Year 2014

Autumn & Winter 2014

Written by Administrator on 22 September 2014.

Exciting times afoot for the Mid North Coast, with Slippry Sirkus working in partnership with Kempsey Council, to produce the Macleay River Festival, Sept 20^th.. funded by ArtsNSW. www.macleayriverfestival.com.au

Across the year, in the lead up to the Festival, working in close collaboration with executive producer Olivia Parker, Slippry Sirkus has delivered a program of workshops across the region to engage communities in the Festival, while developing skills in the Arts & Creative Industries.

The program of workshops has included the Community Halls Flag program with textile artist Margrit Rickenbach, this program worked with each community to design and produce flags which will be flown at the Festival and then returned to each community .

The Painted Poles project provided the opportunity for schools to participate and to utilise recycled materials. The Painted Poles will become Festival Installations.

A Dance program ha also been delivered into Communities and Schools with choreographer/dancers Travers Ross ,Kino Hughes and Steven Donovan, this has encompassed from HipHop to Indigenous Dance.=, with a dance performance at Macleay River Festival.

The ‘Knit the Cows Home’ program with artist Rene Wilson has provided opportunities for knitters of all ages to participate in the program and has engaged with aged care homes. The knitted cows will be installed at the Festival

Lantern workshops with Claude Teyssier and Margrit Rickenbach have provided another opportunity for skills development and community engagement. With local artists and community members working along side the project artist to produce t large painted lanterns that will be illuminated at the festival. www.lightsculpture.com.au

’ Many Faces of the Macleay ‘ digital media project , in collaboration with Dlux Media has also been running across the year , the program s theme. ‘Many Faces – One Mob’ is about community cohesion , inclusiveness and social capital. Sam Taylor has been working with Slippry Sirkus to collect thousands of faces , while Lizzie Quinlin and Josh Thomason have recorded images of the Macleay river environment and collected historical images from The Macleay Valley Historical Society which will be edited by Josh into a digital installation to be projected at the Macleay River festival. www.macleayriverfestival.com , www.dlux.org.au

Slippry Sirkus is also working with the Gwydir Shire Council on an arts based program of workshops that provide opportunities for new skills and ways of expression . The project has a mental health and wellbeing focus with two pubic outcomes in October.

Meanwhile, the Frugal Forest project continues to flourish, with community workshops across the Mid North Coast., Utilising all recycled materials, when completed the Frugal Forest will become a touring exhibition in museums and art galleries. http://frugalforest.oneoffmakery.net.au/

Chair of our Board, Jodie Harrison has been kicking goals, in her new role with Arthritis Victoria. Her fantastic programs have seen the public engaging in ‘Make a Move’ in Federation Square, plus a celebrity bike ride with Olympian Shane Kelly . www.arthritisvic.org.au

Nixi Killick, a founding member of Slippry Sirkus continues her meteoric rise , attending ORIGIN passion and beliefs' international industry expo in Italy . Nixi was one of the one hundred emerging designers from across the globe invited . www.nixikillick.com

Raphaela Rosella continues to excel with her social documentary photography and has been invited as one of twelve photographers in the world to Amsterdam in November to attend the 2014 Joop Swart Masterclass . www.raphalarosella.com , www.worldpressphoto.org/content/names-2014-joop-swart-masterclass-participants-announced

Slippry Sirkus’s Artistic Director has been invited to present at the international ‘Art is Power’ Festival in Kuala Lumpur ‘. The Festival offers young emerging artists in South East Asia an opportunity to take new arts workshops & create. With the goal to inspire, transform and empower with new skills performance and media arts

Joel Salom has traversed the globe as an MC, comedy juggler, flying trapeze artist and gadget man. He recently returned 6 months is Seattle and San Francisco performing with Teatro Zinzanni.

At the Edinburgh Festival, he made a record breaking five invitation appearances on the prestigious Best Of The Fest Shows.

"Joel Salom.. he is not only the funniest improviser, the cleverest tech-head, but possibly our best juggler, too. " National Australian Circus Festival

For 26 weeks in 1999, Joel's creation Erik The Robot Dog was a regular on ABC-TV. Erik the Dog is a 2-foot-tall, fast-talking, arse-sniffing phenomenon. A cult character with guest appearances on Music Channel 'V' and live gigs in clubs, festivals, corporate events and Circus Oz will never be the same again.

Recently in New York with Circus Oz Joel and Erik performed on 42nd Street for six weeks. The critics said, "The wittiest member of the crew is Erik the Dog, a remote-controlled tin terrier who rolls around the stage, chats up the front row and extols the joys of "sniffing all my friends' bums." Predictably, the kids squeal, the parents groan and the critics quietly shut their notebooks." TIME OUT, NEW YORK 2004.

