QPAC Story Act 2 2017

Contents THIS EDITION OF STORY IS INSPIRED BY QPAC’S JULY TO DECEMBER 2017 PROGRAM.

35 STILL HERE

DR CHELSEA BOND

11 RESISTANCE

29

PROFESSOR

BETSY GREER,

JACQUELINE ROSE

SARAH CORBETT

CRAFTIVISM

23

& RACHEL BURKE

39 IMMUNITY TO CHANGE PROFESSOR JUDITH MCLEAN

THE ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH

KATHLEEN NOONAN

19 IDEAS WORTH SINGING AND DANCING ABOUT JERRY MITCHELL

33 43 SOUNDTRACK TO RESISTANCE

A LETTER FROM BAMBERT LUKE KERRIDGE

51 A LIFE THROUGH MUSIC

EADRIC AYRES

45

57

A QUESTION OF RELEVANCE MARIA VLACHOU

55

SOCIAL MEDIA: 21 ST CENTURY SOAPBOX

FIVE MINUTES WITH...

BEHIND THE SCENES

49 FIERCE FAÇADE

69 CYNDI LAUPER

65

WHAT'S ON AT QPAC

In this edition As we put together this edition of Story, we’ve pulled the

He has crafted an amazing career in musical theatre

idea of resistance apart and looked at it from multiple

and is a firm believer that art can change minds and,

perspectives. Certainly in this moment and political

as a consequence, the world.

environment, resistance is most frequently thought of in the context of large-scale public protest. Think

Music, of course, has a symbiotic relationship with

the Occupy movement, Arab Spring, Aboriginal Tent

resistance. The two are necessarily intertwined, given

Embassy, the Women’s March, bombings, and street

the ferocious power of music to inspire us toward action.

riots. But the more you ponder resistance, the more

Later this year Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber

complex and slippery it gets.

Orchestra will perform the musical biography of famed French Resistance fighter Nancy Wake. How would you

To resist, in whatever form, implies action of one kind

choose a selection of songs to capture your life? Teacher

or another. To actively put up a fight against something,

and writer Eadric Ayres explores this idea and recounts

a political regime, dubious big business or a perceived

the importance of music in his own life.

social ill is taxing. Or in the other direction… to stop yourself from doing something, to turn away, requires

Journalist Kathleen Noonan joined a QPAC team working

an exertion of energy and focus that, at least when it

with students that are part of the Yconnect project, a

comes to our hard-wired tendencies or vices, many of

research partnership between Griffith University and

us often fail to muster.

Yeronga State High School that measures the impact of arts and cultural participation for young people. Kathleen

I suppose it’s true to say I’ve had my fair share of

listened to stories of courage, of struggle, of humility and

experiences with resistance. University protests, living

resilience. Young people fighting not just to leave some of

in Queensland during the 1970s, misguided affections,

the most fraught places on the planet but then to navigate

explorations of spirituality, and a two-decade long

the peculiar set of fences and walls they encounter on

stand-off with complex carbohydrates. It’s not until

arrival in Australia.

this process that I would have thought to cluster those things together, or to recognise any commonality across

‘Yarn bombing’ entered the contemporary lexicon some

them. It is, I suppose, part of what makes the notion

years back, so we should not be surprised that the idea of

of resistance so compelling – the way it intersects our

craft as a form of activism has taken hold across the world.

inner and outer lives.

We spoke with three of its leading proponents, Betsy Greer, Sarah Corbett and Rachel Burke, about the intimate

In our feature piece, Professor Jacqueline Rose

and soft nature of craft as a tool of resistance.

describes resistance as “…one of the most appealing, seductive words in our political lexicon”. She charts

Whatever it is we are standing up to, turning away from,

this alluring term from its prominent position in our

rejecting consciously or unconsciously, it deserves more

political discourse and on our streets to a more intimate

than a moment of our attention. At the very least, it's

domain, our hearts and minds. Professor Rose explores

interesting to consider the kinds of things we approach as

for us this push/pull from politics across literature,

individuals or alone, versus where we choose to co-opt,

feminism and psychoanalysis.

support or align with something bigger than ourselves.

Tony Award-winning choreographer and director Jerry Mitchell, one of the amazing members of the creative team that has gifted the world Kinky Boots, spoke with us about the Australian production, as well as the contemporary political environment in the US.

John Kotzas Chief Executive QPAC

Story is for the creative and curious.

FOR PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE The S T ideas, O R Ipeople, E S musings M A T and TER. moments assembled here are an

invitation to use art as a lens to know yourself; see others and imagine possible futures.

6

Contributors

E A D R I C AY R E S Eddie Ayres is a teacher and writer, based in Brisbane. Eddie was born on the White Cliffs of Dover, England and began playing violin when he was eight years old. He studied viola in Manchester, Berlin and London, played professionally in the UK and Hong Kong, and moved to Australia in 2003. Eddie was the presenter of ABC Classic FM’s breakfast program for many years. Eddie’s first book, Cadence, is about his journey by bicycle from England to Hong Kong, with only a violin for company. His second book, Danger Music, is being published in October.

Eddie was born Emma, and transitioned just before his 50th birthday. Better late than never.

CHELSEA BOND Dr Chelsea Bond is a Munanjali and South Sea Islander woman and Senior Lecturer within The University of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit. An affiliate member of The University of Queensland’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Chelsea has over 20 years’ experience as a health worker and researcher working with Indigenous communities across South East Queensland. Chelsea is a founding board member of Inala Wangarra, an Indigenous community development association within her own community, curator of QPAC’s Clancestry Conversation Series, and regular guest host of Brisbane Indigenous Radio Station 98.9 FM’s Let’s Talk program. Chelsea is also a married mum of five children.

RACHEL BURKE Rachel Burke is a multidisciplinary artist, clothing designer, and stylist. She is the founder and artist behind Apomogy, a communal art project encouraging people to anonymously apologise through a handmade pom pom. Rachel has exhibited the Apomogy project at a number of galleries around Australia and recently completed a TEDxQUT talk on her findings. First gaining recognition in 2012 for her 365 dress-a-day project i make. you wear it., she has since gone on to pave an exciting career as a full-time creative, currently working as the Senior Womenswear Designer at Universal Store and a regular contributor to Frankie Magazine. Rachel has worked on a number of self-devised and collaborative projects including Fancy Free Time (a popular YouTube DIY channel starring alongside Patience Hodgson), Workshop Host for GOMA’s 2016 Cindy Sherman exhibition, and will also be returning to Splendour in The Grass Festival as co-Craft Captain for her third year in a row.

SARAH CORBETT Sarah Corbett is an award-winning campaigner. She grew up in a low-income area in England and started doing craftivism (craft + activism) in 2008. Whilst she was a professional campaigner, she set up the Craftivist Collective in 2009. Members across the world take part in her craftivism projects using her kits and tools. She is a leading spokesperson in the craftivism movement and gives talks and workshops around the world at universities, creates events for arts institutions such as the V&A and Tate, and continues to be a consultant in the charity sector working with organisations from UNICEF and Fashion Revolution to the Scouts Association. She has collaborated with cult jewellers Tatty Devine and Secret Cinema amongst others. Her first book,

The views expressed in Story are those

A Little Book of Craftivism, was published in 2013 and her second, How To Be A Craftivist: the art of gentle protest, will be published in October 2017.

of the individual authors and contributors and

BETSY GREER

do not necessarily

Betsy Greer currently lives in the Southeast United States. She makes political needlework

reflect the position

and writes in a little house with a spotted dog. Since 2003, she has been fortunate enough

of QPAC.

to deliver talks and workshops on craftivism, and loves meeting like-minded folk who also believe that our craft skills can help make us into our best selves. She can be contacted at betsy@craftivism.com and found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @craftivista.

LUKE KERRIDGE Luke Kerridge is an award-winning theatre director. His most recent work, Bambert's Book of Lost Stories, won a Helpmann Award for Best Presentation for Children and was nominated for Best New Australian Work (2016). Dream Home by Emilie Collyer, a work Luke directed

STORY TEAM Story Editor: Rebecca Lamoin

in 2015, was nominated for seven Melbourne Green Room Awards and Luke won the award

(rebecca.lamoin@qpac.com.au).

for Direction. He has also directed works for Red Stitch Actors Theatre, MKA Theatre of

Story Team Editorial: Professor

New Writing, St Martins Youth Arts Centre, The Victorian College of the Arts, ATYP, and

Judith McLean, Roxanne

Melbourne Theatre Company’s Cybec Electric Program. Luke completed a Post-Graduate

Hopkins, Emily Philip, Andrea

Diploma in Directing at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2012. He is currently the Associate Artist at St Martins Youth Arts Centre.

Huynh, Isabella Williams, En Rui Foo, Jasmine Ellem.

Digital: Kim Harper, Neele Braas

JUDITH MCLEAN Professor Judith McLean is the Chair in Arts Education, a joint appointment between

Creative & design: Rumble.

Photography: Robert Catto

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) where she holds the role of Scholar in Residence. Judith’s career is distinguished by her breadth and diversity of experience as an arts educator, artist and cultural leader across Australia. She is currently a Director on the Board of Tourism and Events Queensland, and leads QUT’s executive programs using arts-based practices in the corporate and

Q PAC

government sectors.

Chair Chris Freeman AM Trustees Kylie Blucher,

K AT H L E E N N O O N A N

Professor Peter Coaldrake AO, Leanne de Souza, Sophie

Kathleen Noonan is a journalist and columnist who has reported in South Africa, the UK and Australia for more than three decades. Her weekly column, ‘Last Word’, has appeared in Saturday’s The Courier-Mail for 14 years. She has a longstanding interest in what makes society fair. Raised on a sugarcane farm in North Queensland, Kathleen did her early

Mitchell, Professor Chris Sarra | Executive Staff Chief Executive: John Kotzas

news reporting in the Mackay district. After working in South Africa through the dying

Executive Director –

years of apartheid and the transition to democracy, she returned to Australia, working as a

Stakeholder Engagement

senior features writer with various newspapers and magazines. Kathleen is chair of Second

Strategy: Jackie Branch

Chance, the only charity in Australia that raises money exclusively for homeless women,

Executive Director – Curatorial:

which also supports at-risk women and children in domestic violence shelters.

Ross Cunningham Executive Director – Visitation:

JACQUELINE ROSE

Roxanne Hopkins

Jacqueline Rose is internationally known for her writing on feminism, psychoanalysis,

Development: Megan Kair

literature, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her books include Sexuality in the Field of Vision

Executive Director – Business

(1986, Verso Radical Thinkers, 2006), The Haunting of Sylvia Plath (1991, Virago Classics 1996), States of Fantasy (1996), The Question of Zion (2005), The Last Resistance (2007), Verso Radical

Executive Director –

Performance: Kieron Roost

Thinkers (2017), Women in Dark Times (2014) and the novel Albertine (2001). The Jacqueline Rose Reader was published in 2011. Her book on mothers will be published by Farrar Strauss Giroux, New York and Faber, London in 2018. A regular writer for The London Review of Books, she is a co-founder of Independent Jewish Voices in the UK and a Fellow of the British Academy. She is Professor of Humanities and Co-Director at Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London, and since 2016 Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Social Justice, ACU, Sydney.

Story is published with the generous support of Dr Cathryn Mittelheuser AM

MARIA VLACHOU Maria Vlachou is a Cultural Management and Communications consultant. Founding member and Executive Director of the association Acesso Cultura. Author of the bilingual blog Musing on Culture, where she writes about culture, the arts, museums, cultural management and communication access. She is the manager of the Facebook group Museum texts / Textos em museus, manager of the Facebook page of ICOM Europe and co-manager of the blog Museums and Migration. In the past, she was Communications Director of São Luiz Municipal Theatre and Head of Communication of Pavilion of Knowledge – Ciência Viva (Lisbon), Board member of ICOM Portugal and editor of its bulletin (2005-2014), and Alumna of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center in Washington (2011-2013). She has a MA in Museum Studies (University College London, 1994) and a BA in History and Archaeology (University of Ioannina, Greece, 1992).

8

Brief ly NEWS & VIEWS

MAKING HEADLINES IN THE ARTS WORLD

BROADWAY’S BATHROOM PROBLEM: HAVE TO GO? HURRY UP, OR HOLD IT. The New York Times started a conversation about the dearth of bathrooms in Broadway theatres. It’s a familiar scene around the world for those who attend events in theatres and stadiums: the perpetual line up for bathrooms at interval or half time. If you use the men’s room, chances are it’s less of a problem but for those in line to use the women’s bathroom, the lines can be long… and slow moving. Many people ask why it’s still such a problem. After all, modern architects and engineers have surely learnt by now that the more cubicles the better.

Interestingly, our bathroom queuing woes may be a legacy

THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV IS REALLY ABOUT THEATRE.

of human habits rather than architecture. When theatres were first built, they were places people went to see a show,

It’s hard not to notice that TV is really, really good these

and that was it really. There was no pre-performance dinner

days. Just ask people what they’re watching and you will

and drinks, no lining up at the bar for a drink to see you

probably get a long answer mentioning more than one

through the first act, and most people weren’t guzzling the

great series. It’s not just drama either. Comedies, thrillers,

recommended eight glasses of water during the day. Now,

crime, political sagas – everything is up for discussion and

our habits have changed, which all leads to a more urgent

dissection on Monday at the watercooler. Have you looked

need to go.

at who is writing all of this ‘golden’ content? Many are playwrights. And contrary to times

9

If you’ve been to a performance in a Broadway theatre

when writing for TV was considered not so illustrious,

recently, you may have experienced the military like

it’s now the best of the best playwrights who are writing

precision of staff who direct the queue to available cubicles

for TV. Gone are the days when a playwright might turn

and ensure you don’t dilly-dally once you’re done. At QPAC,

their hand at a sitcom to supplement a meagre income.

there are more than 130 bathrooms. The hot tip from our

Now, there is a broad cross-fertilisation of writers who

staff is never wait too long in a queue… head to the Theatre

go from stage to screen not out of need, but from choice.

Mezzanine before shows in the Concert Hall and Lyric

And it’s even going the other way too, with many of the

Theatre, and down to the Box Office Mezzanine at interval!

biggest stars following writers to Broadway.

WHEN IS PUBLIC ART ACTUALLY PUBLIC ART? In March, for International Women’s Day, the State Street Global Advisors made a bold political statement in support of getting more women onto corporate boards. Their medium was to install a bronze statue of a defiant girl standing, hands on hips, facing the famous ‘Charging Bull’ statue on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. It was meant to be a temporary installation. Months later, the Defiant Girl is still there. It seems she resonated with a large number of people – some of whom strongly supported the concept and the execution, and some vehement opponents who thought it nothing more than a publicity stunt.

As the debate raged on, Arturo Di Modica, the artist responsible for the ‘Charging Bull’, entered the debate saying that while his sculpture was art, the ‘Defiant Girl’ was little more than a gimmick and was ruining the original intention behind his own work. He asked (through a lawyer) “how did the process happen and should permits be revoked?” going on to say that “there are copyright and trademark infringement issues”.

Perhaps Di Modica would do well to cast his mind back to how his own statue was erected… under cover of darkness, between police patrols, early one morning in 1989. Now, almost two decades later, ‘Charging Bull’ is considered art and most people have forgotten how it was installed and even why.

So really, what’s the difference with the ‘Defiant Girl’, except for that she’s the new kid on the block?

THE MAN WHO BROKE TICKETMASTER. There has been a lot of public debate about ticketing. Artists have publicly asked audiences not to buy tickets from re-sellers or scalpers, and the Australian Senate has passed a bill to make it illegal to use bots (automated software programs) to purchase bulk tickets. But as audience demand for the big gigs continues, looking to get tickets from any source possible is often the only option left for diehard fans. Who is benefitting from these re-sale sites? Not the artist. Not the promoter or producer. And, because the price is usually so inflated, not the audience or consumer.

Ken Lowson was once one of the most successful and infamous ticket scalpers. He developed a computer program that could bypass the safeguards ticketing companies had put in place to stop people from purchasing too many tickets, resulting in his ability to harvest vast swathes of tickets which he could re-sell at inflated prices. He further exposed weaknesses of the ticketing industry by telling fans how to circumvent waiting for shows to officially go on sale to the general public by releasing pre-sale codes and tricks.

Now, Lowson is working with ticketing agencies and artists, helping them to plug the holes he once exploited. His motivations may not be altruistic, but his actions have certainly opened up a public debate about how ticketing works.

DISCOVER MORE STORIES AND READ RELATED ARTICLES AT QPAC.COM.AU/STORY

Resistance

Resistance must surely be one of the most appealing, seductive words in our political lexicon.

Never more so than today in a political moment which seems to many to bear all the signs of a fascist resurgence as the election of Donald Trump, Brexit in the UK, the tightening grip of President Erdogan in Turkey, the clamp down on dissent in Hungary, the military dictatorship in Egypt, the smudging of Holocaust memory by the (mercifully unelected) Marine Le Pen in France – to name just a few instances – all seem to feed off, and intensify, a cruel, self-serving, racist, nationalism that is darkening the political skies.

