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.
Ilbijerri Footprints
ILBIJERRI Footprints is a new development program supporting independent artists and theatre-makers.
ILBIJERRI and City of Melbourne are teaming up to bring you two grant writing workshops, coinciding with City of Melbourne’s 2026 Aboriginal Arts Grants opening Friday 1 August. Each session will be an opportunity to meet the ILBIJERRI and City of Melbourne Arts Grants teams and have in-person chats about your creative projects, and the grant writing process.
Our sessions will cover useful information about the Aboriginal Arts Grants program including guidelines; how to communicate your ideas, formulate budgets, develop support material and seek letters of support.
Full details about each session are below:
Location: ILBIJERRI Offices Collingwood Yards, Unit 104/30 Perry Street, Collingwood
Dates and Times: 4 August and 6 August from 10 to 4pm
Monday 4 August
10am – 12pm:
• Aboriginal Arts Grants Information session|
1 – 4pm:
• Grant writing workshop with ILBIJERRI
• One-on-one chat with City of Melbourne Arts Grants team member to discuss your application and ask questions
Wednesday 6 August
10am – 4pm:
• Review and refine the first draft of your application
• Grant writing workshop with ILBIJERRI
• One-on-one chat with Arts Grants team member to discuss your project and ask questions
Useful Information:
Please bring along your own laptop or device.
Read more about the Aboriginal Arts Grants.
Got questions? Contact Kirsty Hillhouse [email protected]
READ MORE ABOUT ILBIJERRI FOOTPRINTS
Our highly experienced staff and creatives are often available to assist during the development process of new independent works, to write letters of support, assist with artist and emerging producer contracts, and funding application feedback.
In 2021, Rachael Maza undertook the director role in Brodie Murray’s 2021 development of Billy’s Choice which premiered at Melbourne Fringe as an on demand digital event embedded on the Digital Fringe platform (due to Covid). Billy’s Choice is a play set in Lockdown Victoria 2020 on Wamba Wamba country near present day Swan Hill and in inner city Melbourne, Eastern Kulin Nations. It explores the conflict that can arise as young people seek independence, focusing on the cultural and political contexts of growing up in modern Indigenous Australia.
In 2022, ILBIJERRI is playing a supporting role alongside Footscray Community Arts on a new project written by Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Whose Gunna Love 'Em, The script has won Sydney Theatre Company's 22nd Patrick White Playwrights Award in 2022, with a prize of $7,500 for an original, unproduced script. Stay tuned for further details of this work in development.
We hope to allow First Nations independent artists and theatre-makers to utilise facilities in our office space at Collingwood Yards.
