A place for Melbourne’s independent arts community to explore, hone and develop professional practice.
The Kiln is Art Centre Melbourne’s key sector development program that aims to prioritise and engage the independent and small-to-medium performing arts industry through professional development workshops, talks and events from leading Australian artists and companies.
Access, inclusion and representation were the core themes for The Kiln in 2019 and we are thrilled to share a handful of incredibly vibrant and important panels from last year’s program with you.
These events were wheelchair accessible, Auslan interpreted, Audio Described and some were Live Captioned
Audiences who are d/Deaf or hearing impaired can watch with captions, and audiences who are blind or visually impaired can watch a separate audio described stream.
Representation matters: discuss, debate, celebrate, elevate!
#justnotthatmany provocateurs and creatives Artemis Muñoz, Alice Qin and Sonya Suares lead a panel discussion together with activist Carly Findlay OAM (substituting Kate Hood) about representation and inclusion in the arts. What prompted the online visibility campaign that went viral? And how (from several disparate perspectives) do we lead on these issues together, and create the change we want to see?
Please note: This recording contains intermittent audio skips. The transcript has been annotated to provide some of the missing gaps.
What is arts inclusivity and who is leading the way in Australia?
Caroline Bowditch (Arts Access Victoria), Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Fablice Manirakizas (Come and See Burundi) and Veronica Pardo (Multicultural Arts Victoria) share their personal insights and experiences with creating an inclusive leadership practice that has inspired and influenced many. Facilitated by formidable jazz singer, cabaret artiste & gender transcendent diva Mama Alto. Panel curated by Jodee Mundy.
How can you effectively embed access into a performance from the outset? What does this look like? Lead creatives behind The Legend of Queen Kong Episode II Sarah Ward and Bec Matthews along with multitalented performer Emma J Hawkins share their learnings and experiences about creating performance with access embedded at its heart. Facilitated by award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist Carly Findlay OAM.
The Art of Pride brings disabled artists together in conversation.
Producer Larissa MacFarlane talks about her experience of bringing artists with disability together in a creative and public expression of pride making Australia’s first Disability Pride Mural. The Disability Pride Mural in Footscray inadvertently highlighted the treatment of disabled people when the wall was blasted clean and labelled as graffiti, just a week after being installed. It required courageous work, but it was reinstalled with more than 50 peoples’ voices being presented, highlighting the wide cultural diversity that is Disability Culture.
In addition, hear from the inaugural winner of the Stella Young Award, Madeleine Little, and the 2019 Stella Young Award recipient, Vanessa Jo Di Natale. With special guest appearance from Arts Access Victoria CEO, Caroline Bowditch.
A panel featuring six Deaf independent artists curated and facilitated by Jodee Mundy.
Hear directly from a diverse range of artists about their practices and understand what is urgent and important in the Deaf arts community today.
Artists include: Elvin Lam, Anna Seymour, Jessica Moody, Luke Duncan King, Irene Holub and Walter Kadiki.
Delve into current processes for making art and living life as a creative practitioner.
Independent creatives know the ‘juggle’ metaphor all too well. We are at once artists, producers, managers, advocates and community and cultural leaders; as well as children, parents, siblings, friends and lovers. How do these roles intertwine? How can they inform the way we embody our values, identity and politics?
Hear from independent artists and producers Tariro Mavondo, Gareth Hart and Emma Hall, as they reflect on the intersections of their own varied arts practices.
