Peel St - Tamworth Country Music Festival 2012
SVM has embarked on a new project documenting a pilot event that will see a new music & perormance venue for Tamworth.
Singer/Songwriter turned entrepreneur, Shelly Atkins, will run Cultural Infusions over the10 days of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Primarily promoting Aboriginal artists, the new venue provides great opportunity for regional and nationally recognised independent and alternative artists to perform along more recognised mainstream artists.
A singer and songwriter herself, Shelly may turn out to be the frist Aboriginal woman to hold a license to operate such a venue.
SVM teams up with flim school graduate Brendan Blacklock and again with the team from Little Owl Productions to cover the lead up and the ten days of Cultural Infusions.
Our first meet to discuss making a doco and the venue as it was a week and a half out from opening. brendan took some test shots. It'll be ten days of gigs from 10 am to midnight with some big names from the Aboriginal music circuit - some old timers and some new comers.
Here's the Geeks-In-Residence Armidale Community Arts Project, which culminated in a showcase of works and project documentation on Decemebr 17th.
SVM provided logistical support to the project as the local contact for the Artist-In-Residence, Julian Stadon (Curtin University, Dorkbot.)
As Resident Geek, Julian has run a series of workshops and has collaborated with a number of locals in the creation of content for high speed broadband delivery via the NBN network from the NBN Smart House in Armidale. Julian curated the final exhibition/showcase.
Here is Sue Fell who streamed performance to the showcase via Skype called
I am Object I am Data I am Memory - a live changing display of some of her collectables.
The piece explored domestic objects as repositories of memory & nostalgia.
The project has been funded by the Australia Council through their Digital & Media Arts initiative.
SVM had the great pleasure of contributing to a great youth lead community project.
97 people will receive a Birth certificate - 35 of these are now registered with the NSW Borth registry for the first time!
Here's how Nicole Fogerty, UNE SIFE President, reflects on the event she and her colleagues initiated, planned and co-ordinated.
"......The event ran smoothly with the help of so many willing hands, the day's events also sparked much discussion around the issues as to why we were having to hold such event in the first place and drew out great enthusiasm for more action in this area of inequality particularly on the advocating and legislative change front. The need to take this further into the community was reinforced for us when we had to turn away adults not associated with Minimbah, who had come along hoping to apply for a birth certificate for themselves....."
SVM made three short video pieces with the kids from Minimbah & filmed the day with mentee filmmaker Brianna McNeillage Greene.
Congratulation folks, great work.
Here they are with partners, Minimbah School, State Member Richard Torbay and the team from Births Deaths & Marriages
Photo by Sean Spencer 2010
Sean Spencer is a former after school drama class student and Community Cutural Development mentee that I've taught and collaborated with at various times over the years, since he was a teenager.
He currently works in the Northern Territory as Sport & Recreation officer in the huge expanse of remote Australia know as Barkly Shire.
Working across many disciplines his work focuses on hip hop music made in remote Aboriginal communities and grass roots production of video, art, sport and cultural events.
His photograph - Nimbol's Bat wins the 18 & over category in the Australian Human Right Commission Phioto Comp 2011.
This in some way recognises the great work Sean does in communities that love him as a son. He hails from Armidale - SVM's home base.
We caught up, coincidently, on the train trip he was taking to collect his award.
First of three small video messages made for a campaign run by Minimbah School in Armidale and the University of New England's Students In Free Enterprise.
A national issue, particularly among Aboriginal and migrant communities. The issue of ID points for opening accounts with financial instituions, registering for sporting club membership, obtaining a driver's license, applying for a passport can be a major hurdle for families who have not registered their child at birth or who have never applied to have a birth certificate issued.
A community partnered initiative to redress the issue locally through the Minimbah School.
Rough cut of rushes from footage being shot for High Country Biodiversity Project - auspiced by Southern New England Landcare with NSW Environment Trust as major sponsor.
The project nearing completion after 2 years - SVM documenting the final 6 months with works and community engagement in Walcha Uralla Armidale & Guyra in Northern NSW.
The project focuses on rehabilitating rural urban environments - parks, waterways and remnant bushland.
The rehearsed reading of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People presented at the Hoskins Centre Theatre at The Armidale School as part of the Sustainable Living Expo 2011 in Armidale is hailed as a success.
SVM provided the concept and Felt Tip's Chris Curcuruto and Alex Robson took the idea and ran with it! They have been invited by Emma Buzo to present a series of 5 playreadings at the Hoskins Centre in 2012 and will present again at next year's Expo.
Felttip Theatre presents a rehearsed reading of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People during the 2011 Sustainable Living Expo (Slex 2011) in Armidale NSW.
Felttip is an emergent professional theatre venture being lead by Chris Curcuruto and Alex Robson - both UNE Theatre graduates. SVM is engaged in mentoring through a new Yotuh Enterprise venture and through creative collaboration. SVM's proposal to present the Ibsen text in the context of a three day event that showcases sustainable living, brings to the community an event specific cultural product. This is in keeping with the work this community has done for over 3 years througth the New England Sustainability Strategy (NESS).
Slex is sponsored by the Armidale Dumaresq Council, UNE, Starfish Enterprises Network, Essential Energy & The Border- Revers-Gwydir CMA and includes EdFest - hosted by Starfish Enterprises Network, an SVM partner on several community based ventures since 2009.
For their first public performance event, Felttip Theatre has partnered with The Armidale School's Hoskins Centre and members of the local theatre and arts community.
Here's their first eFlyer, promoting the event.
from Theatre production - "9/10/11" - Theatre Studies UNE.
Collaboration with Sue Fell - concept, design, staging, lighting, visuals & audio design.
Played UNE Drama Studio, Armidale NSW.
Directed by Sue Fell, devised with Arts & Theatre Students. Oct 9,10 & 11, 2011
Photos - SVM