BY PROFESSOR JACQUELINE ROSE

When Trump repeated ‘America first’ in his inauguration address, he may or may not have been aware that this was the clarion call of the Americans who had opposed US intervention into the Second World War, most famously Charles Lindbergh whose anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi sympathies were clear for all to see. In such moments, resistance starts to feel, not just like an obligation, or necessity, but as the only means of survival, the only means of assuaging political grief.

For the millions who poured onto the streets in protest at Trump’s election, for all those who are continuing to organise across the world in the face of rampant inequality and injustice, resistance becomes, however perilous, the only way to breathe.

Resistance is also exhilarating, ramped up by its own

Janus-faced it turns to a better future, while remaining

confrontation with despair. Following the riots against then

alert, in every passing moment, to the possibility that it

French President Nicholas Sarkozy in 2007, the protest group

might fail. This is one reason why Howard Caygill subtitles

the Invisible Committee, launched their pamphlet on The

his 2013 book on resistance ‘A Philosophy of Defiance’.

Coming Insurrection: “From whatever angle you approach

Resistance by definition includes the recognition that,

it, the present offers no way out. This is not the least of its

whatever it struggles for, the powers-that-be will do

virtues”. Resistance can take on the aura of the sacred, notably

everything they humanly, and inhumanly, can to resist

with reference to Resistance to Hitler – the only version

in turn. Not for nothing do we talk of crushing resistance.

of resistance which, with its capital R, is seen to merit the

Think of the modern-day manhunt which cuts down the

status of a proper name. And it can be the object of intense

enemy with no legal process or possible path of escape,

longing (as in sehnsucht or yearning, which was one of Rosa

reducing its targets from human to prey: the Indian

Luxemburg’s favourite terms). “This word,” writes Jacques

Government’s explicitly named ‘Operation Green Hunt’

Derrida with reference to the French Resistance, “which first

against Indian tribal peoples, Obama’s drones. Resistance

resonated in my desire and imagination as the most beautiful

both enacts, and provokes in response, a desperate refusal

word in the politics and history of my country.”

to comply. We do not diminish resistance as a concept if we say that it embodies an adolescent spirit, provided we

If resistance is so powerful as an idea, it might also be because

add, as the feminist psychoanalytic thinker Julia Kristeva

it is one of the rare words in our political discourse that

reminds us, that adolescence is the moment when the

contains at its core an acknowledgement of how difficult, as

human mind first takes the measure of its own scope, when

a state of being in the world, it is to achieve and maintain.

it discovers what it means in life to be propelled by an

Paradoxically, the possibility of being quelled feeds the

ideal. Resistance is the political term in which, whatever the

urgency of resistance.

dangers, we lodge our better selves for safe-keeping.

But resistance also has another aspect which is perhaps less often talked about. And that is its capacity to stir up the undercurrents of a political moment which the dominant order would prefer to hide from our sight. Resistance fighters will often appeal to the idea of self-sacrifice in a cause for which they will willingly give their lives. But they can also play on a more uncanny musical chord, as for example in the case of the mid-1990s Mexican Zapatista Liberation Movement which drew its moral authority from claiming to speak on behalf of the ‘resistant dead’:

12

“Everything for everyone says our dead. Until this is true

continue to be effective, until it has finally overcome all

there will be nothing for us.” Note how radically counter-

the blunt resistance the world can offer.” Psychoanalysis, as

intuitive and therefore powerful is their claim. The

revolutionary impetus against the norm, felt itself besieged.

resistant dead arrive as ghosts on the scene to issue their

As, indeed, it turned out to be. According to one story,

call for social equality and redistribution of wealth, that is,

when the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, it was the old man

for a form of inclusiveness – ‘everything for everyone’ – to

in Vienna that Hitler had foremost in his sights (the Nazis

remedy the flagrant iniquities of an unjust, discriminatory

burnt Freud’s books).

world. It is through the dead that the Zapatistas make their appeal to the universal dimension, death as the great

By the end of his life’s work, the idea of resistance darkens

equaliser that flies in the face of society’s most ruthless

in Freud’s mind as it creeps into the consulting room,

and violently defended distinctions (the distinction

where it proves to be more and more obdurate, the chief

between rich and poor being the most glaring).

obstacle to the task of psychoanalysis itself. Famously, resistance is often seen as psychoanalysis’s best tool in

Here, literature – one of our primary sites for the

deflecting criticism (‘you are resisting!’). But Freud was

expression of resistance – also has a key role to play.

talking about something else: more like an inertia in the

In the final volume of Philip Pulman’s famous trilogy,

human mind – he called it the death drive – which stalks

His Dark Materials, the main protagonist, Lyra, and her

our efforts at self-knowledge and blights our struggle

companions manage to gain access to the world of the

to transform ourselves. “The ‘inner world’,” wrote the

dead. “The rich ones are the worst,” says the boatman who

analyst Joan Riviere in the 1950s, “encounters a two-fold

ferries them across to the island, “snarling and savage

resistance”: an incapacity to understand it, but more

and cursing me, railing and screaming: what did I think

important, a passionate emotional rejection beyond the

I was? Hadn’t they gathered and saved all the gold they

scope of reason. The mind resists knowledge. There

could garner? Wouldn’t I take some now, to put them back

are things we prefer not to think about. This version of

ashore? They’d have the law on me… they fall silent in the

resistance also resonates profoundly in today’s abject

end.” The Zapatista’s resistance may be death-defiant but

political world. The politics of fear exploited by so many

it is also through the voices of the dead that they give us

leaders expertly plays on what the mind rebuffs and feels

a glimpse of utopia, of a truly equal world. Resisting the

it has to protect itself against. In the recent UK Brexit

given order of things as drummed into us on a daily basis,

referendum, ‘Take Back Control,’ a slogan targeted above

such a world would expose flagrant wealth for what it truly

all at migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, was the

is: not just corrupt but, in the final hour, impotent

mantra on both sides.

and destitute.

It is perhaps for this reason that in the field of resistance,

13

We might call this the psychic undercurrent of resistance,

artistic, literary and cultural activity, as celebrated in

that is, its ability to tap into our inner worlds. Resistance

many of the pieces that follow here, has such a key role

does not just belong on the streets, but in the heart

to play. One example from literary writing resonates

where it often finds itself at odds with our most fervent

especially powerfully on the complexity of our theme.

aspirations to make the world, to make the mind’s

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act passed by Nehru’s

domain, a better place. For the earliest psychoanalysts,

government in 1958 against the secessionist Nagalese

resistance referred to the rejection by polite society of the

is generally recognised as the most sanguinary single

most troubling discoveries of psychoanalysis itself: the

piece of repressive legislation of any modern liberal

perversions of the soul, the sexual transgressions of the

democratic state. Out of the tragedy that followed – the

psyche, the violence inside each and every one of us which

licensed destruction of villages, the rapes and the killing

we always prefer to think is the exclusive property of

– the Nagalese Resistance emerged, celebrated by the

somebody else. “We are only sorry,” wrote psychoanalyst

writer Temsula Ao in her 2006 collection of stories,

and novelist Arnold Zweig to Freud in 1930 in response

These Hills Called Home – Stories from a War Zone. Ao does

to one of his mentor’s more pessimistic moments, “that

not flinch from describing the worst of what took place,

you do not feel that so vital, dynamic and revolutionary

alongside the acts of courage, often by women who were

a principle as yours, once launched upon the world, will

also the foremost targets of the government-sanctioned

If resistance is so powerful as an idea, it might also be because it is one of the rare words in our political discourse that contains at its core an acknowledgement of how difficult, as a state of being in the world, it is to achieve and maintain.

viciousness. But at the same time, she does not shy away

One of Temsula Ao’s stories, ‘An Old Man Remembers,’

from describing in no less intimate detail the violence of

opens with a former freedom fighter resisting his grandson’s

the Resistance fighters themselves (it is central to Caygill’s

pleas to tell the story of his life in the jungle. Crippled by

argument that resistance, most often embedded in scenarios

his own refusal to remember, he finally speaks the truth in

of war, gets caught in a spiral of violence). There is a

what can only be described as a ‘talking cure’: “as though an

tendency to idealise resistance, and for good reason, but that

ancient attic door had suddenly become unhinged and all

should not lead us, Ao’s stories suggest, to shutting down

the accumulated junk of a lifetime had come tumbling out

the question of the human price paid for those who fight

of dusty storage spaces, threatening to engulf him”. When

on its side. Remember Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the

he starts to speak it is like “the massive gush of a waterfall

Earth which opens with his call for insurrectionary violence

that threatened to drown both storyteller and listener". The

and ends with his psychiatric case-studies of the deep inner

story he did not want to tell is of his own lost innocence, of

torment suffered by fighters and government officials

one particular act of violence which as a young boy he had

during the Algerian war, the victims and perpetrators of

committed with his companion against enemy combatants,

torture alike.

whose bloody, lifeless bodies they both felt the following

14

Resistance both enacts, and provokes in response, a desperate refusal to comply. morning that they must return to see – out of a sense of guilt

still present colonial heritage, the continuing racism and

but also of shared humanity. In a single stroke, Ao takes her

inequality of the post-apartheid world. While garnering

reader from outer to inner landscape, condensing onto the

widespread support, their protests have also, as I discovered

same page the political and psychic meanings of resistance.

during a recent visit, been met with anger and dismay – they

She is instructing the champions of a brutally oppressed

were meant to be the ‘born-frees’ no longer stricken with the

people (resistance as uprising) to remember the worst of who

past iniquities of their land. Instead, by raising their voices,

they came to be (resistance as the agonies of self-knowledge,

they are claiming their place in a history that has not gone

as inner psychic reckoning and pain).

away. We should be thankful to them for reminding us of the power of resistance to uncover the unconscious of

As psychoanalysis also teaches us, not only individuals but also the group can be in flight from memory. Over the past two years, students in South Africa have risen up against the

a nation.

IDEAS WORTH singing and dancing about WITH JERRY MITCHELL

As an art form that combines words, music and movement, and frequently technical wizardry, musicals are well placed to turn their gaze to some of society’s complex and conflicting issues, and also to change minds. From South Pacific, West Side Story, Book of Mormon or Broadway’s new War Paint, musicals are laced with concepts such as acceptance, belonging and understanding. Whether tragic or humorous, at their best they remind us of what is to feel part of something bigger.

Kinky Boots Director and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell has a slew of hits and awards. What was it about this story that captured his imagination, and why does he think art can change the world?

20

We've become a world and part of that is because of the way we now communicate through the internet and how it has brought us closer together; sometimes for great cause and sometimes for terrible reasons.

But there is no turning back.

UNMET PARENTAL EXPECTATION… So, Harvey (Fierstein, author Kinky Boots musical) was very interested in the common ground that Charlie and Lola shared… both of them were disappointments in their father's eyes.

In the bathroom scene in the film when I watched the original source

and that was one of the songs she

in a very common way because there

wrote. It wasn't complete, but the heart

are no – what do you call it? – there's

of the song was there. I knew at that

no one telling them how to react.

moment that Cyndi would be great

They're just simply reacting.

for this musical.

I think the reason leaders, particularly

HOW ART CAN CHANGE

leaders who want to be dictators, are

PEOPLE’S MINDS…

resistant to the arts is because the

material, I got very emotional and I

Last night, I had the night off here in

thought “Well there's another place”.

Sydney and I went to The Australian

When emotions are heightened in a

Ballet at Sydney Opera House because

musical, it's often a place for song. It

when you're in Sydney, you go to the

was a place where I wanted that scene

theatre; you go see things. I love seeing

to be turned into a beautiful song

things. It’s not the first time I've seen

about not living up to the expectations

the Company and I'm quite a fan of

of a father and also how the two men

them. I saw a modern ballet called

discover at that moment that they're

Bach and there were three pieces to it.

on common ground.

I was interested in watching the audience respond.

That was the request to Cyndi Lauper, (music and lyrics Kinky Boots musical) –

That’s what makes the theatre and

can you write a song that says we are

arts so spectacular because you have a

the same? She came up with Not My

community of people sitting in a dark

Father's Son which was perfect. It was

place not under a spotlight. They don't

just perfect. It was one of the first songs

have to look around and see how their

she wrote on spec for the musical. She

friends are reacting. They're actually

sort of auditioned to do the show for

visually reacting to what they're seeing

Harvey and I by writing a few songs

and often as a group they find the truth

arts talks about things that they don't want talked about. We are kind of the loudmouths of society, if we want to be, and also the unspoken heroes in a lot of cases. We get up and we see it as we see it, and if the society is a free society, we can't be taken to task for telling the truth.

Our truth in art is there for everyone to come in and judge it on their own terms.

READING AN AUDIENCE… Well you know, as a Director and Choreographer of musicals, when I'm working on a new musical the audience, if I pay attention to the audience and I don't fall in love with my own stuff, they'll tell me.

They'll give me all the clues I need

When I got to the Women's March it

to make that piece a better piece or a

was breathtaking because there were

clearer piece for them, to understand

10 times as many people who had

what it is I'm trying to say or how I'm

shown up. They expected, I don't

trying to guide them in a direction I

know, 50,000 and there were 250,000,

want them to go. If they clap, if they

or they expected a million and there

don't clap, if they get bored and rustle

were five million. I don't know what

about, if they cry, if they don't cry, if

the number was, but it was 10 times

they laugh, if they don't laugh. The

more than what anyone expected. I'm

clues are all there. All you have to

talking just in New York City. Then

do is pay attention to how are they

to see not only what was in New York

responding to the material.

City, but what it was in every major city in America and in every major city

MR PRESIDENT…

in the world. The world responding

I first met President (Trump) when he

to this event and where we are as a

was dating Marla Maples. Marla Maples

society. We have become more than

and I were dancing together in The Will

just a country. We've become a world

Rogers Follies. So, I actually met him

and part of that is because of the way

on a personal level in the basement

we now communicate through the

of the Palace Theatre.

internet and how it has brought us closer together; sometimes for great

I watched him as a person and

cause and sometimes for terrible

I experienced him as a person.

reasons. But there is no turning back.

I could be a president. I could be

The one thing about life and about

as much of a president as he is a

the world is change happens and we

president. The resistance to him is

have to learn to live with the change

I think based on simply that there

as it’s happening and hopefully make

are many people who think he could

the best choices with that change. That

be a great president and there are

day, that march day, was truly one of

many people who think they could

the most powerful days. I remember

be a better president.

going to that march and how it made

RESISTANCE AS LIVED EXPERIENCE…

me feel better just to be surrounded by people who were feeling the same way I felt. That's what happened on the day,

I must say that one of the most

the Women's March day. You couldn't

rewarding days in the past six months

help but feel suddenly “Oh, I'm

was the Women's March day, for me

not alone”.

personally. Many of us were feeling alone or betrayed or lost and “What can we do?”, “How do we respond?” I decided I needed to go to the Women's March which was on 42nd Street then coming up Sixth Avenue there was a Broadway contingent. I thought “Well I'll go for a few hours and I'll march and I'll maybe feel better to see others”.

K I N K Y B OOT S

F rom 22 Au g u st 20 17 Lyri c Theatre, QPAC

The Ultimate Tensile Strength B Y K AT H L E E N N O O N A N

We are counting borders. Was it four or five? I can’t keep up, looking over scribbled notes. Is that four or five countries? We are gathered in a school theatre at Yeronga State High School and, on stage, students are describing their journeys.

Don’t worry, these are actual journeys, not those things contestants on Masterchef go on from accountant to opening a dessert bar. Many of these students are refugees and these journeys involve – in some cases – thousands of kilometres, some on foot, five or six countries, fleeing murderous regimes, packed refugee camps, random gunfire, wide seas, many years, and empty promises. Some involve leaving family members behind.

All involve leaving something profound behind. Like Estella: “I was born in the Congo, then moved to South Africa where life was difficult so we moved to Tanzania then to a refugee camp in Malawi where we stayed for 10 years, and then moved to Australia.’’

23

She, like others, tells her story in shorthand, quietly, quickly.

