Performance Space Annual Report 2011

PERFORMANCE SPACE

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Performance Space Annual Report 2011

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MISSION & CORE VALUESPerformance Space is Australia’s leading organisation for the development and presentation of interdisciplinary arts. Performance Space is an arts development agency supporting the exploration and experience of new forms, new ideas, and new contexts.

Performance Space is:

Committed: to interdisciplinary arts informed by performance, which draw their influence from across the performing and visual arts.

Ambitious: to enable artists to reach their potential, to enrich lives of audiences, and to be a world-leader in interdisciplinary arts.

Inclusive: of artistic ideas, forms, and contexts, and the diversity and differences of our artists and audiences.

Collaborative: with artists, arts organisations, communities, government and other stakeholders in pursuit of mutual goals.

Strategic: in business; balancing the day-to-day, entrepreneurial opportunities and long-term aspirations.

ABOUTPERFORMANCESPACE


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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CEODaniel Brine

GENERAL MANAGERDale Hollingsworth (acting until February 2011)Julieanne Campbell

ASSOCIATE DIRECTORSBec Dean Jeff Khan

PRODUCTION MANAGERTristan Ellis-Windsor

TECHNICAL MANAGERRichard Manner (until October 2011)Aaron Clarke (starting October 2011)

MEDIA AND MARKETING OFFICERRosie Fisher

RELATIONSHIPS & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT OFFICERJulia Holderness

INDIGENOUS PROJECTS OFFICERAlison Murphy-Oates (position commenced June 2011)

PROJECTS OFFICERGeorgie Meagher Nat Randall

ADMINISTRATORAmelia Wallin

FINANCE OFFICERRhanda Mansour

CHAIRClare Petre

TREASURERKate Barnet

DIRECTORSClark ButlerLeon CmielewskiSue Donnelly Ian EnrightJohn Gillies (until March 2011)Andrea JamesJann KohlmanJane McDermottGail Priest

STAFF BOARD


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2011 was Artistic Director Daniel Brine’s third and final full year driving the artistic direction of Performance Space, having joined us in November 2008. It was a difficult decision for Daniel to leave Australia and return to the UK, having achieved some significant milestones during his short but outstanding time in this leadership role. We wish Daniel all the best in his new position as the Director of The Junction, a multi-artform venue in Cambridge.

Due to the timing of Daniel’s resignation as Artistic Director, at the end of the year the Board appointed Bec Dean and Jeff Khan to start in January 2012, to act as Co-Directors of Performance Space, seeing the organisation through the business planning process for the 2013-2015 triennial application.

2011 was the second year of our 2010-2012 triennial funding period, and we have started to see the fruits of the changes proposed in the triennial business plan, including the realisation of our first major, commissioned offsite project, WALK which took audiences on artist-led strolls around the Sydney metro area. WALK also engaged two major offsite partnerships with the Sydney Festival and the Sydney Opera House for Gob Squad’s Super Night Shot, and with Blacktown Arts Centre for Within and Without by Pascal Daantos Berry, Deborah Pollard and Anino Shadowplay Collective.

Our partners in the Bundanon Trust enabled us to realise the final IndigeLab 2011 through the Bundanon Residency program at Riversdale. Strategic outcomes from IndigeLab were also supported by ArtsNSW in their support of our strategic residency program, IndigeSpace which

began with two fully funded residencies in 2011. Other residency partners included Critical Path, The Critical Practice Unit at the University of New South Wales, and the Centre for Performance Studies at Sydney University. Carriageworks continued to provide its important venue support, and with the appointment of Lisa Havilah, aligned with us as a program partner.

In 2011 we were generously supported by a number of philanthropic foundations, including the Besen Foundation for The Body is a Big Place and the Sidney Myer Fund for Posts in the Paddock. Performance Space continues to deliver on strategic sector initiatives with our state and federal funding partners including Indigelab, IndigeSpace, the Emerging Indigenous Producer Mentorship, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy and Program Presenter.

Enormous thanks go to the wonderful people that support our program as individual donors. Their individual contributions not only support the work of artists in Performance Space’s programs, but are also helping to shift Australian culture in the long term, to one that values the arts and cultural expression. Individual supporters have been listed in this report, and we would also like to acknowledge those who prefer to remain anonymous but who are highly valued. Pro-bono legal advice was generously provided by Henry Davis York.

We continue to be active in national networks and contribute to both CAOS (network of contemporary arts organisations across Australia) and Mobile States, Touring Contemporary Performance. We thank our networks and partners for their support and look forward to working with them in the future.

