Sunday Arts Magazine

The Artists of Colour Initiative (AOC) has launched a scholarship competition designed to provide financial assistance and industry support to six exceptionally talented theatre performers based in Australia that identify as Bla(c)k, Indigenous or as People of Colour (POC).

The initiative was born from the recognition of underrepresentation of these communities in the Australian theatre Industry. The aim of the scholarship is to ensure greater participation within the field of musical theatre amongst these marginalised communities.

“The AOC Initiative is a celebration of People of Colour – a community I am a part of – with the aim to come together, have important conversations and fight for change in the Australian theatre industry. I wanted to create an opportunity where I could support and celebrate artists who identify as Bla(c)k, Indigenous or POC by providing them with greater visibility and a stepping stone to a more racially inclusive theatre industry,” says founder of the AOC Initiative Tarik Frimpong.

Paige Black has been crowned the winner of the prestigious Darebin Songwriters’ Award with her song ‘Oceans Apart’

Mark Boldiston talks to david about his business but also some new initiatives.

Esther Erlich presents a new series of portraits informed by cinema, fashion, fantasy and the supernatural. All seeing, authoritative characters provocatively fade in and out of abstraction, playfully investigating king princess iconography, fashion nova loyalty and escapism through fantasy.

An Intimate Distance, Spring, is the third  in the Modern Seasons: The Great Curve publication and exhibition series exploring the erosion of identity and time that has affected global consciousness during the pandemic. Esther gives her portraits a living presence beyond the mask of appearance, the bold, yet intimate figures hold your gaze and invite you into a performative narrative of mutual gaze.

Stephen’s back with all the movie news.

Gertrude Opera is thrilled to announce

the program for the Yarra Valley

Opera Festival, Australia’s first ever

online opera festival, running from 16-25

October 2020.

“As insurmountable as the concept of an online opera festival seemed back in March, and despite

the temptation to sit out 2020 until we can perform for live audiences again, I believe my job is to

guide our artists and company through all this uncertainty by demonstrating flexibility and

adaptability,” says Gertrude Opera’s Artistic Director Linda Thompson. “Nothing compares to the

live theatre experience, but we’re enjoying exploring what we can achieve through the digital

medium. It’s a steep learning curve and we’re inspired by the possibilities of what opera can be, in

connecting with old and new audiences.”

The Festival opens on the 16th of October with a Gala concert featuring performances from

company singers over the past eleven years, and hosted by Thompson and Maestro Brian Castles

Onion. Some of the artists performing from their homes around the world include Hadleigh Adams

(San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera), Stacey Alleaume (Bregenz Festspiele, Royal Opera

House Muscat, OA) Sophie Yelland (Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Twice-

Grammy nominated baritone John Marcus Bindel (Metropolitan Opera), Na’ama Goldman (Israeli

Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Grange Opera) and Sarah Herman-Heltzel, who sang Offred

in Gertrude Opera’s premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Arts Centre Melbourneand the Australian Performing Arts Collection are committed to providing opportunities for Victoria’s creative community with the 2021 Frank Van Straten Fellowship.

Applications are now open and close on Friday 30 October, 2020 for a Fellowship which commences in March 2021, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

The key objective of the Frank Van Straten Fellowship program is to enhance the analysis, discoverability and interpretation of the Australian Performing Arts Collection through high quality research and/or creative works that will resonate with diverse audiences.

The fellow will be given the time, space and support to undertake research aligned to the Australian Performing Arts Collection’s key subject areas: circus, dance, music, opera and theatre (which includes comedy, vaudeville and magic).

The program also creates opportunities for the wider community to access the Australian Performing Arts Collection through the outcomes of Fellowship projects.

The fellowship is made possible through the generous contribution of the Frank Van Straten AM and Adrian Turley Foundation. Frank played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Australian Performing Arts Collection in the late 1970s and was the founding director and first archivist of what was then the Performing Arts Museum. Arts Centre Melbourne has been the proud custodian of the Collection since its creation in the early 1980s.

2020 Frank Van Straten fellow Dr Kate Rice is working on a series of historic projects which will eventuate in the release of a podcasts series in late 2020.

Dr. Rice’s podcasts will invite listeners on a journey to discover stories from another era including the 1919 pandemic that forced closures of theatre.

Dr Rice has used this opportunity to research a number of historical theatrical performances documented in the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Her work brings these forgotten stories of the Australian stage to life. Explore the ongoing journey of the 2020 Frank Van Straten fellow

Andrew talks to David about his work and current activities.

Robinvale’s youth and Elders shoot community devised film within Covid 19 restriction. Gerard is the Artistic Director pf Phunktional.