CArriageworks jan/feb/mar 2011
Moves C REATIVI TY
IDENTITY + CULTURE
4. JAMIE DAWSON
8. Creativity MOves
14. RESIDENT STALKER
CarriageWorks’ Executive Producer, Jamie Dawson shares his musings on why a world without creativity is no world for him.
We look at the power of creativity and how it triggers our senses, peaks our curiosity, stirs our emotions and always leaves us with more than we started with.
Concrete Playground’s Lucy Rose Fokkema enters the stilted world of Stalker, to talk about creativity and the human experience.
6. 2010 HIGHLIGHTS
10. HIP HOP + IDENTITY 15. HAPPENINGS
As we get ready to ramp it up for 2011, take a look back with us at the incredible year that was...
Local hip hop veteran Matt ‘Mistery’ looks at the subculture of hip hop and its role in forging identity and community.
Jan – Mar at CarriageWorks is pretty much just packed full of awesomeness. Don’t miss a minute.
NICK BASSETT / PHOTOGRAPHER Cover shot by Nick Bassett, featuring B*Boy Blond. Cover shoot B*Boy Blond, Luke Mercado & B*Girl Illiana. We love Nick Bassett’s awesome hip hop photography. Nick’s photographic series Icons was exhibited at CarriageWorks for Platform Hip Hop Festival in 2010. CarriageWorks has commissioned a new work, Power Moves, to be showcased at this year’s Platform. Power Moves looks at the form, strength and skill of breaking. 17 Mar - 09 Apr
© 2011 CARRIAGEWORKS CarriageWorks seeks to engage the local community with inspiring, contemporary arts and culture in all its forms. CarriageWorks’ program of events is supported by NSW State Government through Arts NSW, and through CarriageWorks’ venue hire. To find out more about what CarriageWorks does or what’s on for the year ahead, visit www.carriageworks.com.au
Creativity matters because without it there’d be no original thought, no new ideas, no leadership, no progression, no community, no empathy, no expression... no function.
jamie dAWSON EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / CW
What does creativity mean to you? It’s being able to take a unique perspective and develop it so others can understand. It’s envisioning what isn’t and being able to make it happen. In 1893 Lawrence Hargrave stood on a beach of a tiny village at the base of the Royal National Park and, against all perceptions of insanity, said ‘I’m gonna fly’. He built a box kite, strapped himself in with piano wire, and was the first person to experience the pure freedom that only birds can truly know – that’s creativity. Everyone can be creative – in every facet of their life. Being an artist and being creative are not the same thing. Not everyone can be an artist, in fact very few people can, but everyone should endeavour to be creative – the world would be a much more productive and passionate place. What is a creative experience in your life that has moved you? When I lived in Scotland I had the opportunity to work with a bunch of ‘at risk’ young men in a hideous place called Dedridge. I spent a couple of days a week in ‘creative expression’ (the school’s words, not mine) as part of an alternative curriculum stream. At the start of the program I asked them what it meant to be creative. The one person to answer said ‘everything we’re not’. For the next twenty weeks we played drama games, paint ball, visually mapped alternative skate board routes to school, painted, had knives pulled on us, made music, made films, lost one member to juvenile detention and one to gang violence, drew, walked, laughed, talked and, finally, shot a doco telling their stories. I asked them again at the end, what it meant to be creative. The same kid said ‘It’s the mindset that gives you hope that one day you’ll get out of this shithole’. Every day since I have thought about those guys... Why do you think communities need creativity? Communities need to be able to express themselves creatively and to celebrate creativity in all its forms. Creativity has been integral to the existence of every group of people that has ever walked the earth
and is vital to the preservation of culture and history. A community’s capacity to be creative directly reflects the political, social and environmental climate they are living in. At a base level, I really believe people need to connect, they need to share some sort of understanding, to know they are a part of something bigger, something real. Places like CarriageWorks provide a conduit for that to happen. Australian creativity and creative culture is....? Strong, vibrant, exciting, growing, quickly developing its own voice. We are in a really good place. Nothing is perfect and I think contemporary creative activity in this country is trying to move away from where its influence has been, to where it should be - events like Darwin Festival, The Dreaming and Woodford, as well as companies like Erth, Marrugeku and Version 1.0, are amongst many providing inspiration in the development of collaborative, exploratory, community based expression across a wide consciousness. Culturally, it seems like we are almost over our self deprecating cringe and starting to embrace the fact that there has always been amazing work being developed on these lands. I’m really enjoying working in the Arts at this time. Your ideal experience of creativity and community would be? Anytime a community comes together to actively participate in and celebrate creativity it is going to be something I love. If, through that, you can facilitate positive social change, it then becomes my absolute ideal. I love to explore creative experiences where people get their chance to contribute, where it is open and genuinely accessible to people at all levels where people are comfortable enough to be challenged and to challenge. A world without creativity would be? Impossible.