We continued to auspice grants closely tied to our program, and included the following creative developments and productions: Within & Without for Pascal Berry and Deb Pollard; Julie-Anne Long’s

CHAIR’S REPORT


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Invisibility Project; Green Bans Art Walk for Big Fag Press; Vicki Van Hout’s Briwyant, including a presentation at the Dreaming Festival; and began work on Victoria Hunt’s Copper Promises: Hinemiki Haka, and Gail Priest and Jane McKernan’s One Thing Follows Another.

Aside from Daniel’s departure, 2011 was a relatively stable year for staffing at Performance Space, and as always, the staff continue to shine. Early in the New Year, Dale Hollingsworth, Acting General Manager, finished and Julieanne Campbell returned to her role as General Manager. Jeff Khan joined us as Associate Director, and Amelia Wallin started as our Administrator, replacing the wonderful Shuxia Chen. Georgie Meagher finished her contract as Emerging Producer and was appointed to the post of Projects Officer on a job share basis with Natalie Randall. After an epic 12 years, Richard Manner, our much-loved Technical Manager left, to be replaced by Aaron Clarke in October. Bec Dean continued as Associate Director, Tristan Ellis-Windsor as Production Manager, Rosie Fisher as Media & Marketing Officer and Julia Holderness as our Relationships & Audience Development Officer. Alison Murphy-Oates joined us as our Indigenous Projects Officer in June 2011 as part of the Australia Council’s Emerging Indigenous Producer Mentorship. Rhanda Mansour kept us financially water-tight with the assistance of finance consultant Sue Proctor. In addition, we would like to thank Harley Stumm for consulting with us on the forthcoming tour of Vicki Van Hout’s Briwyant.

Lastly, sincere thanks go to my colleagues on the board for their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm for the unique work that Performance Space curates, presents and supports.

Clare PetreCHAIR

2011 was a big year of development, presentation and change for Performance Space. We presented three concept-led seasons of work at Carriageworks, an ‘off-site’ season entitled WALK, the third and final IndigeLab at Bundanon, 19 residencies, and a multitude of events as part of ClubHouse. We also said farewell to Daniel Brine in December 2011, who returned to the UK after a transformative and visionary three years as our Artistic Director to take over the directorship of The Junction in Cambridge.

The year kicked off in January with Gob Squad’s Super Night Shot in partnership with the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Festival. Jason Blake in The Sydney Morning Herald described the show as “one of the most inclusive and interesting works presented at the Sydney Festival.” The project was also assisted by many Performance Space volunteers, to whom we would like to express our sincere gratitude.

Uneasy Futures, our first season at Carriageworks ran from 15 April – 14 May, and included visual and performing arts that contemplated visions of the future and moving towards the unknown. It included new work from Vicki Van Hout, version 1.0, Dean Walsh and the exhibition Awfully Wonderful: Science Fiction in Contemporary Art curated by Bec Dean and Lizzie Muller, which included new and existing work by 12 Australian artists, and was accompanied by an audio guide narrated by scientists, sponsored by RiAus (The Royal Institution of Australia). The project was also supported by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney which loaned Performance Space a number of speculative objects from its technology collection to support the installation of Jo Law. The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) came

DIRECTOR’S REPORT


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on board to support the production of a catalogue and symposium.

In September, we presented a mini-season of work as part of Mobile States: Sam James’s Vivaria, Gabrielle Nankivell’s I left my shoes on warm concrete and stood in the rain and James Saunders’ Harry Harlow Project. As always, Mobile States remains a critical part of Performance Space’s program in which we are able to present work by artists from across Australia.

Our third season at Carriageworks in 2011 Exchange explored the way we share, trade and reciprocate, and included some exceptional collaborations, including Theatre Kantanka joining forces with Ensemble Offspring to present Bargain Garden, My Darling Patricia working with Moogahlin Performing Arts to present the much-anticipated Posts in the Paddock, a curatorial collaboration between Paul Gazzola and Jeff Khan to present eight short dance works as part of Return to Sender, and two visual arts projects: The Body is a Big Place by Helen Pynor and Peta Clancy, and HokusPokus by Michele Barker and Anna Munster. The Body is a Big Place has gone on to win an honourary mention in the Prix ARS Electronica in Austria and HokusPokus will be exhibited in the UK in 2012.

