive viewers of information as it’s presented by the editorial #lters of websites, blogs and news organisations, internet users are increasingly participating in the kind of digital democracy the internet enables. Relatively new concepts such as the social graph, social networking, citizen journalism and participatory media have emerged that enable people to connect and interact online in entirely new and interesting ways, as well as to si& through the abundance of stu% on the web. Many of these new communication models and mechanisms leverage community participation, or harness the collective ‘wisdom of crowds’.

THE DEMOCRATISATION OF INFORMATION

Source: weblogcartoons.com

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 7 3/6/10 10:12:31 AM




WHO IS LENORE SKENAZY?Lenore Skenazy is a big city newspaper vet (New York Daily News, New York Sun) who has also wri!en for everyone from Reader’s Digest to Mad Magazine -- yes, the Mad Magazine. She also spent several years on TV, "rst at CNBC and then at #e Food Network, generally reporting on wacky trends, including deskercise (exercising at one’s desk) and pancakes the size of hula hoops.

Everything changed in 2008, when she wrote a column about le!ing her 9-year-old take the subway alone. Two days later she found herself on “#e Today Show,” MSNBC, FoxNews and NPR – and eventually on “Dr. Phil,” “#e View,” and media worldwide -- defending herself against charges she’s “America’s Worst Mom.” (But Google that and there she is, 11 million times.) She launched the blog, “Free Range Kids” to explain her parenting philosophy and went on to write the book, “Free-Range Kids.”

Now she lectures about parenting around the world, from community centers to Yale University, to conferences in Europe and Australia.

Skenazy lives in New York City with her husband and two sons, who are not quite as Free-Range as she’d like, but she’s working on it. (And it helps that her older son just lost his iPod Touch, so now he has to come up with something else to do besides just si!ing there, staring at it.) One thing she understands: None of us are a perfect parent.

FREE RANGE KIDSExcerpt from paperback ed.Lenore Skenazy

Sometimes the lady next to you on the Today Show disapproves and you get the funny feeling the host maybe does, too. At least, that’s what happened to me when I was invited on that morning staple to explain the philosophy of Free Range Parenting (and defend my motherhood). It all came about thusly:

About two years ago now I let my nine-year-old son Izzy ride the subway alone. I didn’t do it because I was brave or reckless or had a spare kid at home. (Even though I do.) I did it because I know my son the way you know your kids. He seemed ready, so a$er my husband and I talked about it, we gave him a map, a MetroCard, some money -- and we let him go. #en I wrote a column about it for the New York Sun. Big deal, right?

Well that night, someone from the Today Show called me at home. Did I really let my son take the subway by himself, she asked?

Yes.Just abandoned him in the middle of the city and told him to "nd his way home?

Well, abandoned is kind of a strong word but…yes, I did leave him at Bloomingdale’s. In this day and age?

No, in Ladies’ Handbags. Would I be willing to come on the air and talk about it?

Sure, why not?

I had no idea what was about to hit me. A day later, there across from me sat Ann Curry looking outrageously pre!y – and slightly alarmed – because her next guest just might be criminally insane. By way of introduction she turned to the camera and asked, “Is she an enlightened mom or a really bad one?”

#e shot widened to reveal me, and Izzy (stu%ed with free Today Show mu&ns), and then some other lady perched next to us on that famous couch who, I soon learned, was there to TEACH US A LESSON. I quickly told the story about Izzy’s ride. How this was something he’d been asking my husband I to let him do, and how I think it makes sense to listen to your kids when they’re ready for a new responsibility.

I know riding the subway solo might sound like a bigger responsibility than, say, feeding Goldie the gold"sh, but here in New York, families are on the subway all the time. It’s extremely, even statistically safe. Whatever subterranean terror you see Will Smith ba!ling in the movies goes home with the "lming stops (probably to New Jersey). Our city’s murder rate is back to where it was in 1963 and, by the way, it’s probably down where you live, too. Nationally, the violent crime rate has been plummeting, by almost 50%, since it peaked in 1992. In fact, as you’ll hear in greater detail later in this book: Crime-wise our kids are actually SAFER than we were, at least those of us growing up in the ’70s, ’80s or early ’90s. (Yes. Safer. And not just because all the kids are locked up inside, either. ALL crime is down, even against adults.)

So while I did feel a li!le twinge le!ing Izzy go, it was that same twinge you feel when you leave your child in kindergarten that "rst day. You want it to be a great experience. And in this case: It was. About one hour, one subway, and one bus ride a$er we parted, Izzy was back at home, proud as a peacock (who takes public transportation). And so, Izzy tells Ann Curry on the show: It made him feel grown up. Ann smiles and turns to the other lady who is a “Parenting Expert” -- a term I have grown to loathe because this breed seems to exist only to tell us parents what we are doing wrong and why this will warp our kids forever. #e expert is not smiling. She looks like I just asked her to smell my socks. She is appalled by what I did and says I could have given my son the exact same experience of independence in a much “safer” way – if only I had followed him, or insisted he ride with a group of friends. “Well how is that the ‘exact same experience’ if it’s di%erent?” I demanded. “Besides, he WAS safe. #at’s why I let him go, you fear-mongering hypocrite, preaching independence while warning against it! And why do TV shows automatically put you guys on anyway, lecturing us like two-year-olds? And where are your kids, by the way? Home hiding under the bed?” Well, I didn’t get all of that out, exactly. I did get out a very cogent, “Gee, um…” but anyway, it didn’t even ma!er, because as soon as we le$ the set, the phone rang. It was MSNBC. Could I be there in an hour? Yep. Le$: Lenore Skenazy

with son Izzy, then aged 9

#en came Fox News: Could I come that a$ernoon? And MSNBC again: If I came today would I promise to come on again over the weekend? Yep, yep, yep. And suddenly, weirdly, I found myself at that place you always hear about: #e center of a media storm.

It was kind of fun but kind of terrifying, too, because everyone was weighing in on my in on my parenting skills.

Reporters queried from China, Israel, Australia, Malta. (Malta! An island! Who’s stalking the kids there? Captain Hook?) TV stations threw together specials. Radio shows ate it up. So did parenting groups, newspapers, PTAs, blogs -- everyone from Nightline to NPR to #e View, where the ladies agreed, for perhaps the "rst time about anything, that I was a crazy, horrible, heartless, "ll-in-any-disapproving-adjective-here mother. In fact, the media dubbed me “America’s Worst Mom.” (And now that my older son is 13, sometimes I’m dubbed that at home, too.) But here’s what’s really wild. All that controversy prompted me to start the blog, freerangekids.com. #e blog lead to this book. And that lead #e View ladies to invite me onto their show instead of just yakking about me in absentia. And guess what? #ey’d read the book and loved it! Barbara Walters said it made her feel less guilty for having been a working mom. (Good!) Whoopi said it made her think – and laugh! Sherri Shepherd was out for the day, but even Elisabeth Hasselbeck seemed to approve. ( Joy Behar I accidentally almost poked in the eye with my pen, so she was a li!le less enthused. But still: she liked the book, too.)

Eventually I was even on Dr. Phil. We talked about how, when we hover over our kids for their supposed safety, the message the kids get is that they’re helpless without us. #is may give parents a feeling of importance, but it gives children a feeling of u!er incompetence.

#e audience, which initially held up a sea of hands when asked if they thought I’d done the unthinkable, seemed to take that in: #e idea that if we have con"dence in our kids and we want them to know it, we have to demonstrate it by taking at least a baby step back. And that’s what has been happening more and more as the Free-Range Kids movement takes hold: Parents are taking baby steps, brave steps and sometimes giant leaps toward preparing their kids for the world, instead of shielding them from it. (#is book is "lled with those steps, by the way: Simple tips on how to get started going Free-Range.)

Parents are excited to hear that there is an alternative to “helicopter parenting.” #ey’re glad that there’s an alternative to the fear and shame and neuroses-inducing perfection that had been demanded of them. #ey are happy to hear they can relax a li!le bit and EVERYONE wins, especially the kids. A$er we train our kids to look both ways, wash their hands, and never go o% with strangers – the age-old lessons our parents taught us – we can actually give them the same kind of freedom we had. Go forth and organize a game of kickball, kid! Ride thy bike to the library! Frolic in the woods! And while you’re at it: take out the garbage and rake the leaves, too. #ese are not radical acts. Chores, games and ge!ing the heck out of the house were all a hallowed part of childhood until just recently, and together they help develop the very traits we want to see in our kids: Responsibility, good cheer. #e ability to "nd something fun to do without depending on Steve Jobs. In fact, play itself turns out to be the most important child development booster of all. If it were a class, there would be waiting lists to get in. Free-play, that is. #e kind our kids get rushed through a$er school because they have soccer, and rushed through a$er soccer because they have homework, and rushed through at recess the next day because they have to get

back to class to study their number cubes. (#at’s what my kids’ grammar school calls dice. For real. #e fear is that if kids realize what they’re actually playing with, they may quit second grade and run o% to play craps for the rest of their lives. And we all know it’s just a small step from playing craps to packing a potato peeler.)

Okay. Sorry. Back to PLAY. Studies endorsed by everyone from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the United Nations have found that when kids are allowed free time to play freeze tag, or explore the local woods or -- best of all -- make up their own games, they end up developing the very self-esteem we’ve been trying to Botox into them with praise for every doodle, and trophies for 22nd place. #e idea of raising Free-Range Kids reminds parents of what they already know in their heart of hearts: #at when a girl makes her own tree fort out of two old planks she’s more ecstatic than she’d ever be with a tree house built by Donald Trump. (Especially if he’s in it.) #at the boy who loses for three seasons at lacrosse and then wins in Season Four has learned more – and matured more – than any kid who was told, “We’re all winners!” every single time. And that when any of our kids get lost and scared but then scrappily, happily "nd their way home, they come through that door three inches taller. And really hungry. Kids are desperate to master the world, and we have always expected them to do just that. Until a generation or two ago (and to this day in less wealthy countries), children had to pull their own weight as soon as they could. #ey planted seeds, fetched water. During the Civil War, the girls cut their hair o% to make money for Marmee. (Or at least Jo did in Li!le Women. #at’s good enough for me.)

But today, in our understandable desire to ease their way and keep them safe, we’ve been doing everything FOR our kids. It’s like we’ve outsourced their childhood – to us! (Sorry, Bangalore.) Consider the fact that in some school districts, the Parent Teacher Associations have come up with a clever new way to raise money: #ey auction o% the drop-o% space directly in front of the school entrance. #e sweet spot where kids have to walk the shortest distance between car and class. Now consider the fact that if this spot were in front of a dentist’s o&ce, or mall, it would be labeled, “HANDICAPPED PARKING.”

In other words: For fear of kidnapping, cold, or just asking too much of our kids, loving parents are vying for the right to TREAT THEIR CHILDREN LIKE INVALIDS.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 8 3/6/10 10:12:32 AM




WHO IS LENORE SKENAZY?Lenore Skenazy is a big city newspaper vet (New York Daily News, New York Sun) who has also wri!en for everyone from Reader’s Digest to Mad Magazine -- yes, the Mad Magazine. She also spent several years on TV, "rst at CNBC and then at #e Food Network, generally reporting on wacky trends, including deskercise (exercising at one’s desk) and pancakes the size of hula hoops.

Everything changed in 2008, when she wrote a column about le!ing her 9-year-old take the subway alone. Two days later she found herself on “#e Today Show,” MSNBC, FoxNews and NPR – and eventually on “Dr. Phil,” “#e View,” and media worldwide -- defending herself against charges she’s “America’s Worst Mom.” (But Google that and there she is, 11 million times.) She launched the blog, “Free Range Kids” to explain her parenting philosophy and went on to write the book, “Free-Range Kids.”

Now she lectures about parenting around the world, from community centers to Yale University, to conferences in Europe and Australia.

Skenazy lives in New York City with her husband and two sons, who are not quite as Free-Range as she’d like, but she’s working on it. (And it helps that her older son just lost his iPod Touch, so now he has to come up with something else to do besides just si!ing there, staring at it.) One thing she understands: None of us are a perfect parent.

FREE RANGE KIDSExcerpt from paperback ed.Lenore Skenazy

Sometimes the lady next to you on the Today Show disapproves and you get the funny feeling the host maybe does, too. At least, that’s what happened to me when I was invited on that morning staple to explain the philosophy of Free Range Parenting (and defend my motherhood). It all came about thusly:

About two years ago now I let my nine-year-old son Izzy ride the subway alone. I didn’t do it because I was brave or reckless or had a spare kid at home. (Even though I do.) I did it because I know my son the way you know your kids. He seemed ready, so a$er my husband and I talked about it, we gave him a map, a MetroCard, some money -- and we let him go. #en I wrote a column about it for the New York Sun. Big deal, right?

Well that night, someone from the Today Show called me at home. Did I really let my son take the subway by himself, she asked?

Yes.Just abandoned him in the middle of the city and told him to "nd his way home?

Well, abandoned is kind of a strong word but…yes, I did leave him at Bloomingdale’s. In this day and age?

No, in Ladies’ Handbags. Would I be willing to come on the air and talk about it?

Sure, why not?

I had no idea what was about to hit me. A day later, there across from me sat Ann Curry looking outrageously pre!y – and slightly alarmed – because her next guest just might be criminally insane. By way of introduction she turned to the camera and asked, “Is she an enlightened mom or a really bad one?”

#e shot widened to reveal me, and Izzy (stu%ed with free Today Show mu&ns), and then some other lady perched next to us on that famous couch who, I soon learned, was there to TEACH US A LESSON. I quickly told the story about Izzy’s ride. How this was something he’d been asking my husband I to let him do, and how I think it makes sense to listen to your kids when they’re ready for a new responsibility.

I know riding the subway solo might sound like a bigger responsibility than, say, feeding Goldie the gold"sh, but here in New York, families are on the subway all the time. It’s extremely, even statistically safe. Whatever subterranean terror you see Will Smith ba!ling in the movies goes home with the "lming stops (probably to New Jersey). Our city’s murder rate is back to where it was in 1963 and, by the way, it’s probably down where you live, too. Nationally, the violent crime rate has been plummeting, by almost 50%, since it peaked in 1992. In fact, as you’ll hear in greater detail later in this book: Crime-wise our kids are actually SAFER than we were, at least those of us growing up in the ’70s, ’80s or early ’90s. (Yes. Safer. And not just because all the kids are locked up inside, either. ALL crime is down, even against adults.)

So while I did feel a li!le twinge le!ing Izzy go, it was that same twinge you feel when you leave your child in kindergarten that "rst day. You want it to be a great experience. And in this case: It was. About one hour, one subway, and one bus ride a$er we parted, Izzy was back at home, proud as a peacock (who takes public transportation). And so, Izzy tells Ann Curry on the show: It made him feel grown up. Ann smiles and turns to the other lady who is a “Parenting Expert” -- a term I have grown to loathe because this breed seems to exist only to tell us parents what we are doing wrong and why this will warp our kids forever. #e expert is not smiling. She looks like I just asked her to smell my socks. She is appalled by what I did and says I could have given my son the exact same experience of independence in a much “safer” way – if only I had followed him, or insisted he ride with a group of friends. “Well how is that the ‘exact same experience’ if it’s di%erent?” I demanded. “Besides, he WAS safe. #at’s why I let him go, you fear-mongering hypocrite, preaching independence while warning against it! And why do TV shows automatically put you guys on anyway, lecturing us like two-year-olds? And where are your kids, by the way? Home hiding under the bed?” Well, I didn’t get all of that out, exactly. I did get out a very cogent, “Gee, um…” but anyway, it didn’t even ma!er, because as soon as we le$ the set, the phone rang. It was MSNBC. Could I be there in an hour? Yep. Le$: Lenore Skenazy

with son Izzy, then aged 9

#en came Fox News: Could I come that a$ernoon? And MSNBC again: If I came today would I promise to come on again over the weekend? Yep, yep, yep. And suddenly, weirdly, I found myself at that place you always hear about: #e center of a media storm.

It was kind of fun but kind of terrifying, too, because everyone was weighing in on my in on my parenting skills.

Reporters queried from China, Israel, Australia, Malta. (Malta! An island! Who’s stalking the kids there? Captain Hook?) TV stations threw together specials. Radio shows ate it up. So did parenting groups, newspapers, PTAs, blogs -- everyone from Nightline to NPR to #e View, where the ladies agreed, for perhaps the "rst time about anything, that I was a crazy, horrible, heartless, "ll-in-any-disapproving-adjective-here mother. In fact, the media dubbed me “America’s Worst Mom.” (And now that my older son is 13, sometimes I’m dubbed that at home, too.) But here’s what’s really wild. All that controversy prompted me to start the blog, freerangekids.com. #e blog lead to this book. And that lead #e View ladies to invite me onto their show instead of just yakking about me in absentia. And guess what? #ey’d read the book and loved it! Barbara Walters said it made her feel less guilty for having been a working mom. (Good!) Whoopi said it made her think – and laugh! Sherri Shepherd was out for the day, but even Elisabeth Hasselbeck seemed to approve. ( Joy Behar I accidentally almost poked in the eye with my pen, so she was a li!le less enthused. But still: she liked the book, too.)

Eventually I was even on Dr. Phil. We talked about how, when we hover over our kids for their supposed safety, the message the kids get is that they’re helpless without us. #is may give parents a feeling of importance, but it gives children a feeling of u!er incompetence.

#e audience, which initially held up a sea of hands when asked if they thought I’d done the unthinkable, seemed to take that in: #e idea that if we have con"dence in our kids and we want them to know it, we have to demonstrate it by taking at least a baby step back. And that’s what has been happening more and more as the Free-Range Kids movement takes hold: Parents are taking baby steps, brave steps and sometimes giant leaps toward preparing their kids for the world, instead of shielding them from it. (#is book is "lled with those steps, by the way: Simple tips on how to get started going Free-Range.)

Parents are excited to hear that there is an alternative to “helicopter parenting.” #ey’re glad that there’s an alternative to the fear and shame and neuroses-inducing perfection that had been demanded of them. #ey are happy to hear they can relax a li!le bit and EVERYONE wins, especially the kids. A$er we train our kids to look both ways, wash their hands, and never go o% with strangers – the age-old lessons our parents taught us – we can actually give them the same kind of freedom we had. Go forth and organize a game of kickball, kid! Ride thy bike to the library! Frolic in the woods! And while you’re at it: take out the garbage and rake the leaves, too. #ese are not radical acts. Chores, games and ge!ing the heck out of the house were all a hallowed part of childhood until just recently, and together they help develop the very traits we want to see in our kids: Responsibility, good cheer. #e ability to "nd something fun to do without depending on Steve Jobs. In fact, play itself turns out to be the most important child development booster of all. If it were a class, there would be waiting lists to get in. Free-play, that is. #e kind our kids get rushed through a$er school because they have soccer, and rushed through a$er soccer because they have homework, and rushed through at recess the next day because they have to get

back to class to study their number cubes. (#at’s what my kids’ grammar school calls dice. For real. #e fear is that if kids realize what they’re actually playing with, they may quit second grade and run o% to play craps for the rest of their lives. And we all know it’s just a small step from playing craps to packing a potato peeler.)

Okay. Sorry. Back to PLAY. Studies endorsed by everyone from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the United Nations have found that when kids are allowed free time to play freeze tag, or explore the local woods or -- best of all -- make up their own games, they end up developing the very self-esteem we’ve been trying to Botox into them with praise for every doodle, and trophies for 22nd place. #e idea of raising Free-Range Kids reminds parents of what they already know in their heart of hearts: #at when a girl makes her own tree fort out of two old planks she’s more ecstatic than she’d ever be with a tree house built by Donald Trump. (Especially if he’s in it.) #at the boy who loses for three seasons at lacrosse and then wins in Season Four has learned more – and matured more – than any kid who was told, “We’re all winners!” every single time. And that when any of our kids get lost and scared but then scrappily, happily "nd their way home, they come through that door three inches taller. And really hungry. Kids are desperate to master the world, and we have always expected them to do just that. Until a generation or two ago (and to this day in less wealthy countries), children had to pull their own weight as soon as they could. #ey planted seeds, fetched water. During the Civil War, the girls cut their hair o% to make money for Marmee. (Or at least Jo did in Li!le Women. #at’s good enough for me.)

But today, in our understandable desire to ease their way and keep them safe, we’ve been doing everything FOR our kids. It’s like we’ve outsourced their childhood – to us! (Sorry, Bangalore.) Consider the fact that in some school districts, the Parent Teacher Associations have come up with a clever new way to raise money: #ey auction o% the drop-o% space directly in front of the school entrance. #e sweet spot where kids have to walk the shortest distance between car and class. Now consider the fact that if this spot were in front of a dentist’s o&ce, or mall, it would be labeled, “HANDICAPPED PARKING.”

In other words: For fear of kidnapping, cold, or just asking too much of our kids, loving parents are vying for the right to TREAT THEIR CHILDREN LIKE INVALIDS.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 9 3/6/10 10:12:36 AM




THE CUPCAKE PARLOURAmiee Oliver, aka !e Crazy Cupcake Ladywww.thecupcakeparlour.com.au

Welcome to a world of delicious delight, the world of Amiee Oliver, founder and director of !e Cupcake Parlour. !e Cupcake Parlour is a boutique cupcake business that turns your desert dreams into reality and a place where the sweetest of sweet resides on top of the caramel cheesecake cupcakes.

At the tender age of 21, Aimee realised the cult cupcake following she had inspired and decided to take her business to the next level from her humble beginnings of sharing a small commercial kitchen and transporting her signature delights to local markets. Risking it all to open her doors in West End, Aimee now creates cupcakes for her West End and her second green grassed, pink and white striped store in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.

With all her successes Aimee never fails to pay it forward. !e Cupcake Parlour continues to support local charities and events with everything from Pam Anderson or Nicole Richie ‘booby cupcakes’ for the Breast Cancer Foundation to ‘mustachio cupcakes’ for Movember; and ‘turd on grass’ cupcakes for Cupcake Day for the RSPCA.

When questioned about what the future holds for !e Cupcake Parlour Aimee’s answer remains the same as when she "rst baked her "rst batch of [moist vanilla based strawberry sundae bu#er cream icing topped cupcakes; her answer is world cupcake domination.

MU’OOZ ERITREAN DININGEritrean Australian Women & Families Support Network Association INC.

Saba Abraham, Founder Mu’ooz Restaurantwww.muooz.com.au

!e experience of being a refugee in Australia can be a tough one. !e support shown to me when I arrived in Australia 17 years ago from Eritrea was important in helping me make Australia home and in turn to be able to welcome others to our beloved country.

I and other Eritrean Women started Mu’ooz restaurant in 2008 with the aim of bringing a unique cultural dining experience to Brisbane and to create paid employment for newly arrived women and their families from a refugee background from Africa.

By organising a Refugee Support Dinner at Mu’ooz, you can both assist in welcoming newly arrived refugees to Brisbane as well as enjoy a cultural culinary experience whilst supporting the employment of refugee women.

At Mu’ooz Eritrean Restaurant & Catering:Mu’ooz we have a range of di$erent catering menu options to suit your private function or corporate event. From our deliciously di$erent traditional "nger food to our tasty pla#ers for a more substantial meal or the bu$et option including salad and dessertOur traditional Co$ee Ceremony may be another option you may like to consider.

Call us on (07) 3255 8992

WICKED SISTERSGeo" Hamle#, Directorwww.wickedsisters.com.au

Catering is just one of the services that’s on o$er at Wicked Sisters Café which is located in Hawthorne close to the city. Clive Pearce, Head Chef and Manager along with the sta$ o$er a unique dining experience at their daytime café. Great breakfasts, lunches and co$ee with friendly service make this a great place to rendezvous for your business lunches or simply to catch up with friends to satisfy your craving for a good feed.

Clive’s emphasis is on changing the way our children eat. He uses only local suppliers and serves up fresh, wholesome food as well as catering for individual needs. !e café is open 7 days from 6.30am Monday through Friday and 7am till 3 pm weekends. Contact: 216 Riding Road, Hawthorne. Phone: 07 33995539 for bookings.

Suppliers used for and contributing to YPAA Symposium:

Our Li#le Angel Cakes (0403981471)Carina Fresh (fruit and vegetables – Z33985420)Carina North Meats (33984373)Queensland Quality Foods (38561041)Los Dos Hermanos (Mario - "ne foods – 0424033056)!e Bakers Corner – Carina (0411066938)

EATING IS ARTCelebrating our commonality, learning from our individuality, experiencing our stories: everybody eats. By Tricia Martin $om Portland OregonAh, sugar–we go way back–as far back as I can remember, actually. I would go into the kitchen and bake something when I felt bored, alone, or entertaining myself. I have a very clear memory about how I started baking: I was maybe 8 or 9 and I had been bugging my mom quite a bit about “being bored”. I’m so bored! I would whine to her. She would ra#le o$ her regular list of things I could go and occupy myself with: go play outside, read a book, play with your dollhouse (yes, I interior decorated that thing like you would not believe!), and she’d always throw in “you could always do some chores” in which case I usually found myself something to do pre#y quickly. But one day, she added to the list, bake some cookies, and I thought “hey, I can bake some cookies!”. It was one of those self-realization childhood moments–yes, I CAN do that! For an eight or nine year old, that was pre#y big.Source: h#p://www.eatingisart.com/

Please drop by and support your local foodies who support us in so many ways from creating delicious treats to ensuring we stay health to giving us new dining experiences.