Read more from Jamie at carriageworks.tumblr.com
REFLECTIVE.
COLLECTIVE.
2010
Dreaming of everything! on the Wishing Wall at the Sydney Children’s Festival.
Enjoying a colourful community at CarriageARTWorks.
CONTEMPORARY.
Pushing the limits with the Rabble’s Cageling.
CLASSIC.
Swapping vintage faves at Rethreads.
ECCLECTIC.
Browsing for designer delights at The Finders Keepers design & art markets.
ABSTRACT.
Savouring quirky gems with Elbow Room’s A Tiny Chorus at the Sydney Fringe.
WHIMSICAL.
Making magic with mushrooms at the live music stage.
WONDERFUL.
Imagination comes to life at the Sydney Children’s Festival.
happenings + HIGHLIGHTS
The year that was... 2010 at CarriageWorks was a memorable year of amazing events that pushed the boundaries of artistic exploration, creative collaboration, individual expression and collective experience. We hope you took some risks, had some fun, shared your ideas with us, and tried something you’d never done before. Let’s kick off 2011 the same way...
LIVE.
Watching resident company Force Majeure’s live performance of Not In A Million Years.
SILLY.
Letting loose Blues-Brothers style at WrongProm.
SOULFUL.
Discovering local talent and enjoying accoustic rhythms at Winterland festival.
AGELESS.
Learning to stiltwalk at the Sydney Children’s Festival.
LOCAL.
Sampling produce at the Taste Trail Cooking Adventure Workshop.
TIMELESS.
Getting down to the knitty gritty at Crafternoon.
CONNECTED.
Ideas worth spreading at TEDx Sydney.
EVOCATIVE.
Scoping street art as part of Graffiti & Street Art Walking Tours.
UNEXPECTED.
Dynamic art from the city’s fringe.
PROVOCATIVE.
Fearless B*Boy battles at Platform Hip Hop Festival.
CAPTIVATING.
Q&A session with cult DIY filmmakers at Shoot The Player.
PERSONAL.
Trading sustainable ideas at the Kitchen Garden Project.
MOTIVATING.
Pedal power at the Sustainability Expo.
PLAYFUL.
Capturing crazy moments at The Finders Keepers.
PL
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MOVES
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C REA C ho reat T IVI w ivi
2011
B-boy b-girl MATT ‘MISTERY’ ON HIP HOP + identity
2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the iconic I Have A Dream mural painted by Andrew Aiken and Julie Pryor in King Street, Newtown. The message of this mural is still poignant, moving, and relevant to issues plaguing the world. Some rays of hope can be seen in the strangest of places.
The hip hop subculture was born out of the African American civil rights movement, and in many ways it has been useful in seeing the ideals of Martin Luther King’s 1963 speech ‘I Have A Dream’ come to fruition through it. Hip hop began with the disenfranchised youth of the New York ghettos in the 1970s, but can now be found in every corner of the globe. Its voice and message has resonated with people from all walks of life who relate to the struggle and injustices it speaks of. The various disciplines of hip hop have also served to entice new initiates. I was originally drawn to hip hop when I saw breaking for the first time in the music video for Buffalo Gals by Malcolm McLaren. The clip featured the legendary breakers Rock Steady Crew as well as graffiti, DJs and rapping. For a bogan kid from Sydney’s western suburbs, this was new and radical stuff. My friends and I started to mimic what we saw in movies and videos, seeking out any sources for learning more about this new form of expression. Little did we know that some of us would be still involved in this movement some 30 years later!
