We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Elders, Ancestors and leaders of the Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands ILBIJERRI Theatre Company is based.
We extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, recognising their resilience and ongoing connection to land, water and culture, despite ongoing colonial interruption and genocide.
Always was, always will be, sacred Indigenous land.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be advised that this website may contain images of deceased persons.
BlackWrights 2022 Program
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
Program structure
The BlackWrights 2022 Program is a meditation on the future direction of theatre during and beyond a COVID-impacted period. It is a dynamic program aimed at self-determination, innovating the development and performance form under the provocation Wroughting the Future of First Nations Arts.
The program utilises theory, practice and play while aiming to innovate, collaborate and reimagine live performance. Blackwrights 2022 honours the demands of narrative, theory, structure, and the language of power in performance making, while provoking form and strengthening networks and entrepreneurship.
BlackWrights 2022 will be delivered in three parts:
- A week long intensive for selected multidisciplinary First Nations and POC (People of Colour) artists. The intensive will offer a culturally safe and COVID safe residency 'bubble' which will including a daily land-based practice, honouring country, plus creative provocations, exercises, and exploration sessions. It will break old ways of thinking, explore hybrid models of working including digital media, promenade theatre for outdoor site specific productions, and repositioning the audience and their expectations.
- Two gatherings/workshops to further develop solo and collaborative concepts generated during the residency, ready for industry pitch.
- Live/streamed pitch sessions to ILBIJERRI’s sector partners including potential national touring and presenting partners, to broker investment in further project development and presentation.
ILBIJERRI commits to developing and producing one to two projects from the cohort, but aims to attract further industry support to enable the development of additional BlackWrights projects.
BlackWrights 2022 builds on the lessons learnt in 2021. Inviting POC artists to participate in the program broadens the creative capacity and network of First Nations artists, enriching their practice and creating connections and professional networks. The program will be strengthened with exchanges and collaborations, while also driving further professional opportunities to build career sustainability for participants within the sector.
REGISTER HERE
BlackWrights is supported by City of Melbourne and the Besen Family Foundation
Key Dates:
Intensive: Sunday 26 June - Saturday 2 July
Workshop 1: Saturday 23 July, 9am - 4pm
Workshop 2: Friday 29 July, 9am - 4pm
Presentation/Pitch: Saturday 30 July, 9am - 4pm