BRISBANE – TO – BRUSSLES Lenine Bourke recently asked all of the presenters at the YPAA Symposium a series of questions, about broad issues relating to issues of democratising culture – the following is an excerpt form the interview with Alexander Devreindt.

Lenine: What do you think the term “democratision of culture” could actually mean?

Alexander: !at art always seems to "nd a way to be embraced by more than the happy few, a process depending on the artists reacting against what happened and what was created before them, and reacting against or re%ecting on what happens in the world and the time they live in.

Lenine: What is one example of this in regards to children and young people’s in%uence in the arts and cultural sectors?

Alexander: !e joy of experiencing art for the "rst time as something that helps you grasp the world you grow up in is an experience artists and programmers have to provide youngsters, but even in times where this is not possible or when the participation is neglected children or young people will "ll in this void for themselves.

Lenine: What do you think is one of the most in%uential changes to the lives of children and / or young people in contemporary Australia / your country?

Alexander: Young people in my country nowadays, and I think all over the Western world know more of the problems of the world surrounding them, which makes it more di&cult than ever to react against all these challenges.

Lenine: How do you engage children and young people in your work?

Alexander: In a creative process where they collaborate with me to create an artistically relevant performance for adults, professionals and youngsters all over the western world. I never want to use them as vessels for my own ideas but to incorporate the words and ideas they provide.

Lenine: Do you think children and young people have a place in shaping the arts and cultural sectors in Australia / or your country?

Alexander: Of course, but the main challenge is for adults is to provide chances and opportunities for them, without imposing own ideas or holding their hands along the way.

WHO IS ALEXANDER DEVRIENDT?

Alexander Devriendt is the Artistic Director of Belgian company Ontroerend Goed. One of their most recent productions, Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen is performed by thirteen teenagers, who have travelled around the globe as a result of the performance’s international acclaim. Alexander’s past work for the company includes the creation and performance in !e Smile O" Your Face and Internal. His other direction for the company includes Under the In%uence. His productions have played in the United Kingdom and across Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. His past productions have been awarded the Scotsman Fringe First, the Herald Angel Award, the Adelaide Fringe Award, and the Total !eatre Award.

Above: Alexander Devriendt & Ontroerend Goed’s production Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen.View: h#p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLm7H_S-YWsOntroerend Goed: h#p://www.ontroerendgoed.be/projects.php

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 10 3/6/10 10:12:37 AM




THE CUPCAKE PARLOURAmiee Oliver, aka !e Crazy Cupcake Ladywww.thecupcakeparlour.com.au

Welcome to a world of delicious delight, the world of Amiee Oliver, founder and director of !e Cupcake Parlour. !e Cupcake Parlour is a boutique cupcake business that turns your desert dreams into reality and a place where the sweetest of sweet resides on top of the caramel cheesecake cupcakes.

At the tender age of 21, Aimee realised the cult cupcake following she had inspired and decided to take her business to the next level from her humble beginnings of sharing a small commercial kitchen and transporting her signature delights to local markets. Risking it all to open her doors in West End, Aimee now creates cupcakes for her West End and her second green grassed, pink and white striped store in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.

With all her successes Aimee never fails to pay it forward. !e Cupcake Parlour continues to support local charities and events with everything from Pam Anderson or Nicole Richie ‘booby cupcakes’ for the Breast Cancer Foundation to ‘mustachio cupcakes’ for Movember; and ‘turd on grass’ cupcakes for Cupcake Day for the RSPCA.

When questioned about what the future holds for !e Cupcake Parlour Aimee’s answer remains the same as when she "rst baked her "rst batch of [moist vanilla based strawberry sundae bu#er cream icing topped cupcakes; her answer is world cupcake domination.

MU’OOZ ERITREAN DININGEritrean Australian Women & Families Support Network Association INC.

Saba Abraham, Founder Mu’ooz Restaurantwww.muooz.com.au

!e experience of being a refugee in Australia can be a tough one. !e support shown to me when I arrived in Australia 17 years ago from Eritrea was important in helping me make Australia home and in turn to be able to welcome others to our beloved country.

I and other Eritrean Women started Mu’ooz restaurant in 2008 with the aim of bringing a unique cultural dining experience to Brisbane and to create paid employment for newly arrived women and their families from a refugee background from Africa.

By organising a Refugee Support Dinner at Mu’ooz, you can both assist in welcoming newly arrived refugees to Brisbane as well as enjoy a cultural culinary experience whilst supporting the employment of refugee women.

At Mu’ooz Eritrean Restaurant & Catering:Mu’ooz we have a range of di$erent catering menu options to suit your private function or corporate event. From our deliciously di$erent traditional "nger food to our tasty pla#ers for a more substantial meal or the bu$et option including salad and dessertOur traditional Co$ee Ceremony may be another option you may like to consider.

Call us on (07) 3255 8992

WICKED SISTERSGeo" Hamle#, Directorwww.wickedsisters.com.au

Catering is just one of the services that’s on o$er at Wicked Sisters Café which is located in Hawthorne close to the city. Clive Pearce, Head Chef and Manager along with the sta$ o$er a unique dining experience at their daytime café. Great breakfasts, lunches and co$ee with friendly service make this a great place to rendezvous for your business lunches or simply to catch up with friends to satisfy your craving for a good feed.

Clive’s emphasis is on changing the way our children eat. He uses only local suppliers and serves up fresh, wholesome food as well as catering for individual needs. !e café is open 7 days from 6.30am Monday through Friday and 7am till 3 pm weekends. Contact: 216 Riding Road, Hawthorne. Phone: 07 33995539 for bookings.

Suppliers used for and contributing to YPAA Symposium:

Our Li#le Angel Cakes (0403981471)Carina Fresh (fruit and vegetables – Z33985420)Carina North Meats (33984373)Queensland Quality Foods (38561041)Los Dos Hermanos (Mario - "ne foods – 0424033056)!e Bakers Corner – Carina (0411066938)

EATING IS ARTCelebrating our commonality, learning from our individuality, experiencing our stories: everybody eats. By Tricia Martin $om Portland OregonAh, sugar–we go way back–as far back as I can remember, actually. I would go into the kitchen and bake something when I felt bored, alone, or entertaining myself. I have a very clear memory about how I started baking: I was maybe 8 or 9 and I had been bugging my mom quite a bit about “being bored”. I’m so bored! I would whine to her. She would ra#le o$ her regular list of things I could go and occupy myself with: go play outside, read a book, play with your dollhouse (yes, I interior decorated that thing like you would not believe!), and she’d always throw in “you could always do some chores” in which case I usually found myself something to do pre#y quickly. But one day, she added to the list, bake some cookies, and I thought “hey, I can bake some cookies!”. It was one of those self-realization childhood moments–yes, I CAN do that! For an eight or nine year old, that was pre#y big.Source: h#p://www.eatingisart.com/

Please drop by and support your local foodies who support us in so many ways from creating delicious treats to ensuring we stay health to giving us new dining experiences.

BRISBANE – TO – BRUSSLES Lenine Bourke recently asked all of the presenters at the YPAA Symposium a series of questions, about broad issues relating to issues of democratising culture – the following is an excerpt form the interview with Alexander Devreindt.

Lenine: What do you think the term “democratision of culture” could actually mean?

Alexander: !at art always seems to "nd a way to be embraced by more than the happy few, a process depending on the artists reacting against what happened and what was created before them, and reacting against or re%ecting on what happens in the world and the time they live in.

Lenine: What is one example of this in regards to children and young people’s in%uence in the arts and cultural sectors?

Alexander: !e joy of experiencing art for the "rst time as something that helps you grasp the world you grow up in is an experience artists and programmers have to provide youngsters, but even in times where this is not possible or when the participation is neglected children or young people will "ll in this void for themselves.

Lenine: What do you think is one of the most in%uential changes to the lives of children and / or young people in contemporary Australia / your country?

Alexander: Young people in my country nowadays, and I think all over the Western world know more of the problems of the world surrounding them, which makes it more di&cult than ever to react against all these challenges.

Lenine: How do you engage children and young people in your work?

Alexander: In a creative process where they collaborate with me to create an artistically relevant performance for adults, professionals and youngsters all over the western world. I never want to use them as vessels for my own ideas but to incorporate the words and ideas they provide.

Lenine: Do you think children and young people have a place in shaping the arts and cultural sectors in Australia / or your country?

Alexander: Of course, but the main challenge is for adults is to provide chances and opportunities for them, without imposing own ideas or holding their hands along the way.

WHO IS ALEXANDER DEVRIENDT?

Alexander Devriendt is the Artistic Director of Belgian company Ontroerend Goed. One of their most recent productions, Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen is performed by thirteen teenagers, who have travelled around the globe as a result of the performance’s international acclaim. Alexander’s past work for the company includes the creation and performance in !e Smile O" Your Face and Internal. His other direction for the company includes Under the In%uence. His productions have played in the United Kingdom and across Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. His past productions have been awarded the Scotsman Fringe First, the Herald Angel Award, the Adelaide Fringe Award, and the Total !eatre Award.

Above: Alexander Devriendt & Ontroerend Goed’s production Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen.View: h#p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLm7H_S-YWsOntroerend Goed: h#p://www.ontroerendgoed.be/projects.php

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 11 3/6/10 10:12:38 AM




In-View is a fortnightly open door studio and forum for emerging artists, who need a place to connect with peers. Free use of the rehearsal studio can be negotiated for personal practice. In return a commitment to participate in a showing of short works in development takes place at the end of the 6-month period. !e showing at the end of the In-View program is for a small, intimate group and the group decides the audience will be.

!e true a"raction of In-View is the opportunity to talk process, critique shows seen, seek assistance with grant applications, forge new creative relationships, experiment in the studio with new people and be mentored by older artists. !is process contributes to the development of young artists who are very driven and very keen to take on advice.

While not as savvy in the “I can get something for nothing” department, they are de#nitely interested in the networking process and want to learn more about it. !is empowerment through collective learning is a democratic process in action.

In-View is free of charge, not funded, voluntary and not compulsory, no public outcome pressure, no bums on seats, and in its own informal way, has sustained an appeal for the emerging artists who form this small creative community. In-View is very much about an ongoing conversation about art, story-making and the industry that they are now a part of. It is not a one-o$ project that is outcome focused. Unlike Anglo pedagogical models, this is the cross-generational village café, rooted in old school Community Cultural Development patient process, heart-on-sleeve communication and can-do ethos.

UP-STAGE IT! By Andy Ko and Powerhouse Youth !eatre (PYT).

PYT is the leading youth theatre company in Western Sydney. By engaging with young people from across the region, PYT creates new, innovative and inclusive performing arts opportunities led by collaborative processes and participation. Since 2007, Andy Ko has been liaising, collaborating and scheming with PYT to support the development of young people in the arts in Western Sydney, through creative platforms. UP STAGE IT! program works with high schools with a"ached Intensive English

Centres (IEC) providing opportunities for newly arrived young people of all backgrounds in the South West Sydney region. !e program aims to nurture potential new emerging artists by partnering with schools to build capacity for both students and teachers.

As Creative Producer for UP STAGE IT!, Andy Ko provides consultation on project needs and appropriate approaches to engage young people in school through the arts. He works directly with teachers and project artists to manage and develop workshop activities.

!e approach is aimed at developing a personal engagement with the process of making original Devised !eatre performance. It is expected that teachers draw from their insights and re%ections gained in these workshops, as well as experiences and observations from the student workshops, to further enhance their own classroom practice.

Part Two the program is an a&er school program for students (open to all students including those from IEC), where a performance is presented at the school location for the school body, and at a local arts centre for a public audience.

!ese extension workshops are aimed at nurturing young emerging playwrights, performers, and directors through a professional showcase of original short plays. It is intended to extend existing skills in students with prior study in Drama or playwriting.

Responding to an expressed need for professional development for teachers to develop a viable model to work inclusively with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students.

In general, this two-part program is designed to actively encourage schools to move from an assessment and careers based model of drama education, towards wider personal and professional aims by working through the faculty of the school that understands those bene#ts.

!e engagement model builds upon the success of the new plays in Up Stage it! project by working with students at school #rst, then in further development in unfamiliar environment of an arts venue and by doing this with close and integrated follow up.

Two unique processes have led these projects in Western Sydney; each designed to cater for the targeted groups and individual.

Artists are now coming into the region to seek work and to witness the process that theatre makers and art workers are using to create work for the stage. We are seeing our mainstream cousins visit a li"le more regularly our community agencies; and Western Sydney art companies are beginning to use community-based models to engage participants and audiences. In this unique region, the minorities – the newly arrived communities, the emerging non-Anglo artists, and the #rst-third generations of Australians – are now the majority in a community of artists, arts organisations and practitioners.

!e mainstream has led the Australian Arts practice for too long. !ere needs to be an exchange of skills and ideas of practice and process throughout the whole arts family, but in order for this to happen our mainstream cousins need to be open to the idea and be ready to make a change. And only then can a true representation of Australian stories be played out on our main stages.

Will there be a time when we do not have to highlight the diversity of our practice, deconstruct the cultures, the languages? Will there be a time when we just get on with it and it just is?... “I don’t know cuz?”

Claudia Chidiac,Freelance theatre director & ProducerClaudia is a theatre director, producer and performance artist who has among other projects worked extensively with young people, migrant and refugee communities. From 2005 until 2010 she was the artistic director of Powerhouse Youth !eatre (PYT) in South West Sydney, where she was responsible for directing the company’s artistic program and developing training opportunities for emerging artists in Western Sydney. In 2006 Claudia was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Young Leaders Award; In 2004 the Arts NSW Western Sydney Artist Fellowship. In 2002 she was one of ten young Australians selected to a"end an international summer school in Wales for young change makers.

WHAT LANGUAGE SHOULD THE SHOW BE IN?Culturally diverse practitioners are bringing community based practice to the main stage, challenges and revelations.Claudia Chidiac

I am not a writer or academic but a cultural arts worker who has worked alongside communities in Western Sydney. What I share in this paper are observations that have evolved from my experiences in art, creation, community cultural development and management.

The language of a theatremaker is not the issue, rather, it is the way in which the theatre maker creates his/her work. !is paper will address the various models of community based practice by culturally diverse practitioners in Western Sydney, NSW. !e community practice model stems from a history of migration, se"lement and exclusion from the mainstream.

“I think there is an assumption or misconception that language is a barrier or border or even an issue in more diverse artists ge!ing their work to the mainstage or screen. Anglo people have no problem remembering non-Anglo food items i.e. baba ghanouj, bocconcini, pho etc or watching an opera in Italian, German – or watching an international company perform in French, Spanish, Flemish with subtitles. Why then is there an assumption then that our languages or indeed our hybrid new languages will impede our progress in telling our stories on Australian screens and stages?” Lina Kastoumis.

Recently, I a"ended an evening of short works that were developed with emerging play writers from Western Sydney, an initiative to #ll in the very clear gap of culturally diverse stories being represented on Australian mainstream stages. I understand the intention behind the initiative, however, I could not help but re%ect on the history of theatre and art practice that preceded this and was intrinsic to my own practice as a theatre maker - especially in Western Sydney.Mainstream arts has generally excluded the practice and processes of culturally diverse practitioners. !e ‘culturally diverse’ have fought for a place where their work could be recognised, whilst advocating for the rights of minority groups to have access to the arts.

Historically, community models of engagement and youth arts practices have been put down as the poor cousin, politely pa"ed on the back or even seen as radical by some, but certainly not proclaimed as professional theatre practice. As a result, new processes and practices have been forged.

Western Sydney is home to some of the most innovative arts organisations and artists currently produced in Australia. It is the most culturally diverse region in Australia, home to the largest migrant, refugee and urban Indigenous populations in the country. In this region, artists and companies are developing models that encompass community-based practice alongside traditional and contemporary art forms. !e “individual leader” model is unsustainable and unworkable here. !e model that is utilised in Western Sydney is about developing capacities of marginalised groups and socially excluded communities so that everyone participates in determining how they express themselves and how they create and produce work.

Recent models of community engagement that have been developed in response to a series of ‘lacks’ – lack of space, access, funding, and creative support. !ese initiatives are led by artists who have a commitment to developing access and processes that allow for choices to be made and are re%ective of people, places and spaces.

!e two projects of note are In-View an initiative of Lina Kastoumis, produced by Urban !eatre Projects; and Up Stage It!, conceived and led by Andy Ko and produced by Powerhouse Youth !eatre.

IN-VIEW: Urban !eatre Projects Urban !eatre Projects (UTP) creates distinctive new performances for Australian and international audiences that re%ect stories and images of contemporary life. Engaging with diverse cultures and communities, the company explores new territory in contemporary arts practice and collaborative processes through a synthesis of artists, site, ideas and public dialogue.

Lina Kastoumis is an artist who has a performance and writing background. She has a strong commitment to creating opportunities for emerging artists in the region.

Above: ‘I Do But’ Publicity Photos - Fair#eld Hannah

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 12 3/6/10 10:12:39 AM




In-View is a fortnightly open door studio and forum for emerging artists, who need a place to connect with peers. Free use of the rehearsal studio can be negotiated for personal practice. In return a commitment to participate in a showing of short works in development takes place at the end of the 6-month period. !e showing at the end of the In-View program is for a small, intimate group and the group decides the audience will be.

!e true a"raction of In-View is the opportunity to talk process, critique shows seen, seek assistance with grant applications, forge new creative relationships, experiment in the studio with new people and be mentored by older artists. !is process contributes to the development of young artists who are very driven and very keen to take on advice.

While not as savvy in the “I can get something for nothing” department, they are de#nitely interested in the networking process and want to learn more about it. !is empowerment through collective learning is a democratic process in action.

In-View is free of charge, not funded, voluntary and not compulsory, no public outcome pressure, no bums on seats, and in its own informal way, has sustained an appeal for the emerging artists who form this small creative community. In-View is very much about an ongoing conversation about art, story-making and the industry that they are now a part of. It is not a one-o$ project that is outcome focused. Unlike Anglo pedagogical models, this is the cross-generational village café, rooted in old school Community Cultural Development patient process, heart-on-sleeve communication and can-do ethos.

UP-STAGE IT! By Andy Ko and Powerhouse Youth !eatre (PYT).

PYT is the leading youth theatre company in Western Sydney. By engaging with young people from across the region, PYT creates new, innovative and inclusive performing arts opportunities led by collaborative processes and participation. Since 2007, Andy Ko has been liaising, collaborating and scheming with PYT to support the development of young people in the arts in Western Sydney, through creative platforms. UP STAGE IT! program works with high schools with a"ached Intensive English

Centres (IEC) providing opportunities for newly arrived young people of all backgrounds in the South West Sydney region. !e program aims to nurture potential new emerging artists by partnering with schools to build capacity for both students and teachers.

As Creative Producer for UP STAGE IT!, Andy Ko provides consultation on project needs and appropriate approaches to engage young people in school through the arts. He works directly with teachers and project artists to manage and develop workshop activities.

!e approach is aimed at developing a personal engagement with the process of making original Devised !eatre performance. It is expected that teachers draw from their insights and re%ections gained in these workshops, as well as experiences and observations from the student workshops, to further enhance their own classroom practice.

Part Two the program is an a&er school program for students (open to all students including those from IEC), where a performance is presented at the school location for the school body, and at a local arts centre for a public audience.

!ese extension workshops are aimed at nurturing young emerging playwrights, performers, and directors through a professional showcase of original short plays. It is intended to extend existing skills in students with prior study in Drama or playwriting.

Responding to an expressed need for professional development for teachers to develop a viable model to work inclusively with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students.

In general, this two-part program is designed to actively encourage schools to move from an assessment and careers based model of drama education, towards wider personal and professional aims by working through the faculty of the school that understands those bene#ts.

!e engagement model builds upon the success of the new plays in Up Stage it! project by working with students at school #rst, then in further development in unfamiliar environment of an arts venue and by doing this with close and integrated follow up.

Two unique processes have led these projects in Western Sydney; each designed to cater for the targeted groups and individual.

Artists are now coming into the region to seek work and to witness the process that theatre makers and art workers are using to create work for the stage. We are seeing our mainstream cousins visit a li"le more regularly our community agencies; and Western Sydney art companies are beginning to use community-based models to engage participants and audiences. In this unique region, the minorities – the newly arrived communities, the emerging non-Anglo artists, and the #rst-third generations of Australians – are now the majority in a community of artists, arts organisations and practitioners.

!e mainstream has led the Australian Arts practice for too long. !ere needs to be an exchange of skills and ideas of practice and process throughout the whole arts family, but in order for this to happen our mainstream cousins need to be open to the idea and be ready to make a change. And only then can a true representation of Australian stories be played out on our main stages.

Will there be a time when we do not have to highlight the diversity of our practice, deconstruct the cultures, the languages? Will there be a time when we just get on with it and it just is?... “I don’t know cuz?”

Claudia Chidiac,Freelance theatre director & ProducerClaudia is a theatre director, producer and performance artist who has among other projects worked extensively with young people, migrant and refugee communities. From 2005 until 2010 she was the artistic director of Powerhouse Youth !eatre (PYT) in South West Sydney, where she was responsible for directing the company’s artistic program and developing training opportunities for emerging artists in Western Sydney. In 2006 Claudia was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Young Leaders Award; In 2004 the Arts NSW Western Sydney Artist Fellowship. In 2002 she was one of ten young Australians selected to a"end an international summer school in Wales for young change makers.

WHAT LANGUAGE SHOULD THE SHOW BE IN?Culturally diverse practitioners are bringing community based practice to the main stage, challenges and revelations.Claudia Chidiac

I am not a writer or academic but a cultural arts worker who has worked alongside communities in Western Sydney. What I share in this paper are observations that have evolved from my experiences in art, creation, community cultural development and management.

The language of a theatremaker is not the issue, rather, it is the way in which the theatre maker creates his/her work. !is paper will address the various models of community based practice by culturally diverse practitioners in Western Sydney, NSW. !e community practice model stems from a history of migration, se"lement and exclusion from the mainstream.

“I think there is an assumption or misconception that language is a barrier or border or even an issue in more diverse artists ge!ing their work to the mainstage or screen. Anglo people have no problem remembering non-Anglo food items i.e. baba ghanouj, bocconcini, pho etc or watching an opera in Italian, German – or watching an international company perform in French, Spanish, Flemish with subtitles. Why then is there an assumption then that our languages or indeed our hybrid new languages will impede our progress in telling our stories on Australian screens and stages?” Lina Kastoumis.

Recently, I a"ended an evening of short works that were developed with emerging play writers from Western Sydney, an initiative to #ll in the very clear gap of culturally diverse stories being represented on Australian mainstream stages. I understand the intention behind the initiative, however, I could not help but re%ect on the history of theatre and art practice that preceded this and was intrinsic to my own practice as a theatre maker - especially in Western Sydney.Mainstream arts has generally excluded the practice and processes of culturally diverse practitioners. !e ‘culturally diverse’ have fought for a place where their work could be recognised, whilst advocating for the rights of minority groups to have access to the arts.

Historically, community models of engagement and youth arts practices have been put down as the poor cousin, politely pa"ed on the back or even seen as radical by some, but certainly not proclaimed as professional theatre practice. As a result, new processes and practices have been forged.

Western Sydney is home to some of the most innovative arts organisations and artists currently produced in Australia. It is the most culturally diverse region in Australia, home to the largest migrant, refugee and urban Indigenous populations in the country. In this region, artists and companies are developing models that encompass community-based practice alongside traditional and contemporary art forms. !e “individual leader” model is unsustainable and unworkable here. !e model that is utilised in Western Sydney is about developing capacities of marginalised groups and socially excluded communities so that everyone participates in determining how they express themselves and how they create and produce work.

Recent models of community engagement that have been developed in response to a series of ‘lacks’ – lack of space, access, funding, and creative support. !ese initiatives are led by artists who have a commitment to developing access and processes that allow for choices to be made and are re%ective of people, places and spaces.

!e two projects of note are In-View an initiative of Lina Kastoumis, produced by Urban !eatre Projects; and Up Stage It!, conceived and led by Andy Ko and produced by Powerhouse Youth !eatre.

IN-VIEW: Urban !eatre Projects Urban !eatre Projects (UTP) creates distinctive new performances for Australian and international audiences that re%ect stories and images of contemporary life. Engaging with diverse cultures and communities, the company explores new territory in contemporary arts practice and collaborative processes through a synthesis of artists, site, ideas and public dialogue.

Lina Kastoumis is an artist who has a performance and writing background. She has a strong commitment to creating opportunities for emerging artists in the region.

Above: ‘I Do But’ Publicity Photos - Fair#eld Hannah

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 13 3/6/10 10:12:40 AM




Hannah Saurez, 22 explains how embracing changing technology has impacted on her creative, cultural and social life.