Ironically, a lot of the original tenets of hip hop’s founding fathers appear to have been overtaken by an opposite way of thinking. The promotion of gangstaism, materialism, sexism, and even subtle racism has influenced what most people consider hip hop. The deviation is understandable from a marketing point of view, as it’s easier to tell a lie than to face the truth. Sadly, many young people have lost their lives in an attempt to live up to a false stereotype perpetuated by the marketing of commercial rap.
If an individual can do a dope move or kick a mad rhyme on the mic, he or she instantly gains respect. Regardless of where PEOPLE HAVE come from, or who they are, they’ll have a new identity within the culture.
Fortunately, hip hop in its true essence still exists and thrives all over the planet. One of the cool things about the real subculture is that it’s not about race, socio-economic status, age, gender or any other superficial factor. It’s based on two main factors - personal skill, and appreciation of the skills of others. If an individual can do a dope move or kick a mad rhyme on the mic, he or she instantly gains respect. Regardless of where people have come from, or who they are, they’ll have a new identity within the culture. My love of hip hop and the elements that I represent has opened doors for me all around the world. If I’m in a strange overseas destination and a local graffiti artist sees some of my graffiti flicks, before I know it, I’m part of the family. This also happens to me in my capacity as a B*Boy and as an MC. The jamming mentality is deeply entrenched in the hip hop movement, and is one of its most endearing features.
Above: I AM Hip Hop - Lil Wayne, Platform Hip Hop Festival crowd Right: Hip hop fans enjoying some mad moves, Platform Hip Hop Festival, No Stopping - B*Girl Illiana Previous: Radical Son & Bravo Child
Hip hop contains underlying messages of social justice and rebellion against the system. It also promotes, as hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa (aka Bam) says, ‘peace, unity, love and having fun’. This simple message is deeper than it first appears. Adding the phrase ‘having fun’ at the end lightens the mood and makes the first three goals seem more easily attainable. Peace, unity and love are ideals which often seem too hard to achieve, but if people are having fun along the way then they’re probably more likely to give it a go. Bam was originally a member of the South Bronx street gang the Black Spades. He began DJing in hip hop’s early years, forming the hip hop organisation Universal Zulu Nation. He also introduced the ‘knowledge of self’ concept into hip hop culture - a concept that Zulu Nation still continues to promote today. ‘Knowledge of self’ means knowing who you are, knowing where you’ve come from, understanding your environment and expressing yourself in a pure and true way that benefits your neighbours.
Added to the underlying camaraderie of hip hop is the longing to express and to hear people’s individual stories and experiences. True hip hop discourages emulation but encourages individualism. It also encourages the introduction of other cultural influences which has served to enrich the development of hip hop as a global movement. I love listening to hip hop music that has rapping in languages that I don’t understand - I love that you can hear the passion, heart, and vibe of a voice and gain some insight into how a person feels in a culture that is completely different. When I’ve performed tracks in the USA, American hip hop heads have loved the vibe, in particular hearing rapping in the distinct Australian accent. Hip hop always has something new and fresh to bring to the world. Near the end of King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech he expresses the hope that one day the situation will be changed so that little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. This ideal can be witnessed today at numerous hip hop jams, breaking cyphers, graffiti walls and DJ battles all around the world. People coming together to express themselves through the common medium of hip hop has broken down many barriers. There are infinite stories to be heard on this planet and since the beginning of time, art has served to achieve this. In our present era you’d be hard pressed to find such a powerful voice for the common person as hip hop. Keep it real.
_Matt ‘Mistery’ is a local hip hop veteran, graff artist, and coordinator of CarriageWorks’ Grafitti & Street Art Walking Tours.
LET S TALK
ER ?
COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT CARRIAGEWORKS Taking its name from a 1970s Russian sci-fi film, helmed by two New Zealanders living in Australia, performing to audiences everywhere from Holland to Venezuela and overseeing an indigenous physical theatre company in the remote outback, Stalker Theatre Company certainly gets around. Established in 1989 and first attracting international attention for its work with stilts, Stalker (co-artistic directed by Rachel Swain and David Clarkson) has since become Australia’s pre-eminent physical theatre company. With works like Stiltbreak, Red and hip hop inflected Elevate, the company has a well-earned rep for innovative, interdisciplinary and inter-cultural productions. With a creative focus on reflecting significant issues of the human experience, Stalker draws on the power of different art forms to create individual stories with themes the world can feel and relate to. Performed at Carriageworks’ Platform Hip Hop Festival, Elevate (the sequel to fusion work StiltBreak which has been performed around the world more than 80 times to great acclaim) is a fusion of break dance, hip hop and stilt acrobtics, complete with a five metre high catapult. Stalker’s co-Artistic Director David Clarkson hatched the concept of fusing hell-for-leather stilt acrobatics and hip hop in 2001, after noticing the similarities between the two styles as he watched break dancers at a festival in Boulder, Colorado. ‘David wanted to explore new ways of working, to keep the physical theatre form alive, and keep it contemporary’ explains general manager Tegan Richardson. Returning to Australia, Clarkson taught stilt workshops at a local high school where students experimented with their own hip hop fusion. ‘Hip hop is the stuff they identify with, its an immediately accessible form’. Inspired by the rich vocabulary and powerful language of hip hop, Stalker created the full length stilt/breakdance work that is Elevate.
By Concrete Playground’s Lucy ROSE Fokkema
HAPPENINGS _JAN/FEB/MAR 01 EAST LONDON WEST SYDNEY
04 cARRIAGEWORKS EXHIBITION POWER MOVES
07 UNPLUGGED+UNCOMPLICATED LIVE MUSIC+CARRIAGEWORKS
Presented by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) and The British Council in association with Sydney Festival and CarriageWorks. Hip hop artists from London and Sydney smash inner city stereotypes.
17 Mar – 09 Mar
26 Mar, noon-5pm
Commissioned & Produced by CarriageWorks Powerful photographic exhibition by Nick Bassett that looks at the form, strength and skill of breakdancing.
Produced by CarriageWorks Free afternoon of local music talent featuring The Falls, Rosie Catalano, Melanie Horsnell and Missing Children.
02 CARRIAGEWORKS EXHIBITION SUBTEXT: ART FOR LITERACY
05 08 cARRIAGEWORKS’ THE MAGNIFICENTS PLATFORM HIP HOP FESTIVAL RAHZEL, SUPERNATURAL & DJ JS-1 12 Mar – 02 Apr WITH KOOLISM & THE NARCICYST
25 Jan – 30 Jan
17 Feb – 05 Mar Presented by The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation in association with CarriageWorks. An exhibition of work by prominent Australian artists and students from Lurnea High School.
Produced by CarriageWorks Artistic Director Nick Power Four weeks of high powered hip hop action, including a massive line up of the best in local, interstate and international hip hop talent.
03 06 UNPLUGGED+UNCOMPLICATED FUNK IT UP ABOUT NOTHIN’ LIVE MUSIC+CARRIAGEWORKS 16 Mar – 26 Mar 26 Feb, nooon-5pm Produced by CarriageWorks Programmed by Music For Trees Free afternoon of local music talent, featuring Liz Martin, BhangLassi, The Brutal Poodles, Emad Younan, and James Brennan of Theatre of Disco fame.
PRODUCED BY
Presented by CarriageWorks’ Platform Hip Hop Festival A hip hop theatre production produced by Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Merrigong Theatre Company and Richard Jordan Productions.
SUPPORTED BY
02 Apr, from 6.30pm Presented by CarriageWorks’ Platform Hip Hop Festival Expect a full bag of tricks from this powerhouse of international hip hop talent.
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT JUMP: NATIONAL MENTORING PROGRAM Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, managed nationally by YAQ NSW Delivery Partner CarriageWorks We’re thrilled to be working with the eight NSW artists selected for the 2011 JUMP National Mentoring Program for Young and Emerging Artists. CarriageWorks will work with the mentees and their mentors to guide and manage their 10-month program experience. Check out our blog to follow the road with them at www.carriageworks.tumblr.com
CONTRIBUTORS PHOTOGRAPHERS Nick Bassett / Brett Boardman Declan Kuch / Cameron Mills Keith Saunders / Lisa Tomasetti Prudence Upton / Conan Whitehouse