Drama, art and creative play have been a significant part of

It’s over in a sentence. Blink and you’ll miss it. It’s not that

their healing and learning. They have all been part of The

the story is too small. It is that it may be too huge, as if it

YConnect project at Yeronga State High School and many

might engulf and swamp the ship, if entirely allowed out of

students have also spent time at Milpera School, working

the bag. Listening to her is like seeing only the top 5cm tip

on English literacy so that it is not an albatross in future life,

of the summit of Everest and thinking you understand every

and learning coping mechanisms through HEAL, Home of

step of the mountainous, dangerous climb. So, you need to

Expressive Arts and Learning. Formed in 2012, it exists to

do research.

provide creative arts therapy to young people of refugee backgrounds through the provision of mental health services

It is not difficult to understand why anyone flees the

and settlement assistance. They are familiar with art, music

Democratic Republic of Congo, the most dangerous place on

and drama as a tool for unpacking the unspeakable. “I faced

Earth to be a woman today, where it is riskier to be a female

much war in my country,’’ says Mary, a Tamil from civil war-

than it is to be a soldier. In a country

torn Sri Lanka. “My dad was in the war.

of more than 67 million people,

He died when I was three months. It’s

WHEN WE

87 percent live on less than $1.45 a day. And what’s a refugee camp like in Malawi? Well, Dzaleka Refugee Camp

people, most women and children – as more cross the Malawian border in hope of escaping political insecurity.

About 90 percent of food for refugees

Australia – Sri Lanka, then to India in

BORDER, IT WAS

three years, then moved to Indonesia,

HARD TO CROSS.

is made up of humanitarian assistance

YOU CAN SEE

– maize, pulses, fortified vegetable oil and fortified, blended food to

PEOPLE LYING

prevent malnutrition. With shortages, refugees are forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms, including early child marriage for girls. Consider all

to many different countries to come to

CROSSED A

– Malawi’s primary hosting ground for refugees – has swelled to 26,000

so difficult to forget my dad. I moved

THERE, INJURED

that, and the fact that Estella is sitting on a stage in leafy Yeronga, Brisbane, Australia, on a lovely winter’s day telling her story, is nothing short of incredible.

AND YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING.

a refugee camp, then to Malaysia for and came by boat. It was very hard.’’

Somalian-born Sadia, now in Year 12, moved from country to country. “When we crossed a border, it was hard to cross.

You can see people lying there, injured and you can’t do anything.”

Some of the students recently visited QPAC's Lyric Theatre to see the latest revival of irresistible hit musical My Fair Lady. “Oh my,” says Hanifah, originally from Uganda, holding the sides of her face with her hands, rocking, big eyes closed in mock ecstasy. “It was the most beautiful thing. The dresses… the stage… all of it.” Wouldn’t George Bernard Shaw be bemused to see his 1913 Pygmalion

These students, from Sri Lanka, India, the Congo, Zambia,

story on which the 1956 musical was based, travel 100 years –

Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, you name it, have gathered to

leapfrogging countries, class divides, language gaps?

kick around the idea of resistance with Adele Rice AM, one of the most inspirational educators in the state. After 28

On paper, it shouldn’t. It’s the tale of a cockney flower girl

years at the helm of Milpera, Brisbane’s state high school

and a phonetics professor, forgawksake, so not immediately

for refugee and migrant students, she understands they

refugee-relevant material. Yet, it is a tale of a vulnerable

have witnessed guilt, grief, terror and adjustment after being

human being plucked from a precarious life and parachuted

torn from their roots. They were encircled by history. It

into a foreign world, struggling with the language and culture,

takes forces beyond your control – civil wars, disasters, dire

while fighting for identity. All while trying to learn to speak

poverty, ethnic hate, persecution or unrest – to take to your

English perfectly. They left the theatre alongside the Brisbane

heels. Of this group of Years 11 and 12, aged 16 to 20, many

River singing The Rain in Spain.

have just one parent in Australia. Some have none. Two have babies. For a few, home life is extremely challenging with

As the students onstage explore the idea of resistance,

parents overwhelmed with trauma and grief.

I am doing the arrogant thing journalists do – pen poised – believing if I just find the right words to sum up their complex

24

collective history, I will somehow be able to nail it to the page, like a scientist pins a collected butterfly specimen.

Foolishly striving to shoehorn something unruly and messy into a neat box, I write down a bunch of words – resist, combat, counter, oppose, defy, refrain, desist, struggle, fight, bear, battle, counteract, refuse, repel, stonewall, thwart. (Hmm, those daily crosswords have come in handy.) In scientific terms, resistance is 'the capacity to withstand the effects of a harmful

"Before I used to be scared to talk to Australian people and I only talked to people like my cousins. Since drama I feel much better talking to others.

You share ideas."

physical agent'. Yet that doesn’t quite encompass what’s on display. Until I realise… we are watching young people capable of absolute adaptability. It’s a survival tactic honed in high school, as well as hostile countries. Let’s stay close to this kind of strength for a while. It’s not a rigid unbending resistance but the exact opposite: rigid suggests inflexible and therefore prone to breaking under pressure. These

Like Remi, now in Year 11, from the

students as Meriam acts out navigating

strife-ravaged Congo. “There was

her way to where she wants to go –

hunger and danger in my life, shooting.

university. A little play is, first and

I could pretty much hear the shooting.

foremost, a blueprint. So, if their

On the way here, I was pretty terrified.

form of resistance is a kind of tensile

I have been here nine years and have

strength, then drama and arts, surely,

got used to it. I’m not scared anymore.’’

is non-destructive testing. It’s taking

So, patience also is a form of action.

the deadly grenade apart without any

students have revealed – in all their

I scribble ‘ultimate tensile strength’, in

different ways – a durability, a tensile

my notebook, underline it. From an

strength, expanded and shrinking when

engineering mate, I know scientists

they had to, to survive – every camp,

conduct experiments to test for it

every country, every move, every

involving two vices applying tension

home, every school, and every new

to, say, a metal beam by stretching it

language. Morphing, shape-shifting.

to breaking point, testing its capacity

It’s a hell of a stunt.

to withstand load. A thing’s ultimate tensile strength is its resistance to being pulled apart. Then, ideally, at some point with the pressure off, the object can return to its original shape and size, without too much distortion or hardening. That’s the big trick: without

danger of it going off in someone’s face. Quiet and slim as a reed, Meriam, originally from Somalia, aspires to go to university to become a social worker but knows she will face considerable hurdles – at home, financially, academic demands. There is laughter as unexpected words spill out, solutions to challenges found. “Drama helps me a lot,’’ says Meriam. “Before I used to be scared to talk to Australian people and I only talked to people like my cousins.

Since drama, I feel much better talking to others. You share ideas.’’

distortion or hardening. Looking at

Komi is keen to talk. His deep,

these students – laughing, warm and

corduroy voice fills the theatre. His

quietly articulate – it’s clear they have

parents were born in the small troubled

more ultimate tensile strength than

nation of Togo in Africa, then moved to

the Sydney Harbour Bridge. What a

Ghana where he was born. He topped

nation-building resource they are.

his lessons from Year 1-6 in Africa

The action switches to a drama game.

Professor Judith McLean, Scholar in Residence at QPAC, is directing

but on arriving in Australia – with no English – struggled. “I used to have anger issues,’’ he says. “But having to be around a lot more people in

drama helped me in different ways to handle rage building

Female refugee students often must negotiate rockier

up. Having different people to talk to when something is

shoals. Imagine as a bright young woman, even

triggered… does help me in terms of handling anger.’’ He

contemplating pursuing university and a career when

experienced bullying in primary school. “I was short fused.

your family and cultural inheritance has only marriage

A lot of the time I’d react to something that’s not worth

and babies planned for you. Try even harbouring that

reacting to… Now I love the arts – performing and creative

radical thought. Whispering that three-letter word:

arts.’’ Robert Dessaix, one of Australian’s finest writers and

uni. That’s outlaw territory. That’s rebel thinking.

broadcasters writes in his latest book The Pleasures of Leisure,

Among this group is Masoumeh, a UN refugee from

“When we play we are most intensly ourselves. Your chosen

Afghanistan, who received serious burns to her body

play or leisure is not what you have to do or are expected

in a fire that killed her father and brother. Her hands

to do. It is what you choose to do. It is what sets you apart

were so severely burnt, she needed 30 operations at

from our sister, brother, parents, because it is yours. It is

Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. For much

utterly you. The essence of exactly who you are’’. Could it

of her young life, she has been at the whim of world

be that these students’ ultimate resistance is holding on – in

events and terrible circumstances. Quiet for most of

all circumstances – to what is essentially themselves without

the session, now Masoumeh takes the microphone.

distortion or hardening, despite everything. Existence

“Drama has helped me with my confidence. I’m

can be resistance but living a good life, flourishing with

now comfortable talking to other people.’’ The most

moments of joy, is surely resistance in full flight.

rebellious act can be sharing words. Masoumeh aspires to be not an actor but a theatre director, the person

Can we talk about resistance without referring to the

who oversees and orchestrates the staging of a play.

subversive everyday work of love and hope, in the face of

The head honcho, in charge of the destiny of the

random casual racism on the street? All that ‘fitting in’ can

whole damn thing. Of course she does. The bell rings.

be exhausting. And being in a safe country and welcoming

They pick up their gear and wander back to class.

school does not mean all pressure simply falls away.

There is the push-pull of a new culture versus your old culture, and of course, what all students complain about

YCO N N E C T P R OJ E C T I S A R E S E A R C H

in high school: parental expectations. Out of school, Komi

PA R T N E R S H I P B E T W E E N G R I F F I T H

loves computer gaming, sports and playing drums. He

U N I V E R S I T Y A N D Y E R O N G A S TAT E

is thoughtful and articulate. “You could be a diplomat’’ a teacher says. His father wants him to pursue engineering or architecture. How is the maths? “It is laughable, Miss!’’

H I G H S C H OO L .

I T M E A S U R E S T H E I M PAC T O F A R T S A N D C U L T U R A L PA R T I C I PAT I O N F O R YO U N G P E O P L E .

26

Craftivism 29

Well known as a powerful tool for individual physical and mental health, craft also has a long history as a tool for the expression of political dissent.

Around the world, craft activism or craftivism, a term coined by American Betsy Greer in 2003, is growing as a way to advocate for social change in a very personal, intimate and gentle way. Three of its leading proponents – Betsy Greer from the United States, Sarah Corbett from the UK and Australia’s Rachel Burke – share some of their stories.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN CRAFTIVISM… WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

BETSY I started knitting in 2000 at the age of 25. At this point, I was putting together how I viewed the world still, and began to see how craft and activism were inherently connected. What we make with our hands is not only an act of agency for ourselves, it also can be an expression of our world view, which we can use to connect with others. I started to connect those dots over a few years, and when a friend in a knitting circle came up with the word craftivism one night when I was talking about it, I decided that was the license I needed to share my thoughts on the subject with the wider world. To my surprise and delight,

It’s also about me creating what I was looking for in the world. When I was 25, I was on a super destructive path mired with alcohol and depression, and having a hard time finding my people as it were. Who knew that talking about an idea would have led to the creation of a like-minded community? Finding craft saved my life, and finding craftivism saved my spirit.

RACHEL I have been a keen crafter for a number of years, working across a variety of mediums to create wearables, sculpture, and photographic pieces. I guess you could say that I stumbled into craftivism, as I initially started off selling my hand-made headbands and dress designs to boutiques, before suddenly having the bright idea to make dresses specifically to raise money for charity.

I wasn’t the only one who thought those two things

I ended up doing two large-scale dressmaking projects

meshed together well.

over a few years via my website i make. you wear it.

I wasn’t an activist in any sense of the word beforehand. I was raised in the American South and the act of protesting was pretty much the antithesis of my upbringing. But, as I began to see that creating in itself is a form of activism, my thoughts began to pivot from, ‘activism isn’t for me’ to ‘this is where my soul lies’. Craftivism came from a place of wanting to give and find goodness in this world. To my greatest awe, it has become a construct based on those two things that’s been fine-tuned by the hands of many.

cumulatively raising over $10,000 for charity. Since then, I have gone on to launch the Apomogy project (saying you’re sorry through a pom pom). Both projects taught me how I can use my craft to make a difference and spread a message. It was empowering to realise that the things I made could be far from just decorative – it made me realise that I can use craft to make some noise and make a difference. Through my projects I hope to encourage others to do the same!

30

SARAH

Donald Trump, and being back in the south now, I was

I’ve been a craftivist since 2008, but I’ve always been an activist. I grew up in a low-income area of Liverpool in the 1980s and aged three I was present with my parents and other local residents trying to save good local housing from demolition.

feeling increasingly worried about how some of his comments were going to be extrapolated by society at large.

Having been assaulted in various ways over the years, I was so scared of the culture going backwards now he had seemingly normalised certain types of behavior. For me, making the hats (I made six all together, wearing one and giving five

At secondary school, I successfully campaigned for lockers

away to friends) was about realizing we are not in this alone,

for the students and at university I campaigned on global

we are in it together. Four of the hats I made were given to

issues and spent the first seven years of my adult career

two mother-daughter sets, and that made me so hopeful to

working for large charities as a professional activist and

see how this fight was intergenerational.

movement-builder.

And to see so many handmade hats, to see products of so

But, by 2008, I was a burnt-out activist. I’m an introvert;

many hands that spent several hours making each one was

going to protests, meetings and street stalls asking

phenomenal. I know the march had critics, and rightly

people to sign petitions drained me. I didn’t

so, but seeing so many crafters come together for this

like shouting or telling others what

was inspiring. After the marches, the hats

to do. I worried about the increasing

continued to create conversation as people

disengagement from power-holders to online quick actions or ‘clicktivism’.

Much of my work as a professional campaigner was online and not very creative.

In the summer of 2008, I picked up a cross-stitch craft kit from a local shop to stitch on a train journey when I felt too travel-sick to work. I immediately experienced how handicrafts could help address some of my difficulties with traditional forms of activism and add to the activism toolkit what I call ‘slow activism’, ‘mindful activism’, ’intriguing activism’, ‘quiet activism’ and ‘graceful activism’.

"Finding craft saved my life, and finding craftism saved my spirit"

I Googled ‘craft and activism’ to see if others agreed that the two could

talked about them in various ways. They really showed how handmade items still have poignancy and relevancy in our lives and communities.

Since January, there has been a sharp uptick in people wanting to do craftivist work, which has been amazing! Craftivist groups have been popping up, craftivist projects have been started and, through the #craftivism hashtag on social media, people can share like-minded ideas as well as get inspired by what others are up to.

On a quieter level, the most powerful intervention I’ve been a part of has been knitting items for charity, something I’ve been doing off and on since I started knitting. I say quieter because it’s something many people do, but don’t really talk about. But it gives

combine for social change. Betsy Greer coined the term

people agency to create change in the world and directly

‘craftivism’ in 2003 but I couldn’t find any craftivism projects

help other people. For some stitchers, it elevates what some

or groups I could join. With Betsy’s blessing, I created my

may see as an obsolete hobby to something that is important

own projects and founded the Craftivist Collective in 2009

and meaningful. It also connects people together in these

after people around the world wanted to join in with

efforts and creates lasting friendships, it’s a much quieter

my projects. Over the years, I’ve been learning in this

effort, but I’ve heard from many individuals, usually older

ever-changing world, where and how craft can be a

women, who say creating items for donation has given their

powerful tool for positive change.

spare time purpose. This, to me, is important because it helps strengthen community ties.

WHAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL OR EFFECTIVE CRAFT INTERVENTION YOU’VE BEEN PART OF?

At its heart, craftivism is about creating dialogue and effecting change, and that comes about both in scores of similarly made hats worn in protest and in helping people

BETSY

feel useful and that they are giving back. The ways in which

Definitely seeing all the pussy hats made for the Women’s

it’s always lovely to see how people are connecting craft and

Marches held around the world. With the election of

activism to better the lives of themselves and others.

people can use craftivism in their own lives are endless, and

Each gift was delivered with a handwritten note putting a robust business case for a Living Wage for their employees, how the maker used the time creating the gift to reflect on the difficultly of employees living below a Living Wage, as well as the difficult role the hanky-receivers had, but how wonderful a legacy they could have by helping their company become a Living Wage employer.

I also coordinated a series of ‘stitch-ins’ outside stores of the company across the UK to engage the public and media in a gentle, positive way and show the company that their customers expected them to show leadership on this fairness issue.

We made 250 craftivism kits to give to shareholders when they arrived at the AGM and the Chair of the Board thanked us for our gifts in his introductory speech. After the meeting, he thanked us again adding that it was “an approach that appeals to us all: the way you’ve done this is remarkable. It’s a campaign that is thoughtfully done and heartfelt. We feel every bit as heartfelt about our employees". At the AGM a year later, and after their wage increase announcement, Board members told me that our handmade gifts had touched them and put the Living Wage at the top of their agendas when it had not been discussed before our campaign.

If we want our world to be beautiful, kind and fair, I believe our

SARAH

activism should be beautiful, kind and fair. Being a craftivist

One craftivism project I created in 2016 led to an increase

care, courage and compassion.

in wages in line with Living Wage rates for 50,000 employees of a well-known retail company in the UK, allowing people to work and live with dignity.

can be world-changing, one stitch at a time if delivered with

RACHEL My project Apomogy would have to be my biggest, personal

The organisation ShareAction had been trying to get a

act of craftivism to date. Apomogy is a communal art project,

meeting with the company but the Chief Executive kept

where people share their apologies via a pom pom. Since

refusing. The CEO of ShareAction contacted me for help.

launching my Apomogy project in 2015, I have received

I had five weeks before the company AGM (annual general

thousands of submissions from across the world. I photograph

meeting) to plan a craftivism campaign to get a Living Wage

the contributions and share them daily on the @apomogy

for their lowest paid employees. My aim was to create a

instagram page. I have also exhibited the Apomogies in a

craftivism project that would initiate a new relationship

number of intimate gallery spaces around Australia.

with the company and encourage them to become Living Wage employers.