Summer 2014

Written by Administrator on 23 March 2014.

With the festive season behind us, we say a big Hello to 2014, while we continue to gain ground through constant attention and evaluation of our work in the communities, ensuring that we do what we say……..

November & December saw the end of our financial year and the rolling up of the partnership with TAFE to deliver the Smarts Arts program , which provided opportunities through accredited arts based pathway programs to gain a certificate 11 in skills for work & training. Six of the seven young people participating where awarded their Cert 11. A success rate of 87.5%.

November saw consultation in NW NSW with organisations in Moree, Walgett and Bourke to design socially innovative programs that will engage with young people and provide accredited pathways to education & enterprise and in January , consultation on the Mid North Coast and a visit to Alice Springs for consultation to build youth programs with local organisations.

Slippry Sirkus , in a partnership with Kempsey Council funded by Arts NSW , will take the role of Creative Producer for the Macleay River festival 2014. Several programs will be delivered in the Macleay Valley communities across the year, to enable participation by the community in the festival.

Slippry Sirkus In a partnership with the Creative Peoples Collective ‘SistaGurl, has presented a series of events which provide opportunities for mentoring and performance for emerging artists have been delivered monthly on the North Coast of NSW. These events have incorporated environmental information and raised awareness on the challenges facing young people .

January saw Kempsey host the Saltwater Freshwater Festival which attracted audiences from across the region , and where the collection of images for the Many Faces of the Macleay project commenced. www.saltwaterfreshwaterfestival.com.au

The Pop Up Community Art Space hosted by Slippry Sirkus, provided the opportunity for local and regional artists to exhibit their work and support the Nambucca River Festival, where Claude Teyssier’s Light Sculptures and Margrit Rickenbach’ s textile installations were the highlight of the inaugural festival.

(Annual showcase 'Walk Up' Rehearsals & Mentoring Workshop @ the Aboriginal Cultural ShowCase, the Tamworth Youth Centre with Roger Knox, Buzz BidStrup & Glenn Skulthorpe...)

It was fantastic to catch up with everyone at the Annual Cultural Showcase, a community based event designed to provide Aboriginal people from all over Australia with the opportunity to perform as part of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, has spread its wings and reached a much broader audience in 2014.. with the final night showcase concert sold out.

The Showcase has the specific goal of providing new and emerging talents with exposure and skills development opportunities. In order to achieve this a flexible program of shows includes everyone from first time walk-ups to established artists. The experience of playing on the same stage as a seasoned performer is a great encouragement to many first timers. Slippry Sirkus is delighted to have supported the Annual Cultural ShowCase, since it began. culturalshowcase.info/‎

Reko Rennie, www.rekorennie.com, will return to work with the Kempsey community across 2014.. Reko’s success as a Global artist has inspired many of the participants who have engaged with Reko.. and Slippry Sirkus would like to thank Reko for making the time to continue to work in community.

Alethia Casey, international photojournalist, www.aletheiacasey.com, joined us to continue to work on the ‘After the Apology’ project which is support by www.magnumphotos.com

The Frugal Forest project is gaining momentum and growing, with workshops running across Summer at the Regional markets to collect recycled materials to grow the forest. The Frugal Forest is supported by Slippry Sirkus, Midwaste, the Australia Council for the Arts and Glasshouse Port Macquarie. Drawing in artists, musicians, scientists, community, business and industry, we aim to build an intricately detailed forest entirely from salvage. Why? Because nothing is wasted in the forest, and we could really learn from that. frugalforest.oneoffmakery.net.au/

Featured Artists: Desert Pea Media

Desert Pea Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Vx3TpW3zc introducing the first release from the Song Nation 2013 tour, from Thursday Island TSI.

Now in its third year, Song Nation is an annual song writing project - a partnership between Desert Pea Media and The Smugglers Of Light Foundation.

Each year, a group of close friends and community artists tour Australia, working with communities and young people to create stories that create dialogue around local social and cultural issues, and celebrate community, culture and country.

The work is about friendship, creativity and joy - sharing stories and skills to create positive mantras and build a new contemporary culture in Australia that embraces all people and all cultures.

www.desertpeamedia.com .au

'Handle With Care' Project

‘The Journey' shares insights from the young people from the sixteen communities who participated in this two year project.

Galleries

Have a look at the images that capture some of the many project highlights

Click to view Images

Media Comment

There has been very positive responses to our projects across a broad sector of the community

View samples here

Making Music

Listen to the songs created by the young people about the lives, their families and their communities.

Bourke Girls Track