ClubHouse — our space for critical dia-logue, creative exchange and conversation — ran throughout the year and included a wide range of events. One of the big ClubHouse events for 2011 was SEAM, which included four intensive hybrid practice laborato-ries and a two-day symposium consisting of artist talks and performance presentations. Other ClubHouse events included artist talks by Simon Casson on Queer performance in the UK, Joey Ruigrok van der Werven on re-imaging large-scale site specific thea-tre spectacle, and Daniel Mudie Cunningham about his ongoing project The Jodie Fos-ter Archive. There were screenings of Joe Lawlor’s Civic Life (part of the Sydney Film Festival), Philip Brophy’s Northern Void and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, and per-formances by Eugene Carchesio and Haines/

Hinterding, and a durational ten-hour performance by John A. Douglas. We collabo-rated with RealTime on a forum, and also hosted a Speculative Futures Symposium. Campfire Collective presented an evening of storytelling, Dorkbot held their monthly meeting for ‘people doing strange things with electricity’, there was a discus-sion regarding a Theatre Network for NSW, as well as a number of launches including Yelling at Stars DVD launch, and I Can Draw You a Picture.

In 2011, we stepped out of Carriageworks for our first major offsite program. WALK was a series of walks, promenades, marches and strolls in and around Sydney, opening up opportunities for artists to engage with new sites and audiences. These artist-led projects occurred across the year in a range of locations. Karen Therese’s Waterloo Girls took us through the backstreets of Waterloo. Jen Hamilton’s Walking in the Rain was a very enjoyable walk along the Cook’s River. Sarah Rodigari’s Strategies for Leaving and Arriving Home saw Sarah walk from Melbourne to Sydney (we were invited to join her for any part of the walk). Within & Without, a project of Deborah Pollard, Paschal Berry and the Anino Shadowplay Collective was presented at Blacktown Arts Centre. Sarah Waterson’s Laika’s Derive invited dog owners to record their dog’s walk through photos and data collection. Green Bans Art Walk, a project of Big Fag Press, Cross Art Projects and Fiona MacDonald, retraced the struggle of 1970s Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross and the impact of the Green Bans and how they revolutionised urban planning and ideas. Lily Hibberd and WART presented Benevolent Asylum, a walk around Lavender Bay about asylum and confinement. And Di Smith’s House Work took audiences on a walking tour through the private spaces of artists’ homes in the inner city suburbs of Redfern. A publication that bring together texts about and documentation of all the WALK projects will be launched in the first half of 2012.


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In October, we held the third and final IndigeLab residential laboratory at Bundanon. Managed by Erica McCalman, and co-facilitated by Andrea James and Marilyn Miller, IndigeLab 2011 brought together nine Indigenous artists to work across disciplines and be challenged within a supportive, stimulating and Indigenous-specific environment. While IndigeLab won’t continue in its current format, Performance Space was successful in securing support for IndigeSpace, which provides residencies for mid-career Indigenous artists, and will be managed by Indigenous Projects Officer Alison Murphy-Oates. Supported creative developments were offered to Andrea James and Sarah-Jane Norman in 2011, and we will offer another two development periods in 2012.

Residencies were again offered in Track 8 and Track 12, and with residency partners Critical Path, Performance Studies at Sydney University, and IO Myers Studio at NSW University. Artists included: Branch Nebula; Georgie Read; David Lawrey and Jaki Middleton; Vicki Van Hout; Dean Walsh; Applespiel; Pascal Daantos Berry, Deborah Pollard and Anino Shadowplay Collective; Martin del Amo; Latai Taumoepeau, Justin Shoulder; Peta Clancy and Helen Pynor; Theatre Kantanka; Team Mess; My Darling Patricia; Whale Chorus, and Toby Knyvett. Performance Space also undertook a residency with BankArt in Yokohama with artist, Sarah Goffman and Associate Director, Bec Dean.

We hosted our first ‘Thinker-in-Residence’ Joshua Sofaer, a UK-based artist known for his socially engaged practice who spent a month exploring his interest in how artists can be cultural leaders (supported by a Fellowship Grant from the Clore Leadership Program in the UK). This tied-in with our collaboration with Field Theory which also focuses on artists-as-leaders as part of the Live Art Cultural Leadership Initiative. Field Theory ran a series of Durational Lattes including small discussions, screenings, and network events.

A number of professional development opportunities were offered in 2011. The Teachers’ Club events were built around Performance Space’s artistic program, providing teachers with an insight into the creative process of the artists we work with. Workshops were held by Deborah Kelly, Anino Shadowplay Collective, My Darling Patricia and Lily Hibberd. We also presented a professional development day for artists at NORPA in Lismore, in partnership with Performing Lines and as part of the MAPS initiative.

After a long and beautiful relationship with Boccalatte, the design company led by Suzanne Boccalatte and our exclusive designer of over 10 years, we branched out and collaborated with Blood and Thunder, a company known for their hand crafting, DIY aesthetic and graphic quality. This is proving to be a great match for Performance Space, but we are still enjoying the strategic input of Boccalatte who drive the design for our website and all EDM. We also continued to work with The Nest as a corporate sponsor for our database that drives our digital marketing strategies, and key aspects of our online interface.