From my teens, I have been able to engage through social networks with people locally, interstate and internationally, which has resulted in engaging with people IRL (in real life). When I started blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Flickr-ing, and more all those years ago, I didn’t think I would have been introduced to corporate, non-for-pro!ts, academics and professionals, let alone be introduced as an ‘expert in social media’.

Social networking is a tool that empowers children and young people, and it is growing in popularity.

I think that empowerment via social networking and social media is the yellow brick road to the democratisation of culture by children and young people within their online habitats which in turn creates a ripple e"ect across other habitats – school, community, work.

Young people and children can feel empowered as a result of individual self-realisation (via a personal blog post) to participation in the democratisation of culture (via a discussion or debate around a video commenting about community issues in YouTube).

My story of empowerment is a personal one and it fuels me even today within in my personal, community and industry !elds. I am 22 this year, and I have been using social media and networking technologies as a tool to empower myself and my creativity for almost 11 years now.

Back then there was no Facebook, Ning or MySpace. #e ‘social’ online media was in the form platforms such as Geocities, Tripod, Maxpages and Angel!re. #ese sites o"ered free, easy web hosting tools that allowed many people to create websites. My !rst website, at a young age, was about Pokemon and it allowed me to connect with other Pokemon fans, and eventually lead me to branch out to other web designers and online based creative projects for many years to come. I started a Facebook account at the end of 2007, I would never have realised three years later, this social networking site would become integral to what I do today. Or that the “Brisbane Creative Industries” Facebook Group, would go beyond the walls of the site and spill out towards ‘the real world’.

I am still delving into events, online media and entrepreneurship via self-facilitated projects such as Brisbane Creative Industries and other projects. I have realised that I can match my love of design and online media with both personal and community work “o" screen”.

h$p://www.briscreativeindustries.com/

THE DEMOCRATISATION OF CULTURE BY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKING

“I think that empowerment via social networking and social media is the yellow brick road to the democratisation of culture by children and young people within their online habitats which in turn creates a ripple e!ect across other habitats”

Photo: Hannah Saurez, by Glenn Kelly photography

Matt Falon, Creative Production Manager, The Edge, State Library of Queensland

Creativity, technology and community are all intrinsically connected. In fact, there is a small family of beeping, chirping technological automatons living on my desk. #ere’s papa bear MacBook Pro with a 15in monitor (all the be$er to see you with), his snappy progeny iPhone, Princess Leia look-alike headphones, aging 80s funster Nintendo Game and Watch, a VOIP phone, an original !rst generation iPod and a back-up 23in monitor just in case he needs more screen real-estate.

#e Edge % #e State Library of Queensland’s youth space for creativity % is the ideal place for my gadget family. Spaces like #e Edge that provide access to digital resources, an informal learning environment and a meeting place for creative young people are increasingly important in the cultural landscape.

I did much of my growing up in Canberra and by 20 I was co-running several !lm festivals and a small !lm production company. I’ve !lmed documentaries in typhoon ravaged Bangladesh and taught audio visual production to Filipinos below a smoldering volcano. It’s an exciting time to be back in Australia - and not just for the warm showers and cold beverages; there are big ideas taking shape, technologies maturing and we’re on the verge of some very exciting things.

I’m part of the !rst generation of digital natives – I’ve always had computers in my life. In my early teen years I designed a game in Q-basic, which is just a natural extension of playing games. It’s only on re&ection that I realise what an interesting cultural phenomenon that bedroom digital production really is.

Apps, MMORPGs, and alternate reality games aren’t digital culture to young wired in people. #ey are culture, plain and simple. #ere is no separation between the online and the physical, the online

is simply a tool to achieve an end. It’s a data rich world and we’re on the edge of a very interesting shi' in the way that information, art and cultural products are generated, transmi$ed, consumed and understood.

Australia is taking a leading hand in de!ning what the future of creativity is, and #e Edge is an ideal place to get downloading, digitising, tweeting and circuit bending in the name of experimentation. In our physical space you can record a demo in the sound studio, jump on a ki$ed-out computer and plot your online empire, create a killer robot in the mobile and physical lab, or simply kick back and chat to the graphic designers, journalists and researchers who work there. And that’s just the physical space.

www.theedge.slq.qld.gov.au

DIGITAL LIFE ON THE EDGE

“Last week on the train I watched a three-year old girl navigate her mother’s mobile phone. She had a spatial, conceptual and technological grasp of what that pocket-sized black box could do – games, or Grandma’s voice, or taking photos of a puppy.

I was amazed: that child’s brain will develop completely differently to mine, a brain that grew up without mobiles, without internet, without Twitter, that shared photos between hands. The way we understand information and share ideas has shifted fundamentally in the last twenty years.

“Culture” is no longer a civilising force – much more potentially, it’s entirely immersed in how we process knowledge. If this is a shift led and shaped by children and young people, what are the possibilities for our culture in the next century?

YPAA’s symposium is a vital and timely exploration of these issues, and the Edge is the perfect site in which to have these discussions”.

Emily Sexton, Creative Producer,

“It’s a data rich world and we’re on the edge of a very interesting shi" in the way information, art and cultural products are generated, transmi#ed, consumed and understood”.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 14 3/6/10 10:12:41 AM




Hannah Saurez, 22 explains how embracing changing technology has impacted on her creative, cultural and social life.

From my teens, I have been able to engage through social networks with people locally, interstate and internationally, which has resulted in engaging with people IRL (in real life). When I started blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, Flickr-ing, and more all those years ago, I didn’t think I would have been introduced to corporate, non-for-pro!ts, academics and professionals, let alone be introduced as an ‘expert in social media’.

Social networking is a tool that empowers children and young people, and it is growing in popularity.

I think that empowerment via social networking and social media is the yellow brick road to the democratisation of culture by children and young people within their online habitats which in turn creates a ripple e"ect across other habitats – school, community, work.

Young people and children can feel empowered as a result of individual self-realisation (via a personal blog post) to participation in the democratisation of culture (via a discussion or debate around a video commenting about community issues in YouTube).

My story of empowerment is a personal one and it fuels me even today within in my personal, community and industry !elds. I am 22 this year, and I have been using social media and networking technologies as a tool to empower myself and my creativity for almost 11 years now.

Back then there was no Facebook, Ning or MySpace. #e ‘social’ online media was in the form platforms such as Geocities, Tripod, Maxpages and Angel!re. #ese sites o"ered free, easy web hosting tools that allowed many people to create websites. My !rst website, at a young age, was about Pokemon and it allowed me to connect with other Pokemon fans, and eventually lead me to branch out to other web designers and online based creative projects for many years to come. I started a Facebook account at the end of 2007, I would never have realised three years later, this social networking site would become integral to what I do today. Or that the “Brisbane Creative Industries” Facebook Group, would go beyond the walls of the site and spill out towards ‘the real world’.

I am still delving into events, online media and entrepreneurship via self-facilitated projects such as Brisbane Creative Industries and other projects. I have realised that I can match my love of design and online media with both personal and community work “o" screen”.

h$p://www.briscreativeindustries.com/

THE DEMOCRATISATION OF CULTURE BY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKING

“I think that empowerment via social networking and social media is the yellow brick road to the democratisation of culture by children and young people within their online habitats which in turn creates a ripple e!ect across other habitats”

Photo: Hannah Saurez, by Glenn Kelly photography

Matt Falon, Creative Production Manager, The Edge, State Library of Queensland

Creativity, technology and community are all intrinsically connected. In fact, there is a small family of beeping, chirping technological automatons living on my desk. #ere’s papa bear MacBook Pro with a 15in monitor (all the be$er to see you with), his snappy progeny iPhone, Princess Leia look-alike headphones, aging 80s funster Nintendo Game and Watch, a VOIP phone, an original !rst generation iPod and a back-up 23in monitor just in case he needs more screen real-estate.

#e Edge % #e State Library of Queensland’s youth space for creativity % is the ideal place for my gadget family. Spaces like #e Edge that provide access to digital resources, an informal learning environment and a meeting place for creative young people are increasingly important in the cultural landscape.

I did much of my growing up in Canberra and by 20 I was co-running several !lm festivals and a small !lm production company. I’ve !lmed documentaries in typhoon ravaged Bangladesh and taught audio visual production to Filipinos below a smoldering volcano. It’s an exciting time to be back in Australia - and not just for the warm showers and cold beverages; there are big ideas taking shape, technologies maturing and we’re on the verge of some very exciting things.

I’m part of the !rst generation of digital natives – I’ve always had computers in my life. In my early teen years I designed a game in Q-basic, which is just a natural extension of playing games. It’s only on re&ection that I realise what an interesting cultural phenomenon that bedroom digital production really is.

Apps, MMORPGs, and alternate reality games aren’t digital culture to young wired in people. #ey are culture, plain and simple. #ere is no separation between the online and the physical, the online

is simply a tool to achieve an end. It’s a data rich world and we’re on the edge of a very interesting shi' in the way that information, art and cultural products are generated, transmi$ed, consumed and understood.

Australia is taking a leading hand in de!ning what the future of creativity is, and #e Edge is an ideal place to get downloading, digitising, tweeting and circuit bending in the name of experimentation. In our physical space you can record a demo in the sound studio, jump on a ki$ed-out computer and plot your online empire, create a killer robot in the mobile and physical lab, or simply kick back and chat to the graphic designers, journalists and researchers who work there. And that’s just the physical space.

www.theedge.slq.qld.gov.au

DIGITAL LIFE ON THE EDGE

“Last week on the train I watched a three-year old girl navigate her mother’s mobile phone. She had a spatial, conceptual and technological grasp of what that pocket-sized black box could do – games, or Grandma’s voice, or taking photos of a puppy.

I was amazed: that child’s brain will develop completely differently to mine, a brain that grew up without mobiles, without internet, without Twitter, that shared photos between hands. The way we understand information and share ideas has shifted fundamentally in the last twenty years.

“Culture” is no longer a civilising force – much more potentially, it’s entirely immersed in how we process knowledge. If this is a shift led and shaped by children and young people, what are the possibilities for our culture in the next century?

YPAA’s symposium is a vital and timely exploration of these issues, and the Edge is the perfect site in which to have these discussions”.

Emily Sexton, Creative Producer,

“It’s a data rich world and we’re on the edge of a very interesting shi" in the way information, art and cultural products are generated, transmi#ed, consumed and understood”.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 15 3/6/10 10:12:42 AM




Tian Zhang & Lauren Hadler

Stones Corner, a once thriving

zone to rapidly decline en masse, leaving a skeleton of empty shopfronts. Nor is it new for art to !nd a place in disused spaces. Rather, the story of Stones Corner is a case study of how art and creativity can help to transform an area and become a driver for social change and community engagement.

Located 6 km from the Brisbane city centre, Stones Corner is an inner-suburban region in the midst of dynamic change. Twenty years ago, the area was a shopping paradise !lled with a"ordable retail shops and factory outlets, which have now given way to rows of empty shops, as factory outlet super-centres scooped up many of the retailers and customers, and those that were le# buckled under the economic downturn. Furthermore, Stones Corner has since been earmarked for signi!cant infrastructure development, particularly focused around major public transport networks; designating it a useful stopover on the way to somewhere else, rather than a destination in its own right.

$e community hosts a diverse mix of cultural groups. $e area is home to established communities from Eastern European, Asian and African backgrounds and a growing Indian population, many of whom are young students a%ending the local colleges and training schools; but few interact with the space or other residents.$is diverse and complex urban habitat provides the se%ing for an unfolding community development built around creative process.

Members of Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative began meeting with a commi%ed community group of local people, professionals and business owners in Stones Corner, targeting vacant shopfronts as a catalyst for positive change and building on the local strengths and capacities. $e retail vacant spaces were viewed as a vehicle for reinvention and altering perceptions through their use as exhibitors of contemporary installation art. Brisbane City Council was also keen to broaden the endeavour and develop community/cultural events.

STONES CORNER: Creative community development within a changing urban habitat

We started to look at creativity as a vital way to change perceptions and increase the economic and social value in the locality. What transpired is a series of curated artistic interventions. $is injection of substance and colour is helping to change perceptions. Initially keeping it small to gain acceptance and momentum, the spaces were used for installation art with a view to build into opportunities for music, performance and food. $is activity will create a fabric and identity that connects to other people and activities in Brisbane and the local community.

Community building through creativity is central to the work being undertaken in Stones Corner is the use of creative and cultural activities as both outcomes in their own right and as a means to drive discussion and community engagement. On one level, the creative processes and outcomes enliven the area and allow young and emerging artists showcase their work. On a deeper level, the activities engage the community and encourage notions of positive change.

By rebuilding a community’s passion for their place we see a reinvigorated one emerge... with an identity a&rmed within the locality.

Creative OutletsCreative Outlets is a partnership between SCCEDA (Stones Corner Community and Economic Development Association) and Council’s Creative City Initiative which involves turning the disused spaces in Stones Corner into temporary galleries. $e idea of using vacant retail spaces for arts activities is not a new one. Large and high-pro!le programs in Newcastle and the UK are well-known within the arts and urban planning sectors and have solicited widespread discussion. However, the

About Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative:Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative was conceived to help foster and retain creativity in Brisbane. The Initiative supports young people working in any area of the creative sector to showcase outcomes, build networks, develop skills and engage audiences. The Initiative has a particular focus on helping young people to overcome regulations and red tape that often discourage them from showcasing their creativity in public. The Creative City Initiative aims to bring creative projects out into the public arena for everyone to see and encourages young people to think, act and be creative in all areas, particularly outside of traditional spaces.

Creative Outlets program in Stones Corner maintains a point of di"erence in that its main purpose is to drive both community and economic development outcomes.

Creative Outlets is an opportunity for Stones Corner to re-invent itself by energising existing businesses, supporting new business start-ups and promoting a vibrant and sustainable economic and community hub within the inner suburbs of Brisbane. It provides a platform to invite renewed thinking about the centre by the local community and supports the engagement of residents and visitors with the centre.Creative Outlets is a ‘spark’ to ignite interest, objective thinking, communication, action and activation. It is not just about empty shops or art. It is about the identity of Stones Corner – its character, its history and its future.

Kni!ing a community togetherAlongside Creative Outlets, two local mothers have been undertaking their own process of subtly stimulating social change. Armed with a crochet hook and a keen sense of humour, they have been surreptitiously and continuously transforming Stones Corner through colourful and interesting injections of yarn. $e two women create the pieces at home and install them along the streetscape during the night, ready for discovery the next morning. From rows of pom-poms on bicycle racks to replacement street signs to a crocheted bird’s nest complete with crocheted eggs, the woolly artworks have brought colour, life and animated conversation into the area. Children have also been involved in the process and a local school has been engaged to help create pompoms to create a united artwork.

Creative Outlets - Thought Imbued: A curatorial frameworkExhibition curated by Lauren Hadler‘Thought Imbued’ encompasses nine Brisbane-based artists at different stages of their artistic practice. Through a variety of mediums, concepts of imagination and perception are explored. Some works were made for the project, while others were adapted from previous exhibitions. The works selected from these artists continue to challenge and entice our imaginations, creating make-believe worlds and scenarios. All of the artists

obscure and an ability to see the hidden life in the everyday. From subtle mesmerizing snippets of everyday scenarios to elaborately crafted settings straight from the artist’s imagination, the audience is challenged and given the opportunity to explore their thoughts through the work. ‘Thought Imbued’ helps facilitate imaginative ideas within our urban environment, in our own locality. It allows people to form new ideas, starting the process of altering perception. The artworks are playful and vibrant, exploring the ideas of self, place, communication and relationships.

Party on the streetsCommunity festivals and events are powerful ways of engaging with a range of people, particularly those with diverse agendas and needs. $e celebrations will provide a common goal and shared experiences to break down barriers between groups.

As part of the planning for the event, over 100 di"erent business owners and community members were engaged in discussing outcomes and contributing ideas for the event. Businesses were encouraged to support performances, provide products and services or to sponsor the event in an e"ort to maintain the local focus. Community members and groups were asked to contribute cultural performances, activities and to bring their family and friends to enjoy the celebrations

$e street party on $ursday, 10 June is a celebration of the diversity and opportunity that exists in Stones Corner. By focusing energy and conversation on a celebration of what is positive and important in Stones Corner, the street party will help connect the community and reinforce the work that Council and SCCEDA have been doing in the area.

$e street party will encourage people to return to the area, see the changes that have taken place and play their part in turning Stones Corner into a vibrant district once more. We hope you will enjoy in celebrating the end of the Symposium with us at Stones Corner and see !rsthand the example of a changing habitat.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 16 3/6/10 10:12:44 AM




Tian Zhang & Lauren Hadler

Stones Corner, a once thriving

zone to rapidly decline en masse, leaving a skeleton of empty shopfronts. Nor is it new for art to !nd a place in disused spaces. Rather, the story of Stones Corner is a case study of how art and creativity can help to transform an area and become a driver for social change and community engagement.

Located 6 km from the Brisbane city centre, Stones Corner is an inner-suburban region in the midst of dynamic change. Twenty years ago, the area was a shopping paradise !lled with a"ordable retail shops and factory outlets, which have now given way to rows of empty shops, as factory outlet super-centres scooped up many of the retailers and customers, and those that were le# buckled under the economic downturn. Furthermore, Stones Corner has since been earmarked for signi!cant infrastructure development, particularly focused around major public transport networks; designating it a useful stopover on the way to somewhere else, rather than a destination in its own right.

$e community hosts a diverse mix of cultural groups. $e area is home to established communities from Eastern European, Asian and African backgrounds and a growing Indian population, many of whom are young students a%ending the local colleges and training schools; but few interact with the space or other residents.$is diverse and complex urban habitat provides the se%ing for an unfolding community development built around creative process.

Members of Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative began meeting with a commi%ed community group of local people, professionals and business owners in Stones Corner, targeting vacant shopfronts as a catalyst for positive change and building on the local strengths and capacities. $e retail vacant spaces were viewed as a vehicle for reinvention and altering perceptions through their use as exhibitors of contemporary installation art. Brisbane City Council was also keen to broaden the endeavour and develop community/cultural events.

STONES CORNER: Creative community development within a changing urban habitat

We started to look at creativity as a vital way to change perceptions and increase the economic and social value in the locality. What transpired is a series of curated artistic interventions. $is injection of substance and colour is helping to change perceptions. Initially keeping it small to gain acceptance and momentum, the spaces were used for installation art with a view to build into opportunities for music, performance and food. $is activity will create a fabric and identity that connects to other people and activities in Brisbane and the local community.

Community building through creativity is central to the work being undertaken in Stones Corner is the use of creative and cultural activities as both outcomes in their own right and as a means to drive discussion and community engagement. On one level, the creative processes and outcomes enliven the area and allow young and emerging artists showcase their work. On a deeper level, the activities engage the community and encourage notions of positive change.

By rebuilding a community’s passion for their place we see a reinvigorated one emerge... with an identity a&rmed within the locality.

Creative OutletsCreative Outlets is a partnership between SCCEDA (Stones Corner Community and Economic Development Association) and Council’s Creative City Initiative which involves turning the disused spaces in Stones Corner into temporary galleries. $e idea of using vacant retail spaces for arts activities is not a new one. Large and high-pro!le programs in Newcastle and the UK are well-known within the arts and urban planning sectors and have solicited widespread discussion. However, the

About Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative:Brisbane City Council’s Creative City Initiative was conceived to help foster and retain creativity in Brisbane. The Initiative supports young people working in any area of the creative sector to showcase outcomes, build networks, develop skills and engage audiences. The Initiative has a particular focus on helping young people to overcome regulations and red tape that often discourage them from showcasing their creativity in public. The Creative City Initiative aims to bring creative projects out into the public arena for everyone to see and encourages young people to think, act and be creative in all areas, particularly outside of traditional spaces.

Creative Outlets program in Stones Corner maintains a point of di"erence in that its main purpose is to drive both community and economic development outcomes.

Creative Outlets is an opportunity for Stones Corner to re-invent itself by energising existing businesses, supporting new business start-ups and promoting a vibrant and sustainable economic and community hub within the inner suburbs of Brisbane. It provides a platform to invite renewed thinking about the centre by the local community and supports the engagement of residents and visitors with the centre.Creative Outlets is a ‘spark’ to ignite interest, objective thinking, communication, action and activation. It is not just about empty shops or art. It is about the identity of Stones Corner – its character, its history and its future.

Kni!ing a community togetherAlongside Creative Outlets, two local mothers have been undertaking their own process of subtly stimulating social change. Armed with a crochet hook and a keen sense of humour, they have been surreptitiously and continuously transforming Stones Corner through colourful and interesting injections of yarn. $e two women create the pieces at home and install them along the streetscape during the night, ready for discovery the next morning. From rows of pom-poms on bicycle racks to replacement street signs to a crocheted bird’s nest complete with crocheted eggs, the woolly artworks have brought colour, life and animated conversation into the area. Children have also been involved in the process and a local school has been engaged to help create pompoms to create a united artwork.

Creative Outlets - Thought Imbued: A curatorial frameworkExhibition curated by Lauren Hadler‘Thought Imbued’ encompasses nine Brisbane-based artists at different stages of their artistic practice. Through a variety of mediums, concepts of imagination and perception are explored. Some works were made for the project, while others were adapted from previous exhibitions. The works selected from these artists continue to challenge and entice our imaginations, creating make-believe worlds and scenarios. All of the artists

obscure and an ability to see the hidden life in the everyday. From subtle mesmerizing snippets of everyday scenarios to elaborately crafted settings straight from the artist’s imagination, the audience is challenged and given the opportunity to explore their thoughts through the work. ‘Thought Imbued’ helps facilitate imaginative ideas within our urban environment, in our own locality. It allows people to form new ideas, starting the process of altering perception. The artworks are playful and vibrant, exploring the ideas of self, place, communication and relationships.

Party on the streetsCommunity festivals and events are powerful ways of engaging with a range of people, particularly those with diverse agendas and needs. $e celebrations will provide a common goal and shared experiences to break down barriers between groups.

As part of the planning for the event, over 100 di"erent business owners and community members were engaged in discussing outcomes and contributing ideas for the event. Businesses were encouraged to support performances, provide products and services or to sponsor the event in an e"ort to maintain the local focus. Community members and groups were asked to contribute cultural performances, activities and to bring their family and friends to enjoy the celebrations

$e street party on $ursday, 10 June is a celebration of the diversity and opportunity that exists in Stones Corner. By focusing energy and conversation on a celebration of what is positive and important in Stones Corner, the street party will help connect the community and reinforce the work that Council and SCCEDA have been doing in the area.

$e street party will encourage people to return to the area, see the changes that have taken place and play their part in turning Stones Corner into a vibrant district once more. We hope you will enjoy in celebrating the end of the Symposium with us at Stones Corner and see !rsthand the example of a changing habitat.

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 17 3/6/10 10:12:44 AM




TheatreSpace is a four-year Australian Research Council research project investigating the young audiences (14 – 30 years of age) of state theatre companies and cultural venues in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. A collaboration between the universities of Melbourne, Sydney and Gri!th, it is the largest research project of its kind in Australia. "eatreSpace industry partners include: Sydney Opera House; Bell Shakespeare; Sydney "eatre Company; Australia Council for the Arts; Arts NSW; Queensland Performing Arts Centre; Queensland "eatre Company; Brisbane Powerhouse; the Arts Centre; Melbourne "eatre Company; Malthouse "eatre; Arena "eatre Company; and Arts Victoria.

"eatrespace research provides young people with an active voice to tell the state theatre companies and major performing arts venues about the types of product and experiences that are o#ered to them. "is research asks young audiences about the mainstage theatre productions they go to and what type of product they would like to see in the future. "e research also unpacks how young people interact with and access venues and the decision making process of how these young people come to be a$ending theatre at our major performing arts venues; be it for school/curricular reasons or them a$ending with their parents/family/friends or by their own volition.

Currently, researchers are looking at whether family or education programming is the more e#ective in sustaining young people as independent audiences.

Participation in "eatreSpace is voluntary and to date the project has interacted with more than 1700 young people. "e project is still in the midst of gathering data and interviewing young people. "eatreSpace %ndings will be released at the end of 2011 in an international symposium at the Sydney Opera House.

More info: www.theatrespace.org.au

THEATRESPACE

Learning about, with and for young peopleSimon Spain & Robert Brown

home for children’s art and play in Australia. It was established in 2003 by the City of Melbourne as a part of the artistic, creative and cultural development of Melbourne as an aspiring UNICEF child-friendly city. Open to children aged 2-12 years the facility provides diverse artist-led programs and serves a broad community including, parents and teachers.

Leading educationalist and social researchers (Ca$erall 2002, Deasy 2002, Brice Heath & Roach 1999, Costantoura 2001, Myers 2003) have identi%ed the present as signi%cant time in which to articulate the importance of the arts to active and creative engagement in the social and cultural life of the community. Community-based institutions such as ArtPlay are emerging in response to this need though there has yet to be a signi%cant and sustained research into processes and outcomes of such organisations. "is presentation reports on a four-year research project (2007-2010) that has been speci%cally designed to identify, map and evidence the practices of ArtPlay in

relation to engagement, learning and cultural citizenship. "is study has mapped the multi-dimensional nature of Artplay and has begun to identify the complex interplay of factors that in&uence what children gain through their experiences at ArtPlay including; artist pedagogies, parent/carer involvement, social interactions and the design of the learning environment.