Apomogy has served as a powerful tool for people to share the things that they may otherwise keep silent or hidden

I asked 24 craftivists across the UK to hand stitch positive

by bringing them to the foreground. The act of sharing

messages onto the company’s handkerchiefs that connected

these apologies feels like an act of defiance and resistance…

to the 14 board members, the five Chief Investment

particularly to the #sorrynotsorry movement and the trend of

Officers of its largest shareholders, and five of its celebrity

idyllic self-curation (particularly occurring on social media).

ambassadors. The handkerchief gifts encouraged them not to ‘blow it’ but to use their power to lead the way in the retail sector.

Apomogy has brought about change in small ways for people who have interacted with the project. Some have been moved to share a verbal apology with someone who they felt

Each craftivist was encouraged to research their allocated

deserved it, others have felt an immense sense of catharsis

person to make their ‘gift’ attractive and engaging: for

simply by taking the step to share their story. My own life has

example one board member seemed a thoughtful introvert

been affected by the project, in that an old friend (who I had

and received a quote from Rosa Parks saying “memories

previously had an awful falling out with) used the project to

of our lives, of our works and of our deeds will continue

get back in touch with me and say I’m sorry we’re not friends anymore. Her apomogy led us to repair our friendship and let go of the old argument which was definitely occupying a nasty space in our minds!

in others” alongside the words “Please don’t blow your opportunity to support life-changing decisions".

32

A Tribe Called Quest - We The People • AB Original - Jan-26 • Against Me - Black Me Out • Against Me - White People for Peace • Ali Barter - Girlie Bits • Anti-Flag - The Press Corpse • Anti-Flag - 1 Trillion Dollar$ • Anti-Flag - Turncoat • Arcade Fire - Intervention • Archie Roach - They Took The Children Away • Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) • Beyoncé - Freedom • Beyoncé - ***Flawless • Beyoncé - Formation • Billy Bragg Between the Wars • Billy Bragg - Which Side are you on? • Billy Bragg - There is Power in a Union (actually, just about anything by Billy pre-1990) • Björk - Declare Independence • Blink 182 What’s My Age Again • Bliss N Eso - Addicted (explicit) • Bliss N Eso - I am Somebody (explicit) • Bloc Party - Kettling • Bob Dylan - Hurricane • Bob Marley - Redemption Song • Bob Marley and The Wailers - Get Up Stand Up • CAKE - Nugget • The Cat Empire - The Chariot • Chemical Brothers - Galvanize • Chumbawamba - Tubthumping • COG - Are You Interested?

Cold Chisel - Khe Sahn • Common - The People • Common & John Legend - Glory • Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son • D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better • Dan Sultan It Belongs To US • Dead Letter Circus - While You Wait • Dead Letter Circus - The Burning Number • Dropkick Murphys - Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya • Edwin Starr - War • Enter the Shikari Sssnakepit • Enter the Shikari - Gandhi Mate Gandhi • Faithless - Mass Destruction (P*Nut & Sister Bliss Mix is the best version) • Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised • Goanna - Solid Rock • Grandmaster Flash - The Message • Green Day - Holiday • Green Day - Minority • Green Day - American Idiot • Helen Reddy - I Am Woman • Imagine Dragons Radio Active • India Arie – I Am Not My Hair • James Newton Howard - the hanging tree (Jennifer Lawrence - Mockingjay) • Janelle Mona - Cold War • Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N • Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers • John Butler Trio - Revolution and Something’s Gotta Give • John Farnham - You’re The Voice • John Legend - Wake up Everybody • John Lennon - Power To The People

This time, we know we all can stand together. With the power to be powerful, believing, we can make it better.

John Lennon - Imagine • John Lennon - Power to the People • Kanye West - Who will survive in America • Katy Perry - Roar • Kendrick Lamar - Alright • Lady Gaga - Born This Way • Les Misérables - Do you hear the people sing • M People - Search for the Hero • M.I.A. - Born Free • Major Lazer - Get Free • Marvin Gaye - What's Goin' On • Matilda the Musical - Revolting Children • MGMT - The Youth • Michael Jackson - They Don’t Care About Us • Michael Kiwanuka Black Man in a White World • Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning • Midnight Oil - US Forces • Muse - Uprising • Muse - Resistance • N.W.A. - F*ck the Police • Neil Young - Rockin in the Free World • New Radicals - You Get What You Give • Nickelback - If Everyone Cared • No Doubt - I’m Just a Girl • One Day – Matisyahu • Patti Smith - People have the Power • Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody - From Little Things Big Things Grow • Pearl Jam - Indifference • Honey County - People Loving People • Pharrell Williams - Freedom • P!nk- Raise your Glass • Pink Floyd- Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) • PNAU - No More Violence • Public Enemy Fight the Power • Queen - Don’t stop me now • Rachel Platten - Fight Song • Radiohead - Idioteque • Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name • Rage Against the Machine - Renegades of Funk (probably their most accessible song) • Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade • Red Gum - A Walk In the Green Light (I Was Only Nineteen) • Rihanna - Cheers (drink to that) • Rise Against - Prayer of the Refugee • Rise Against - Hero of War • Run the Jewels - Close your eyes • Sam Cooke - Change is Gonna Come • Sara Bareilles - Brave • Script - Hall of fame • The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army • Solange - Don't Touch My Hair • Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence • Sucker - 28 Day (language warning) • The Beatles - Revolution (either single or album version) • The Clash - Guns of Brixton • The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control • The Jam - Eton Rifles / A Town Called Malice • The Living End - Prisoner of Society • The Presets - My People • The Real McKenzies - The Tempest • The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want • The Style Council - Shout To The Top / Walls Come Tumbling Down • Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers- I Won't Back Down • Tracy Chapman - Talkin' bout a revolution • Tracy Chapman - Fast Car • U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday • Warumpi Band - Blackfella/Whitefella • Yothu Yindi - Treaty

Still Here

BY DR CHELSEA BOND

For as long as Indigenous peoples’ presence has been understood by white people, it has been misunderstood. From the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius which insisted we were incapable of land ownership, to racial theories insisting we were the missing link between apes and humans, to contemporary debates insisting we aren’t authentically Indigenous; white explanations of Indigenous presence can be variously categorised as dehumanising, invisibilising, fanciful and fraudulent.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples have and continue to assert our humanity and our identity via a relationship to the land that has and always will be, ours.

Goenpul scholar Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson says “The Indigenous body signifies our title to land and our death reintegrates our body with that of our mother the earth”. Our presence in this country, in life and in death contests the foundational mythology on which Australian nationhood has been built, of ‘land belonging to no-one’.

Our presence in this country contests colonial mythologies of the doomed and dying race which anticipated our demise. The continued growth of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population at rates in excess of growth witnessed in the Australian population is itself a testament to Indigenous resistance to the colonial project. It is both in our presence and through our presence that Indigenous resistance is evident.

It was not until after two centuries of white invasion that Indigenous presence was legally recognised by the High Court of Australia. The landmark Mabo decision (1992) refuted the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius after a 10 year legal battle, which recognised the Miriam people

as continuously present and exclusively in possession

One of the earliest documented acts of Indigenous

of Mer and its surrounding islands and reefs. Historian

resistance can be traced to Pemulwuy, a Bidjigal warrior of

Professor Noel Loos and close friend of Eddie Koiki Mabo

the Eora nation. Believed to have been born in the mid-

has described the ‘accidental’ origins of Mabo’s legal action

1700s, Pemulwuy led several successful attacks against

in his book Edward Koiki Mabo: His Life and Struggle for Land

the British over a period of 12 years, most of which were

Rights. Working as a gardener at James Cook University

retribution for the misdeeds committed by the settlers.

in the 1970s, Mabo spent time in the university library

Several expeditions were launched to capture and kill

learning about white misunderstandings of Indigenous

Pemulwuy, however, he managed to evade them on many

presence. It was during a casual lunchtime conversation with

occasions. Suffering a number of critical injuries during

Loos and historian Professor Henry Reynolds, that Mabo

combat, these narrow escapes led people to believe that

was shocked to learn that his land was not recognised as

he was a clever man immune to British bullets. However

belonging to the Meriam people. According to Loos, over

in 1802, Pemulwuy was shot and killed after an order was

the years, Mabo sat in on a number of classes, seminars and

issued to capture him dead or alive. Decapitated, his head

conferences to contest and correct claims about Indigenous

was sent to England and has yet to be returned home.

presence. He described one encounter in which Mabo “did his dance… [and] exploded into a physical and very vocal demonstration of his Islander identity”. Eddie Koiki Mabo passed six months prior to the High Court’s decision, however throughout his life and in death, he resisted white claims about Indigenous presence. His legacy is reflective of a long and varied tradition of Indigenous resistance across the nation.

A few years prior to Pemulwuy’s murder, Woollarawarre Bennelong, a Cadigal man of the Eora nation had too been captured, by order of Governor Arthur Phillip.

Bennelong’s capture we are told, was to enable Phillip to learn more about Aboriginal people and foster harmonious relationships between the local Aboriginal population and the settlers. Bennelong became an informant, friend and ‘son’ of Phillip, lauded as one of the first Aboriginal

36

cultural brokers. Bennelong’s legacy is less revered as one of resistance having taken a liking to the Governor’s lodgings, food, clothing and liquor. Early accounts celebrated the possibility of his civilisation into white society, observed by his ability to grasp the English language. In 1792, Bennelong travelled with Phillip to England to meet King George III, however, on his return he was less interested in assisting the British. He returned to his old habits, mixing with his own people in nearby Aboriginal settlements, cast as a drunk, violent and hopeless character. His death in 1813 was followed by an obituary in The Sydney Gazette reading: “Of this veteran champion of the native tribe little favourable can be said. His voyage and benevolent treatment in Great Britain produced no change whatever in his manners and inclinations, which were naturally barbarous and ferocious. The principal officers had for many years endeavoured, by the kindest of usage, to wean him from his original habit and draw him into a relish for civilised life; but every effort was in vain… he was a thorough savage, not to be warped from the form and character that nature gave him by all the efforts that mankind could use”.

Bennelong’s life is thus marked as a tragic tale of a savage incapable of being civilised. However, much like our presence, Indigenous resistance too is misunderstood. We did, and continue to resist colonisation be it physically, legally and personally. This critical misreading of Indigenous resistance has included the invisibilising of Indigenous women’s resistance in our history books and national consciousness, decentring the efforts of Indigenous women such as Truganini, Pearl Gibbs, Essie Coffie, Oodgeroo and Mum Shirl to name but a few. While Bennelong’s life may not present as the archetypal heroic tale of Indigenous resistance in the same vein of Pemulwuy and Mabo, his refusal to be civilised, despite every best effort, is a testament to Indigenous resistance, in a form that remains recognisable today.

In contemporary public discourse, there remains a frustration with Indigenous presence and Indigenous peoples’ unwillingness to comply with, or conform to colonial aspirations for them. Regardless of our location, Indigenous presence is framed as flawed or failing, deemed either culturally incommensurable with the modern world or culturally inauthentic as an Aborigine. Yet, Indigenous women and men have long recognised that our refusal to civilise and relinquish our identity as Indigenous peoples is an act of resistance. In 1981, Aboriginal band No Fixed Address proudly proclaimed; “you can’t change the rhythm of my soul, you can’t tell me just what to do” in the iconic song We Have Survived.

37

In contemporary public discourse, there remains a frustration with Indigenous presence and Indigenous peoples’ unwillingness to comply with, or conform to colonial aspirations for them.

In 1989, Noonuccal poet and activist

wing commentators. Innumerable

It is via our presence that we continue

Oodgeroo asserted “the gum cannot

anthropological texts have discounted

to resist, in the mundane and most

be changed into oak”. In her poem,

the reality of Indigenous presence

unexpected of places. Our presence –

Assimilation – No! she writes,

throughout Australia, insisting that

on a sporting field, in a courtroom,

those not living in the most remote

in the academy, on city streets, or

parts of the country aren’t really

in the red dirt – continues to be

Aboriginal, because according to them,

problematsed and contested. And

“Pour your pitcher of wine into the wide river, And where is your wine? There is only the river”.

there is nothing tribal or traditional

each and every time we are compelled

Indigenous presence both tells us

about our way of life. It is thus hardly

to resist. Our presence continues to

about resistance and is itself a site

surprising that research conducted

be curtailed, surveilled, regulated

of resistance.

by the Council for Aboriginal

and controlled – but like Pemulwuy,

Reconciliation into the attitudes of

Bennelong and Mabo, we are

Australians toward Aboriginal and

compelled to resist.

Indigenous peoples’ refusal to die out, refusal to go away, refusal to forget who we are, and refusal to relinquish the land in which we come from continues to hinder the colonial project. The contestation of Indigenous identities in contemporary public discourse

Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1990s found that “no matter where

We are still here.

the research was conducted, the ‘real’ Indigenous people were always somewhere else”.

from the likes of Andrew Bolt and

But we are still here, right now, right

Pauline Hanson has a long tradition

here. We are ever present – as is

in this country and extends beyond

our resistance.

the domain of conservative right-

PEMULWUY! FINALE CONCERT – VOICES FROM THE TRENCHES

BENNELONG Bangarra Dance Theatre

THE MABO ORATION – 25TH ANNIVERSARY

2 July 2017 Concert Hall, QPAC

25 August – 2 September 2017 Playhouse, QPAC

28 August 2017 Playhouse, QPAC

Immunity to Change

BY PROFESSOR JUDITH MCLEAN What if you were given the ultimatum:

Turns out identifying the need for change, let alone

change your lifestyle, change your beliefs

making necessary changes, is a much more complicated

otherwise bad things will happen. Would you

quite counter-intuitive. Don’t despair if this sounds heady,

be one of the one in nine people who could change,

Harvard leadership Professors Robert Kegan and Lisa

let’s say – lose weight, give up smoking, desist from

Laskow Lahey believe that it’s the way we’ve traditionally

harmful behaviours – or would you be like the

39

affair than first thought. And the secret of success is

approached change that gets in the way of our success.

They claim failure is in large part due to our own

other eight – full of good intentions, but never quite

inappropriate operating system, causing a mismatch

achieving your longed for goals.

between the world’s complexity and our ability to understand internal resistances.

In their 2009 book Immunity to Change Kegan and Laskow Lahey explain how unacknowledged resistances and fears work to ensure we can’t succeed. The thesis is that we hold what they call ‘big assumptions’ about ourselves that are largely unconscious. They argue we create an overarching or dominant narrative that overwhelms us and our way of thinking, hindering our ability to look at an alternative way of being. To get beneath the ‘big assumption’ we need to dismantle our understanding (the narrative we create) of a process or thing.

Let me explain…

A usual approach goes something like this. I decide I want to change (desire) and begin (plan) using ‘will or won’t power’ (method). According to the authors this is where things go awry. Let’s consider a scenario, say an improvement goal to improve my diet. The immunity to change model asks us to look closely at what we are currently doing and not doing. An example might be eating a diet high in sugar and not doing enough exercise. After an exhaustive list of what’s interfering with achieving the nominated goal, the authors direct us to consider doing the opposite and monitoring what fears come up. In this example, how we’d feel if we gave up sugar and exercised regularly.

It’s by being intensely curious about naming the fears that surface if we do the opposite that we come to understand why we can’t change.

And, here’s where the insight has a chance to emerge.

it’s the tragic heroes’ hubris that makes their downfall so

It’s by being intensely curious about naming the fears

heartbreaking. Despite illustrious careers, his heroes lack an

that surface if we do the opposite– stop eating sugar and

ability to look at what’s really driving them. It’s their inability

exercising – that we come to understand why we can’t

to see things as they really are that ultimately brings them

change. What we’re protecting ipso facto works steadfastly

undone. As audiences we want to shout out, warn them ‘Pay

to ensure we’re not achieving our goals.

attention, you’re in danger, don’t do that, change what you’re doing before it’s too late’.