We were delighted to welcome Lisa Havilah as the new CEO for Carriageworks, who started in February 2011, and worked closely with her and her staff throughout the year on our three seasons presented in the building.

We ran a successful annual appeal, thanks to the very generous support of an incredible group of individuals. Their names are all listed on our website, and we remain truly indebted to their generosity. We were also grateful for the ongoing support of our primary funders — the Interarts Office of the Australia Council and Arts NSW.

Bec Dean and Jeff KhanCo-Directors & CEOs


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Adam NortonAhilan RatnamohanAlan DaviesAlana ValentineAlex DaviesAlexandra HarrisonAli KadhimAlice GageAlice HindeAlicia TalbotAlison CurrieAlvaro CassinelliAndrea JamesAndrew CruzAngela ConquetAnna Munster

Annalouise PaulAnne KayAnne NiemetzAntonia BaehrAtlanta EkeAunty Kaye HookeyAunty Rhonda Dixon GrovenorBaki KocaballiBarbara CampbellBarry BrookBastian TrostBecca WoodBecs RileyBen CorbettBenedict AndersonBerit StumpfBindi ColeBrian FuataBridget DolanBrigid JacksonBryan GeanslerBryony AndersonCarlos GomesCarol BrownCarol Dilley

Charles AndersonChris AbrahamsChris RyanChris TwymanChristine PeacockClaire EdwardsClaire HicksClare BrittonClaudia EscobarClaudia O’DohertyClaudia PerrenClytie SmithColin KinchelaDamien RicketsonDaniel Mudie Cunningham

Danielle WildeDanielle MicichDara GillDarren JorgensonDatu ArellanoDavid BuckleyDavid CapraDavid d’SilvaDavid HainesDavid WilliamsDavid LawreyDean CrossDean WalshDeanne ButterworthDeborah KellyDeborah PollardDebra BealeDi SmithDiego BonettoDon NicholsDon Maralit SalubaybaDonna HewittEddie SharpEiichi TosakiElias Constapedos

Elizabeth RyanElla BarclayElla MudieEmma McManusEmma RamsayEmma SaundersEmma Maye GibsonEric AveryErwin FenisEsther CheungEugene CarchesioFernando QuesadaFiona FoleyFiona MacDonaldFrank MainooFukno

Gabrielle NankivellGail PriestGavin ClarkeGeorgie ReadGhenoa GelaGiles ThackwayGuy HardingHalcyon McLeodHami JamesHarrell FletcherHayden FowlerHeidrun LohrHelen PynorHenrietta BairdHenry KemberHirofumi UchinoHoney SpenceIan CollessIan HaigImogen CrannaIrving GregoryIvan RuhlesJada AlbertsJaime LeonardoJake DeeganJaki Middleton

James BrownJames CunninghamJames HarneyJames SaundersJane McKernanJane SmithJanie GibsonJason MalingJason NobleJennifer HamiltonJo HolderJo LawJo LawlorJoe SzaboJoel Fenton

Joey Ruigrok Van der WervenJohn DiStefanoJohn DouglasJondi KeaneJoseph ParroJoshua SofaerJoshua CraigJosie CavalleroJoyce HinterdingJulia HoldernessJulie-Anne LongJustin ShoulderKameliah DungayKaren BergerKaren ThereseKate KinxKate MacDonaldKatherine BeckettKatia MolinoKatie BeckettKay ArmstrongKeg De SouzaKeith GallaschKenneth MoraledaKenzee Patterson

2011 ARTISTS


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Kenzie LarsenKiarna DungayKingsley ReeveKirk PageKym VercoeLara ThomsLatai TaumoepeauLawrence WallenLeanne HainesLee WilsonLeeke GriffinLeigh RigozziLeRoy ParsonsLian LokeLiessel ZinkLily Hibberd

Lily ShearerLinda LukeLisa DuffLizzie MullerLouis BurdettLouise AndersonLucas AbelaLucas IhleinLucia LieMalcolm WhittakerManuel VasonMargel HinderMargie MedlinMarian AbboudMarilyn FairskyeMarilyn MillerMarion MarrisonMark HillMark RogersMark TitmarshMarley GrovenorMarnie PalomaresMarten SpangbergMartin Del AmoMartyn CouttsMary Moore

Mary-Anne WilliamsMat HandMatt PrestMatthew DayMatthew TumbersMaude DaveyMC Gaff EMel TyquinMelanie PalomaresMelissa HuntMichael HugillMichele BarkerMichelle BlackeneyMichelle OutramMikie InglisMini Graff

