Split, Lucy Guerin Inc. Image credit Gregory Lorenzutti.
In May this year, Sydney Opera House launched a new Artist and Sector Development initiative, designed to support independent Australian performing artists and small-to-medium companies.
Fiona Winning, Head of Programming at Sydney Opera House, said: ‘Sydney Opera House’s new Artist and Sector Development Program invites independent artists and small companies into our spaces more often, and in a more sustained way.’
Winning explained that the program specifically targets artists in the contemporary performance space, across dance, live art and theatre.
‘As a major performing arts centre, it’s essential we apply our skills and resources to support this important and fragile part of the performing arts ecosystem, artists who have the fewest resources available to them but who consistently punch well above their weight in innovation and diversity – of form and content. And it’s important we offer our audiences great work from this sector – work they may not otherwise find themselves,’ she said.
‘We want to back local independent artists, small companies and their work, and to get more visibility among audiences who may not find them in other venues and in the broader culture; to advocate for their ideas and work.’
New bi-annual program gives work second life
A highlight of the initiative is UnWrapped: a bi-annual program of small-scale Australian contemporary performance work, now in its second season.
Following a sell-out season at Campbelltown Arts Centre as part of Sydney Festival 2017, post’s Ich Nibber Dibber returns to Sydney for an encore season at UnWrapped. Photo by Document Photography. Supplied.
UnWrapped presents risk-taking performances on the Sydney Opera House stage. For choreographer Lucy Guerin, Artistic Director of contemporary dance company Lucy Guerin Inc, participating in the program means a Sydney season for critically acclaimed performance, Split.
‘[UnWrapped] has offered us a nice opportunity to present the work in Sydney. We haven’t shown our work there for quite a while – there’s not a lot of opportunities to show works of this scale in Sydney, so that has been really great,’ said Guerin.
So far almost 50 independent artists and creators from around the country have benefited from the program, sharing their work with a wider audience and presenting seven productions, including four Sydney premieres.
‘UnWrapped both extends the life of brilliant Australian shows and supports creators to find new audiences – artists like Kristina Chan, Jodee Mundy and Mojo Juju alongside small companies like Lucy Guerin Inc and post,’ said Winning.
Professional development opportunities
The Artist and Sector Development initiative also includes professional development opportunities for independent artists.
These opportunities include a Digital Mentoring Program for contemporary performing artists, providing access the Sydney Opera House’s state-of-the-art recording studio and equipment, as well as expert guidance to extend their practice into the digital space.
A Talks and Masterclass Program offers professional development for Sydney based artists, drawing from visiting national and international artists and arts companies, while a new Industry Insiders Program offers a free three-year membership for Australian performing artists and arts professionals, providing access to special industry offers, discounts to select performances, and exclusive invitations to talks and artist masterclasses.
‘In August, we’re thrilled to be bringing together two innovative and incredibly different visual and physical theatre companies – Sydney’s Erth and Brisbane’s Dead Puppet Society to share their process with artists over an intensive week long masterclass. Both these companies have been, and will be presented again at Sydney Opera House, so it’s great to be able to bring them together for the first time and invite artists to experience their process,’ said Winning.
Multidisciplinary artist Tom Hogan recently participated in the Digital Mentoring Program to develop his technological knowledge and skills in film, adapting a monologue from an earlier performance into the short film, Alien Carl Sagan.
Through the mentorship, Hogan worked with cinematographer Adrian Reinhardt and ASE award winning editor Katrina Barker.
‘I had worked on small film-based projects, but I’d never tried to convert one of my performance works into a film. The mentorship opportunity offered an outside perspective and technological knowledge that I had just never worked with for my own solo projects,’ said Hogan.
‘If the mentorship opportunity wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have made this at all.’
Visit sydneyoperahouse.com to find out more.
Tickets for UnWrapped are on sale now.