So counter-intuitively by surfacing and naming our fears we discover why it doesn’t make sense to change. ‘If I

Their tragic downfall happens because of their refusal to

give up sugar, I’ll be depriving myself of the thing that

understand what compels them to act. Think about Romeo’s

brings me pleasure and in my busy life I need a reward

impulsivity, Hamlet’s indecisiveness and procrastination,

or if I exercise, I’ll look foolish and people might reject

Lear’s egotism and inability to see his daughter’s truthfully,

me’. Here lies the immunity, the protection. I remain

Macbeth’s unbridled ambition and blindness to his wife’s

committed to not giving up sugar because I don’t like

madness, and spectacularly Othello’s blind jealousy which

feeling deprived, I’m committed to not exercising

ends Desdemona’s life. Despite their enormous stature

because I don’t want to look stupid…

Shakespeare doesn’t allow any of them to understand what’s driving their irrationality or provide them the

Our fears and resistances are there to protect us and,

means to change.

built up over a lifetime, they work out of full consciousness. Interestingly, it’s not until we surface

Certainly a resistance to change and an ability to develop

these assumptions in action and stay alert to them that

as human beings isn’t just the subject matter of tragedies.

we can begin to change.

A failure to look at what sits underneath make-believe characters’ fears is the stuff of the famous musical The Wizard

Long before Kegan and Laskow Lahey, Shakespeare had

of Oz. Audiences relate to a Scarecrow’s need for a brain,

lots to say about what happens when we can’t surface our

a Tin Man in search of a heart and a Cowardly Lion looking

fears. Think about his great tragedies. In every situation

for courage. Yet, many have speculated that writer L. Frank

40

"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart."

Baum had much more in mind when he wrote the book

'All the same,' said the Scarecrow, 'I shall ask for brains instead

at the beginning of the 20th century. If read as a political

of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if

parable, it focuses on the need for the United States to

he had one.' 'I shall take the heart,' returned the Tin Woodman,

come together and make significant changes after the

'for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best

1893 Great Depression.

thing in the world.'

Using the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion as

Whether it’s big ‘C’ change leading a country, or an

allegorical devices, it’s suggested Baum wanted audiences

organisation or little ‘c’ change, leading ourselves and our

to see the Scarecrow as representing American farmers

families, there is one certainty – change is never easy. What

and their 19th century troubles, urging them to think

Kegan and Laskow Lahey’s model and encounters with art

for themselves, hence acquiring a brain. The Tin Man

offer are meetings with the unknowable.

representing the industrial steel industries need to look after their workers, in essence to find a heart, and the Lion as a

Attacking our resistance to change by dismantling our

metaphor for William Jennings Bryan, encouraging

protections, we’re able to telescope our big assumptions

him to find his courage as the Democrat Presidential

testing their validity and grip on our lives. In art it’s the

candidate for the 1896 election to speak out for American

flawed and dysfunctional characters acting as archetypes

families and the country’s future posterity.

that we use as litmus indicators measuring our own lives in relation to others. As Kegan and Laskow Lahey suggest:

This exchange between Baum’s Scarecrow and Tin Man

“Neither change in mindset nor change in behaviour alone

illustrates the certainty with which each reinforces their own

leads to transformation, but each must be employed to

(or their allegorical sectors of American society) long held

bring about the other”.

narratives about human nature and unwillingness to investigate the fears that underpin them:

THE WIZARD OF OZ

F rom 4 Nov e m b e r 20 17

41

Lyric Theatre, QPAC

B Y

E

R

L U K

R I D G

E

K E

Dear Reader, This letter you hold in your hands has travelled a very long way to find you. It has sailed across the skies, battling the winds and weather and chance, looking for you. I sent it away with nothing but a wish. If you are reading this, my wish has come true.

Let me explain.

I was born a tiny thing, so small that my parents could cradle me in the palm of their hands.

“Impossible!” is what the doctors called me, but my parents named me Bambert. I grew a little bit, but not like the other children did. The doctors tried to fix me – stretching my sinews, breaking and resetting my bones – until finally they had to admit, I would never be any taller. I grew old, but not up.

No one could explain it, no one could change it.

I was indeed, ‘Impossible’.

I soon discovered the world was not built for a man like me – my little footsteps could not keep up, my quiet voice could not be heard, my skin was just not thick enough. I was laughed at and pitied and plagued by the feeling I did not belong here – that I had been marooned in some foreign world, shipwrecked on the far side of a dream. I had no choice but to accept it: I did not fit into this world, quite literally.

So, I built my own world.

I had the little attic I lived in completely renovated and everything resized to fit me perfectly. A tiny elevator was installed to connect me to the grocery shop below so that Mr Bloom, the shopkeeper, could send up whatever I needed.

I made sure I never had to go outside again. Ever.

43

I lived a quiet life, but not a sad one. You see, my body may have failed me, but my mind had not.

The world might have been unkind to me, but I knew how to make other worlds.

I began to write.

In my stories I was free in a way I could never be in the outside world. I could travel through time and space as I wished, my body no longer a hindrance. I could finally express all of the things I’d been told to keep on the inside, even my

darkest of feelings. I created characters

who were so real to me it was as if they were made of flesh and blood. I cared for them so dearly they became my family.

My stories became my refuge, but also my resistance. They were my challenge to an indifferent, violent world that values what is big and loud and fast over what is smal l and gentle and slow. For the first time in my life, I felt powerful. With just a pen and a blank page I could give voice to the smallest peop le, to forgotten people, to people who dared to see the world differently. I could propose a differ ent way of looking, one that valued art and beau ty and truth above all else. I could undo the very worst chapters of history and create new world s where love prevailed.

I wrote my stories into a big book that I called my Book of Wishes. As it slowly filled up, my faith in my act of resistance grew. I was takin g a stand, however small, against the cruelty of the world. I was writing a kinder, gentler world into existence.

Then suddenly, I was struck by a fault in my plan.

If my stories were living, breathing thing s, then

o knew to ishes? I W f o k o my dy, in my Bo my bo em in th in d s, – e ped y storie I trapp be trap g to m to hadn’t in e k th li e elt e free, t sam hat it f e exac ut to b o th well w g e n in o y Id re em cr hadn’t ries we hear th attic – my sto could if I t ? a s r th em lised aracte to let th my ch ll. I rea needed too we I w , e I had e c n n k m a cry I freedo f resista e o t th c a e them be an , to giv truly to e world th to in go out for. idea so longed s ea, an y id ig alwa b d my e it en I ha to mak t is wh world a le th t o d h An ork, ou e the w life’s w y uld tak o m w , s it big torie into e my s ch one n. I tor lded ea o f I happe s. e tt a li le Wish Book of them to d e h c of my a Mr nd att ed from elope a I order an env t a my th t e n en, I s balloo And th . hot air w lo e b em ’s shop I sent th Bloom by one e n y O b . free rried stories dow ca in w ic a my att ze and out of e bree tl n e g oat g but a them fl nothin tching a W . nd h is off to fi small w ht sky, ig n iest e n th e happ away o , was th s e m o ew h their n y life. y nt of m my wa mome up to d been a h s ie nding y stor , of sta s m e g orld c n in Writ me, a w cumsta rsaken my cir o f g ries d in a y to f h s my that of de e end, a world th – n I . they ld n r e retur wher the wo that is cted in ing e je s e u r a d c a of add be y way that I h world m e s a th ed free w back to ert-siz tories led me , Bamb g my s ll in a tt m e s .

S e ed. f hop rld – a belong n act o the wo a s to a in w hope back irit. It omes, myself ated sp own h e f ir e e d th n find little c of u at my s would republi d hope th y storie , d m r t a a ll, face e is sma lly be h Hope th th a e n b fi y ld was m ce. To ey wou – that ifferen d e p a that th o e h k ma have might nd still wishes large, a is th world r . with a in you istance olding t of res h c a e r e a u u tr er yo nt my ay I se the lett t letter, same w e is th th h. I sen t I sen h a wis e world it th w , to n o out in ballo way I hands, hot air ies the a little es stor v n can lo o o – a story ne wh stories t to tell someo a f th o an do, s h c d c ar erstan person d a it in se n u g o in h letter, tiful th eone w ing this st beau d a o do, som e r m e e th ts you ar mes be er ligh ope. If someti this lett ct of h t a a n th a e it is I hope wish is hope. becaus u. My y o b y d is e ll you e fuell meone w sma art, on that so tter ho es our he a y m in o e n nly tak fir u that, ce. It o a little o n y e r s e d in e a diff ry rem n mak my sto you ca l, e e f mes someti . a wish ry. our sto g for y in it a w orld is The w

B A M B E R T ’ S B OO K O F L O S T S TO R I E S

Love,

rt.

Bambe

11 – 15 Octob e r 20 17 Playhouse, QPAC

A QUESTION of RELEVANCE Cultural organisations have claimed for a

BY MARIA VLACHOU

long time to be ‘safe’ or ‘neutral’ places which do not get involved in politics and welcome everyone. However, more and more voices among culture professionals are questioning what ‘safe’ and ‘neutral’ actually mean.

Does it mean that we should favor anodyne and meaningless narratives, afraid of being challenged and criticised for our views?

Does ‘safe’ actually mean ‘safe for us’ rather than ‘safe for them’? Could it be that we would rather not bother and be bothered?

Does ‘safe’ rather mean ‘easy’?

There is no easy way to deal with life in society. Living in society, finding ways of sharing a common space and acting in it involves tension, and history, art, science reflect this tension. This is why it must also have a place in cultural organisations. However, the question of when and how to take a stand is very pertinent. The danger of getting entangled in partisan politics and personal agendas is real. We do believe, though, that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and most cultural organisations’ mission to promote understanding, dialogue, tolerance and respect, as well as much needed critical thinking, can provide the necessary guidance in making decisions. Should cultural organisations wish to remain relevant in people’s lives, can they remain silent in front of social injustices, intolerance, hate and discrimination?

In 2015, a number of US museum professionals and museum bloggers issued the ‘Museums respond to Ferguson’ statement, questioning the role of cultural organisations, museums in particular, in promoting greater cultural and racial understanding. “New laws and policies will help, but any movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication must be supported by our country’s cultural and

45

MADE BY AN IMMIGRANT #

GIVEN BY AN IMMIGRANT #

46

educational infrastructure. Museums are a part of this

this metropolitan elite. "We've got to try to do what little we

educational and cultural network.” The movement did not

can to address the complete vote of no confidence in our

manage to involve many museums and questions were

system", Norris said. "I don't believe 17.5 million people are

raised whether this was not an issue that referred specifically

racists or idiots. I categorically don't. I think we've got to

to museums with African American collections or situated

listen." The oral archive created has been the source used by

in the communities where black people had been shot by

playwrights to create new plays.

police. Was this not a reason for concern for citizens in every American community and everywhere in the world, considering that the US aspires to be the “leader of the

On the other side of the Atlantic, it took award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan one week to write Building the Wall. “We no longer live in a world that is business as usual –

free world”?

Trump has made that very clear – and if theatre is going

A major concern among culture professionals is whether

to remain relevant, we must become faster to respond. We

taking a stand would alienate many people. Taking a

cannot hope to be useful if we can't respond until 18 months

stand isn’t inherently riskier than remaining silent and

after the fact”, Schenkkan said. The first theatre to present

irrelevant, but it is worth looking at some examples

the play was Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, last March.

of cultural organisations that have not lost people’s support for assuming their political responsibilities.

When in 2014 the Victoria and Albert Museum presented its new Rapid Response collecting program, curator Corinna Gardner explained: “The Rapid Response gallery is about the museum looking

"We had our season in place, with another

"...IF THEATRE IS GOING TO REMAIN

that same year, the museum presented the exhibition ‘Disobedient objects’, the first to examine the powerful role of objects in movements for social change. Other organisations followed suit and it was particularly interesting to see how promptly some museums reacted to Women’s March protests last January, putting out calls for placards, photographs and objects. Glasgow Women’s Library was perhaps the first to

Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “It's a raw, passionate warning cry, and I knew we had to be bold and make this statement." Along

MUST BECOME

new discussion series titled ‘Public Forum:

FASTER TO

in the news. It's an opportunity to think rather than just buying more chairs." In

the script I knew we had to move fast”, said

RELEVANT, WE

outwards and engaging with topics that are afresh and respond in a more agile way,

production planned, but as soon as I read

RESPOND. WE CANNOT HOPE TO

the same line, Public Theater announced a A Well-Ordered Nation’, exploring what it means to be responsible citizens during a Donald Trump presidency.

Trump’s election caused many more reactions from cultural organisations. On the weekend right after the election, a number of

BE USEFUL IF WE

museums invited people to visit in the hope

CAN'T RESPOND

great and timely learning resource, especially

that “visitors will explore the museum as a our newly installed American Art galleries,

UNTIL 18 MONTHS

which embrace an inclusive view of history

AFTER THE FACT"

of our richly diverse country” (Brooklyn

receive a pink pussy hat.

In Europe, the House on Fire network brings together, since 2007, 10 theatres and festivals which have pursued an international programming and co-production policy, conscious of the place culture may claim in the public debate about social, environmental and political issues, offering a

and recognize the shifting demographics Museum). More cultural organisations made open statements against the President’s

executive order banning citizens, as well as refugees, from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country (MoMA, Davis Museums at Wellesley College, Seattle Symphony Orchestra) or his plans to scrap funding for arts and humanities organisations.

valid source of knowledge and experience. More recently,

The question is no longer whether cultural organisations

political events such as the Brexit referendum and the US

should take part in the political discussion. This would be

Presidential election made other theatres and professionals

like questioning whether cultural organisations should take

question their role.

part in life. The question is whether they can react with

In the UK, shortly after the referendum, the National Theatre was embarking on a major project to tell the story of modern Britain. The theatre conducted hundreds of interviews about life in the UK in different cities and towns, conscious, according to its Artistic Director, Rufus Norris, that “part of the rancour, the protest, was about the dominance of metropolitan, London-based voices telling us this is how we do things”, and that the National Theatre was at the heart of

the urgency required by certain events and, most of all, whether they can do it responsibly and efficiently, not with an opportunistic intent, but because they honestly wish to be places where people can come together and discuss, respectfully challenge each other’s views, and reflect on the art of living together in society. Cultural organisations can, and should, be a place to resist barbarism and enjoy humanity.

Best Hotel Design 2016

Society of British and International Design

WINTER JUST GOT WARMER AT BYRON BAY’S ONLY 5 STAR ABSOLUTE BEACHFRONT RESORT. BOOK NOW

49

Fierce Faรงade There are many ways and many reasons why we disguise who we are.

The faรงade of our physical appearance can be a powerful tool in hiding our real selves or resisting the judgement of others. Our disguises run the spectrum from complete transformation to subtle illusion.

Here Callum Francis transforms into Lola in the Australian production of Kinky Boots.

A LIFE THROUGH

music

BY EADRIC AYRES

Besheda sat on a chipped and wobbly chair, her hijab pushed behind her ears and a wisp of deep black hair falling into her eyes. Sounds of other children came from the corridor – scampering and giggling, shouting and cajoling. Besheda remained silent, her calloused, raw hands wrapped around a yellowing bow and a child’s cello. Silence, and then, a tiny miracle. Besheda put the bow to the string and drew from her cello music, for the first time ever. A simple open string song.

Music, in a land where it had been banned for what must have seemed like a child’s eternity.

In 2014, America’s National Public Radio’s program, The Protojournalist,

in Kabul for internally displaced people. It is hell on earth – filthy, crowded, dangerous and with little protection from

asked listeners to contribute to a project

the viciousness of Afghanistan’s winter, summer and society.

A Life Story in 6 Songs. The project

day off school, she must work all day helping her mother with

captured the public’s imagination,

Besheda’s life is bewilderingly hard. Every Friday, her one cleaning and cooking, hence the calloused hands. It is a life that few people could survive with any dignity. It is a life with

confirming the idea that music infuses

an endless need for resistance.

our lives and that humans are a

We humans fight so much in our lives. We may not all be a

species with music in our ears,

but still, daily we resist the little things – road rage, a petty

hearts, memories and spirits.

Is there a list of six songs that could

Nancy Wake with the whole of the Nazi movement to fight, boss, a forgetful friend, a passive-aggressive parent, a fondness for chocolate. And from those small resistances, larger ones find their place – fighting for fairness, the environment, equal opportunities no matter who we are or where we come

tell the story of your life so far? Musician

from. Every day brings a new need, whether beyond or within

and writer Eddie Ayres considers the

Music has kept us walking, marching, working, playing,

ourselves, and every day music plays its part in helping us.

importance and magic of music in not

dancing, thinking, sleeping, talking and loving, when perhaps

just telling the story of our lives, but

do for us, as one of the first acts of love? They sing to us. And

also in shaping who we are.

51

Besheda is a young Afghan girl and lives in a refugee camp

all we would do is curl up and give up. What do our mothers so music begins. Music is a gift that has spurred mankind for millennia; without music, mankind is mute.

I taught Besheda the cello at the Afghanistan National Institute for Music in Kabul for a year. When she came to me, she was nervous, quiet, distrustful and wary. As the months went by, music worked its magic on Besheda. She began to smile, to chat, to respond to ideas, to interact with others in a way that seemed impossible before she began to play the cello. By the time I left, Besheda had mastered a selection of basic folk tunes, was playing duets and had performed in front of one of the greatest poets in Afghanistan, Massoud Khalili. Besheda, through music, had found her voice. She had found a way to resist the life that decades of warlords, drug lords, invading forces and crippling societal laws had forced upon her.

