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News and holiday wishes from the British Council in Australia
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Indigenous arts leaders ready to ACCELERATE their careers after UK experience
Six outstanding Indigenous Australian arts professionals journeyed to the UK last month for professional placements and mentoring as part of the cultural and creative leadership development programme, ACCELERATE.
The 2016 participants include curator and singer Jilda Andrews, arts manager and playwright Kamarra Bell-Wykes, arts manager and writer Travis De Vries, museums and galleries curator Glenn Iseger-Pilkington, designer Francoise Lane, and illustrator and arts worker Jonathon Saunders, reflecting the range and diversity of talent emerging in Australia’s Indigenous arts practice.
They were welcomed with a reception hosted by the Deputy Australian High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Andrew Todd, and worked with British Council arts advisers in London. They then spent three weeks travelling across the UK - from the Isle of Lewis to Cardiff - where they visited some of the country's top festivals, museums and arts companies, and met with mentors, peers and potential collaborators.
Jilda says the opportunity came at the perfect time in her career. "It was like all the planets aligned and I got the most out of it that I could have," she says. "I really seized that opportunity. I’m looking at it as a real gift because it just came at the perfect time."
For Kamarra, it was the sessions with her mentor, Diane Morgan (Artistic Director of the London-based music theatre company, nitroBEAT), that were the highlight of the trip.
"Diane’s journey, personality, and mentoring styles were all perfectly matched to me," Kamarra tells us. "There are so many parallels in our personal and professional experiences as well our shifting perspectives around who we are and how we fit into the arts sector."
It was the opportunity to further develop international networks that was key for Travis De Vries. "I'll be coming back to Australia with some new plans and am definitely on the road to seeing them through," he says.
Each of the ACCELERATE participants has returned home with incredible stories and valuable industry connections. To find out more about their journeys, visit accelerate.org.au
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Marram-nganjinu Biik-gurrin: We are Country
In May 2017, Marram-nganjinu Biik-gurrin (meaning 'We are Country') will reignite conversations that began at Yirama Yangga-na, the First Nations cultural leadership forum held earlier this year.
Led by ACCELERATE alumni and presented in partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts, Marram-nganjinu Biik-gurrin will bring together First Nations leaders from across Australia and the world for a three-day Summit and week-long Creation Lab during the YIRRAMBOI First Nations Arts Festival in Melbourne.
It offers a place where First Nations leaders can shake up and shape the future of arts and cultural practice and aims to spark international collaboration, exchange and new works.
Information on registration and involvement will be available from February.
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Passionate about science? Share it with the world through FameLab!
Calling all science, technology, engineering and maths researchers: FameLab is back!
Albert Einstein once said, “if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." And we agree, which is why our international science communication competition, FameLab, asks researchers to explain their work to a non-scientific audience in just three minutes, with absolutely no jargon!
In return, FameLab competitors benefit from expert communication training, access to a global network of peers AND a chance to win a trip to the UK to compete against top science communicators from around the work in the international finals!
Applications for the 2017 competition open on 9 January. Find out more below or follow #FameLabAus
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A Winter's Tale told in 'Another Place'
Throughout 2016, we've celebrated the life and legacy of Shakespeare through our global #ShakespeareLives campaign.
This included a commissioned series of short films from the UK's creative sector, which saw some of Shakespeare's most famous works reimagined for a modern audience.
We released a new film each month throughout the year. The final film in the series is adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale'. It stars Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones, Ripper Street, The Passion) as Leontes, and uses the otherworldly landscape of Crosby beach and Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ sculptures to create a fantastical modern version of the play.
You can find the films on our corporate YouTube channel, or find out more about Shakespeare Lives at www.shakespearelives.org
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David Hockney: Current at Melbourne's NGV
Immerse yourself in a decade of works from one of Britain's most successful artists, David Hockney, at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) this summer!
Hockney’s career was launched on the crest of the Pop Art wave and he's continued to grab attention with his personality, experimentation and mastering of new technologies.
This not-to-be-missed solo exhibition is showing at the NGV until 13 March 2017. It features over 1,200 works from the past decade of the artist’s career – some new and many never-before-seen in Australia – including paintings, digital drawings, photography and video works.
A number of Hockney's pieces feature in the British Council collection, which showcases some of the very best British artists, craft practitioners and designers.
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WIN two tickets to 'Blood on the Dance Floor' at Sydney Festival
We're GIVING AWAY two tickets to 'Blood on the Dance Floor', the acclaimed solo dance performance by 2014 ACCELERATE participant and Creative Director of YIRRAMBOI First Nations Arts Festival, Jacob Boehme.
'Blood on the Dance Floor' explores the legacies and memories embedded in our bloodlines and each person’s need for community and connection.
For your chance to win two tickets to the Sydney Festival performance on Wed 25 January, head to our Facebook page and 'Like' and comment on the competition post.
Winners will be randomly selected on Fri 30 December and notified via Facebook. Find out more about the show via the Sydney Festival website or read the Sydney Morning Herald's review.
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Happy holidays from the British Council!
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