Dark Mofo, Boomerang, among 18 regional festivals funded
Tasmania’s experimental Dark Mofo and Byron Bay’s Boomerang were among the recipients of the latest round of Festivals Australia funding.
The Australian Government announced more than $750,000 for 18 projects. The program is aimed at arts driven events in regional and remote Australia by assisting community members to participate in them and increase attendance.
Federal Minister for the Arts Mitch Fifield said, “This funding round includes both single and multi-year projects that will take place across six states and territories and represent a range of art forms from music, circus arts, community arts, multimedia, digital arts and craft.”
“I am particularly pleased that this latest round of funding not only represents a range of different art forms but also provides opportunities for sharing cultures, developing partnerships, community participation and more inclusive experiences for people with disability.”
Of the 18 events, Dark Mofo had the biggest funding. $100,000 was allocated for arts installations by eight Australian and international artists to set up installations in disused industrial sheds and laneways through Hobart between June 10 to 21.
Boomerang, the “indigenous festival for all Australians” received $30,000 towards its staging during Bluesfest over the Easter weekend. The festival currently has a crowd-funding campaign to become a stand-alone.
NSW’s Four Winds opening ceremony First At The Festival was awarded $35, 750 to engage the community in a performance. Ensemble Offspring and fLing Physical Theatre explore art, time and space through the electro-acoustic sound dimensions of Phillip Glass. Four Winds is staged over the Easter long weekend in Bermagui.
Artlands is held as part of Regional Arts NSW’s national conference, scheduled for four days in October in Dubbo. It will allocate its $77, 080 so participating artists and audience members can present performances and activities.
The Shepparton Festival in Victoria, which received a 2015 tourism award received $32,000 for its Be Consumed event to celebrate its 20th anniversary through March 4 to 20.
Victoria’s Woodend Winter Arts will use its $8800 endowment so students can undertake music workshops which allows them to then perform live during the festival what they learned, as part of First Time For Everything.
WA’s Denmark Festival of Voice (June 3 to 5) received two fundings. $32,800 is for its Voices of Integration initiative so the 20-strong Poco Tutti (the smaller version of the Tutti Choir) and South Australia’s The Sisters of Invention (each of its members have a disability) can conduct workshops with community members with disabilities. A further $35, 340 is for the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir to appear as part of Desert Voices and to conduct cross-cultural workshops.
Queensland’s 13th Capricorn Village Festival was assigned $25,000 for prominent jazz artists to mentor young musicians and for them to perform at the music and arts festival in August which will draw its traditional 10,000.
Tasmania’s Junction Arts Festival, which offers the chance for audiences to watch or participate in performances as they are developed in Launceston’s “hidden spaces” over five days in September, got $20, 982 to encourage patrons to involve in a multi-media experience of stories developed from four walking tours.
The 10-day Byron Bay International Film Festival in October received $25,000 for its Co-Lab Create initiative, where audience members, film makers and artists to work together on the latest film technology. Last year the BBIFF, which markets itself as the country’s largest regional film festival, screened 220 films, documentaries, animation and short films from 38 countries.
Festivals Australia delivers about $1.2 million a year in two rounds of funding. Its funding for regional cultural events complements those delivered through the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach program, the Visions of Australia program and the Regional Arts Fund.
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