Stemming from this study is a view that, to be and become cultural citizens, young people require opportunities to engage in creative, imaginative, and critical processes linked to

diverse cultural and community-building experiences; all of which can be supported through engagement with art and artists. "is presentation outlines the impact the research has had on an organization commi$ed to learning about, with and for young people.

"is project has been sponsored by the Australian Research Council, "e City of Melbourne and the Australia Council for the Arts. It has been undertaken by a team of researchers from the Artistic and Creative Education group at the University of Melbourne.

For more information go to:ArtPlay - h$p://www.m e l b o u r n e.v i c . go v.a u / a r t p l a y / Pa g e s /ArtPlayHome.aspxUniversity of Melbourne – h t t p : / / w w w.e d f a c .unimelb.edu.au/ace/research/artplay.html

RESEARCHING ARTPLAY

An IntroductionTony Mack, Consultant

Over the last ten years, greater international attention has been given to early years programming in arts venues and festivals. In particular a new genre of theatre for children three years and under has arisen – "eatre for the Very Young, is also as Early Years "eatre and Baby "eatre.

"ere are a number of reasons for this development, mainly educational and artistic. For artists Valeria and Roberto Frabe$i from La Baracca "eatre in Bologna, the ‘"eatre and the Nursery School’ project for very young children they started in 1987 linked quality art to progressive educational theory and practice in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region.

In the 1990s, responding to scienti%c research that revealed children under three

years to be far more socially capable, aware and emotionally intelligent than previously thought, the European focus shi'ed to the right of all children to access artistic experiences. "e European project Gli$erbird (2003-2006), which generated new work and professional development forums on the subject, re&ected this new reality. In the words of Gli$erbird’s Ivar Selmer-Olsen, “small children have, as do all of us, skills to enjoy and a right to experience the extraordinary, to experience powerful, pleasure-giving and challenging art”.

"e theatrical laboratories created in Bologna by La Baracca and throughout Europe by Gli$erbird began to a$ract the interest of many practitioners. Festivals such as La Baracca’s Visioni di Futuro, Visioni di Teatro and Gli$erbird’s conferences, festivals and symposia showcased work and new ideas. "e Small Size Network provided an ongoing dialogue, and countries throughout Europe began to develop their own projects.

"e recent growth of "eatre for Very Young in Europe has been signi%cant. According to Germany’s Michael Rockstroh, Festival Organiser of Germany’s %rst early childhood festival in 2008, in 2006 “there were only about two shows we could have programmed at that time in the whole of Germany. Now there are 22 that we could select from.”

More info:h$p://www.theatervonanfangan.de/main.asp?size=1016&UserID=1990704040&Nr=24&St=0h$p://www.dansdesign.com/gb/

THEATRE FOR THE VERY YOUNG

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) and Arts Queensland have partnered to create an online reviewing project called OUT OF THE BOX BLOGGERS.

"e project includes 6 reviewing blogs created by:

Mr Dean Edgar and his Year 2 class of Berrinba East State School3 year old Javier and his family 5 year old Blake and his family 8 year old Sina and her family 3 year old Jonathon and his family"e Bondies including 7 year old Kihi, 5 year old Maya and 3 year old Eliakim

"e bloggers will post pictures and stories of their Out of the Box experiences - before, during and a'er the festival. Meet the bloggers by clicking on their links and follow their journeys over the next few weeks as they

share their opinions. Talk with them and share your own experiences and advice by leaving comments on their blog sites. Do you agree with them? Do you like their words, photos and drawings? Are they a li$le bit like you or do you have di#erent tastes? See what you think....

http://www.outoftheboxfestival.com.au/out_of_the_box_bloggers/

Right: http://www.watblog.c o m / w p - c o n t e n t /u p l o a d s / 2 0 0 7 / 1 2 /blogging.gif

OUT OF THE BOX BLOGGERS

What would you like to see more of in the arts?“In Brisbane, I’d like to see more critical discussion, more support for women’s practice and women’s issues in the arts; more innovation and free spaces”. Kathryn Danger Sawyer

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 18 3/6/10 10:12:46 AM




TheatreSpace is a four-year Australian Research Council research project investigating the young audiences (14 – 30 years of age) of state theatre companies and cultural venues in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. A collaboration between the universities of Melbourne, Sydney and Gri!th, it is the largest research project of its kind in Australia. "eatreSpace industry partners include: Sydney Opera House; Bell Shakespeare; Sydney "eatre Company; Australia Council for the Arts; Arts NSW; Queensland Performing Arts Centre; Queensland "eatre Company; Brisbane Powerhouse; the Arts Centre; Melbourne "eatre Company; Malthouse "eatre; Arena "eatre Company; and Arts Victoria.

"eatrespace research provides young people with an active voice to tell the state theatre companies and major performing arts venues about the types of product and experiences that are o#ered to them. "is research asks young audiences about the mainstage theatre productions they go to and what type of product they would like to see in the future. "e research also unpacks how young people interact with and access venues and the decision making process of how these young people come to be a$ending theatre at our major performing arts venues; be it for school/curricular reasons or them a$ending with their parents/family/friends or by their own volition.

Currently, researchers are looking at whether family or education programming is the more e#ective in sustaining young people as independent audiences.

Participation in "eatreSpace is voluntary and to date the project has interacted with more than 1700 young people. "e project is still in the midst of gathering data and interviewing young people. "eatreSpace %ndings will be released at the end of 2011 in an international symposium at the Sydney Opera House.

More info: www.theatrespace.org.au

THEATRESPACE

Learning about, with and for young peopleSimon Spain & Robert Brown

home for children’s art and play in Australia. It was established in 2003 by the City of Melbourne as a part of the artistic, creative and cultural development of Melbourne as an aspiring UNICEF child-friendly city. Open to children aged 2-12 years the facility provides diverse artist-led programs and serves a broad community including, parents and teachers.

Leading educationalist and social researchers (Ca$erall 2002, Deasy 2002, Brice Heath & Roach 1999, Costantoura 2001, Myers 2003) have identi%ed the present as signi%cant time in which to articulate the importance of the arts to active and creative engagement in the social and cultural life of the community. Community-based institutions such as ArtPlay are emerging in response to this need though there has yet to be a signi%cant and sustained research into processes and outcomes of such organisations. "is presentation reports on a four-year research project (2007-2010) that has been speci%cally designed to identify, map and evidence the practices of ArtPlay in

relation to engagement, learning and cultural citizenship. "is study has mapped the multi-dimensional nature of Artplay and has begun to identify the complex interplay of factors that in&uence what children gain through their experiences at ArtPlay including; artist pedagogies, parent/carer involvement, social interactions and the design of the learning environment.

Stemming from this study is a view that, to be and become cultural citizens, young people require opportunities to engage in creative, imaginative, and critical processes linked to

diverse cultural and community-building experiences; all of which can be supported through engagement with art and artists. "is presentation outlines the impact the research has had on an organization commi$ed to learning about, with and for young people.

"is project has been sponsored by the Australian Research Council, "e City of Melbourne and the Australia Council for the Arts. It has been undertaken by a team of researchers from the Artistic and Creative Education group at the University of Melbourne.

For more information go to:ArtPlay - h$p://www.m e l b o u r n e.v i c . go v.a u / a r t p l a y / Pa g e s /ArtPlayHome.aspxUniversity of Melbourne – h t t p : / / w w w.e d f a c .unimelb.edu.au/ace/research/artplay.html

RESEARCHING ARTPLAY

An IntroductionTony Mack, Consultant

Over the last ten years, greater international attention has been given to early years programming in arts venues and festivals. In particular a new genre of theatre for children three years and under has arisen – "eatre for the Very Young, is also as Early Years "eatre and Baby "eatre.

"ere are a number of reasons for this development, mainly educational and artistic. For artists Valeria and Roberto Frabe$i from La Baracca "eatre in Bologna, the ‘"eatre and the Nursery School’ project for very young children they started in 1987 linked quality art to progressive educational theory and practice in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region.

In the 1990s, responding to scienti%c research that revealed children under three

years to be far more socially capable, aware and emotionally intelligent than previously thought, the European focus shi'ed to the right of all children to access artistic experiences. "e European project Gli$erbird (2003-2006), which generated new work and professional development forums on the subject, re&ected this new reality. In the words of Gli$erbird’s Ivar Selmer-Olsen, “small children have, as do all of us, skills to enjoy and a right to experience the extraordinary, to experience powerful, pleasure-giving and challenging art”.

"e theatrical laboratories created in Bologna by La Baracca and throughout Europe by Gli$erbird began to a$ract the interest of many practitioners. Festivals such as La Baracca’s Visioni di Futuro, Visioni di Teatro and Gli$erbird’s conferences, festivals and symposia showcased work and new ideas. "e Small Size Network provided an ongoing dialogue, and countries throughout Europe began to develop their own projects.

"e recent growth of "eatre for Very Young in Europe has been signi%cant. According to Germany’s Michael Rockstroh, Festival Organiser of Germany’s %rst early childhood festival in 2008, in 2006 “there were only about two shows we could have programmed at that time in the whole of Germany. Now there are 22 that we could select from.”

More info:h$p://www.theatervonanfangan.de/main.asp?size=1016&UserID=1990704040&Nr=24&St=0h$p://www.dansdesign.com/gb/

THEATRE FOR THE VERY YOUNG

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) and Arts Queensland have partnered to create an online reviewing project called OUT OF THE BOX BLOGGERS.

"e project includes 6 reviewing blogs created by:

Mr Dean Edgar and his Year 2 class of Berrinba East State School3 year old Javier and his family 5 year old Blake and his family 8 year old Sina and her family 3 year old Jonathon and his family"e Bondies including 7 year old Kihi, 5 year old Maya and 3 year old Eliakim

"e bloggers will post pictures and stories of their Out of the Box experiences - before, during and a'er the festival. Meet the bloggers by clicking on their links and follow their journeys over the next few weeks as they

share their opinions. Talk with them and share your own experiences and advice by leaving comments on their blog sites. Do you agree with them? Do you like their words, photos and drawings? Are they a li$le bit like you or do you have di#erent tastes? See what you think....

http://www.outoftheboxfestival.com.au/out_of_the_box_bloggers/

Right: http://www.watblog.c o m / w p - c o n t e n t /u p l o a d s / 2 0 0 7 / 1 2 /blogging.gif

OUT OF THE BOX BLOGGERS

What would you like to see more of in the arts?“In Brisbane, I’d like to see more critical discussion, more support for women’s practice and women’s issues in the arts; more innovation and free spaces”. Kathryn Danger Sawyer

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 19 3/6/10 10:12:47 AM




Lenine Bourke, YPAA Executive Director(Bachelor of Arts (First Class Hons) and Bachelor of Education, Queensland University of Technology

Lenine has worked for a broad range of arts and cultural organisations and is a multi-art form arts practitioner who weaves together research, civic engagement, public space interaction and public engagement, with an emphasis on ordinary activities and their inherit artistic qualities. She has worked in internationally, and nationally within urban, rural and remote geographies. She has worked extensively with young people, children and their families from a broad range of socially, culturally and economically diverse communities. Some of the major pieces of her work have been based around peace building, social justice, change making, culture and heritage, play and place. Her current work is moving more into an exploratory phase, integrating Social Practice and live conversation works together with more staged or pre-prepared experiences for a general public to engage with. Lenine’s work has been received as innovative, having integrity and continually utilises a broad range of processes, she is considered a leader in her !eld and enjoys working with people to invigorate and activate change. In 2006 she was recently awarded the national Kirk Robson Award for outstanding leadership from the federal government through the Australia Council for the Arts. In 2008 she was award a Brisbane City Council Fellowship.

Imogene Shields, YPAA Communications O!cerWith her business savvy and love of the arts, Imogene supports artists and practitioners, the formation of events and programs, and the youth arts sector as a whole through her role at YPAA. Imogene is experienced in arts management, marketing, managing people, projects, events and festivals across a wide range of artforms. She considers arts management and communications as essential for the broader arts sector to operate collectively and gain its maximum momentum and potential.

Imogene’s professional experience extends to a year spent in both Japan and Canada. She thinks travel is a great way for young creatives to experience and explore new ideas and arts practices. Imogene has a Bachelor of Business (Management & Japanese), and Creative Industries Interdicpinlinary (CI Management, Public Relations & Music) in Brisbane, and on scholarship in Quebec.

Brooke Newall, YPAA Project O!cerBrooke is a freelance youth arts practitioner and producer specialising in facilitating theatre workshops, coordinating arts programs and directing theatre & !lm with children and young people in urban and regional areas.

Brooke facilitates for a range of organisations including Backbone Youth Arts, BrainWays Education and Human Ventures and has worked with children and young people in Tasmania, Brisbane and Central West QLD. Brooke is an accomplished actor and has worked in both stage and !lm. In 2009 Brooke was a recipient of the YAMP mentorship.

Rachael Minslow, Symposium Volunteer CoordinatorRachael is currently studying a Creative Industries Degree- Majoring in Performance and Events Management. She enjoys the fast paced, ephemeral nature of the creative industries and loves to see new growth through ideas and innovation. Rachael continues to seek new opportunities to broaden her experience and scope of practice, to understand new things and be able to teach those things learned to others. Rachel loves to sew, knit and stitch, paint, draw and act; she !nds creative outlets such as these are ‘imperative to sanity’. Rachel loves the arts in all its forms and believes that it can be used as a constructive and positive tool for change, self-determination and realisation for not only individuals but for entire communities.What do you want to see more of in the arts? “an increase in access to quality arts and cultural experiences for children and young people across the country both in rural areas and major cities”.

Young People and the Arts Australia Staff & Project Team

Kelly Dee Knight & Imogene Shields

The site design for Changing Habitats was conceptualised by Kelly and Imogene over Saturday morning co"ees at the West End markets, where we unpacked the topics and themes of the symposium. As a result, the site design focuses on themes of children and young people, culture, and the changing nature of humanity and ecology. From the start, these themes were to be visually represented in line with the existing themes of Jonathan Oxlade’s Out of the Box festival designs and YPAA Symposium designer Trent Barton.

We decided early on to use only reclaimed or recycled materials for the entire site design to represent a broader social discourse of for uses of the materials beyond their own primary context and to explore notions of constructed reality and habitats. #rough this project, we ask of you to reconsider the value of discarded materials by using them to arti!cially construct aspects of the environment.

#is project also celebrates the inventiveness of children. We wanted for much of the work to be child-like and for the end result to feel like children were in the space at the symposium.

It is common for artists to be reminded of child-like imaginings, when embracing their artform; but have you ever tried to create a piece of work where you were unrestricted in your thinking or creativity? Try as we might, it was impossible to !ght our deeply ingrained thought processes. Instead, we were thrilled to have the assistance of artists #eodora and Oli, both 6 years of age, join us in the YPAA art room (formerly known as the boardroom) to help create many of the animals, beatles, bugs and lantern decorations now adorning #e Edge.

A$er sending a call-out to young people though Youth Arts Queensland, their ‘Young People Creating Queensland’ network, and other networks, YPAA engaged 10 artists to each create a work inside a lightbox for the table designs. We received a wide range of artists interested, including a group of young photographers

from the ‘Knowing Me/Knowing YOU’ project from community group ACRO.

#e brainchild of Kelly Dee, these boxes provided the opportunity for artists to create a diorama, their own ‘world’ inside a clear rectangular frame that lights up when the sun goes down. #e themes of ecology, children and young people, humanity and recycled materials were communicated to the artists for their interpretation. #is was also a play on notion of a new habitat visible from ‘out of the box’. #rough this call-out we also sought expressions of interest for artists who had ready-made work that they would want to display, and possibly sell, throughout the symposium.

Kelly has worked extensively with art and young people within the community, and the creation and construction for Changing Habitats has been a huge collective e"ort. Volunteers, other artists, family and friends have worked under the imagination of Kelly Dee Knight, a professional visual artist with her own business Connected Arts ([email protected]).

TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDGE INTO AN URBAN ECOSYSTEM

Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ)YAQ has proudly supported the site design of Changing Habitats

Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ) is Queensland’s peak body for children and young people in the arts. Our organisation represents, supports and promotes a diverse and thriving youth arts sector in Queensland and plays a critical leadership role in driving forward Queensland’s Horizons: Children and Young People and the Arts Sector Vision 2009-2013. www.yaq.org.au

Above: Artists from ACRO’s Knowing Me/Knowing YOU photography program

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 20 3/6/10 10:12:49 AM




Lenine Bourke, YPAA Executive Director(Bachelor of Arts (First Class Hons) and Bachelor of Education, Queensland University of Technology

Lenine has worked for a broad range of arts and cultural organisations and is a multi-art form arts practitioner who weaves together research, civic engagement, public space interaction and public engagement, with an emphasis on ordinary activities and their inherit artistic qualities. She has worked in internationally, and nationally within urban, rural and remote geographies. She has worked extensively with young people, children and their families from a broad range of socially, culturally and economically diverse communities. Some of the major pieces of her work have been based around peace building, social justice, change making, culture and heritage, play and place. Her current work is moving more into an exploratory phase, integrating Social Practice and live conversation works together with more staged or pre-prepared experiences for a general public to engage with. Lenine’s work has been received as innovative, having integrity and continually utilises a broad range of processes, she is considered a leader in her !eld and enjoys working with people to invigorate and activate change. In 2006 she was recently awarded the national Kirk Robson Award for outstanding leadership from the federal government through the Australia Council for the Arts. In 2008 she was award a Brisbane City Council Fellowship.

Imogene Shields, YPAA Communications O!cerWith her business savvy and love of the arts, Imogene supports artists and practitioners, the formation of events and programs, and the youth arts sector as a whole through her role at YPAA. Imogene is experienced in arts management, marketing, managing people, projects, events and festivals across a wide range of artforms. She considers arts management and communications as essential for the broader arts sector to operate collectively and gain its maximum momentum and potential.

Imogene’s professional experience extends to a year spent in both Japan and Canada. She thinks travel is a great way for young creatives to experience and explore new ideas and arts practices. Imogene has a Bachelor of Business (Management & Japanese), and Creative Industries Interdicpinlinary (CI Management, Public Relations & Music) in Brisbane, and on scholarship in Quebec.

Brooke Newall, YPAA Project O!cerBrooke is a freelance youth arts practitioner and producer specialising in facilitating theatre workshops, coordinating arts programs and directing theatre & !lm with children and young people in urban and regional areas.

Brooke facilitates for a range of organisations including Backbone Youth Arts, BrainWays Education and Human Ventures and has worked with children and young people in Tasmania, Brisbane and Central West QLD. Brooke is an accomplished actor and has worked in both stage and !lm. In 2009 Brooke was a recipient of the YAMP mentorship.

Rachael Minslow, Symposium Volunteer CoordinatorRachael is currently studying a Creative Industries Degree- Majoring in Performance and Events Management. She enjoys the fast paced, ephemeral nature of the creative industries and loves to see new growth through ideas and innovation. Rachael continues to seek new opportunities to broaden her experience and scope of practice, to understand new things and be able to teach those things learned to others. Rachel loves to sew, knit and stitch, paint, draw and act; she !nds creative outlets such as these are ‘imperative to sanity’. Rachel loves the arts in all its forms and believes that it can be used as a constructive and positive tool for change, self-determination and realisation for not only individuals but for entire communities.What do you want to see more of in the arts? “an increase in access to quality arts and cultural experiences for children and young people across the country both in rural areas and major cities”.

Young People and the Arts Australia Staff & Project Team

Kelly Dee Knight & Imogene Shields

The site design for Changing Habitats was conceptualised by Kelly and Imogene over Saturday morning co"ees at the West End markets, where we unpacked the topics and themes of the symposium. As a result, the site design focuses on themes of children and young people, culture, and the changing nature of humanity and ecology. From the start, these themes were to be visually represented in line with the existing themes of Jonathan Oxlade’s Out of the Box festival designs and YPAA Symposium designer Trent Barton.

We decided early on to use only reclaimed or recycled materials for the entire site design to represent a broader social discourse of for uses of the materials beyond their own primary context and to explore notions of constructed reality and habitats. #rough this project, we ask of you to reconsider the value of discarded materials by using them to arti!cially construct aspects of the environment.

#is project also celebrates the inventiveness of children. We wanted for much of the work to be child-like and for the end result to feel like children were in the space at the symposium.

It is common for artists to be reminded of child-like imaginings, when embracing their artform; but have you ever tried to create a piece of work where you were unrestricted in your thinking or creativity? Try as we might, it was impossible to !ght our deeply ingrained thought processes. Instead, we were thrilled to have the assistance of artists #eodora and Oli, both 6 years of age, join us in the YPAA art room (formerly known as the boardroom) to help create many of the animals, beatles, bugs and lantern decorations now adorning #e Edge.

A$er sending a call-out to young people though Youth Arts Queensland, their ‘Young People Creating Queensland’ network, and other networks, YPAA engaged 10 artists to each create a work inside a lightbox for the table designs. We received a wide range of artists interested, including a group of young photographers

from the ‘Knowing Me/Knowing YOU’ project from community group ACRO.

#e brainchild of Kelly Dee, these boxes provided the opportunity for artists to create a diorama, their own ‘world’ inside a clear rectangular frame that lights up when the sun goes down. #e themes of ecology, children and young people, humanity and recycled materials were communicated to the artists for their interpretation. #is was also a play on notion of a new habitat visible from ‘out of the box’. #rough this call-out we also sought expressions of interest for artists who had ready-made work that they would want to display, and possibly sell, throughout the symposium.

Kelly has worked extensively with art and young people within the community, and the creation and construction for Changing Habitats has been a huge collective e"ort. Volunteers, other artists, family and friends have worked under the imagination of Kelly Dee Knight, a professional visual artist with her own business Connected Arts ([email protected]).

TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDGE INTO AN URBAN ECOSYSTEM

Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ)YAQ has proudly supported the site design of Changing Habitats

Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ) is Queensland’s peak body for children and young people in the arts. Our organisation represents, supports and promotes a diverse and thriving youth arts sector in Queensland and plays a critical leadership role in driving forward Queensland’s Horizons: Children and Young People and the Arts Sector Vision 2009-2013. www.yaq.org.au

Above: Artists from ACRO’s Knowing Me/Knowing YOU photography program

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 21 3/6/10 10:12:49 AM




Travis DewanTravis was born and raised in Brisbane, and is a creative industries visual arts graduate. He is the founder and director of the artist run initiative - VEGAS SP!Y, which is an arts collective dedicated to the development and promotion of Brisbane’s emerging art. Alongside this Travis is a practicing visual artist, working as a painter in"uenced by the purpose and discourse of urban art. www.vegasspray.com

Tira DowlingTira is a visual artist who works across a range of mediums. She is currently in her #nal year of uni undertaking a bachelor of #ne arts (visual arts) and can’t wait to #nish so she can emerge myself completely in the arts atmosphere. Her passion in the arts is painting

‘I just love it. Each painting I begin is a challenge where I doubt it can be done, however a!er much persistence the image takes form and my doubt changes to excitement. My subject ma"er is very playful and colorful, in some works a sense of ‘childhood’ is present. #is allows me to be in touch with my inner child and simply enjoy the process of making, the end result is a bonus’.

VOLUNTEERSEmma Che MartinEmma Che is a Performer, Youth Arts Worker and Director. She has worked in the Youth Arts sector facilitating workshops and working on performances for Backbone Youth Arts (QLD), Barking Gecko $eatre Company (WA), Noble Rot $eatre Company (WA), and in Detention centres, Youth Arts Festivals and Aboriginal communities around Australia. She has founded Connect 2 an emerging Performance company that is interested in creating new and relevant works for both rural and urban communities. C2 collaborates with artists from di%erent disciplinary backgrounds through a devised process around contemporary issues.

Katie GemzikA&er being inspired by travelling to Arts Centres and events in London and around Europe, Katheryn has recently changed her life path, and #rst career, to join the vibrant arts community. Upon return to Brisbane, Katie is now studying Mass Communications in the Creative Industries faculty at QUT. She plans to gain as much experience and expand her networks as much as possible while she completes her studies.

Jane EastwoodJane is Education Logistics Coordinator for Opera Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Leisure Management (Gri'th University), a Bachelor of Business in Tourism (Southern Cross University), a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Graduate Certi#cate in Arts and Creative Industries Management (both from QUT). She was a recipient of QUTs Vacation Research Experience Scholarship Scheme in 2007 and continues to work with the Head of Dance to develop the faculty’s alumni network. Jane has taught dance for a number of local Brisbane studios, and was a dancer and choreographer with independent collective li(le moving poets from 2006 to 2008. She also appeared in Opera Queensland’s production of Rigole(o in 2009.

Nuala FurtadoNuala Furtado was born and raised in Brisbane. She graduated in July 2009 from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, with a Bachelor of Music Studies in Contemporary Voice, Music and Cultural Industry. She has a great passion for music and the arts and is eager to create a career path in the industry. Nuala has participated in many industry events in a volunteer capacity; Big Sound Music Conference, organised by Qmusic, Sounds of Spring Festival and some experience at QPAC through her degree.