Besheda is only one of hundreds of students at the Institute in Kabul who have found resistance to their world by making music. Perhaps the stories are not so dramatic for the boys, but for the girls many of them have had to resist pressure from their families and neighbours to stop making music, to be silent, to acquiesce and be ‘good girls’. Through learning their own Afghan and Western music, these courageous girls create a positive cycle of love and achievement in their lives.

And it all begins with a single, tentative sound on their chosen instrument. Through learning music, they learn the most important thing any of us must learn – our own capability.

My own life has been completely shaped by music. I saw music’s power at a very young age, because my home had no music. My mother kept records and a record player from

My own resistance to accepting I was transgender was aided by music.

before her divorce, but she knew the music held within that vinyl was so powerful, it would destroy her if she heard it. And so we lived a stifled life, until one day my big sister couldn’t

Music does magical things. It shifts the deepest, most

resist the pull of those singles anymore and Petula Clark

hidden fears within us and allows us to face them. It

singing Downtown spun into the room, to be followed by Dave

exposes the terror and divinity inside us. Whether

Brubeck and Astrud Gilberto. It was Astrud who dealt the final

it is a teenager listening to heavy metal, a mother

blow on my mother. As the Shadow Of Your Smile darkened the

dancing to funk, a pensioner alone with Beethoven,

house, my mother crumpled over the washing up in the sink,

music brings us to a place beyond words, where we

unable to resist any more the great loss of her love. Music can

can eventually live with ourselves, and therefore

help us resist, but it can also destroy that struggle with the

with others. Music creates infinite emotions, but the

strum of a guitar.

greatest of these must be love, and through love, strength and resolve. So you, dear reader, I hope

My own resistance to accepting I was transgender was aided

you can go right now and listen to music. Any music.

by music. Through music, I could lose myself and forget the

Rap, Mozart, hip hop, Debussy, blues, Messiaen,

things that needed to be dwelt upon and surrendered to. But

rock and roll, folk, Bach. It doesn’t matter. Listen to

as I finally came to that acceptance, music changed with me.

what you love and what you don’t know. Surprise

And as I go through the immeasurably difficult journey of

your ears and your spirit. Because with music, we

transitioning to male, music has been my guide, my teacher,

can know ourselves. And because music is eternally a

my priest, my confessor, my friend and my counsel. Because

demonstration of the universal harmony within us all.

music sustains us. As my love Carol says, music lifts us to a place where we can accept ourselves. To truly listen to music, we need to go inward without hesitation or reserve, we need to be truly self-aware, we must be truly at one with ourselves.

52

Nancy Grace Augusta ‘The White Mouse’ Wake Nancy Wake, a prominent figure in the French Resistance

and after D-Day, was involved in combat with bodies of

during the Second World War, was born in Wellington,

German troops sent to destroy the Maquis.

New Zealand, on 30 August 1912. Her family moved to Sydney, where she grew up, when Nancy was just 20 months old. She ran away from home at the age of 16 and found work as a nurse, but a windfall enabled her to leave Australia for Europe in 1932. Wake settled in Paris, working for the Hearst group of newspapers as a journalist.

Upon liberation, Wake learned that her husband, Henri, had been killed by the Gestapo in August 1943.

In September 1944, she left the Resistance and went to SOE Headquarters in Paris, and then to London in mid-October. After the war, she was decorated by Britain, France and the United States but, being unable to adapt

As the 1930s progressed, the rise of German Fascism

to life in post-war Europe, she returned to Australia in

formed the basis of many of Wake's stories. In 1935, she

January 1949 aged 37. Shortly afterwards, she ran for the

visited Vienna and Berlin where the overt and violent

Liberal Party against Labor's 'Doc' Evatt and, having been

anti-Semitism formed in her a desire to oppose Nazism.

narrowly defeated, made a second attempt in 1951,

In November 1939, she married Henri Fiocca, a wealthy

again unsuccessfully.

industrialist, in Marseilles. Six months later, Germany invaded France. Wake and Fiocca joined the fledgling Resistance after France's surrender in 1940.

Unsatisfied with life in Australia, Wake returned to England. In 1957, she married John Forward, an RAF officer. The couple returned to Australia in 1959. A third

Her growing involvement in the Resistance saw Wake and

attempt to enter politics also failed and she and Forward

her husband assisting in the escape of Allied servicemen

ultimately retired to Port Macquarie where they lived until

and Jewish refugees from France into neutral Spain.

his death in 1997. In December 2001, she left Australia for

Fearful of being captured, she too fled Marseilles and,

England where she lived out her remaining years.

after several thwarted attempts and a brief period in prison, Wake escaped across the Pyrenees. In June 1943, she reached England where she began working in the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

She received the George Medal, 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, British War Medal 1939-45, French Officer of the Legion of Honour, French Croix de Guerre with Star and two Palms, US Medal for Freedom

After a period of training, Wake returned to France in

with Palm and French Medaille de la Resistance for her

April 1944 to help organise the Resistance before D-Day.

courageous endeavours. Wakes' medals are on display

Working in the Auvergne region, Wake was engaged in

in the Second World War gallery at the Australian

organising parachute drops of arms and equipment,

War Memorial.

- AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL C A M E R ATA – T H E W H I T E M O U S E

3 De ce m b e r 20 17

53

Concert Hall, QPAC

Behind the Scenes

GRAND DESIGNS

The piano is a complex instrument. Under its lid, a grand piano houses more than 7,000 parts – including keys, strings, hammers and pedals – that contribute to the rich and unique sound of the instrument.

The piano is both string instrument, because sound is made with strings, and also a percussion instrument, because the strings makes sounds when a hammer hits them. There are more than 200 strings in a grand piano, the tension of which correlates to the pitch. The tension in a concert grand is close to 30 tons.

In the 1930s, an official international standard tuning for orchestras was established which is A=440 Hertz (or cycles per second). These days, many orchestras and ensembles tend to deviate from this standard, playing at a higher pitch.

QPAC has six grand pianos tuned between 440 and 442, and stored side stage of the Concert Hall. Visiting pianists select the piano they wish to use in performance based on its tone and tuning. All of QPAC’s 9-foot concert grands are Hamburg Steinways, so named as they were built in the Hamburg factory of Steinway & Sons.

55

1. FIRST EVER TWEET

22 March 2006

The Tweet that started it all, from Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey.

SOCIAL MEDIA: 21ST CENTURY SOAPBOX From an upturned wooden crate in a crowded public space to Twitter… the revolution is now broadcast in 140-character bursts to the networking platform’s 313 million monthly active users. From the Arab Spring to #BlackLivesMatter movement, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, election commentary and calls to #ChangeTheDate from 26 January, Twitter is playing a key role in distributing messages and mobilising the masses.

Here, we chart some of the 11 year old platform’s most significant moments:

57

2. #QANDA

from May 2010

The decision to display live Tweets in ABC1’s Q&A TV broadcast in May 2010 has led to Tweets in their hundreds of thousands; earning #QandA the no. 4 spot on Twitter in Australia in 2016, and spurring some of the show’s most controversial moments in the process.

4. OCCUPY MOVEMENT

from 2011

“We are the 99%”: the catch-cry of ‘Occupy’ activists, referring to the disproportionate wealth and influence held by the upper class. Anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters first invited Americans to protest in Zuccotti Park on 17 September, using the hashtag #OccupyWallStreet, igniting a global movement.

3. ARAB SPRING

from December 2010

Social media played a key role in the ‘digital democratisation’ of North Africa and the Middle East. The Arab Spring revolutions saw a sharp increase in the nations’ social media use, as activists flocked to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to connect, rally and spark change.

58

5. BLACK LIVES MATTER

13 July 2013

Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of African American teenager Trayvon Martin, the #BlackLivesMatter movement was co-founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. It continues to be one of social media’s most widely-used activism hashtags.

15 December 2014 7. I’LL RIDE WITH YOU In the wake of the 2014 siege in Sydney’s Martin Place, Australians showed their solidarity using the hashtag #IllRideWithYou. The Tweet(s) that started the movement:

6. ELLEN’S OSCARS SELFIE

3 March 2014

Ellen DeGeneres’ 2014 Oscars long held the title for most retweets of all time – over 3.4 million (until it was overtaken in May 2017 with American student Carter Wilkerson’s petition for a year’s supply of Wendy’s chicken nuggets).

8. #LOVEWINS

26 June 2015

Love won when the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of marriage equality. Twitter celebrated using the hashtag #LoveWins, which was mentioned 6.2 million times on the platform within just six hours of the ruling.

30 May 2017 10. COVFEFE Donald Trump’s infamous (and now-deleted) Tweet led to the introduction of the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act (COVFEFE Act), whereby US presidents’ social media posts could be preserved as public documents.

31 January 2017 9. J.K. ROWLING VS TWITTER TROLLS Author and philanthropist J.K. Rowling has become almost as well-known for taking down Twitter trolls as for her novels.

THE VOICES OF THOUSANDS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE HEARD AT SPEECH NIGHTS IN QPAC’S CONCERT HALL EVERY YEAR.

60

Newstead

Not everyone wears a tutu to get a pointe across.

MinterEllison is delighted to be the Principal Partner of the QPAC International Series.

62

Connect with QPAC Q PAC M E M B E R S H I P Come closer to QPAC. Our visitors are the heart of QPAC, influencing and providing vital support for everything we do. We invite you to come closer to us – our people, theatres, artists and performances – with a 12 month QPAC Membership.

QPAC Membership offers a range of benefits including priority access to tickets for many events at QPAC, savings on transaction fees, dining and pre-paid car parking and invitations to special Members-only events.

Through our partnership with The Courier-Mail, QPAC Membership can also include digital subscriptions to news, magazines and sports sites and other special offers.

Or buy a gift Membership as the perfect gift for someone with a love of live performance.

Become a QPAC Member at qpac.com.au/membership ENEWS The latest shows and events Subscribe to QPAC eNews for the latest show and events at qpac.com.au SOCIAL Put yourself in the picture QPAC’s social media channels feature news, information, behind the scenes insights, competitions and conversation.

Be our friend, follow us and stay across all that happens in a busy performing arts centre. #QPAC #QPACSTORY

63

@ ATQ PA C

Q PAC T V

@Q PAC

@ ATQ PA C

C’s A QP

Drusilla Modjeska on Virginia Woolf

Behind Bangarra Dance Theatre’s 2016 provocative work

Deconstructing and reconstructing ballet shoes

In conversation with film and TV director Andrew Prowse

Getting into character – The Rabbits

Picture Queensland launches with 6,000 images

QPAC’s new chamber music series Twilight Notes

Play, the new superfood for kids

Mabo Oration 2016 with Dr Dawn Casey

Dive deeper. Be fearless in thought. Ask the question. Form an opinion. Discover. Learn. Provoke.

Bask in creativity. Take time, wonder about stuff. Be curious and imagine. Get sweaty, create.

qpac.com.au/the-creatory

W H AT ’ S O N

QPAC

J U LY

65

UNTIL 2 JULY

T H E R O YA L B A L L E T ' S W OO L F W O R K S

UNTIL 9 JULY

L E T ' S DA N C E

L Y R I C T H E AT R E MELBOURNE STREET GREEN

1 JULY

THE ROYAL BALLET CREATIVE INSIGHTS INTO WOOLF WORKS

CO N C E R T H A L L

2 JULY

P E M U L W U Y ! F I N A L E CO N C E R T - V O I C E S F R O M T H E T R E N C H E S

CO N C E R T H A L L

2 JULY

W E A L L DA N C E B R I S B A N E

MELBOURNE STREET GREEN

4 JULY

T W I L I G H T N O T E S : E N OC H A R D E N

CO N C E R T H A L L

5 - 9 JULY

T H E R O YA L B A L L E T ' S T H E W I N T E R ' S TA L E

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

7 JULY

T H E R O YA L B A L L E T C R E AT I V E I N S I G H T S I N TO T H E W I N T E R ' S TA L E

CO N C E R T H A L L

8 JULY

T H E P I N K F L O Y D E X P E R I E N C E - A N I M A L S 40 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

CO N C E R T H A L L

1 0 - 11 J U L Y

R U S S E L L H O WA R D - R O U N D T H E W O R L D L I V E TO U R

CONCERT HALL

13 JULY

C A M E R ATA S A N C T U A R Y

CONCERT HALL

14 JULY

Q U E E N S L A N D M U S I C F E S T I VA L 1 6 L O V E R S L A N E

CONCERT HALL

14 - 29 JULY

O P E R A Q U E E N S L A N D - R U D D I G O R E , O R T H E W I TC H ' S C U R S E

P L AY H O U S E

15 JULY

T H E E V E R L Y B R O T H E R S A N D B U D D Y H O L L Y I N T E R N AT I O N A L T R I B U T E

CONCERT HALL

18 - 20 JULY

Q U T G R A D U AT I O N S J U L Y 2 0 1 7

CONCERT HALL

19 JULY - 13 AUG

T H E B O D YG U A R D T H E M U S I C A L

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

21 - 22 JULY

Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A - Q S O , S I M O N E YO U N G A N D R AY C H E N

CONCERT HALL

22 JULY

L AW R E N C E M O O N E Y ' L I K E L I T E R A L L Y '

P L AY H O U S E

24 JULY

A U S T R A L I A N W O R L D O R C H E S T R A - C H A M B E R 8 O N TO U R

CONCERT HALL

29 JULY

Q U E E N S L A N D M U S I C F E S T I VA L H A N G W I T H Q YO

CONCERT HALL

30 JULY

B A L L E T T H E AT R E O F Q U E E N S L A N D A N N I V E R S A R Y G A L A

CONCERT HALL

3 AU G

Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A - O U R M A N I N H AVA N A

CONCERT HALL

4 - 5 AU G

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - QSO, ALONDRA AND DUO LECHNER TIEMPO

CONCERT HALL

4 - 1 9 AU G

QUEENSLAND BALLET - LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE

P L AY H O U S E

5 - 1 2 AU G

E X P R E S S I O N S DA N C E CO M PA N Y & O P E R A Q U E E N S L A N D - M O Z A R T A I R B O R N E

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

6 AU G

B R I S B A N E S I N G S 2017

CO N C E R T H A L L

8 AU G

AU S T R A L I A N B R A N D E N B U R G O R C H E S T R A - D M I T R Y S I N KO V S K Y T H E S I N G I N G V I O L I N

CONCERT HALL

1 0 AU G

J O N S T E V E N S S TA R L I G H T TO U R

CONCERT HALL

11 AU G

T H E T E N T E N O R S - 20 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y TO U R

CO N C E R T H A L L

12 AU G

Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A - M O Z A R T : G R E AT C M I N O R M A S S

CO N C E R T H A L L

1 3 AU G

M E D I C I CO N C E R T S : I M OG E N COO P E R

CO N C E R T H A L L

1 4 AU G

AU S T R A L I A N C H A M B E R O R C H E S T R A - M O U N TA I N - A C I N E M AT I C & M U S I C A L O D Y S S E Y

CO N C E R T H A L L

1 5 AU G - 2 S E P T

S H A K E & S T I R T H E AT R E CO - D R AC U L A

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

1 8 AU G

R O Y O R B I S O N O R C H E S T R AT E D

CONCERT HALL

19 AU G

QUEENSLAND YOUTH ORCHESTRAS - SHOSTAKOVICH 11

CO N C E R T H A L L

20 AU G

Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A - TA N G O S A N D DA N C E S

CO N C E R T H A L L

21 AU G

QUEEN - IT'S A KINDA MAGIC

CO N C E R T H A L L

F R O M 22 AU G

KINKY BOOTS

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

25 AUG

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - QSO, ALONDRA AND MAHLER 5

CONCERT HALL

25 AUG - 2 SEPT

B A N G A R R A D A N C E T H E AT R E - B E N N E L O N G

P L AY H O U S E

28 AUG

TWILIGHT NOTES: BUTTERFLYING

CONCERT HALL

28 AUG

T H E M A B O O R AT I O N - 2 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

P L AY H O U S E

30 AUG

PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

CONCERT HALL

UNTIL SEPTEMBER

E X H I B I T I O N - M A D E O N T H E B O D Y : C H O R E O G R A P H Y F R O M T H E R O YA L B A L L E T

TO N Y G O U L D G A L L E R Y

2 SEPT

QUEENSL AND KOREAN ORCHESTRA 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

CONCERT HALL

3 SEPT

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - GUY NOBLE'S EXCELLENT MUSICAL QUIZ

CONCERT HALL

6 SEPT

M I C H A E L M O S L E Y - L I V E O N S TA G E

CONCERT HALL

9 - 16 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L P E R T E

P L AY H O U S E

13 SEPT

T H E B E AT L E S F I R S T 5

CONCERT HALL

17 SEPT

JOEL MCHALE

CONCERT HALL

19 SEPT

TWILIGHT NOTES: DEBUSSY QUARTET

CONCERT HALL

19 - 23 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L T E R R O R

P L AY H O U S E

21 SEPT

KEVIN BRIDGES LIVE

CONCERT HALL

22 - 23 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L G R U G A N D T H E R A I N B O W

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

23 SEPT

Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A - Q S O P L AY S T H E R O M A N T I C S

CONCERT HALL

26 - 30 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L K A L E I D O S C O P E

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

27 - 30 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L U N D E R S I E G E

P L AY H O U S E

28 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L M E G A N WA S H I N G TO N & Q U E E N S L A N D S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A

CONCERT HALL

29 SEPT

B R I S B A N E F E S T I VA L D I A M O N D S A R E F O R T R E V O R : A S PA R K L I N G T R I B U T E TO D A M E S H I R L E Y B A S S E Y

CONCERT HALL

1 OCT

GLENN HUGHES – CLASSIC DEEP PURPLE LIVE!