Mirabelle WoutersMiranda WheenMiriam MlecekMs&MrNadia CusimanoNakkiah LuiNancy WijohnNarayana TosakiNarelle BenjaminNarretha WilliamsNat RandallNathan HarrisonNeil SimpsonNicholas TsoutasNick CoyleNick WishartNicola ConibereNiharika SenapatiNikki HeywoodNikki KennedyOrigami GirlsOslo DavisPaschal Daantos BerryPat ArmstrongPat Fiske

Paul BlenheimPaul GazzolaPaul PrestipinoPeta ClancyPeter BankiPhil DowningPhillip BrophyPia Van GelderRachel RobertsRaghav HandaRajni ShahRayma JohnsonRev Kriss HadesRichard AllenRobin WhitmoreRodney Nash

Rosalee PearsonRoss GanfRoss HarleyRyuichi FujimuraSam RoutledgeSam SmithSam SpurrSam ChesterSamuel JamesSarah GoffmanSarah MillerSarah RodigariSarah ThomSarah WatersonSarah-Jane NormanSean BaconSean PattenSebastian BarkShane HasemanShelley LassicaShian LawSime KnezevicSimon BinnsSimon CassonSimon WillSimon Yates

Simone MandlSimone O’BrienSoda_JerkSoloman ThomasaStephen RussellSue HealeyTeik-Kim PokTess De QuinceyThea BrejzekTim DarbyshireTim GruchyTina HookeyToby KnyvettTodd RobinsonTom MelickTony Keeble

Tony YapTroy ReidTyrone RobinsonValerie BerryVenettia MillerVicki van HoutVictoria HuntVictoria SpenceVincent O’ConnorVirginia BaxterWARTWeiZen HoWilloh S. WeilandWilson da SilvaYana TaylorYumi Umiumare


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MAJOR GIFTS AND BEQUESTSStephen Cummins Bequest

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS Susan DonnellySamuel James, Sandy SaxonGail PriestJulieanne CampbellHenry Davis YorkBec DeanPaul & Jennifer Winch Fiona WinningDeborah KellyBen and Susie StroutPaul GazzolaLucy GuerinDavid ClarksonAndrew CarrilineChris RyanIan Enright & Linda QuartermassRosalind RichardsJulia HoldernessNat RandallTalya RubinWilliam LewisJeff KhanBarbara CampbellDean WalshAnnemarie DalzielMark StapletonSoraya AsmarYana Taylor

Emma DeanHelen BauerEdward SheerKate BarnetMartin CalveyDaniel BrineJann KohlmanJoey Ruigrok van der WervenMathew IbanezClare GrantSarah MillerDerek KrecklerClare PetreSherman FoundationSarah WatersonRebecca ChanAmy Barrett-LennardJ MalingDavid WilliamsAngharad Wynne-JonesLeon FinkMeme ThorneFinley MacLeodMeredith BrooksClark Butler

Many individual supporters prefer to remain anonymous. Performance Space thanks you for your generosity.

PARTNERS IN 2011Ampersand Magazine ArtSpaceArts House BankArtBig Fag Press CAOsCity of SydneyCritical Path Cross-Art Projects Fact Tree Youth Centre Firstdraft Depot Force MajeureGob SquadMalthouse Mobile States Museum of Contemporary ArtNational Art School NORPAPerforming Lines Perth Insititue of Contemporary Art RealTimeReelDance RIAUSStalkerSydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras University of NSW University of Sydney Version 1.0 Waterloo Women and Girls’ Centre

MAJOR PROGRAM SUPPORTERS IN 2011Arts NSW Australia Council Blacktown Arts CentreBundanon Trust The Keir Foundation Sidney Myer Fund Sydney FestivalThe Sydney Opera HouseUniversity of Technology, Sydney

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS IN 2011CarriageworksThe Nest

DESIGNBlood & Thunder

WEBSITEBoccalatte

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Carriageworks245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh NSW 2015

POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 461, Newtown NSW 2042

Phone 02 8571 [email protected] performancespace.com.au

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IMAGE CREDITSInside front and back cover: Cross Art Projects and Big Fag Press with Fiona McDonald, Green Bans Art Walk 2011. Photo: Alex Wisser

Front and back cover: Lily Hibberd and WART, Benevolent Asylum, Just for Fun 2011. Photo: Alex Wisser

Page 5: Briwyant Photo: Marian Abboud

Page 11: Awfully Wonderful Photo: Garth Knight

Page 12: Bargain Garden Photo: Heidrum Lohr

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Documents

Performance Space Annual Report 2011