Alanna HankeyAlanna Hankey is the Festival Director for the 2high Festival 2010. Alanna was appointed Festival Director, a result of her successes as Festival Manager in 2009 performing a noteworthy balancing act between this and her role as Programme Resources Coordinator for Brisbane Festival 2009. Alanna has a Bachelor in Applied $eatre at Gri'th University. In the past few years she has worked as a Performer, Drama Facilitator, Producer, MC, Stage Manager, Band Manager, Arts Coordinator, Assistant Director, Festival Manager, Music Programmer and now Festival Director, & somewhere amidst all of this managed six months of travel abroad.

Kelly Dee KnightKelly’s work is informed by a professional background in conservation framing, printmaking and community arts, as well as an ongoing concern for and interest in botanical, environmental and natural sciences. Kelly’s creative process usually begins with a ‘book’. $is is the place where the journey is instigated - researching ideas, gathering images, words and textures, all the while experimenting with various techniques. $is process allows the ideas to evolve and grow, taking on a life of their own...like a garden that "ourishes with tender loving care. Kelly’s work is part of the National museum collection in Canberra, has won a national art prize and been represented in numerous exhibitions.

Patrick McCarthyPatrick is a Melbourne based playwright, director and actor. He is the Artistic Director and founder of Mutation $eatre. His writing credits include Fluorescent Façade: Howard Arkley and Suburbia (2008), $e Corpse of Hamlet (2009) and Habitat (2010). In 2008 he received a High Commendation in the Melbourne Dramatist’s New Writing Award for Fluorescent Façade. He also wrote a short play for the 2010 Emerging Writers Festival, A Grave Decision, which was performed at the Malthouse $eatre. Patrick made his directorial debut in 2010 with his play Habitat, which was performed at $e Function Room in Fitzroy, a venue he co-founded and of which Mutation $eatre is a resident company. His acting credits include Fluorescent Façade and $e Corpse of Hamlet for Mutation $eatre. He has also

performed at $e Arts Centre, $e National $eatre and the VCA.

Tara McGrathTara has just completed a Masters of Creative Industries at QUT in Creative Production and Arts Management and she is now eager to launch herself into the industry. Tara moved to Brisbane from her hometown of Montreal, Canada, to further her academic pursuits. She has a long standing passion for the arts, #rst as an artist and now as an arts worker. Her primary topic of interest of the past year has been the sustainability of the arts industry. “I have always had the arts in my life and I feel it is a right that every individual should have”. Tara intends on staying in Brisbane a while longer, but would also like to travel around Australia and experience more of what this country o%ers, before heading back to Montreal and tackling a PhD in arts marketing.

Natalie McKayNatalie is in her second year of studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries- Interdisciplinary. She enjoys subjects in Entertainment, Music and Film/TV and hope to study abroad in UK next year. A&er completed university, she would like to live in Melbourne, and also become "uent in Japanese. Natalie can be found at libraries, seeing live music, at the movies or snowboarding on the hills of slopes of Japan.

Jodi GrambergJodi is an artist and a dreamer. Her Art is an extension of the imagery that inspires her and keeps her own brand of the hidden world alive. Using mix media and post modern techniques, her work has a common #gurative theme. Her in"uences in cooperates all things that is POp Culture. A&er studying Art at University and Collage she has spent the past two years working as a Secondary School Art teacher in many London schools. $e future is her canvas and she would love to see the world painted neon magenta.

What would you like to see more of in the arts? “I would like to see more young people engaging wider audiences through their perspective. I believe young people offer fresh insights into new modes of creativity - and believe if we can be integrated into the arts from an early

Travis Dewan, Painter, Urban art & installation

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 22 3/6/10 10:12:53 AM




Travis DewanTravis was born and raised in Brisbane, and is a creative industries visual arts graduate. He is the founder and director of the artist run initiative - VEGAS SP!Y, which is an arts collective dedicated to the development and promotion of Brisbane’s emerging art. Alongside this Travis is a practicing visual artist, working as a painter in"uenced by the purpose and discourse of urban art. www.vegasspray.com

Tira DowlingTira is a visual artist who works across a range of mediums. She is currently in her #nal year of uni undertaking a bachelor of #ne arts (visual arts) and can’t wait to #nish so she can emerge myself completely in the arts atmosphere. Her passion in the arts is painting

‘I just love it. Each painting I begin is a challenge where I doubt it can be done, however a!er much persistence the image takes form and my doubt changes to excitement. My subject ma"er is very playful and colorful, in some works a sense of ‘childhood’ is present. #is allows me to be in touch with my inner child and simply enjoy the process of making, the end result is a bonus’.

VOLUNTEERSEmma Che MartinEmma Che is a Performer, Youth Arts Worker and Director. She has worked in the Youth Arts sector facilitating workshops and working on performances for Backbone Youth Arts (QLD), Barking Gecko $eatre Company (WA), Noble Rot $eatre Company (WA), and in Detention centres, Youth Arts Festivals and Aboriginal communities around Australia. She has founded Connect 2 an emerging Performance company that is interested in creating new and relevant works for both rural and urban communities. C2 collaborates with artists from di%erent disciplinary backgrounds through a devised process around contemporary issues.

Katie GemzikA&er being inspired by travelling to Arts Centres and events in London and around Europe, Katheryn has recently changed her life path, and #rst career, to join the vibrant arts community. Upon return to Brisbane, Katie is now studying Mass Communications in the Creative Industries faculty at QUT. She plans to gain as much experience and expand her networks as much as possible while she completes her studies.

Jane EastwoodJane is Education Logistics Coordinator for Opera Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Leisure Management (Gri'th University), a Bachelor of Business in Tourism (Southern Cross University), a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Graduate Certi#cate in Arts and Creative Industries Management (both from QUT). She was a recipient of QUTs Vacation Research Experience Scholarship Scheme in 2007 and continues to work with the Head of Dance to develop the faculty’s alumni network. Jane has taught dance for a number of local Brisbane studios, and was a dancer and choreographer with independent collective li(le moving poets from 2006 to 2008. She also appeared in Opera Queensland’s production of Rigole(o in 2009.

Nuala FurtadoNuala Furtado was born and raised in Brisbane. She graduated in July 2009 from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, with a Bachelor of Music Studies in Contemporary Voice, Music and Cultural Industry. She has a great passion for music and the arts and is eager to create a career path in the industry. Nuala has participated in many industry events in a volunteer capacity; Big Sound Music Conference, organised by Qmusic, Sounds of Spring Festival and some experience at QPAC through her degree.

Alanna HankeyAlanna Hankey is the Festival Director for the 2high Festival 2010. Alanna was appointed Festival Director, a result of her successes as Festival Manager in 2009 performing a noteworthy balancing act between this and her role as Programme Resources Coordinator for Brisbane Festival 2009. Alanna has a Bachelor in Applied $eatre at Gri'th University. In the past few years she has worked as a Performer, Drama Facilitator, Producer, MC, Stage Manager, Band Manager, Arts Coordinator, Assistant Director, Festival Manager, Music Programmer and now Festival Director, & somewhere amidst all of this managed six months of travel abroad.

Kelly Dee KnightKelly’s work is informed by a professional background in conservation framing, printmaking and community arts, as well as an ongoing concern for and interest in botanical, environmental and natural sciences. Kelly’s creative process usually begins with a ‘book’. $is is the place where the journey is instigated - researching ideas, gathering images, words and textures, all the while experimenting with various techniques. $is process allows the ideas to evolve and grow, taking on a life of their own...like a garden that "ourishes with tender loving care. Kelly’s work is part of the National museum collection in Canberra, has won a national art prize and been represented in numerous exhibitions.

Patrick McCarthyPatrick is a Melbourne based playwright, director and actor. He is the Artistic Director and founder of Mutation $eatre. His writing credits include Fluorescent Façade: Howard Arkley and Suburbia (2008), $e Corpse of Hamlet (2009) and Habitat (2010). In 2008 he received a High Commendation in the Melbourne Dramatist’s New Writing Award for Fluorescent Façade. He also wrote a short play for the 2010 Emerging Writers Festival, A Grave Decision, which was performed at the Malthouse $eatre. Patrick made his directorial debut in 2010 with his play Habitat, which was performed at $e Function Room in Fitzroy, a venue he co-founded and of which Mutation $eatre is a resident company. His acting credits include Fluorescent Façade and $e Corpse of Hamlet for Mutation $eatre. He has also

performed at $e Arts Centre, $e National $eatre and the VCA.

Tara McGrathTara has just completed a Masters of Creative Industries at QUT in Creative Production and Arts Management and she is now eager to launch herself into the industry. Tara moved to Brisbane from her hometown of Montreal, Canada, to further her academic pursuits. She has a long standing passion for the arts, #rst as an artist and now as an arts worker. Her primary topic of interest of the past year has been the sustainability of the arts industry. “I have always had the arts in my life and I feel it is a right that every individual should have”. Tara intends on staying in Brisbane a while longer, but would also like to travel around Australia and experience more of what this country o%ers, before heading back to Montreal and tackling a PhD in arts marketing.

Natalie McKayNatalie is in her second year of studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries- Interdisciplinary. She enjoys subjects in Entertainment, Music and Film/TV and hope to study abroad in UK next year. A&er completed university, she would like to live in Melbourne, and also become "uent in Japanese. Natalie can be found at libraries, seeing live music, at the movies or snowboarding on the hills of slopes of Japan.

Jodi GrambergJodi is an artist and a dreamer. Her Art is an extension of the imagery that inspires her and keeps her own brand of the hidden world alive. Using mix media and post modern techniques, her work has a common #gurative theme. Her in"uences in cooperates all things that is POp Culture. A&er studying Art at University and Collage she has spent the past two years working as a Secondary School Art teacher in many London schools. $e future is her canvas and she would love to see the world painted neon magenta.

What would you like to see more of in the arts? “I would like to see more young people engaging wider audiences through their perspective. I believe young people offer fresh insights into new modes of creativity - and believe if we can be integrated into the arts from an early

Travis Dewan, Painter, Urban art & installation

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 23 3/6/10 10:12:54 AM




Aoife TimmsAoife is currently in her !nal year of study at QUT, undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts Drama, and plans to travel overseas when !nished. She love animals, music, the theatre and lollies...’very very much’.

Nikki TuarauNikki is 20 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries at QUT. She has completed a Bachelor’s of Arts degree with distinction in 2009. She has volunteered at numerous festivals and arts organisations, and is currently undertaking an internship at La Boite "eatre Company and with Major Brisbane Festivals for ‘Under the Radar’. She is also seconded to Brooke Newall at Backbone Youth Arts, and loves assisting in the running of drama workshops every Saturday morning. Nikki loves everything to do with theatre and performance, and aims to be a theatre director and creative producer.

Samantha RoderickSam is twenty one years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries, focusing on creative writing at the University of Queensland. Writing has always been a strong passion of Sam’s and she dreams of having work published one day. Sam is also quali!ed in the art of #oristry and pursues this part time around her studies. In her spare time, Sam also takes classes with Vulcana women’s circus and has fallen in love with trapeze. Sam studies French with the ambition to one day be #uent.

What do you do to be creative? “I construct scenes, possible narratives and environments and capture them photographically. I also create stop-motion photography installations and evocative soundscapes by interacting with old spaces around Brisbane”. Anna Jacobson, 22, Photographic Art and Experimental Video with Soundscapes

Hugo PresserHugo is a video, photography and sculptural artist, working under the artistic movement of memento mori; work which a$empts to remind people of their mortality. In his projects, Hugo a$empts to create something new in an act of destruction, and in doing so, reverse the process of decay and death. "is includes destroying objects in acid, blenders, power tools and the natural process of decay in the passing of time. By trying to completely obliterate symbolic everyday objects, he seeks to recycle the items he is destroying by sending its raw materials back into the world, and at the same time have some control over the moment of death.

Why do you like the arts? “It’s never the same, I think it’s the best way to communicate an idea, and art can bring together unlikely disciplines”. Hugo Presser, 23, Film

What do you need to be creative? “an imagination and a head full of dreams”Tira Dowling, 21, painting/drawing/mixed media

What do you need to be creative?

Anna Jacobson, 22, Photographic Art and Experimental Video with Soundscapes

CHANGING HABITATS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Free-Range Kids: Why Does an Old-Fashioned Childhood Sound So Radical? International keynote speaker, Lenore Skenazy

WED 9 JUNE, 11.30amThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

“Changing Habitats” is a Free-Range obsession. In just about one generation,

coaches to Mandarin teachers, all worried that our children are in great peril, be it from injury, paedophiles, death or (gasp!) not developing to their very highest potential. And what these adults have lost is the notion that our kids need space, time, freedom and responsibility to actually discover their

up.

Australian Response by Dr. Chelsea Bond from Inala Indigenous Health Service, contextualises Lenore’s keynote within her understanding of

community of Inala. Chelsea also shares with us her own experiences of parenting and working with young children and families in contemporary Australia.

Meets and Treats*— Symposium Opening Event & Registration

TUE 8 JUNE, 3pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

Welcome to Country Nunukul Yugerra Speeches by YPAA Chair, Catherine Baldwin, Executive Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre and Aleem Ali, Creative Director of Human Ventures Inc. Entertainment by Flipside Circus featuring their Alice in Wonderland creation, and Polytoxic, a Brisbane contemporary performance company

Hosted by symposium MC, Candy Bowers, who will introduce the symposium program, your options for participation and a few surprises over the next few days.

Artistic Director from Belgian theatre performance group, Ontroerend Goed. International keynote speaker Alexander Devriendt

THURS 10 JUNE, 9.30 amThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

The belief in youth as an inspiration for the world is often in contrast with the way young people all over the world are repressed and their voice is neglected. A large number of adults forget the simple fact that they create the world these youngsters live in and even forget that they were adolescents themselves at one point in time.

These thoughts inspired Alexander to create two performances with young people that speak to the adolescent in every person. The main goal was always to create an artistic work with young people that could touch upon these subjects. He will talk about the way he works with young people as artists

not use them as vessels for his own words, but create a performance with the material the young actors provide.

Australian Response by Leticia Caceres, Australian director, most renowned for work with Real TV, will present a response to Alexander’s key-note,

on her own work in Australia and more recently across Europe and America and share insights and the way she boldly imagines a new world of theatre.

Stones Corner Street Party— closing eventPresented by Brisbane City Council and the Stones Corner community , Brisbane.

THURS 10 JUNE, 6.30pmStones Corner

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman invites you to attend the Stones Corner Street Party, spotlighting a ‘changing habitat’ in Brisbane.

What used to be a local community bustling with fashion outlets has undertaken some massive changes

artists, exhibitors, musicians, food and a great community vibe – an inaugural street party not to be missed.

Transport by bus is provided for delegates from The Edge to Stones Corner, courtesy of Brisbane City Council

Join Polytoxic, right, at Meets & Treatstea party Opening Event. Tues 8 June, 3pm

Please contact YPAA [email protected] if you would like to contact any of our volunteers for offers of opportunities

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 24 3/6/10 10:12:55 AM




Aoife TimmsAoife is currently in her !nal year of study at QUT, undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts Drama, and plans to travel overseas when !nished. She love animals, music, the theatre and lollies...’very very much’.

Nikki TuarauNikki is 20 years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries at QUT. She has completed a Bachelor’s of Arts degree with distinction in 2009. She has volunteered at numerous festivals and arts organisations, and is currently undertaking an internship at La Boite "eatre Company and with Major Brisbane Festivals for ‘Under the Radar’. She is also seconded to Brooke Newall at Backbone Youth Arts, and loves assisting in the running of drama workshops every Saturday morning. Nikki loves everything to do with theatre and performance, and aims to be a theatre director and creative producer.

Samantha RoderickSam is twenty one years old and currently studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries, focusing on creative writing at the University of Queensland. Writing has always been a strong passion of Sam’s and she dreams of having work published one day. Sam is also quali!ed in the art of #oristry and pursues this part time around her studies. In her spare time, Sam also takes classes with Vulcana women’s circus and has fallen in love with trapeze. Sam studies French with the ambition to one day be #uent.

What do you do to be creative? “I construct scenes, possible narratives and environments and capture them photographically. I also create stop-motion photography installations and evocative soundscapes by interacting with old spaces around Brisbane”. Anna Jacobson, 22, Photographic Art and Experimental Video with Soundscapes

Hugo PresserHugo is a video, photography and sculptural artist, working under the artistic movement of memento mori; work which a$empts to remind people of their mortality. In his projects, Hugo a$empts to create something new in an act of destruction, and in doing so, reverse the process of decay and death. "is includes destroying objects in acid, blenders, power tools and the natural process of decay in the passing of time. By trying to completely obliterate symbolic everyday objects, he seeks to recycle the items he is destroying by sending its raw materials back into the world, and at the same time have some control over the moment of death.

Why do you like the arts? “It’s never the same, I think it’s the best way to communicate an idea, and art can bring together unlikely disciplines”. Hugo Presser, 23, Film

What do you need to be creative? “an imagination and a head full of dreams”Tira Dowling, 21, painting/drawing/mixed media


Anna Jacobson, 22, Photographic Art and Experimental Video with Soundscapes

CHANGING HABITATS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Free-Range Kids: Why Does an Old-Fashioned Childhood Sound So Radical? International keynote speaker, Lenore Skenazy

WED 9 JUNE, 11.30amThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

“Changing Habitats” is a Free-Range obsession. In just about one generation,

coaches to Mandarin teachers, all worried that our children are in great peril, be it from injury, paedophiles, death or (gasp!) not developing to their very highest potential. And what these adults have lost is the notion that our kids need space, time, freedom and responsibility to actually discover their

up.

Australian Response by Dr. Chelsea Bond from Inala Indigenous Health Service, contextualises Lenore’s keynote within her understanding of

community of Inala. Chelsea also shares with us her own experiences of parenting and working with young children and families in contemporary Australia.

Meets and Treats*— Symposium Opening Event & Registration

TUE 8 JUNE, 3pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

Welcome to Country Nunukul Yugerra Speeches by YPAA Chair, Catherine Baldwin, Executive Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre and Aleem Ali, Creative Director of Human Ventures Inc. Entertainment by Flipside Circus featuring their Alice in Wonderland creation, and Polytoxic, a Brisbane contemporary performance company

Hosted by symposium MC, Candy Bowers, who will introduce the symposium program, your options for participation and a few surprises over the next few days.

Artistic Director from Belgian theatre performance group, Ontroerend Goed. International keynote speaker Alexander Devriendt

THURS 10 JUNE, 9.30 amThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

The belief in youth as an inspiration for the world is often in contrast with the way young people all over the world are repressed and their voice is neglected. A large number of adults forget the simple fact that they create the world these youngsters live in and even forget that they were adolescents themselves at one point in time.

These thoughts inspired Alexander to create two performances with young people that speak to the adolescent in every person. The main goal was always to create an artistic work with young people that could touch upon these subjects. He will talk about the way he works with young people as artists

not use them as vessels for his own words, but create a performance with the material the young actors provide.

Australian Response by Leticia Caceres, Australian director, most renowned for work with Real TV, will present a response to Alexander’s key-note,

on her own work in Australia and more recently across Europe and America and share insights and the way she boldly imagines a new world of theatre.

Stones Corner Street Party— closing eventPresented by Brisbane City Council and the Stones Corner community , Brisbane.

THURS 10 JUNE, 6.30pmStones Corner

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman invites you to attend the Stones Corner Street Party, spotlighting a ‘changing habitat’ in Brisbane.

What used to be a local community bustling with fashion outlets has undertaken some massive changes

artists, exhibitors, musicians, food and a great community vibe – an inaugural street party not to be missed.

Transport by bus is provided for delegates from The Edge to Stones Corner, courtesy of Brisbane City Council

Join Polytoxic, right, at Meets & Treatstea party Opening Event. Tues 8 June, 3pm

Please contact YPAA [email protected] if you would like to contact any of our volunteers for offers of opportunities

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 25 3/6/10 10:12:56 AM




Symposium Questions- Leading thinkers across the arts and non-arts industries will facilitate conservation groups to

the delegates to consider the bigger question of the Symposium within their own practice areas.

WED 9 JUNE, 2.30PM

new ways to talk about children and young

Theatre for Young People

The Family Tree – Where do parents and

of the family and community in arts engagement? What is changing? What are we afraid of?

25 is the New 15 – What is working to support young people as creative citizens and what is stopping them growing up into adult artists? Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe Festival

Contemporary Audiences – Are they happy with what they experience or do they want more? What do we know now and what will we need to know into the future?

Emerging Cultural Leaders – What are young people telling us is important to them? How do they organise themselves?

Facilitator

A Shared Future - what role do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people have in shaping our future as a nation?

Isolated Eco Warriors – How can the arts help families and households to create their own sustainable future? Helen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

The Tyranny of Majority - Who is not being heard? With a rising tide of new stories across Australia, what does culturally diversity really mean? Claudia

Free-Range Children vs Child Free – What are some contemporary dilemmas about including children’s creativity in planning inclusive urban and suburban communities?

More Than Teacher’s Notes – What do the arts need from education and what does education expect from the arts?

Symposium Questions

THURS 10 JUNE, WED 9 JUNE, 2PM

Young People as Collaborators – What possibilities exist for children and young people in the theatre? What would it take to share our cultural authority?


Unexpected Discoveries – Where are the social generators for creative learning and cultural production?

The Country of Festivals – How to build national links across festival programs, and ultimately enhance civic engagement?Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe Festival

Imports & Exports – What is going on in Australian touring and what are the change drivers?

Digital Access – What role is technology playing in the development of children and young people’s cultural lives? Angharad Wynne-Jones, Arts Consultant,

A New Generation – What new forms of artistic and cultural expression are surfacing amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists? How are these artists in conversation with children and young people?

I Heart Curating – How is the role of the curator changing? Are these changes shaped by good stories, information overload or reappropriating language? Helen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

Community is Having a Come Back – How do we engage communities in meaningful ways and how are they shaping arts and culture?

Mixed Up Geographies and Mashed Up Artforms – What do artists need to work across regions and to share aesthetics?

Amateur is the New Professional – What lines are blurring and how do we feel about the new cultural citizen?

Thinking, talking and documenting: Research and evaluation as democratic interventions.— Chaired by Tony Mack, Director TM Productions

WED 9 JUNE, 5pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

Research, documentation and evaluation can be developed in such diverse contexts and in response to such a wide variety of questions. This panel showcases three vastly different

research-based work that engages children, young people and families in shaping new arts experiences. From large-scale long-term research to short and instant evaluative feedback

research, venue-based work and festival evaluation. This session explores ways that research can be used to drive work. Hear from researchers, practitioners, policy makers and parents who are using research and evaluation in their everyday practice

Speakers including Robert Brown,Melbourne University and Simon Spain, Artplay, Signal & City of MelbourneSusan Richer, Arts QLD and Jane Jennison, Freelancer & Brisbane City CouncilAssoc Prof. Professor Bruce

Upton, University of Melbourne

Sharing content, aesthetics and our lounge rooms: Innovations in practice

— Chaired by Sam Fox, Director, Hydra Poesis, WA

WED 9 JUNE, 5pmKuril Dhagun, State Library of Queensland

The notion of democratising our arts practice can mean many different things, including the venues we use, the collaborators we engage, the legal issues relevant to our work and ultimately how we open up our processes to let other people have input. This panel will feature Sydney based cultural practitioner developing a new work based on these concepts and a Brisbane lawyer encouraging creatives to open up their process to a greater global sharing, while ensuring their rights are protected.

Speakers includeGemma Pepper, Up Close Festival (NSW)Elliott Bledsoe, Creative Commons (QLD)

Facilitators in Conversation

— Facilitated by Dr Mary Anne Hunter

THURS 10 June, 4pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

This panel gives each facilitator an opportunity to offer one key insight into their conversations to the whole delegation.

Find out what has been discussed over the last two days. Highlights, provocations, new ideas, conceptual

commitments made and concerns raised; what is the national perspective to this big question?

Are children and young people democratising culture?

Diat Alferink, Director and Freelancer practitionerLeticia Caceres, Real TV Claudia Chidiac, Freelance Practitioner

for Young PeopleNoel Jordan, Freelance Consultant Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM, Freelance consultantAssociate Professor Geoff

Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe FestivalAngharad Wynne-Jones, Arts Consultant, Producer and FacilitatorHelen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

3 SYMPOSIUM PANELS - HEARING FROM THE FIELD

WED 9 JUNE, 7.30pm, The Edge Auditorium

A convention designed to borrow from the leading projects which utilise different methods of presentation, In a 90-minute presentation, 11 well-known industry speakers will respond to the same question, ‘Do you think children and young people are democratising culture?’

Each uses 9 slides, speaking for only 9 minutes each. PowerPoint has been banned!