CONCERT HALL

3 OCT

TO M M Y E M M A N U E L I N C O N C E R T

CONCERT HALL

5 OCT

M I C H A E L B A L L & A L F I E B O E - TO G E T H E R

CONCERT HALL

5 - 7 OCT

LIGHTS, MUSIC, DANCE!

P L AY H O U S E

6 OCT

ALED JONES - ONE VOICE LIVE IN CONCERT

CONCERT HALL

7 OCT

Q U E E N S L A N D P O P S O R C H E S T R A - B R O A D WAY A N D B E YO N D

CONCERT HALL

9 OCT

A U S T R A L I A N C H A M B E R O R C H E S T R A E M M A N U E L PA H U D

CONCERT HALL

11 OCT

THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA

CONCERT HALL

11 - 15 OCT

B A M B E R T ' S B O O K O F L O S T S TO R I E S

P L AY H O U S E

13 - 14 OCT

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - QSO AND PIERS LANE - 40 YEARS

CONCERT HALL

13 - 14 OCT

A N E V E N I N G W I T H L I Z C A L L AWAY

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

15 OCT

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND SCHOOL OF MUSIC VICE-CHANCELLOR’S CONCERT SERIES T H E A L U M N I F R I E N D S O F U Q G O L D E N J U B I L E E C O N C E R T : WA L TO N , F R I E N D S A N D T H E A R G E N T I N E

CONCERT HALL

19 - 20 OCT

A F E S T I VA L O F R U S S I A N B A L L E T

CONCERT HALL

21 OCT

S C O T L A N D T H E B R AV E

CONCERT HALL

22 OCT

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - CLASSIC SOUNDS OF THE SCREEN

CONCERT HALL

25 OCT - 4 NOV

Q U E E N S L A N D B A L L E T - P E T E R PA N

P L AY H O U S E

27 OCT

C S T D D A N C E E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 1 7

CONCERT HALL

28 OCT

Q U E E N S L A N D YO U T H O R C H E S T R A S - Q YO F I N A L E

CONCERT HALL

29 OCT

MARK VINCENT

CONCERT HALL

30 OCT

T W I L I G H T N O T E S : J O S E P H TAWA D R O S

CONCERT HALL

2 NOV

GUY SEBASTIAN

CONCERT HALL

4 NOV

THE HITS OF THE CROONERS

CONCERT HALL

FROM 4 NOV

THE WIZARD OF OZ

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

5 NOV

THE AUSTRALIAN GIRLS CHOIR 2017 ANNUAL CONCERT

CONCERT HALL

10 NOV

BLAME IT ON BIANCA DEL RIO

CONCERT HALL

11 NOV - 3 DEC

Q U E E N S L A N D T H E AT R E - S C E N E S F R O M A M A R R I A G E

P L AY H O U S E

17 - 18 NOV

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - QSO, ALONDRA + VENGEROV

CONCERT HALL

19 NOV

M U S I C A V I VA - O R C H E S T R A O F T H E AG E O F E N L I G H T E N M E N T & R AC H E L P O DG E R

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21 NOV

R H Y T H M S O F I R E L A N D 1 0 Y E A R A N N I V E R S A R Y TO U R

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25 NOV

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - CARMEN IN-CONCERT

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26 NOV

SOUTHERN CROSS SOLOISTS - THE NIGHTINGALE

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1 - 2 DEC

ABORIGINAL CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

2 DEC

F R O M B R O A D WAY TO L A S C A L A

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3 DEC

C A M E R ATA - T H E W H I T E M O U S E

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6 DEC

A U S T R A L I A N C H A M B E R O R C H E S T R A - B A C H ' S C H R I S T M A S O R ATO R I O

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7 DEC

GO! SHOW GOLD

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8 - 16 DEC

Q U E E N S L A N D B A L L E T - T H E N U TC R A C K E R

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

9 DEC

QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - HANDEL: MESSIAH

CONCERT HALL

12 - 23 DEC

EMILY BROWN AND THE THING

C R E M O R N E T H E AT R E

13 - 23 DEC

T H E 7 8 - S TO R E Y T R E E H O U S E

P L AY H O U S E

FROM 26 DEC

MAMMA MIA! THE MUSICAL

L Y R I C T H E AT R E

22 DEC - 23 DEC

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

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30 - 31 DEC

QLD POPS NEW YEAR'S EVE GALA

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V I S I T Q PAC . CO M . AU O R C A L L 1 36 2 46 F O R B OO K I N G S O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N . I N F O R M AT I O N CO R R E C T AT T I M E O F P R I N T I N G .

Image credits on

h n

COV E R PAG E

NS DE COVER

Resist Black Badge Photo: Oscar Nicholson & Jackie Elliott

Brief ly

Express ons Dance Company s produc on o Na a e We r s When T me S op 2013 P c ured Express ons Dance Company dancers w h Camera a o S ohn s mus c ans mage by Dy an Evans

Resistance

later, the Defiant Girl is still there. It seems she resonated with a large number of people – some of whom strongly supported the

MAKING HEADLINES

concept and the execution, and some vehement opponents who thought it nothing more than a publicity stunt.

As the debate raged on, Arturo Di Modica, the artist responsible for the ‘Charging Bull’ entered the debate saying that while his sculpture was art, the ‘Defiant Girl’ was little more than gimmick and was ruining the original intention behind his own work. He asked (through a lawyer) “how did the process happen and should permits be revoked?” going on to say that “there are copyright and trademark infringement issues”.

BROADWAY’S BATHROOM PROBLEM: HAVE TO GO? HURRY UP, OR HOLD IT

Perhaps Di Modica would do well to cast his mind back to how his own statue was erected… under cover of darkness, between police patrols, early one morning in 1989. Now, almost two decades later,

The New York Times started a conversation about the dearth

‘Charging Bull’ is considered art and most people have forgotten how it was installed and even why.

of bathrooms in Broadway theatres. It’s a familiar scene

So really, what’s the difference with the ‘Defiant Girl’, save for that she’s the new kid on the block.

around the world for those who attend events in theatres and stadiums: the perpetual line up for bathrooms at interval or half time. If you use the men’s room, chances are

THE MAN WHO BROKE TICKETMASTER

it’s less of a problem but for those in line to use the women’s There has been a lot of public debate about ticketing. Artists have publicly asked audiences not to

bathroom, the lines can be long… and slow moving. Many

buy tickets from re-sellers or scalpers and the Australian Senate has passed a bill to make it illegal

people ask why it’s still such a problem. After all, modern

to use bots (automated software programs) to purchase bulk tickets. But as audience demand for

architects and engineers have surely learnt by now that the

the big gigs continues, looking to get tickets from any source possible is often the only option left

more cubicles the better.

for diehard fans. Who is benefitting from these re-sale sites? Not the artist. Not the promoter or

THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV IS REALLY ABOUT THEATRE

producer. And, because the price is usually so inflated, not the audience or consumer.

of human habits rather than architecture. When theatres It’s hard not to notice that TV is really, really good these

Ken Lowson was once one of the most successful and infamous ticket scalpers. He developed

and that was it really. There was no pre-performance dinner

days. Just ask people what they’re watching and you will

a computer program that could bypass the safeguards ticketing companies had put in place

and drinks, no lining up at the bar for a drink to see you

probably get a long answer mentioning more than one

to stop people from purchasing too many tickets resulting in his ability to harvest vast swathes

through the first act, and most people weren’t guzzling the

great series. And it’s not just drama either. Comedies,

of tickets which he could re-sell at inflated prices. He further exposed weaknesses of the ticketing

recommended eight glasses of water during the day. Now,

thrillers, crime, political sagas – everything is up for

industry by telling fans how to circumvent waiting for shows to officially go on sale to the general

our habits have changed which all leads to a more urgent

discussion and dissection on Monday at the watercooler.

public by releasing pre-sale codes and tricks.

Have you looked at who is writing all of this ‘golden’

need to go.

Now, Lowson is working with ticketing agencies and artists, helping them to plug the holes he once

content? Many are playwrights. And contrary to times when writing for TV was considered not so illustrious,

exploited. His motivations may not be altruistic but his actions have certainly opened up a public

recently you may have experienced the military like

it’s now the best of the best playwrights who are writing

debate about how ticketing works.

precision of staff who direct the queue to available cubicles

for TV. Gone are the days when a playwright might turn

If you’ve been to a performance in a Broadway theatre

and ensure you don’t dilly-dally once you’re done. At QPAC

their hand at a sitcom to supplement a meagre income.

there are more than 130 bathrooms. The hot tip from our

Now there is a broad cross-fertilisation of writers who

staff is never wait too long in a queue… head to the Theatre

PAG E 6

PAG E 7/8

ohn Ko zas Ch e Execu ve QPAC Pho o M nd Cooke

Jacqueline Rose Photo: Jonathan Ring

“Everything for everyone says our dead. Until this is true

to install a bronze statue of a defiant girl standing, hands on hips, facing the famous ‘Charging Bull’ statue on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. It was meant to be a temporary installation. Months

IN THE ARTS WORLD

were first built, they were places people went to see a show,

u

there will be nothing for us.” Note how radically counter-

WHEN IS PUBLIC ART ACTUALLY PUBLIC ART? In March, for International Women’s Day, the State Street Global Advisors made a bold political statement in support of getting more women onto corporate boards. Their medium was

NEWS & VIEWS

Interestingly, our bathroom queuing woes may be a legacy

u

Contr butors

n h ed

go from stage to screen not out of need but from choice.

Mezzanine before shows in the Concert Hall and Lyric

And it’s even going the other way too, with many of the

Theatre, and down to the Box Office Mezzanine at interval!

biggest stars following writers to Broadway.

intuitive and therefore powerful is their claim. The

Resistance must surely be one of the most appealing, seductive, words in our political lexicon.

resistant dead arrive as ghosts on the scene to issue their

address, he may or may not have been aware that this was the clarion call of the Americans who had opposed US

the tightening grip of President Erdogan in Turkey, the clamp down on dissent in

Resistance both enacts, and provokes in response, a desperate refusal to comply.

call for social equality and redistribution of wealth, that is,

When Trump repeated ‘America first’ in his inauguration

Never more so than today in a political moment which seems to many to bear all the signs of a fascist resurgence as the election of Donald Trump, Brexit in the UK,

for a form of inclusiveness – ‘everything for everyone’ – to remedy the flagrant iniquities of an unjust, discriminatory world. It is through the dead that the Zapatistas make

intervention into the Second World War, most famously

Hungary, the military dictatorship in Egypt, the smudging of Holocaust memory by

Charles Lindbergh whose anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi sympathies

their appeal to the universal dimension, death as the great

morning that they must return to see – out of a sense of guilt

still present colonial heritage, the continuing racism and

the (mercifully unelected) Marine Le Pen in France – to name just a few instances –

were clear for all to see. In such moments, resistance starts to

equaliser that flies in the face of society’s most ruthless

but also of shared humanity. In a single stroke, Ao takes her

inequality of the post-apartheid world. While garnering

all seem to feed off, and intensify, a cruel, self-serving, racist, nationalism that is

feel, not just like an obligation, or necessity, but as the only

and violently defended distinctions (the distinction

reader from outer to inner landscape, condensing onto the

widespread support, their protests have also, as I discovered

darkening the political skies.

means of survival, the only means of assuaging political grief.

between rich and poor being the most glaring).

same page the political and psychic meanings of resistance.

during a recent visit, been met with anger and dismay – they

She is instructing the champions of a brutally oppressed

For the millions who poured onto the streets in protest at

were meant to be the ‘born-frees’ no longer stricken with the

Trump’s election, for all those who are continuing to organise

Here literature – one of our primary sites for the

people (resistance as uprising) to remember the worst of who

past iniquities of their land. Instead, by raising their voices,

across the world in the face of rampant inequality and

expression of resistance – also has a key role to play.

they came to be (resistance as the agonies of self-knowledge,

they are claiming their place in a history that has not gone

injustice, resistance becomes, however perilous, the only

as inner psychic reckoning and pain).

In the final volume of Philip Pulman’s famous trilogy,

way to breathe.

Resistance is also exhilarating, ramped up by its own

Janus-faced it turns to a better future, while remaining

confrontation with despair. Following the riots against then

alert, in every passing moment, to the possibility that it

companions manage to gain access to the world of the

also the group can be in flight from memory. Over the past

dead. “The rich ones are the worst,” says the boatman who

two years, students in South Africa have risen up against the

the Invisible Committee, launched their pamphlet on The

his 2013 book on resistance ‘A Philosophy of Defiance’.

and cursing me, railing and screaming: what did I think

Coming Insurrection: “From whatever angle you approach

Resistance by definition includes the recognition that,

I was? Hadn’t they gathered and saved all the gold they

it, the present offers no way out. This is not the least of its

whatever it struggles for, the powers-that-be will do

could garner? Wouldn’t I take some now, to put them back

virtues". Resistance can take on the aura of the sacred, notably

everything they humanly, and inhumanly, can to resist

ashore? They’d have the law on me… they fall silent in the

in turn. Not for nothing do we talk of crushing resistance.

with reference to Resistance to Hitler – the only version of resistance which, with its capital R, is seen to merit the

Think of the modern-day manhunt which cuts down the

status of a proper name. And it can be the object of intense

enemy with no legal process or possible path of escape,

longing (as in sehnsucht or yearning, which was one of Rosa

reducing its targets from human to prey: the Indian

Luxemburg’s favourite terms). “This word,” writes Jacques

Government’s explicitly named ‘Operation Green Hunt’

a nation.

end.” The Zapatista’s resistance may be death-defiant but it is also through the voices of the dead that they give us a glimpse of utopia, of a truly equal world. Resisting the given order of things as drummed into us on a daily basis, such a world would expose flagrant wealth for what it truly

against Indian tribal peoples, Obama’s drones. Resistance

Derrida with reference to the French Resistance, “which first

As psychoanalysis also teaches us, not only individuals but

ferries them across to the island, “snarling and savage

might fail. This is one reason why Howard Caygill subtitles

French President Nicholas Sarkozy in 2007, the protest group

away. We should be thankful to them for reminding us of the power of resistance to uncover the unconscious of

His Dark Materials, the main protagonist, Lyra, and her

resonated in my desire and imagination as the most beautiful

both enacts, and provokes in response, a desperate refusal

is: not just corrupt but, in the final hour, impotent

word in the politics and history of my country.”

to comply. We do not diminish resistance as a concept if

and destitute.

we say that it embodies an adolescent spirit, provided we If resistance is so powerful as an idea, it might also be because

add, as the feminist psychoanalytic thinker Julia Kristeva

We might call this the psychic undercurrent of resistance,

it is one of the rare words in our political discourse that

reminds us, that adolescence is the moment when the

that is, its ability to tap into our inner worlds. Resistance

contains at its core an acknowledgement of how difficult, as

human mind first takes the measure of its own scope, when

does not just belong on the streets, but in the heart

a state of being in the world, it is to achieve and maintain.

it discovers what it means in life to be propelled by an

where it often finds itself at odds with our most fervent

Paradoxically, the possibility of being quelled feeds the

ideal. Resistance is the political term in which, whatever the

urgency of resistance.

dangers, we lodge our better selves for safe-keeping.

aspirations to make the world, to make the mind’s domain, a better place. For the earliest psychoanalysts, resistance referred to the rejection by polite society of the

But resistance also has another aspect which is perhaps less often talked about. And that is its capacity to stir up the

most troubling discoveries of psychoanalysis itself: the

undercurrents of a political moment which the dominant

perversions of the soul, the sexual transgressions of the psyche, the violence inside each and every one of us which

order would prefer to hide from our sight. Resistance fighters will often appeal to the idea of self-sacrifice in a

we always prefer to think is the exclusive property of

cause for which they will willingly give their lives. But they

somebody else. “We are o

can also play on a more uncanny musical chord, as for example in the case of the mid-1990s Mexican Zapatista Liberation Movement which drew its moral authority

DISCOVER MORE STORIES AND

BY PROFESSOR JACQUELINE ROSE

READ RELATED ARTICLES AT

9

from claiming to speak on behalf of the ‘resistant dead’:

12

QPAC.COM.AU/STORY

13 HMCA12428_A5_QPAC_PD_i30.indd 1

PAG E 9/10

PAG E 11/12

PAG E 14

PAG E 15

Bathroom Signage: Photo: iStock

Illustrated Heart.