Speakers:Andy Packer, ComeOut Festival (SA)1. Robin Penty, The Arts Centre(VIC)2. Sam Fox, Hydra Poesis(WA)3. Steph Urruty, Westside Circus (VIC)4. Sue Giles, Polyglot Puppet Theatre (VIC)5. Dr Hillary Glow & Katya Johanson, Deakin University 6. (VIC)Pamela Clelland Gray, National Portrait Gallery 7. (ACT)Celia White, Contact Inc, & Lana Tukaroa, Freelance 8. Practitioner (QLD)Darren Brady Stronger Smarter Institute (QLD)9.

9x9x9. — an entertaining hot topic discussion & Symposium dinner

Photo courtesy of ArtPlay

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 26 3/6/10 10:12:57 AM




Symposium Questions- Leading thinkers across the arts and non-arts industries will facilitate conservation groups to

the delegates to consider the bigger question of the Symposium within their own practice areas.

WED 9 JUNE, 2.30PM

new ways to talk about children and young


The Family Tree – Where do parents and

of the family and community in arts engagement? What is changing? What are we afraid of?

25 is the New 15 – What is working to support young people as creative citizens and what is stopping them growing up into adult artists? Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe Festival

Contemporary Audiences – Are they happy with what they experience or do they want more? What do we know now and what will we need to know into the future?

Emerging Cultural Leaders – What are young people telling us is important to them? How do they organise themselves?

Facilitator

A Shared Future - what role do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people have in shaping our future as a nation?

Isolated Eco Warriors – How can the arts help families and households to create their own sustainable future? Helen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

The Tyranny of Majority - Who is not being heard? With a rising tide of new stories across Australia, what does culturally diversity really mean? Claudia

Free-Range Children vs Child Free – What are some contemporary dilemmas about including children’s creativity in planning inclusive urban and suburban communities?

More Than Teacher’s Notes – What do the arts need from education and what does education expect from the arts?

Symposium Questions

THURS 10 JUNE, WED 9 JUNE, 2PM

Young People as Collaborators – What possibilities exist for children and young people in the theatre? What would it take to share our cultural authority?


Unexpected Discoveries – Where are the social generators for creative learning and cultural production?

The Country of Festivals – How to build national links across festival programs, and ultimately enhance civic engagement?Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe Festival

Imports & Exports – What is going on in Australian touring and what are the change drivers?

Digital Access – What role is technology playing in the development of children and young people’s cultural lives? Angharad Wynne-Jones, Arts Consultant,

A New Generation – What new forms of artistic and cultural expression are surfacing amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists? How are these artists in conversation with children and young people?

I Heart Curating – How is the role of the curator changing? Are these changes shaped by good stories, information overload or reappropriating language? Helen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

Community is Having a Come Back – How do we engage communities in meaningful ways and how are they shaping arts and culture?

Mixed Up Geographies and Mashed Up Artforms – What do artists need to work across regions and to share aesthetics?

Amateur is the New Professional – What lines are blurring and how do we feel about the new cultural citizen?

Thinking, talking and documenting: Research and evaluation as democratic interventions.— Chaired by Tony Mack, Director TM Productions

WED 9 JUNE, 5pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

Research, documentation and evaluation can be developed in such diverse contexts and in response to such a wide variety of questions. This panel showcases three vastly different

research-based work that engages children, young people and families in shaping new arts experiences. From large-scale long-term research to short and instant evaluative feedback

research, venue-based work and festival evaluation. This session explores ways that research can be used to drive work. Hear from researchers, practitioners, policy makers and parents who are using research and evaluation in their everyday practice

Speakers including Robert Brown,Melbourne University and Simon Spain, Artplay, Signal & City of MelbourneSusan Richer, Arts QLD and Jane Jennison, Freelancer & Brisbane City CouncilAssoc Prof. Professor Bruce

Upton, University of Melbourne

Sharing content, aesthetics and our lounge rooms: Innovations in practice

— Chaired by Sam Fox, Director, Hydra Poesis, WA

WED 9 JUNE, 5pmKuril Dhagun, State Library of Queensland

The notion of democratising our arts practice can mean many different things, including the venues we use, the collaborators we engage, the legal issues relevant to our work and ultimately how we open up our processes to let other people have input. This panel will feature Sydney based cultural practitioner developing a new work based on these concepts and a Brisbane lawyer encouraging creatives to open up their process to a greater global sharing, while ensuring their rights are protected.

Speakers includeGemma Pepper, Up Close Festival (NSW)Elliott Bledsoe, Creative Commons (QLD)

Facilitators in Conversation

— Facilitated by Dr Mary Anne Hunter

THURS 10 June, 4pmThe Edge Auditorium, State Library of Queensland

This panel gives each facilitator an opportunity to offer one key insight into their conversations to the whole delegation.

Find out what has been discussed over the last two days. Highlights, provocations, new ideas, conceptual

commitments made and concerns raised; what is the national perspective to this big question?

Are children and young people democratising culture?

Diat Alferink, Director and Freelancer practitionerLeticia Caceres, Real TV Claudia Chidiac, Freelance Practitioner

for Young PeopleNoel Jordan, Freelance Consultant Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM, Freelance consultantAssociate Professor Geoff

Emily Sexton, Melbourne Fringe FestivalAngharad Wynne-Jones, Arts Consultant, Producer and FacilitatorHelen Whitty, Powerhouse Museum

3 SYMPOSIUM PANELS - HEARING FROM THE FIELD

WED 9 JUNE, 7.30pm, The Edge Auditorium

A convention designed to borrow from the leading projects which utilise different methods of presentation, In a 90-minute presentation, 11 well-known industry speakers will respond to the same question, ‘Do you think children and young people are democratising culture?’

Each uses 9 slides, speaking for only 9 minutes each. PowerPoint has been banned!

Speakers:Andy Packer, ComeOut Festival (SA)1. Robin Penty, The Arts Centre(VIC)2. Sam Fox, Hydra Poesis(WA)3. Steph Urruty, Westside Circus (VIC)4. Sue Giles, Polyglot Puppet Theatre (VIC)5. Dr Hillary Glow & Katya Johanson, Deakin University 6. (VIC)Pamela Clelland Gray, National Portrait Gallery 7. (ACT)Celia White, Contact Inc, & Lana Tukaroa, Freelance 8. Practitioner (QLD)Darren Brady Stronger Smarter Institute (QLD)9.

9x9x9. — an entertaining hot topic discussion & Symposium dinner

Photo courtesy of ArtPlay

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 27 3/6/10 10:12:58 AM





“Nothing”. “Everything”.

“get tatoos, strive to create history, discover people’s personalities”“sing in my band,

‘The Secret Whisper’”

WORD ON THE STREET

at Changing Habitats and maximise the number of young people’s voices brought to the table. During an event in King George Square, young people were asked at random:

What do you do that’s creative?1. Why do you like the arts?2. What does culture mean?3. What do you need to be creative?4. What would you like to see more of in the arts?5.

“feel back my sensations,

feelings as a child... Never

“do what i like and keep it...I hold it as my style”

It’s my way of expressing

myself, my feelings, opinions and

emotion”

“Increased state level

infrastructure”. “World Peace”.“self expression, emotion in body

language and cultural.

To be free, crazy”

“Indigenous Art”. “Community Spaces for Art”

“a professional environment that

“individuality”. “Self Expression”.

“the arts is a chance to clear

one’s mind, to forget a stressful

day, relax and express oneself”

“displaying attributes of different personalities. A structure or group of society. Look at music for example”

What do you need to be creative?“There needs to be scope and freedom to express individuality and group ideas, beliefs and values. Creativity always needs to be encouraged and

supportive’

Why do you like the arts?“I can play away my sorrow, drive away my anger, and

sing with my joy. When I’m angry I just play guitar and sing as a way to release my tension and stress. When

I’m happy I sing to share my joy. The arts are the best way to express oneself and

that’s why I love it”

“I need to feel that society appreciates and values my opinions and the time and energy that I devote to my craft”

“innovation and ideas that are

‘outside the box’”

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 28 3/6/10 10:13:01 AM





“Nothing”. “Everything”.

“get tatoos, strive to create history, discover people’s personalities”“sing in my band,

‘The Secret Whisper’”

WORD ON THE STREET

at Changing Habitats and maximise the number of young people’s voices brought to the table. During an event in King George Square, young people were asked at random:

What do you do that’s creative?1. Why do you like the arts?2. What does culture mean?3. What do you need to be creative?4. What would you like to see more of in the arts?5.

“feel back my sensations,

feelings as a child... Never

“do what i like and keep it...I hold it as my style”

It’s my way of expressing

myself, my feelings, opinions and

emotion”

“Increased state level

infrastructure”. “World Peace”.“self expression, emotion in body

language and cultural.

To be free, crazy”

“Indigenous Art”. “Community Spaces for Art”

“a professional environment that

“individuality”. “Self Expression”.

“the arts is a chance to clear

one’s mind, to forget a stressful

day, relax and express oneself”

“displaying attributes of different personalities. A structure or group of society. Look at music for example”

What do you need to be creative?“There needs to be scope and freedom to express individuality and group ideas, beliefs and values. Creativity always needs to be encouraged and

supportive’

Why do you like the arts?“I can play away my sorrow, drive away my anger, and

sing with my joy. When I’m angry I just play guitar and sing as a way to release my tension and stress. When

I’m happy I sing to share my joy. The arts are the best way to express oneself and

that’s why I love it”

“I need to feel that society appreciates and values my opinions and the time and energy that I devote to my craft”

“innovation and ideas that are

‘outside the box’”

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 29 3/6/10 10:13:02 AM




POLYTOXICInspired by the traditions of the Paci!c, the guts of physical performance and the crimes of pop-culture, Polytoxic serves up a signature style like no other. Presenting a diverse style of work that covers dance-theatre, physical cabaret and visual design, they bring a comic, distinct and energetic edge to dance theatre. Polytoxic has worked extensively in community cultural development and they have forged new art forms and a new position as ambassadors for a generation of artists working across cultures, re"ecting Australia’s changing habitation.

www.polytoxiclovesyou.com

Photo by Sean YoungPictured: Polytoxic dance theatre, L-R: Fez Fa’anana, Leah Shelton, Natano Fa’anana, Lisa Fa’ala!, Mark Winmill, Amanda-Lyn Pearson

Candy Bowers, MCCandy Bowers is a writer, hip hop artist, social innovator, actor, director, arts worker, theatre maker, lyricist and social activist. Her dream is for the Australian stage, page and screen to be a place where everyone feels welcome and can see themselves re"ected. In 2010 Candy will tour her one woman show entitled WHO’S THAT CHIK? A tale of a brown girl with big dreams to the NEXUS Multicultural Arts Symposium in Adelaide and also to Darwin Festival. In 2009 Candy was named on the Top 100 Creative Catalysts List (Vivid Festival) and won the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Best Performance Award for WHO’S THAT CHIK. In 2008 she won the British Council for Arts, Realise Your Dream Award and travelled the the UK to develop her career as a hip hop theatre artist. Her current projects include devising and directing a new piece for Powerhouse Youth #eatre (Fair!eld, Western Sydney), adapting As You Like It into a hip hop theatre show for the Bell Shakespeare Company’s Mind’s Eye program and facilitating play writing classes for PlayWriting Australia. Since graduating from the acting course at NIDA in 2001, Candy has toured nationally and internationally with her award winning hip hop comedy act SISTA SHE.

www.whosthatchik.com h$p://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/mindseye/workindevelopment/arden

ARTISTS INVOLVED IN CHANGING HABITATS

FLIPSIDE CIRCUS#e seed for Alice in Wonderland was sown when the Flipside Circus Performance Troupe were performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March 2009. Flipside’s young performers were involved in discussions and the decision making process with the adult trainers regarding the adaptation of Alice in wonderland for a circus show.

#e Alice in Wonderland story challenges people’s imagination of what’s real or not, and Flipside Circus have embraced children and young people’s readily accepted possibility that "owers that can talk, that a white rabbit might carry a pocket watch, or that a caterpillar might hula hoop. #e Flipside Circus adaptation of Alice in Wonderland o%ers audience members an even greater opportunity to escape into their imagination.

Prepare to get lost in Lewis Carol’s infamous tale as you watch the risky and intense physicality of the young circus performers, combined with the captivating images from Markwell Presents

www."ipsidecircus.org.auWed 7 - Sat 10 July 2010. Wed, #urs & Sat: 10am, 2pm. Fri: 2pm, 7.30pm

Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm. BrisbaneBookings: www.brisbanepowerhouse.org, 07-33588600

DJ BACONA&er purchasing his !rst 12” vinyl “It’s Tricky” by Run Dmc at the tender age of 12 (1987) his passion and knowledge of hip hop culture and music generally has grown continually.

Since then, DJ Bacon has been in"uenced by listening to early New York hip hop records and admiring the !rst school of hip hop artists that pioneered the genre. DJ Bacon is now an avid collector of vintage vinyl. As an accomplished hip hop DJ and turntablist he has mastered many di%erent styles of cu$ing, scratching, blending, juggling and beat mixing; he is renowned for his old school scratch style and funky approach to DJing.

www.myspace.com/therealdjbacon

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 30 3/6/10 10:13:03 AM




POLYTOXICInspired by the traditions of the Paci!c, the guts of physical performance and the crimes of pop-culture, Polytoxic serves up a signature style like no other. Presenting a diverse style of work that covers dance-theatre, physical cabaret and visual design, they bring a comic, distinct and energetic edge to dance theatre. Polytoxic has worked extensively in community cultural development and they have forged new art forms and a new position as ambassadors for a generation of artists working across cultures, re"ecting Australia’s changing habitation.

www.polytoxiclovesyou.com

Photo by Sean YoungPictured: Polytoxic dance theatre, L-R: Fez Fa’anana, Leah Shelton, Natano Fa’anana, Lisa Fa’ala!, Mark Winmill, Amanda-Lyn Pearson

Candy Bowers, MCCandy Bowers is a writer, hip hop artist, social innovator, actor, director, arts worker, theatre maker, lyricist and social activist. Her dream is for the Australian stage, page and screen to be a place where everyone feels welcome and can see themselves re"ected. In 2010 Candy will tour her one woman show entitled WHO’S THAT CHIK? A tale of a brown girl with big dreams to the NEXUS Multicultural Arts Symposium in Adelaide and also to Darwin Festival. In 2009 Candy was named on the Top 100 Creative Catalysts List (Vivid Festival) and won the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Best Performance Award for WHO’S THAT CHIK. In 2008 she won the British Council for Arts, Realise Your Dream Award and travelled the the UK to develop her career as a hip hop theatre artist. Her current projects include devising and directing a new piece for Powerhouse Youth #eatre (Fair!eld, Western Sydney), adapting As You Like It into a hip hop theatre show for the Bell Shakespeare Company’s Mind’s Eye program and facilitating play writing classes for PlayWriting Australia. Since graduating from the acting course at NIDA in 2001, Candy has toured nationally and internationally with her award winning hip hop comedy act SISTA SHE.

www.whosthatchik.com h$p://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/mindseye/workindevelopment/arden

ARTISTS INVOLVED IN CHANGING HABITATS

FLIPSIDE CIRCUS#e seed for Alice in Wonderland was sown when the Flipside Circus Performance Troupe were performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in March 2009. Flipside’s young performers were involved in discussions and the decision making process with the adult trainers regarding the adaptation of Alice in wonderland for a circus show.

#e Alice in Wonderland story challenges people’s imagination of what’s real or not, and Flipside Circus have embraced children and young people’s readily accepted possibility that "owers that can talk, that a white rabbit might carry a pocket watch, or that a caterpillar might hula hoop. #e Flipside Circus adaptation of Alice in Wonderland o%ers audience members an even greater opportunity to escape into their imagination.

Prepare to get lost in Lewis Carol’s infamous tale as you watch the risky and intense physicality of the young circus performers, combined with the captivating images from Markwell Presents

www."ipsidecircus.org.auWed 7 - Sat 10 July 2010. Wed, #urs & Sat: 10am, 2pm. Fri: 2pm, 7.30pm

Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm. BrisbaneBookings: www.brisbanepowerhouse.org, 07-33588600

DJ BACONA&er purchasing his !rst 12” vinyl “It’s Tricky” by Run Dmc at the tender age of 12 (1987) his passion and knowledge of hip hop culture and music generally has grown continually.

Since then, DJ Bacon has been in"uenced by listening to early New York hip hop records and admiring the !rst school of hip hop artists that pioneered the genre. DJ Bacon is now an avid collector of vintage vinyl. As an accomplished hip hop DJ and turntablist he has mastered many di%erent styles of cu$ing, scratching, blending, juggling and beat mixing; he is renowned for his old school scratch style and funky approach to DJing.

www.myspace.com/therealdjbacon

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 31 3/6/10 10:13:04 AM




Diat Alferink, Freelance Artist and Creative DirectorDiat is from the Kala Lagaw Ya Language group. Born in Pt Augusta and raised in Outback South Australia, Diat has been an active member of the South Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts community over the past 15 years, speci!cally in youth arts. Diat recently completed a seven year stint at Port Youth "eatre and Kurruru Youth Performing Arts as Co-Artistic Director, Cultural Director and Director where she was involved in many successful projects and programs. Diat has been involved in many youth arts events, festivals forums and community programs throughout South Australia as an artsworker, performer, event manager and cultural awareness trainer. In 2008 She was the !rst Artistic Director of the Yarnballa Arts and Cultural Festival in Port Augusta and now works as a freelance artistic director and creative producer. Diat is also known for her one woman play, ‘Wakaid Girl, Lyndhurst Kid’, an autobiography of an only child growing up in Outback South Australia season. Diat is passionate about the value community cultural development brings to self empowerment and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people families and the wider Australian community.

Leticia Caceres Real TV, DirectorLeticia has directed for many theatre companies and festivals across Australia, including Barking Gecko; Queensland "eatre Company; Sydney Opera House; La Boite "eatre , Come Out Festival, ASSITEJ Festival, and Energex Brisbane Festival. In 2000 she co founded nationally acclaimed Real TV with Angela Betzien and their work has toured nationally. RealTV’s HOODS won the 2009 Matilda Award and a 2007 AWGIE Award. It also received a Helpmann nomination (2008). Leticia was the Artistic Director for TANTRUM "eatre in Newcastle (2006-

2008) and Intern Director and Associate Director for Queensland "eatre Company (2003-2004). In 2008 she was a recipient of a British Council Realise Your Dream Award. In 2009 Leticia was invited by ASSITEJ Germany to a#end the International Director’s Seminar in Hamburg. She is currently on scholarship from Melbourne University to complete a Masters by research in Direction.

Claudia Chidiac,Freelance theatre director and ProducerClaudia is a theatre director, producer and performance artist who has among other projects worked extensively with young people, migrant and refugee communities. From 2005 until 2010 she was the artistic director of Powerhouse Youth "eatre (PYT) in South West Sydney, where she was responsible for directing the company’s artistic program and developing training opportunities for emerging artists in Western Sydney. In 2006 Claudia was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Young Leaders Award; In 2004 the Arts NSW Western Sydney Artist Fellowship. In 2002 she was one of ten young Australians selected to a#end an international summer school in Wales for young change makers.

Fraser Cor!eld, Australian "eatre for Young People, Artistic DirectorFor the past !$een years, Fraser has worked as a director, actor, and arts manager. For the past ten years he has specialised in generating theatre with young people. He has been the Artistic Director of Backbone Youth Arts (Qld) and Riverland Youth "eatre (SA) and the Associate Director of La Boite "eatre. In 2008 Fraser was appointed to the "eatre Board of the Australia Council for the Arts (2008 – 2011). He has been Company Associate of Queensland "eatre Company, the QLD representative for YPAA, chair of the selection commi#ee for the Youth Arts Mentoring Program (YAMP), a board member

of Metro Arts and part of the selection panel of the Matildas, Queensland’s theatre industry awards. In 2008 he was one of seven Australian representatives selected for the ‘Next Generation International Symposium’ at the ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival.

Dr Mary Anne Hunter, University of QLD, TAS. Honorary Research AdviserMary Ann is an Honorary Research Advisor at the University of Queensland and former Lecturer in Drama at UQ and the National Institute of Education, Singapore. She has been a theatre collaborator, editor, consultant and broadcaster, and has published widely on youth-speci!c arts and policy, arts education, community cultural development, and mentoring. Her doctoral research, ‘Anxious Futures’, examined the representation, positioning and valuing of young people in Australia’s cultural industry, and in the late 1990s she worked with the Queensland Government to develop the Your Culture Your Move youth cultural policy. Mary Ann has been a regular contributor to Real Time, former co-editor of Australasian Drama Studies, and expert advisor on Queensland’s cultural infrastructure program. With the Aboriginal community in Northern Tasmania, Mary Ann recently coordinated the set-up of meenah mienne, an arts mentoring and literacy program for young people in the justice system. Now based in regional Tasmania, free-ranging with her three under-eights, Mary Ann was recently appointed evaluator of the Commonwealth’s Artist in Residence program and continues to write on peace building and the arts.

Noel Jordan, Freelance Youth "eatre Consultant Noel has extensive experience as an educator, artist in residence, actor-devisor, writer, director and producer. He has previously been employed as an actor and the Artistic Director of the Woolly Jumpers

LEADING THINKERS, PRACTITIONERS, ACADEMICS, ARTISTS YPAA has invited a range of people to not only be in Brisbane from June 6-10 2010, but to also engage in thinking and talking about a broad range of topics prior to this national gathering. Please note that due to space restrictions, we have edited all biographies. You can access the full speaker biographies online at www.ypaa.net

"eatre Company, as a drama lecturer in Arts Education at the University of Melbourne, and as a director where he worked on several critically acclaimed productions. Noel has most recently been working as Producer - Young Audiences at Sydney Opera House for six years and a half where he curated the House:ed and Kids at the House annual youth programs. Noel is currently the international representative on the board of YPAA and an Executive Commi#ee Member of ASSITEJ International. He is working as an independent theatre consultant for Sydney Opera House and Lend Lease, a building development company who are building a children’s theatre in Sydney. Noel is also an Adjunct Lecturer for the University of Sydney and a Partner Investigator on the "eatreSpace research project.

Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM, freelance consultant and researcher in education and the artsBarbara has worked for 30 years with museums, galleries, libraries and schools to develop and deliver high quality programs for children and young people. Over the past decade, she completed several large scale research projects investigating artistry, creativity and culture in childhood. She currently serves on the Council of the National Museum of Australia and the Board of the Queensland Museum.

Emily Sexton, Creative Producer, Melbourne Fringe FestivalIn 2010 Emily will present her third Melbourne Fringe Festival. Melbourne Fringe presents over 300 arts projects each year, involving over 4500 independent artists. During her time with the organisation Emily has curated and produced a range of cross-disciplinary public arts projects, and directed a signi!cant refocus and expansion of Melbourne Fringe’s artist and sector development program. Emily is the Deputy Chair of Snu% Puppets, a member of Regional Arts Victoria’s Touring Consultative Commi#ee, and co-founder of the New Leaders Network. www.melbournefringe.com.au

Helen Whi#y, Education Services, Powerhouse MuseumHelen has worked across a range of projects, audiences and interests during her decade plus at the Powerhouse Museum. Her constant passion has been in creating a connection between visitors and the collection as a way of re-engagement with an individual and collection creativity. She has authored collection based non !ction books for young children starting with Scholastics Early Reader Series and !ve more series for Macmillan Educational Publishers (including the eco series) , three published with international version in the US, UK and Korea. She is currently working on ‘"e Maths Odyssey’ illustrated by graphic novelist Ma# Hyuen for Secondary School students (with curator Ma#hew Connell) due for release by Powerhouse Publishing in August. Of late Helen has been exploring !ctional narratives, tentatively with small interactive theatre pieces such as "e Elephant Story (about our beloved graphite elephant) and Zoe’s Luck Charm (Shou Lau) and ‘’full on’’ with the "e Odditoreum and its fantastical labels by celebrated author Shaun Tan and primary school children. By July this year there will be "e Tinytoreum with author Jackie French and illustrator Bruce Whateley. Associate Professor, Geo$ WoolcockUrban Sociologist Research Program, Gri%th UniversityGeo%rey works with large-scale public and private sector organisations, including large private residential developers and several Queensland and interstate government departments, concentrates on developing measures of communities’ strengths alongside national and international e%orts to measure well-being led by the OECD. In particular, he is focusing on qualitative and quantitative indicators of child-friendly communities across the Australian urban landscape.

Geo% is an experienced social researcher with considerable expertise in social and community service planning and evaluation, including social impact assessment and project evaluation. He has 20 years community-based research experience nationally and internationally, in housing, youth and health sectors, particularly HIV/AIDS prevention and education, culminating in his PhD thesis on AIDS activism completed in 2000. Geo% also has intellectual and experiential interest

in community activism and social reform, especially the evolution of progressive social movements.

AngharadWynne-Jones, freelance arts consultant, producer and facilitatorAngharad is a producer, arts consultant and facilitator. She is currently producing TippingPoint Australia 2010 – three international gatherings (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) of artists and scientists responding to climate change and completing a (distance) MA in cultural leadership at City Uni, London. In March 2005 she was appointed Director of London International Festival of "eatre creating a new mobile venue designed with East London residents for a series of festivals co-programmed by international artists and audiences. She directed and curated the !rst Australian "eatre Forum in May 2009 and has been Producer with Lucy Guerin Inc, Associate Director of Adelaide Festival 2002, Executive Producer of Chunky Move and Director of Performance Space. She has been on a number of Boards and Panels: Australia Council Hybrid, New Media and Dance Boards, Lucy Guerin Inc, Real Time, Snu% Puppets and Total "eatre (UK).

Breakout Group Facilitators:

Above: ACRO’s Knowing Me/Knowing YOU photography program

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 32 3/6/10 10:13:06 AM




Diat Alferink, Freelance Artist and Creative DirectorDiat is from the Kala Lagaw Ya Language group. Born in Pt Augusta and raised in Outback South Australia, Diat has been an active member of the South Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts community over the past 15 years, speci!cally in youth arts. Diat recently completed a seven year stint at Port Youth "eatre and Kurruru Youth Performing Arts as Co-Artistic Director, Cultural Director and Director where she was involved in many successful projects and programs. Diat has been involved in many youth arts events, festivals forums and community programs throughout South Australia as an artsworker, performer, event manager and cultural awareness trainer. In 2008 She was the !rst Artistic Director of the Yarnballa Arts and Cultural Festival in Port Augusta and now works as a freelance artistic director and creative producer. Diat is also known for her one woman play, ‘Wakaid Girl, Lyndhurst Kid’, an autobiography of an only child growing up in Outback South Australia season. Diat is passionate about the value community cultural development brings to self empowerment and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people families and the wider Australian community.

Leticia Caceres Real TV, DirectorLeticia has directed for many theatre companies and festivals across Australia, including Barking Gecko; Queensland "eatre Company; Sydney Opera House; La Boite "eatre , Come Out Festival, ASSITEJ Festival, and Energex Brisbane Festival. In 2000 she co founded nationally acclaimed Real TV with Angela Betzien and their work has toured nationally. RealTV’s HOODS won the 2009 Matilda Award and a 2007 AWGIE Award. It also received a Helpmann nomination (2008). Leticia was the Artistic Director for TANTRUM "eatre in Newcastle (2006-

2008) and Intern Director and Associate Director for Queensland "eatre Company (2003-2004). In 2008 she was a recipient of a British Council Realise Your Dream Award. In 2009 Leticia was invited by ASSITEJ Germany to a#end the International Director’s Seminar in Hamburg. She is currently on scholarship from Melbourne University to complete a Masters by research in Direction.

Claudia Chidiac,Freelance theatre director and ProducerClaudia is a theatre director, producer and performance artist who has among other projects worked extensively with young people, migrant and refugee communities. From 2005 until 2010 she was the artistic director of Powerhouse Youth "eatre (PYT) in South West Sydney, where she was responsible for directing the company’s artistic program and developing training opportunities for emerging artists in Western Sydney. In 2006 Claudia was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Young Leaders Award; In 2004 the Arts NSW Western Sydney Artist Fellowship. In 2002 she was one of ten young Australians selected to a#end an international summer school in Wales for young change makers.

Fraser Cor!eld, Australian "eatre for Young People, Artistic DirectorFor the past !$een years, Fraser has worked as a director, actor, and arts manager. For the past ten years he has specialised in generating theatre with young people. He has been the Artistic Director of Backbone Youth Arts (Qld) and Riverland Youth "eatre (SA) and the Associate Director of La Boite "eatre. In 2008 Fraser was appointed to the "eatre Board of the Australia Council for the Arts (2008 – 2011). He has been Company Associate of Queensland "eatre Company, the QLD representative for YPAA, chair of the selection commi#ee for the Youth Arts Mentoring Program (YAMP), a board member

of Metro Arts and part of the selection panel of the Matildas, Queensland’s theatre industry awards. In 2008 he was one of seven Australian representatives selected for the ‘Next Generation International Symposium’ at the ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival.

Dr Mary Anne Hunter, University of QLD, TAS. Honorary Research AdviserMary Ann is an Honorary Research Advisor at the University of Queensland and former Lecturer in Drama at UQ and the National Institute of Education, Singapore. She has been a theatre collaborator, editor, consultant and broadcaster, and has published widely on youth-speci!c arts and policy, arts education, community cultural development, and mentoring. Her doctoral research, ‘Anxious Futures’, examined the representation, positioning and valuing of young people in Australia’s cultural industry, and in the late 1990s she worked with the Queensland Government to develop the Your Culture Your Move youth cultural policy. Mary Ann has been a regular contributor to Real Time, former co-editor of Australasian Drama Studies, and expert advisor on Queensland’s cultural infrastructure program. With the Aboriginal community in Northern Tasmania, Mary Ann recently coordinated the set-up of meenah mienne, an arts mentoring and literacy program for young people in the justice system. Now based in regional Tasmania, free-ranging with her three under-eights, Mary Ann was recently appointed evaluator of the Commonwealth’s Artist in Residence program and continues to write on peace building and the arts.

Noel Jordan, Freelance Youth "eatre Consultant Noel has extensive experience as an educator, artist in residence, actor-devisor, writer, director and producer. He has previously been employed as an actor and the Artistic Director of the Woolly Jumpers

LEADING THINKERS, PRACTITIONERS, ACADEMICS, ARTISTS YPAA has invited a range of people to not only be in Brisbane from June 6-10 2010, but to also engage in thinking and talking about a broad range of topics prior to this national gathering. Please note that due to space restrictions, we have edited all biographies. You can access the full speaker biographies online at www.ypaa.net

"eatre Company, as a drama lecturer in Arts Education at the University of Melbourne, and as a director where he worked on several critically acclaimed productions. Noel has most recently been working as Producer - Young Audiences at Sydney Opera House for six years and a half where he curated the House:ed and Kids at the House annual youth programs. Noel is currently the international representative on the board of YPAA and an Executive Commi#ee Member of ASSITEJ International. He is working as an independent theatre consultant for Sydney Opera House and Lend Lease, a building development company who are building a children’s theatre in Sydney. Noel is also an Adjunct Lecturer for the University of Sydney and a Partner Investigator on the "eatreSpace research project.

Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM, freelance consultant and researcher in education and the artsBarbara has worked for 30 years with museums, galleries, libraries and schools to develop and deliver high quality programs for children and young people. Over the past decade, she completed several large scale research projects investigating artistry, creativity and culture in childhood. She currently serves on the Council of the National Museum of Australia and the Board of the Queensland Museum.

Emily Sexton, Creative Producer, Melbourne Fringe FestivalIn 2010 Emily will present her third Melbourne Fringe Festival. Melbourne Fringe presents over 300 arts projects each year, involving over 4500 independent artists. During her time with the organisation Emily has curated and produced a range of cross-disciplinary public arts projects, and directed a signi!cant refocus and expansion of Melbourne Fringe’s artist and sector development program. Emily is the Deputy Chair of Snu% Puppets, a member of Regional Arts Victoria’s Touring Consultative Commi#ee, and co-founder of the New Leaders Network. www.melbournefringe.com.au

Helen Whi#y, Education Services, Powerhouse MuseumHelen has worked across a range of projects, audiences and interests during her decade plus at the Powerhouse Museum. Her constant passion has been in creating a connection between visitors and the collection as a way of re-engagement with an individual and collection creativity. She has authored collection based non !ction books for young children starting with Scholastics Early Reader Series and !ve more series for Macmillan Educational Publishers (including the eco series) , three published with international version in the US, UK and Korea. She is currently working on ‘"e Maths Odyssey’ illustrated by graphic novelist Ma# Hyuen for Secondary School students (with curator Ma#hew Connell) due for release by Powerhouse Publishing in August. Of late Helen has been exploring !ctional narratives, tentatively with small interactive theatre pieces such as "e Elephant Story (about our beloved graphite elephant) and Zoe’s Luck Charm (Shou Lau) and ‘’full on’’ with the "e Odditoreum and its fantastical labels by celebrated author Shaun Tan and primary school children. By July this year there will be "e Tinytoreum with author Jackie French and illustrator Bruce Whateley. Associate Professor, Geo$ WoolcockUrban Sociologist Research Program, Gri%th UniversityGeo%rey works with large-scale public and private sector organisations, including large private residential developers and several Queensland and interstate government departments, concentrates on developing measures of communities’ strengths alongside national and international e%orts to measure well-being led by the OECD. In particular, he is focusing on qualitative and quantitative indicators of child-friendly communities across the Australian urban landscape.

Geo% is an experienced social researcher with considerable expertise in social and community service planning and evaluation, including social impact assessment and project evaluation. He has 20 years community-based research experience nationally and internationally, in housing, youth and health sectors, particularly HIV/AIDS prevention and education, culminating in his PhD thesis on AIDS activism completed in 2000. Geo% also has intellectual and experiential interest

in community activism and social reform, especially the evolution of progressive social movements.

AngharadWynne-Jones, freelance arts consultant, producer and facilitatorAngharad is a producer, arts consultant and facilitator. She is currently producing TippingPoint Australia 2010 – three international gatherings (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) of artists and scientists responding to climate change and completing a (distance) MA in cultural leadership at City Uni, London. In March 2005 she was appointed Director of London International Festival of "eatre creating a new mobile venue designed with East London residents for a series of festivals co-programmed by international artists and audiences. She directed and curated the !rst Australian "eatre Forum in May 2009 and has been Producer with Lucy Guerin Inc, Associate Director of Adelaide Festival 2002, Executive Producer of Chunky Move and Director of Performance Space. She has been on a number of Boards and Panels: Australia Council Hybrid, New Media and Dance Boards, Lucy Guerin Inc, Real Time, Snu% Puppets and Total "eatre (UK).

Breakout Group Facilitators:

Above: ACRO’s Knowing Me/Knowing YOU photography program

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 33 3/6/10 10:13:07 AM




Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) has over the last few years indenti!ed that there are a range of gaps in the professional development needs of artists and arts workers who engage children and young people in arts and cultural development. Some of these needs are about showcasing our work, or ge"ing feedback on creative developments. Other times we need to be in conversation with like-minded professionals and not restricted to those who work in our home town or even state or territory. Most o#en the practitioners who have become a YPAA member do so because they want to not only access our programs but also to connect with our national and international network. Being the ASSITEJ Australia centre means we are also networked with 80 other countries who value the arts in the lives of young people.

YPAA’s national programs centre around our goals of:

Brokering PartnershipsDeveloping infrastructureSector leadershipAdvocating for the cultural rights of children and young peopleOrganisational and industry sustainability

Programs you can participate in:

Development of the Youth Arts Market model & Victorian Youth Arts Market, Melbourne, November, 2010$e Youth Arts Market is an event model that provides opportunities to showcases and present new work, and to unite and educate the youth arts sector within a certain geographical location. Youth Arts Markets will vary depending on the needs of each region, but they generally consist of live showcase of presentations and performances, in addition to professional development and topical forums by industry experts and leaders in the !eld. (it does not consist of stagnant market stalls!) Youth Arts Markets are designed to a"ract a broad range of audience members from producers, festival directors, venue managers and touring agents to large institutions, governments, members of parliament, councillors, and of course families and artists.

Blueprint Networking GroupsBlueprint Groups are discussion groups of practitioners from around Australia on speci!c topics of interest. $e bene!ts of these Blueprint groups are to cohesively unite like-minded practitioners associated by practice rather than o%ce location to network nationally, to share their experiences, to support each other, and to make positive change. $is new way of networking is nationally focused, crosses artform divides and is adventurous and exciting for YPAA and the sector. $e discussion groups occur bi-monthly over a teleconference.

Incubator Support Program$e incubator program is a new YPAA initiative that provides dedicated support for emerging and established arts organisations that focus on creating work for and with children and young people. It is a formal relationship between YPAA and selected Australian arts organisations that are undergoing a period of growth or transition. $e partnership allows YPAA to assist individuals within chosen organisations to develop and extend skills that will aid them in the preparation and implementation.

Advocacy and lobbyingYPAA is the chief advocate in Australia for arts practitioners working with children and young people and key in advocating children and young people’s rights to arts and cultural experience. YPAA represents the interests of organisations and individuals in the arts and young people sector. YPAA’s advocacy activities include lobbying key government decision makers and various state and federal arts agencies; proposing and monitoring new policy; undertaking campaign initiatives and providing information to assist e&ective advocacy activity at community level.

Big Ideas Program$e big ideas program is a research space that provides the opportunity for YPAA to respond new ideas in the !eld. By inviting writers and practitioners to document their practice, experiences and ideas, by partnering with them to document their practice, or by partnering on research projects, we enrich our membership by sharing and disseminating this wealth of knowledge and research information. Big Ideas articles are published online, on YPAA’s website. Contact YPAA if you

would like to contribute to the wealth of knowledge compiled through the Big Ideas Program.

Join YPAA

Register to join the YPAA’s member network and unite our sector in commi"ing to provide access to the arts for young people in Australia. Help grow our ability to in'uence the future of youth arts in Australia with strong creative practice, social innovation, and a vibrant national and international network.

YPAA supports professional artists and arts organisations working creatively with children and young people in the arts sector in all artistic forms and cultural practice.

Individual membership: $77 (inc GST).

Organisations, creative hubs, groups of artists or peer networks can elect to subscribe in value packages of: 3 memberships for $165 (inc GST)5 memberships for $275 (inc GST)10 memberships for $550 (inc GST)

More info: www.ypaa.net

Other ways to engage with Young People and the Arts Australia SpeakersAleem Ali, Chief Executive O%cer, Human Ventures

Catherine Baldwin, Executive Director, Bangarra Dance $eatre

Ellio" Bledsoe, Project O%cer, Creative Commons

Chelsea Bond, Senior Researcher, Queensland Health

Robert Brown, Research Manager, ArtPlay Research Project, University of Melbourne

Tony Mack, Director, TM Performance and Communications

Jane Jennison, Cultural Programming Coordinator, Brisbane City Council

Gemma Pepper, Producer, Up Close

Susan Richer, Principal Arts Strategy Cooridnator, Arts Queensland

Simon Spain, Creative Producer, Signal and ArtPlay

Meg Upton, $eatreSpace Lead Research Assistant at University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Penny Bundy, Head of School or Education at Gri%th University

Darren Brady, Field O%cer Community Relations, QUT

P a m e l a Clelland-Gray, Manager Education and Visitor Services, National Portrait

Gallery

Sue Giles, Artistic Director, P o l y g l o t $eatre

Dr Hilary Glow, Senior Lecturer and Director of the

Arts Management Program, Deakin UniversitySam Fox, Director, Hydra Poesis

Dr Katya Johanson, Senior Lecturer, School of Communications and Creative Arts, Deakin University

Andy Packer, Creative Director, COME OUT Festival 2011 & Artistic Director, Slingsby

Robin Penty, Manager, Education, Families and Y o u n g People, $e

Art Centre

Lana Tokarua, F r e e l a n c e Practitioner

Steph Urruty, General Manager, Westside Circus

Right: Laser Beak Man, by Tim SharpCreated by Tim Sharp, Laser Beak Man is one of Australia’s most original and unpredictable new superheros. Laser Beak Man’s adventures began when Tim startedhis drawings at 11 years of age. Tim has launched a successful international career with his drawings which have been sold to fans worldwide.

Tim’s story is not only incredible because of his successes at such a young age, but because he has autism. A#er being told at age 3 that he would never learn to speak, Tim used drawing as a way to communicate. Tim is now 21 and not only talks, but conveys his wicked humour and intellect through his refreshingly optimistic drawings. $e journey of Tim and Laser Beak Man continues to be an inspiration to all they encounter. For more info: www.laserbeakman.com

Above: Artist from Knowing Me/Knowing YOU

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 34 3/6/10 10:13:10 AM




Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) has over the last few years indenti!ed that there are a range of gaps in the professional development needs of artists and arts workers who engage children and young people in arts and cultural development. Some of these needs are about showcasing our work, or ge"ing feedback on creative developments. Other times we need to be in conversation with like-minded professionals and not restricted to those who work in our home town or even state or territory. Most o#en the practitioners who have become a YPAA member do so because they want to not only access our programs but also to connect with our national and international network. Being the ASSITEJ Australia centre means we are also networked with 80 other countries who value the arts in the lives of young people.

YPAA’s national programs centre around our goals of:

Brokering PartnershipsDeveloping infrastructureSector leadershipAdvocating for the cultural rights of children and young peopleOrganisational and industry sustainability

Programs you can participate in:

Development of the Youth Arts Market model & Victorian Youth Arts Market, Melbourne, November, 2010$e Youth Arts Market is an event model that provides opportunities to showcases and present new work, and to unite and educate the youth arts sector within a certain geographical location. Youth Arts Markets will vary depending on the needs of each region, but they generally consist of live showcase of presentations and performances, in addition to professional development and topical forums by industry experts and leaders in the !eld. (it does not consist of stagnant market stalls!) Youth Arts Markets are designed to a"ract a broad range of audience members from producers, festival directors, venue managers and touring agents to large institutions, governments, members of parliament, councillors, and of course families and artists.

Blueprint Networking GroupsBlueprint Groups are discussion groups of practitioners from around Australia on speci!c topics of interest. $e bene!ts of these Blueprint groups are to cohesively unite like-minded practitioners associated by practice rather than o%ce location to network nationally, to share their experiences, to support each other, and to make positive change. $is new way of networking is nationally focused, crosses artform divides and is adventurous and exciting for YPAA and the sector. $e discussion groups occur bi-monthly over a teleconference.

Incubator Support Program$e incubator program is a new YPAA initiative that provides dedicated support for emerging and established arts organisations that focus on creating work for and with children and young people. It is a formal relationship between YPAA and selected Australian arts organisations that are undergoing a period of growth or transition. $e partnership allows YPAA to assist individuals within chosen organisations to develop and extend skills that will aid them in the preparation and implementation.

Advocacy and lobbyingYPAA is the chief advocate in Australia for arts practitioners working with children and young people and key in advocating children and young people’s rights to arts and cultural experience. YPAA represents the interests of organisations and individuals in the arts and young people sector. YPAA’s advocacy activities include lobbying key government decision makers and various state and federal arts agencies; proposing and monitoring new policy; undertaking campaign initiatives and providing information to assist e&ective advocacy activity at community level.

Big Ideas Program$e big ideas program is a research space that provides the opportunity for YPAA to respond new ideas in the !eld. By inviting writers and practitioners to document their practice, experiences and ideas, by partnering with them to document their practice, or by partnering on research projects, we enrich our membership by sharing and disseminating this wealth of knowledge and research information. Big Ideas articles are published online, on YPAA’s website. Contact YPAA if you

would like to contribute to the wealth of knowledge compiled through the Big Ideas Program.

Join YPAA

Register to join the YPAA’s member network and unite our sector in commi"ing to provide access to the arts for young people in Australia. Help grow our ability to in'uence the future of youth arts in Australia with strong creative practice, social innovation, and a vibrant national and international network.

YPAA supports professional artists and arts organisations working creatively with children and young people in the arts sector in all artistic forms and cultural practice.

Individual membership: $77 (inc GST).

Organisations, creative hubs, groups of artists or peer networks can elect to subscribe in value packages of: 3 memberships for $165 (inc GST)5 memberships for $275 (inc GST)10 memberships for $550 (inc GST)

More info: www.ypaa.net

Other ways to engage with Young People and the Arts Australia SpeakersAleem Ali, Chief Executive O%cer, Human Ventures

Catherine Baldwin, Executive Director, Bangarra Dance $eatre

Ellio" Bledsoe, Project O%cer, Creative Commons

Chelsea Bond, Senior Researcher, Queensland Health

Robert Brown, Research Manager, ArtPlay Research Project, University of Melbourne

Tony Mack, Director, TM Performance and Communications

Jane Jennison, Cultural Programming Coordinator, Brisbane City Council

Gemma Pepper, Producer, Up Close

Susan Richer, Principal Arts Strategy Cooridnator, Arts Queensland

Simon Spain, Creative Producer, Signal and ArtPlay

Meg Upton, $eatreSpace Lead Research Assistant at University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Penny Bundy, Head of School or Education at Gri%th University

Darren Brady, Field O%cer Community Relations, QUT

P a m e l a Clelland-Gray, Manager Education and Visitor Services, National Portrait

Gallery

Sue Giles, Artistic Director, P o l y g l o t $eatre

Dr Hilary Glow, Senior Lecturer and Director of the

Arts Management Program, Deakin UniversitySam Fox, Director, Hydra Poesis

Dr Katya Johanson, Senior Lecturer, School of Communications and Creative Arts, Deakin University

Andy Packer, Creative Director, COME OUT Festival 2011 & Artistic Director, Slingsby

Robin Penty, Manager, Education, Families and Y o u n g People, $e

Art Centre

Lana Tokarua, F r e e l a n c e Practitioner

Steph Urruty, General Manager, Westside Circus

Right: Laser Beak Man, by Tim SharpCreated by Tim Sharp, Laser Beak Man is one of Australia’s most original and unpredictable new superheros. Laser Beak Man’s adventures began when Tim startedhis drawings at 11 years of age. Tim has launched a successful international career with his drawings which have been sold to fans worldwide.

Tim’s story is not only incredible because of his successes at such a young age, but because he has autism. A#er being told at age 3 that he would never learn to speak, Tim used drawing as a way to communicate. Tim is now 21 and not only talks, but conveys his wicked humour and intellect through his refreshingly optimistic drawings. $e journey of Tim and Laser Beak Man continues to be an inspiration to all they encounter. For more info: www.laserbeakman.com

Above: Artist from Knowing Me/Knowing YOU

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 35 3/6/10 10:13:11 AM




ADAPTING THEATRE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE To Translate or Not to Translate…That is the Question.Liz SkitchBrisbane based theatre maker and actor, Liz Skitch of deBASE productions was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate Japanese approaches to making theatre for children, to study examples of cross cultural collaborations and to analyse the extent to which theatre for children can overcome language barriers. This

in Japan. Over an eight-week period, she spent time with Kazenoko Children’s Theatre Company (Kyushu and Tokyo) and also attended the Kijimuna International Children’s Theatre Festival in Okinawa.

In 2009, as part of my Churchill Fellowship, I travelled to the Kijimuna festival, the only international children’s festival in Japan. It is an annual festival that hosts companies from all over the world including France, Italy, Austria, Taipei, Bulgaria, Croatia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, England, Germany, Australia, Japan and the host island, Okinawa.

Geographically Okinawa is part of Japan, however it has it’s own unique culture, heritage and language so is referred to as Okinawa or Ryuku – its traditional name.

!e festival runs over 10 days with a total of 46 shows – a mammoth feat for an annual festival with no full time sta".

As a Japanese-speaking actor and theatre maker, I have a strong interest in fostering opportunities for cultural exchange between Japan and Australia. And I

believe that many Australian made shows for children and young people could bene#t from opportunities to tour Japan for cultural exchange extending the life of the production in international arenas.

!e most transferable shows the non-verbal physical theatre performances presented such as !e Suitcase, a puppetry show from Krinkle !eatre in Australia, Echoa, a fusion of dance and percussion from France, Surprise, a dance and movement performance from Austria and When his Watch Stopped Working, a masked performance from Korea.

Many other shows that relied heavily on text a small a$empt to ensure that words were understood. !e tension lies in managing to do this without artistically compromising the work.

One of the ways that this can be done is through the use of a translator. In the case of Goodbye Mr Mu%n (from Denmark), the artists chose to present the work in Danish and to share the spotlight with a Japanese Translator who, rather than translating the entire work, acted as a narrator at side of stage and provided occasional narration as though reading from a story book. As the piece was highly visual this was an e"ective way to ensure both audience comprehension and artistic integrity were achieved.

!e Overcoat an award winning piece from Bulgaria, was presented by Bulgarian actors speaking solely in Japanese even though the actors did not speak or understand Japanese. Whilst the audience appreciated this a$empt and showed their appreciation in VERY warm acclamation at the end of the show, the intonation was so strange that at least 50% of their dialogue made li$le sense and may as well have been presented in Bulgarian.

Some shows, on the other hand, could have a$empted a li$le more to employ Japanese language. La Baracca from Italy presenting two shows at the festival Under

a di"erent Light and Looking at the Sky. Both of these were movement based shows for 1-3 year olds that only used a li$le language - simple words here and there. Mostly, these words were spoken in Italian, but occasionally, the actor had made the e"ort to learn the word in Japanese. !ere is no doubt that when a word was o"ered to the audience in Japanese, the children’s engagement was felt and they responded audibly. In many ways, shows such as these are perfect for traveling the world, utilizing language only when it is integral to the understanding of the piece. When a word is included, it is generally very important and requires a small e"ort to learn these in the language of the host country. It is evident that he power of these words are not lost on the audience.

To translate or not to translate? Translate to an extent that does not stretch the actors beyone their language ability, otherwise the artistic integrity of the work could be compromised. Before you begin to translate, editing is recommended and employing the rich language of theatre for non-verbal understanding. !is was an important lesson taught to me by Kazenoko !eatre Company, one of the oldest children’s theatre companies in Japan.

!e Kazenoko Approach to Adapting work for an International Audience

Kazenoko Children’s !eatre was established in 1950 in Tokyo and has since grown into seven ensembles, each with their own body of work and unique style. !ey are spread across the country in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kansai, Tohoku, Chushikou, Kyushu and most recently, Gifu. In 1975, Kazenoko was invited to the International Children’s !eatre Festival in Hamburg and since then has performed in 21 countries. Kazenoko’s mo$o is “Kodomo no iru toko doko e demo” (Anywhere children are, we will go).

Kazenoko !eatre Company are masters

at adapting their work for an international audience and have a policy to always use the children’s language of origin. !is best practice model is very thorough and whilst it is modi#ed depending on the work, involves working with a translator for many months leading up to the tour. O&en a whole work is performed in the other language; other times speci#c words and phrases. !e piece is translated many times whilst on tour adopting words from the local dialect of each town it visits. !is deep commitment to adapting their work for di"erent languages and cultures is not only about making the piece more easily understood by the children, it is also builds a strong relationship between the performers and children and in turn builds a bridge between cultures.

Takagaki-san (Artistic Director of Kazenoko Tokyo) explains, “Not every word in a play needs translation (nor would their actors be capable of performing 'uently in English). !eatre communicates with its audience in many ways other than language alone; through the design, semiotics, the physicality of the actors, the emotions conveyed, the rhythm and of course through the connection with a live audience and the actions and reactions that feed from that.”

In an interview with Kazenoko Tokyo actor, Kumiko Itoo, the experience in adapting Chisai Gekidan (Small !eatre) for Canada was explained. “!rough the process of translating a piece, on the 'oor (on your feet in the rehearsal room), you realise that many of the words that exist in the piece are not needed. For example, you realise that you are saying something to the audience that is already explained through action.” Kumiko-san explains that this process distills the language of the play down to its essential meaning. !is in turn a"ects the piece positively when it returns to Japan, with much of the super'uous language discarded and an evolved piece.

Kumiko-san goes on to describe the experience of performing Chisai Gekidan for a Canadian audience. “We were so surprised by their reactions! … to di"erent parts of the piece (compared to a Japanese audience) and in turn, those parts of the piece grew and took on new meaning. !en, when we returned to Japan, the reactions to the evolved piece were di"erent again. It was a great experience for the performer because you had to be in the moment, ready for anything.”

!e importance of honesty in children’s theatre is shared through the experience

of being told, loud and clear, by audience members, when they didn’t believe a performance. I remember a li$le girl yelling to me on stage one day when I was doing my best to squeeze out some tears in character, “You’re not really sad!” Furthermore, Kumiko-san points out that they must believe the story and the justi#cations for the actions of the characters on stage.

It is integrity that theatre makers need to take into the rehearsal room when creating work for children and adapting it for a non-English speaking audience. Put yourself in the shoes of the children of the country in which it will be performed. Follow your piece through their eyes and in their language and adapt the piece accordingly. Wolfgang Schneider, President of ASSITEJ International stated at the forum on !eatre for Children (Kijimuna Festival, 3rd July 2009), “Do not give them the children’s menu like in a restaurant which is half the price and half the portion!” Or as Clause Mandoe of Denmark’s Waiting for Mr Mu%n o"ered at the same forum, “You can never fool an audience of children. If you think you can you are only fooling yourself.”

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 36 3/6/10 10:13:12 AM




ADAPTING THEATRE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE To Translate or Not to Translate…That is the Question.Liz SkitchBrisbane based theatre maker and actor, Liz Skitch of deBASE productions was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate Japanese approaches to making theatre for children, to study examples of cross cultural collaborations and to analyse the extent to which theatre for children can overcome language barriers. This

in Japan. Over an eight-week period, she spent time with Kazenoko Children’s Theatre Company (Kyushu and Tokyo) and also attended the Kijimuna International Children’s Theatre Festival in Okinawa.

In 2009, as part of my Churchill Fellowship, I travelled to the Kijimuna festival, the only international children’s festival in Japan. It is an annual festival that hosts companies from all over the world including France, Italy, Austria, Taipei, Bulgaria, Croatia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, England, Germany, Australia, Japan and the host island, Okinawa.

Geographically Okinawa is part of Japan, however it has it’s own unique culture, heritage and language so is referred to as Okinawa or Ryuku – its traditional name.

!e festival runs over 10 days with a total of 46 shows – a mammoth feat for an annual festival with no full time sta".

As a Japanese-speaking actor and theatre maker, I have a strong interest in fostering opportunities for cultural exchange between Japan and Australia. And I

believe that many Australian made shows for children and young people could bene#t from opportunities to tour Japan for cultural exchange extending the life of the production in international arenas.

!e most transferable shows the non-verbal physical theatre performances presented such as !e Suitcase, a puppetry show from Krinkle !eatre in Australia, Echoa, a fusion of dance and percussion from France, Surprise, a dance and movement performance from Austria and When his Watch Stopped Working, a masked performance from Korea.

Many other shows that relied heavily on text a small a$empt to ensure that words were understood. !e tension lies in managing to do this without artistically compromising the work.

One of the ways that this can be done is through the use of a translator. In the case of Goodbye Mr Mu%n (from Denmark), the artists chose to present the work in Danish and to share the spotlight with a Japanese Translator who, rather than translating the entire work, acted as a narrator at side of stage and provided occasional narration as though reading from a story book. As the piece was highly visual this was an e"ective way to ensure both audience comprehension and artistic integrity were achieved.

!e Overcoat an award winning piece from Bulgaria, was presented by Bulgarian actors speaking solely in Japanese even though the actors did not speak or understand Japanese. Whilst the audience appreciated this a$empt and showed their appreciation in VERY warm acclamation at the end of the show, the intonation was so strange that at least 50% of their dialogue made li$le sense and may as well have been presented in Bulgarian.

Some shows, on the other hand, could have a$empted a li$le more to employ Japanese language. La Baracca from Italy presenting two shows at the festival Under

a di"erent Light and Looking at the Sky. Both of these were movement based shows for 1-3 year olds that only used a li$le language - simple words here and there. Mostly, these words were spoken in Italian, but occasionally, the actor had made the e"ort to learn the word in Japanese. !ere is no doubt that when a word was o"ered to the audience in Japanese, the children’s engagement was felt and they responded audibly. In many ways, shows such as these are perfect for traveling the world, utilizing language only when it is integral to the understanding of the piece. When a word is included, it is generally very important and requires a small e"ort to learn these in the language of the host country. It is evident that he power of these words are not lost on the audience.

To translate or not to translate? Translate to an extent that does not stretch the actors beyone their language ability, otherwise the artistic integrity of the work could be compromised. Before you begin to translate, editing is recommended and employing the rich language of theatre for non-verbal understanding. !is was an important lesson taught to me by Kazenoko !eatre Company, one of the oldest children’s theatre companies in Japan.

!e Kazenoko Approach to Adapting work for an International Audience

Kazenoko Children’s !eatre was established in 1950 in Tokyo and has since grown into seven ensembles, each with their own body of work and unique style. !ey are spread across the country in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kansai, Tohoku, Chushikou, Kyushu and most recently, Gifu. In 1975, Kazenoko was invited to the International Children’s !eatre Festival in Hamburg and since then has performed in 21 countries. Kazenoko’s mo$o is “Kodomo no iru toko doko e demo” (Anywhere children are, we will go).

Kazenoko !eatre Company are masters

at adapting their work for an international audience and have a policy to always use the children’s language of origin. !is best practice model is very thorough and whilst it is modi#ed depending on the work, involves working with a translator for many months leading up to the tour. O&en a whole work is performed in the other language; other times speci#c words and phrases. !e piece is translated many times whilst on tour adopting words from the local dialect of each town it visits. !is deep commitment to adapting their work for di"erent languages and cultures is not only about making the piece more easily understood by the children, it is also builds a strong relationship between the performers and children and in turn builds a bridge between cultures.

Takagaki-san (Artistic Director of Kazenoko Tokyo) explains, “Not every word in a play needs translation (nor would their actors be capable of performing 'uently in English). !eatre communicates with its audience in many ways other than language alone; through the design, semiotics, the physicality of the actors, the emotions conveyed, the rhythm and of course through the connection with a live audience and the actions and reactions that feed from that.”

In an interview with Kazenoko Tokyo actor, Kumiko Itoo, the experience in adapting Chisai Gekidan (Small !eatre) for Canada was explained. “!rough the process of translating a piece, on the 'oor (on your feet in the rehearsal room), you realise that many of the words that exist in the piece are not needed. For example, you realise that you are saying something to the audience that is already explained through action.” Kumiko-san explains that this process distills the language of the play down to its essential meaning. !is in turn a"ects the piece positively when it returns to Japan, with much of the super'uous language discarded and an evolved piece.

Kumiko-san goes on to describe the experience of performing Chisai Gekidan for a Canadian audience. “We were so surprised by their reactions! … to di"erent parts of the piece (compared to a Japanese audience) and in turn, those parts of the piece grew and took on new meaning. !en, when we returned to Japan, the reactions to the evolved piece were di"erent again. It was a great experience for the performer because you had to be in the moment, ready for anything.”

!e importance of honesty in children’s theatre is shared through the experience

of being told, loud and clear, by audience members, when they didn’t believe a performance. I remember a li$le girl yelling to me on stage one day when I was doing my best to squeeze out some tears in character, “You’re not really sad!” Furthermore, Kumiko-san points out that they must believe the story and the justi#cations for the actions of the characters on stage.

It is integrity that theatre makers need to take into the rehearsal room when creating work for children and adapting it for a non-English speaking audience. Put yourself in the shoes of the children of the country in which it will be performed. Follow your piece through their eyes and in their language and adapt the piece accordingly. Wolfgang Schneider, President of ASSITEJ International stated at the forum on !eatre for Children (Kijimuna Festival, 3rd July 2009), “Do not give them the children’s menu like in a restaurant which is half the price and half the portion!” Or as Clause Mandoe of Denmark’s Waiting for Mr Mu%n o"ered at the same forum, “You can never fool an audience of children. If you think you can you are only fooling yourself.”

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 37 3/6/10 10:13:13 AM




What does ‘the arts’ mean?“!e Arts?... well I think it means fun.”AGE: 10 years

“It means drama, and lots of other things like drawing and painting and acting and… playing outside with my dog.”AGE: 9 years

“Creation, imagination, physical expression of emotion - and people showing what they can create… I think it’s really cool.”AGE: 12 years

“To explore di"erent universes.”AGE: 13 years

“Incredible!”Age: 8 years

“A group of people coming together to share their skills and explore creativity.”AGE: 18 years What does ‘culture’ mean?“Beliefs that you believe in.” AGE: 13 years

“An unspoken routine in some ways…”AGE: 16 years

“Culture is everything in the way in which we describe. !ere are many di"erent kinds of cultures – there’s Arabian, Christian - No, they’re religion, but religion is culture, buildings are culture… culture is culture! Culture is society linked together to create one - great - big – thing” AGE: 11 years

“Culture means to me - a group of people where everyone has similar ideas but where ideas can grow and change… but everyone has a place to belong.” AGE: 18 years

“Culture is where we live. To me, here in Blackall it means the culture of mateship and that we’re a large sporting town. I guess it’s who or what we’ve been brought up to accept

I recon.” AGE: 21 years

“It’s the way things go – like in a small community it’s really relaxed and in the city everybody is kinda going a li#le bit quicker and it’s all fast paced.” AGE: 18 years What do you do that’s ‘creative’?“Be myself.” Age: 13 years

“Well what I do whenever I go to school I play with my friends and we always like imagine up games and everything… Like basically we have one person that makes up the games and everything, then we just use our imaginations to make characters. Yeah.” AGE: 10 years

“I just imagine. I close my eyes and I think of something. I like to think of things that people could want! I can easily create a picture of something in my head and then just start like, writing.” AGE: 9 years

“Me. I like to draw pictures. I draw pictures from stu" in my imagination. ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’ Albert Einstein Ha Ha!...no, I like to draw monsters and robots because between you and me I’m terrible at drawing people. !at’s how I be creative.” AGE: 11 years

Cry! AGE: 8 years

“I run around, I go a bit crazy. But most of all I try to have as much fun as I can.” AGE: 13 years

“At the moment I’m learning multi media, making video’s and editing video’s and all that and… it’s good fun.” AGE: 15 years

What do you need to keep being ‘creative’?“Support is a big thing. Plus probably funding is big thing also – to get program up and running out here. AGE: 18 years

“Time. I always need to make sure I’ve got speci$c time. Creativity time. And a good environment, so good friends around and family.” AGE: 18 years

“It’s a great – big – thing that supports society. Without creativity everything would fall into ruin and everyone would have to wear the same clothes, have the same hair-do, the same shoes. All that kind of stu".” AGE: 11 years

“Energy. Lots and lots and lots of energy – and things to do. Even if the only thing to do is get in trouble.” AGE: 11 years

“Commitment. Con$dence. Will power to keep doing it when everybody else is telling you not to.” AGE: 20 years

“To be creative you must have the right fashion.” AGE: 13 years

!anks to Backbone Youth Arts, !e Young Company, Human Ventures, and Gympie for their time and footage. Check the screens in the foyer at !e Edge during the symposium for the full interviews or go to these links;

Backbone Youth Arts - www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ZS9hJifS4&feature=related!e Young Company - www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1AMSqbhhQHuman Ventures - www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMLoOOuW3BE&feature=relatedGympie: www.youtube.com/user/LilReasonj#p/a/u/0/7aJL54jR3DM

To generate ongoing dialogue about arts and culture and shape discussions at the National Symposium youth arts organisations asked children and young people what they think about arts, culture and creativity.

YOUTUBE US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK.....Lenine BourkeSaturday, 22 MAY 22 2010Source: www.leninebourke.blogspot.com

I have been talking about the importance of conversation since 2006 when I considered this a main part of my work. !is work is called Changing Habitats

I have focused on unpacking one key question Are children and young people democratising culture? I realise now a%er more and more research how problematic this question is.

Speaking of one culture - goes against my beliefs. Using the word democratising - confuses people.

I like that it is a question that is based on people’s own opinions, confusion, experiences and understanding of the

world and the words used.

!en I have put together a program of physical spaces, visual experiences, oral experiences, interactive experiences, conversations and discussions, presentations, meetings, lectures, food, performances, music, art, literature, physical activity, humor, etc etc etc I think i just started salivating - how funny!

Anyway what is amazing about this - is A) i get paid to do this as my job and B) i am able to bring my arts practice to my day job and C) I have tried to democratise my arts practice by having so many people have their input into my work, to take criticism, to share things, to let people’s opinions be important to me, rather than think that somehow I hold all the answers as the producer, curator and facilitator.

Being engaged in other people’s thinking and vision is important to me, as it is also important for my work to explore

contemporary arts practices, social, cultural and other trends that I see around me and start to ask some questions about. I also think it is the nature of my work to turn up the heat on some questions or lines of enquiry and also to relax on other areas...

!is has meant that I have done some preaching to the very staunchly not-converted and that has been hard and good for me simultaneously. It also means that when this baby gets placed in the ra% and set o" down the river (so to speak) I will in fact be le#ing 200 other artists tear my ideas apart, re-shape it in their own minds, tell me where I have gone well and where i went very wrong, challenge each other, pat each other on the backs, begin new conversations with new people and hopefully feel the confusion of learning and exploration kicking in.

TIME TO THINK

Mail Nothing to the Tate Modern Project David Horvitz

Anyone can send in nothing to this exhibition. All you have to do is send an empty package or envelope to the Tate Modern in London. All received mailings will be exhibited unopened May 14-16 in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.http://mailnothing.info/

Advanced Style: Proof from the wise and silver-haired that personal style advances with age

I roam the streets looking for New York’s most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life o the fullest.http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the plinth cubby!17 Dec 2009 by DAMPThis giant plinth is crowned with a circle of chairs to make a meeting place where a monument to an individual would conventionally sit. http://plinthcubby.wordpress.com/

Nothing’s Shocking?27 April 2010, Marcus WestburyIn a world where shock – or at least pretending-to-be-shocked-while-actually-promoting-the-thing-in-question – has become a PR staple and a paint-by-numbers marketing tool, is it even possible to be shocked by art any more?http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2010/04/27/nothings-shocking/#more-950

The zero Waste Home: Refuse, Refuse, Refuse, then reduce, refuse, recycle (and only in that order)In this past year, I have learned to shop, refuse (what is given to me), reduce, reuse, and recycle as little possible (for only such a small percentage of our trash is actually recycled) along with up and downs (boosts of self trash control esteem and let downs). You’ll see what I am talking about. http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/

MakeShiftNatalie PurschwitzMakeShift is an art and research project that examines the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between ‘making’, ‘clothing’ and ‘living’.http://makeshiftproject.blogspot.com/

45292 pre pdf [1-40].indd 38 3/6/10 10:13:16 AM




What does ‘the arts’ mean?“!e Arts?... well I think it means fun.”AGE: 10 years

“It means drama, and lots of other things like drawing and painting and acting and… playing outside with my dog.”AGE: 9 years

“Creation, imagination, physical expression of emotion - and people showing what they can create… I think it’s really cool.”AGE: 12 years

“To explore di"erent universes.”AGE: 13 years

“Incredible!”Age: 8 years

“A group of people coming together to share their skills and explore creativity.”AGE: 18 years What does ‘culture’ mean?“Beliefs that you believe in.” AGE: 13 years

“An unspoken routine in some ways…”AGE: 16 years

“Culture is everything in the way in which we describe. !ere are many di"erent kinds of cultures – there’s Arabian, Christian - No, they’re religion, but religion is culture, buildings are culture… culture is culture! Culture is society linked together to create one - great - big – thing” AGE: 11 years

“Culture means to me - a group of people where everyone has similar ideas but where ideas can grow and change… but everyone has a place to belong.” AGE: 18 years

“Culture is where we live. To me, here in Blackall it means the culture of mateship and that we’re a large sporting town. I guess it’s who or what we’ve been brought up to accept

I recon.” AGE: 21 years

“It’s the way things go – like in a small community it’s really relaxed and in the city everybody is kinda going a li#le bit quicker and it’s all fast paced.” AGE: 18 years What do you do that’s ‘creative’?“Be myself.” Age: 13 years

“Well what I do whenever I go to school I play with my friends and we always like imagine up games and everything… Like basically we have one person that makes up the games and everything, then we just use our imaginations to make characters. Yeah.” AGE: 10 years

“I just imagine. I close my eyes and I think of something. I like to think of things that people could want! I can easily create a picture of something in my head and then just start like, writing.” AGE: 9 years

“Me. I like to draw pictures. I draw pictures from stu" in my imagination. ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’ Albert Einstein Ha Ha!...no, I like to draw monsters and robots because between you and me I’m terrible at drawing people. !at’s how I be creative.” AGE: 11 years

Cry! AGE: 8 years

“I run around, I go a bit crazy. But most of all I try to have as much fun as I can.” AGE: 13 years

“At the moment I’m learning multi media, making video’s and editing video’s and all that and… it’s good fun.” AGE: 15 years

What do you need to keep being ‘creative’?“Support is a big thing. Plus probably funding is big thing also – to get program up and running out here. AGE: 18 years

“Time. I always need to make sure I’ve got speci$c time. Creativity time. And a good environment, so good friends around and family.” AGE: 18 years

“It’s a great – big – thing that supports society. Without creativity everything would fall into ruin and everyone would have to wear the same clothes, have the same hair-do, the same shoes. All that kind of stu".” AGE: 11 years

“Energy. Lots and lots and lots of energy – and things to do. Even if the only thing to do is get in trouble.” AGE: 11 years

“Commitment. Con$dence. Will power to keep doing it when everybody else is telling you not to.” AGE: 20 years

“To be creative you must have the right fashion.” AGE: 13 years

!anks to Backbone Youth Arts, !e Young Company, Human Ventures, and Gympie for their time and footage. Check the screens in the foyer at !e Edge during the symposium for the full interviews or go to these links;

Backbone Youth Arts - www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ZS9hJifS4&feature=related!e Young Company - www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1AMSqbhhQHuman Ventures - www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMLoOOuW3BE&feature=relatedGympie: www.youtube.com/user/LilReasonj#p/a/u/0/7aJL54jR3DM

To generate ongoing dialogue about arts and culture and shape discussions at the National Symposium youth arts organisations asked children and young people what they think about arts, culture and creativity.

YOUTUBE US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK.....Lenine BourkeSaturday, 22 MAY 22 2010Source: www.leninebourke.blogspot.com

I have been talking about the importance of conversation since 2006 when I considered this a main part of my work. !is work is called Changing Habitats

I have focused on unpacking one key question Are children and young people democratising culture? I realise now a%er more and more research how problematic this question is.

Speaking of one culture - goes against my beliefs. Using the word democratising - confuses people.

I like that it is a question that is based on people’s own opinions, confusion, experiences and understanding of the

world and the words used.

!en I have put together a program of physical spaces, visual experiences, oral experiences, interactive experiences, conversations and discussions, presentations, meetings, lectures, food, performances, music, art, literature, physical activity, humor, etc etc etc I think i just started salivating - how funny!

Anyway what is amazing about this - is A) i get paid to do this as my job and B) i am able to bring my arts practice to my day job and C) I have tried to democratise my arts practice by having so many people have their input into my work, to take criticism, to share things, to let people’s opinions be important to me, rather than think that somehow I hold all the answers as the producer, curator and facilitator.

Being engaged in other people’s thinking and vision is important to me, as it is also important for my work to explore

contemporary arts practices, social, cultural and other trends that I see around me and start to ask some questions about. I also think it is the nature of my work to turn up the heat on some questions or lines of enquiry and also to relax on other areas...

!is has meant that I have done some preaching to the very staunchly not-converted and that has been hard and good for me simultaneously. It also means that when this baby gets placed in the ra% and set o" down the river (so to speak) I will in fact be le#ing 200 other artists tear my ideas apart, re-shape it in their own minds, tell me where I have gone well and where i went very wrong, challenge each other, pat each other on the backs, begin new conversations with new people and hopefully feel the confusion of learning and exploration kicking in.

TIME TO THINK

Mail Nothing to the Tate Modern Project David Horvitz

Anyone can send in nothing to this exhibition. All you have to do is send an empty package or envelope to the Tate Modern in London. All received mailings will be exhibited unopened May 14-16 in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.http://mailnothing.info/

Advanced Style: Proof from the wise and silver-haired that personal style advances with age

I roam the streets looking for New York’s most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life o the fullest.http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the plinth cubby!17 Dec 2009 by DAMPThis giant plinth is crowned with a circle of chairs to make a meeting place where a monument to an individual would conventionally sit. http://plinthcubby.wordpress.com/

Nothing’s Shocking?27 April 2010, Marcus WestburyIn a world where shock – or at least pretending-to-be-shocked-while-actually-promoting-the-thing-in-question – has become a PR staple and a paint-by-numbers marketing tool, is it even possible to be shocked by art any more?http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2010/04/27/nothings-shocking/#more-950

The zero Waste Home: Refuse, Refuse, Refuse, then reduce, refuse, recycle (and only in that order)In this past year, I have learned to shop, refuse (what is given to me), reduce, reuse, and recycle as little possible (for only such a small percentage of our trash is actually recycled) along with up and downs (boosts of self trash control esteem and let downs). You’ll see what I am talking about. http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/

MakeShiftNatalie PurschwitzMakeShift is an art and research project that examines the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between ‘making’, ‘clothing’ and ‘living’.http://makeshiftproject.blogspot.com/

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www.ypaa.net

!is project has recieved "nancial assistance from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland

Proudly sponsored by State Library of Queensland

Proudly sponsored by Brisbane City Council

Proudly supported by Out of the Box, QPAC’s festival for children 8 years and under

YPAA has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Symposium proudly supported by Youth Arts Queensland

‘Right now, the question of young people and their role in democratising culture is super appropriate and contentious. While arts companies and government try to keep up with digital developments, young people are the primary players, audience and consumers

cultural agency.’ Sam Fox, Hydra Poesis

‘Discussion, debate, discourse & discovery - the 2010 Out for the Box festival and YPAA Symposium is a great meeting place and opportunity to come together to inspire and reignite our energy and imaginations. I personally believe it is vital for the sectors’ livelihood and development to come together at regular intervals to exchange ideas on art making and our philosophies and approaches to working with and for children and young people.’ Noel Jordan, Freelance Youth Theatre Consultant

‘If we’re serious about creating genuinely democratic, child-friendly communities, then the arts simply must be seen to be leading such efforts - all the evidence says that there is no alternative’. Associate Professor Geoff Woolcock, Urban Sociologist Research

‘The YPAA Symposium is an important event that recognises children are not recipients but drivers of the arts’. Dr Hilary Glow, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Arts Management Program & Dr Katya Johanson, Senior Lecturer, School of Communications and Creative Arts, Deakin University

‘Set in the action at Out of the Box, this symposium is a fantastic opportunity to connect with peers from across the country and rigorously consider how and why we make our work. The days will be framed by provocations from presenters who are radicalising arts practice on the international stage. Prepare to get charged up, be challenged and leave inspired’. Rosemary Myers, Artistic Director, Out of the Box festival for children 8 years and under.

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Changing Habitats - Are Children and Young People Democratising Culture?