Photo: Shutterstock

1967 Detroit Race Riot.

Photo: Alamy.

Photo: Shutterstock

'Fearless Girl' statue face off

6/06/2017 2:35 PM

Engraved Brain.

Photo: Shutterstock

Wall Street Bull in New York.

Photo: Getty Images

We've become a world and part of

They'll give me all the clues I need

that is because of the way we now

IDEAS WORTH singing and dancing about

together; sometimes for great cause

YConnect project at Yeronga State High School and many

complex collective history, I will

students have also spent time at Milpera School, working

somehow be able to nail it to the

the bag. Listening to her is like seeing only the top 5cm tip

The Ultimate Tensile Strength

were five million. I don't know what the number was, but it was 10 times more than what anyone expected. I'm

clues are all there. All you have to

talking just in New York city. Then to

do is pay attention to how are they

see not only what was in New York city,

responding to the material.

but what it was in every major city in

MR PRESIDENT…

world. The world responding to this

I first met President (Trump) when he

event and where we are as a society. We

was dating Marla Maples. Marla Maples

have become more than just a country.

and I were dancing together in The Will

But there is no turning back.

We've become a world and part of

Rogers Follies. So, I actually met him

that is because of the way we now

on a personal level in the basement

communicate through the internet

of the Palace Theatre.

and how it has brought us closer together; sometimes for great cause

UNMET PARENTAL EXPECTATION… So, Harvey (Fierstein, author Kinky Boots musical) was very interested in the common ground that Charlie and Lola shared… both of them were disappointments in their father's eyes.

WITH JERRY MITCHELL

In the bathroom scene in the film when I watched the original source

As an art form that combines words, music and movement and frequently technical wizardry, musicals are well placed to turn their gaze to some of society’s complex and conflicting issues and also to

material, I got very emotional and I thought “Well there's another place”.

change minds. From South Pacific, West Side Story, Book of Mormon or Broadway’s new War Paint musicals are laced with concepts such as acceptance, belonging and understanding. Whether tragic or humorous, at their best they remind us of what is to feel part of something bigger.

and that was one of the songs she

in a very common way because there

wrote. It wasn't complete, but the heart

are no – what do you call it? – there's

of the song was there. I knew at that

no one telling them how to react.

moment that Cyndi would be great

They're just simply reacting.

I think the reason leaders, particularly

HOW ART CAN CHANGE PEOPLE’S MINDS… Last night I had the night off here in Sydney and I went to The Australian

When emotions are heightened in a

Ballet at Sydney Opera House because

musical it's often a place for song. It

when you're in Sydney, you go to the

was a place where I wanted that scene

theatre; you go see things. I love seeing

to be turned into a beautiful song

things. It’s not the first time I've seen

about not living up to the expectations

the Company and I'm quite a fan of

of a father and also how the two men

them. I saw a modern ballet called

discover at that moment that they're

Bach and there were three pieces to it.

on common ground.

I was interested in watching the audience respond.

Kinky Boots Director and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell has a slew of hits and awards. What was it about this story that captured his imagination and why does he think art can change the world?

That was the request to Cyndi (Lauper, music and lyrics Kinky Boots musical) –

That’s what makes the theatre and

can you write a song that says we are

arts so spectacular because you have a

the same? She came up with Not My

community of people sitting in a dark

Father's Son which was perfect. It was

place not under a spotlight. They don't

just perfect. It was one of the first songs

have to look around and see how their

she wrote on spec for the musical. She

friends are reacting. They're actually

sort of auditioned to do the show for

visually reacting to what they're seeing

Harvey and I by writing a few songs

and often as a group they find the truth

I watched him as a person and

and sometimes for terrible reasons.

I experienced him as a person.

But there is no turning back.

I could be a president. I could be

for this musical. leaders who want to be dictators, are

loudmouths of society, if we want to

the world is change happens and we have to learn to live with the change

I think based on simply that there

as it’s happening and hopefully make

are many people who think he could

the best choices with that change. That the most powerful days. I remember going to that march and how it made

EXPERIENCE…

a lot of cases. We get up and we see it as we see it, and if the society is a free society, we can't be taken to task for telling the truth.

B Y K AT H L E E N N O O N A N

day, that march day was truly one of

many people who think they could be a better president.

RESISTANCE AS LIVED

be, and also the unspoken heroes in

The one thing about life and about

as much of a president as he is a president. The resistance to him is

be a great president and there are

resistant to the arts is because the arts talks about things that they don't want talked about. We are kind of the

We are counting borders. Was it four or five? I can’t keep up, looking over scribbled notes. Is that four or five countries? We are gathered

I felt. That's what happened on the day,

I must say that one of the most

the Women's March day. You couldn't

rewarding days in the past six months

help but feel suddenly “Oh, I'm

was the Women's March day, for me

not alone”.

and learning coping mechanisms through HEAL, Home of

butterfly specimen. Foolishly striving

Expressive Arts and Learning. Formed in 2012, it exists to

to shoehorn something unruly and

do research.

It is not difficult to understand why anyone flees the

in a school theatre at Yeronga State High School and, on stage, students are describing their journeys.

personally. Many of us were feeling

provide creative arts therapy to young people of refugee

messy into a neat box, I write down a

backgrounds through the provision of mental health services

bunch of words – resist, combat, counter, oppose, defy, refrain, desist, struggle, fight,

and settlement assistance. They are familiar with art, music

Democratic Republic of Congo, the most dangerous place on

and drama as a tool for unpacking the unspeakable. “I faced

bear, battle, counteract, defy, refuse, repel,

Earth to be a woman today, where it is riskier to be a female

much war in my country,’’ says Mary, a Tamil from civil war-

stonewall, thwart. (Hmm, those daily

than it is to be a soldier. In a country

torn Sri Lanka. “My dad was in the war.

of more than 67 million people,

He died when I was three months. It’s

In scientific terms, resistance is 'the

so difficult to forget my dad. I moved

capacity to withstand the effects of a

WHEN WE

87 percent live on less than $1.45 a

to many different countries to come

harmful physical agent'. Yet that doesn’t

CROSSED A

quite encompass what’s on display.

BORDER, IT WAS

three years, then moved to Indonesia,

– Malawi’s primary hosting ground for refugees – has swelled to 26,000 people, most women and children – as more cross the Malawian border in hope of escaping political insecurity.

About 90 percent of food for refugees

HARD TO CROSS.

is made up of humanitarian assistance

YOU CAN SEE

– maize, pulses, fortified vegetable oil and fortified, blended food to

PEOPLE LYING

prevent malnutrition. With shortages, refugees are forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms, including early child marriage for girls. Consider all

crosswords have come in handy.)

to Australia – Sri Lanka, then to India

day. And what’s a refugee camp like in Malawi? Well, Dzaleka Refugee Camp

THERE, INJURED

that, and the fact that Estella is sitting

AND YOU CAN’T

Australia, on a lovely winter’s day

me feel better just to be surrounded by people who were feeling the same way

page, like a scientist pins a collected

on English literacy so that it is not an albatross in future life,

of the summit of Everest and thinking you understand every step of the mountainous dangerous climb. So, you need to

on a stage in leafy Yeronga, Brisbane, telling her story, is nothing short of incredible.

DO ANYTHING.

Until I realise… we are watching young

in a refugee camp then to Malaysia for

people capable of absolute adaptability.

It’s a survival tactic honed in high

and came by boat. It was very hard.’’

school, as well as hostile countries.

Somalian-born Sadia, now in Year 12,

Let’s stay close to this kind of strength

moved from country to country. “When

for a while. It’s not a rigid unbending

we crossed a border, it was hard to cross.

resistance but the exact opposite: rigid

You can see people lying there, injured

suggests inflexible and therefore prone

and you can’t do anything.”

to breaking under pressure. These students have revealed – in all their

Some of the students recently visited

different ways – a durability, a tensile

QPAC's Lyric Theatre to see the latest revival of irresistible hit musical My Fair Lady. “Oh my,” says Hanifah, originally

closed in mock ecstasy. “It was the most

years at the helm of Milpera, Brisbane’s state high school

people like my cousins. Since drama I feel much better talking to others.

You share ideas.'

Like Remi, now in Year 11, from the

students as Meriam acts out navigating

strife-ravaged Congo. “There was

her way to where she wants to go –

hunger and danger in my life, shooting.

foremost, a blueprint. So, if their form of resistance is a kind of tensile

I have been here nine years and have

strength, then drama and arts, surely,

got used to it. I’m not scared anymore.’’

is non-destructive testing. It’s taking

So, patience also is a form of action.

I scribble ‘ultimate tensile strength’, in my notebook, underline it. From an engineering mate, I know scientists conduct experiments to test for it involving two vices applying tension

home, every school, and every new

to, say, a metal beam by stretching it

language. Morphing, shape-shifting.

to breaking point, testing its capacity to withstand load. A thing’s ultimate pulled apart. Then, ideally, at some point with the pressure off, the object

story on which the 1956 musical was based, travel 100 years –

can return to its original shape and

leapfrogging countries, class divides, language gaps?

size, without too much distortion or hardening. That’s the big trick: without

On paper, it shouldn’t. It’s the tale of a cockney flower girl

distortion or hardening. Looking at

and a phonetics professor, forgawksake, so not immediately

university. A little play is, first and

I could pretty much hear the shooting.

On the way here, I was pretty terrified.

tensile strength is its resistance to being

all of it.” Wouldn’t George Bernard Shaw

kick around the idea of resistance with Adele Rice AM, one

Don’t worry, these are actual journeys, not those things contestants on Masterchef go

Australian people and I only talked to

strength, expanded and shrinking when

It’s a hell of a stunt.

beautiful thing. The dresses… the stage…

'Before I used to be scared to talk to

they had to, to survive – every camp, every country, every move, every

from Uganda, holding the sides of her face with her hands, rocking, big eyes

be bemused to see his 1913 Pygmalion These students, from Sri Lanka, India, the Congo, Zambia, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, you name it, have gathered to of the most inspirational educators in the state. After 28

alone or betrayed or lost and “What can

Our truth in art is there for everyone

Drama, art and creative play have been a significant part of their healing and learning. They have all been part of The

the story is too small. It is that it may be too huge, as if it might engulf and swamp the ship, if entirely allowed out of

shown up. They expected, I don't know, 50,000 and there were 250,000, or they expected a million and there

about, if they cry, if they don't cry, if they laugh, if they don't laugh. The

America and in every major city in the

and sometimes for terrible reasons.

She, like others, tells her story in shorthand, quietly, quickly.

It’s over in a sentence. Blink and you’ll miss it. It’s not that

was breathtaking because there were 10 times as many people who had

trying to guide them in a direction I want them to go. If they clap, if they don't clap, if they get bored and rustle

and how it has brought us closer

When I got to the Women's March it

to make that piece a better piece or a clearer piece for them, to understand what it is I'm trying to say or how I'm

communicate through the internet

the deadly grenade apart without any danger of it going off in someone’s face. Quiet and slim as a reed, Meriam, originally from Somalia, aspires to go to university to become a social worker but knows she will face considerable hurdles – at home, financially, academic demands. There is laughter as unexpected words spill out, solutions to challenges found. “Drama helps me a lot,’’ says Meriam. “Before I used to be scared to talk to Australian people and I only talked to people like my cousins.

Since drama I feel much better talking to others.You share ideas.’’

Komi is keen to talk. His deep,

to come in and judge it on their

we do?”, “How do we respond?” I decided I needed to go to the Women's March

on from accountant to opening a dessert bar. Many of these students are refugees and

for refugee and migrant students, she understands they

refugee-relevant material. Yet, it is a tale of a vulnerable

these students – laughing, warm and

own terms.

corduroy voice fills the theatre. His

which was on 42nd Street then coming

these journeys involve – in some cases – thousands of kilometres, some on foot, five or

have witnessed guilt, grief, terror and adjustment after being

human being plucked from a precarious life and parachuted

quietly articulate – it’s clear they have

parents were born in the small troubled

READING AN AUDIENCE… Well you know, as a Director and

up Sixth Avenue there was a Broadway

six countries, fleeing murderous regimes, packed refugee camps, random gunfire, wide

torn from their roots. They were encircled by history. It

into a foreign world, struggling with the language and culture,

contingent. I thought “Well I'll go for

seas, many years and empty promises. Some involve leaving family members behind.

takes forces beyond your control – civil wars, disasters, dire

while fighting for identity. All while trying to learn to speak

maybe feel better to see others”.

audience, if I pay attention to the audience and I don't fall in love with my own stuff, they'll tell me.

poverty, ethnic hate, persecution or unrest – to take to your

English perfectly. They left the theatre alongside the Brisbane

then moved to South Africa where life was difficult so we moved to Tanzania then to a

heels. Of this group of Years 11 and 12, aged 16 to 20, many

River singing The Rain in Spain.

refugee camp in Malawi where we stayed for 10 years, and then moved to Australia.’’

have just one parent in Australia. Some have none. Two have

All involve leaving something profound behind. Like Estella: “I was born in the Congo,

a few hours and I'll march and I'll

Choreographer of musicals, when I'm working on a new musical the

K I N K Y B OOT S

From 22 August 2017

babies. For a few, home life is extremely challenging with

As the students onstage explore the idea of resistance,

Lyric Theatre, QPAC

parents overwhelmed with trauma and grief.

I am doing the arrogant thing journalists do – pen poised

more ultimate tensile strength than

nation of Togo in Africa, then moved to

the Sydney Harbour Bridge. What a

Ghana where he was born. He topped

nation-building resource they are.

The action switches to a drama game.

Professor Judith McLean, Scholar in Residence at QPAC, is directing

his lessons from Year 1-6 in Africa but on arriving in Australia – with no English – struggled. “I used to have anger issues,’’ he says. “But having to be around a lot more people in

drama helped me in different ways to handle rage building

Female refugee students often must negotiate rockier

up. Having different people to talk to when something is

shoals. Imagine as a bright young woman, even

triggered… does help me in terms of handling anger.’’ He

your family and cultural inheritance has only marriage and babies planned for you. Try even harbouring that

reacting to… Now I love the arts – performing and creative

radical thought. Whispering that three-letter word:

arts.’’ Robert Dessaix, one of Australian’s finest writers and

uni. That’s outlaw territory. That’s rebel thinking.

broadcasters writes in his latest book The Pleasures of Leisure,

Afghanistan, who received serious burns to her body in a fire that killed her father and brother. Her hands

to do. It is what you choose to do. It is what sets you apart

were so severely burnt, she needed 30 operations at

from our sister, brother, parents, because it is yours. It is

Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. For much

utterly you. The essence of exactly who you are’’. Could it

of her young life, she has been at the whim of world

be that these students’ ultimate resistance is holding on – in

events and terrible circumstances. Quiet for most of

all circumstances – to what is essentially themselves without

the session, now Masoumeh takes the microphone.

distortion or hardening, despite everything. Existence

“Drama has helped me with my confidence. I’m

can be resistance but living a good life, flourishing with

now comfortable talking to other people.’’ The most

moments of joy, is surely resistance in full flight.

rebellious act can be sharing words. Masoumeh aspires

Can we talk about resistance without referring to the

who oversees and orchestrates the staging of a play.

to be not an actor but a theatre director, the person subversive everyday work of love and hope, in the face of

The head honcho, in charge of the destiny of the

random casual racism on the street? All that ‘fitting in’ can

whole damn thing. Of course she does. The bell rings.

be exhausting. And being in a safe country and welcoming

They pick up their gear and wander back to class.

school does not mean all pressure simply falls away.

There is the push-pull of a new culture versus your old culture, and of course, what all students complain about in high school: parental expectations. Out of school, Komi loves computer gaming, sports and playing drums. He is thoughtful and articulate. “You could be a diplomat’’ a teacher says. His father wants him to pursue engineering or architecture. How is the maths? “It is laughable, Miss!’’

– believing if I just find the right words to sum up their

Among this group is Masoumeh, a UN refugee from

“When we play we are most intensly ourselves. Your chosen play or leisure is not what you have to do or are expected

20

23

contemplating pursuing university and a career when

experienced bullying in primary school. “I was short fused.

A lot of the time I’d react to something that’s not worth

YCO N N E C T P R OJ E C T I S A R E S E A R C H PA R T N E R S H I P B E T W E E N G R I F F I T H U N I V E R S I T Y A N D Y E R O N G A S TAT E H I G H S C H OO L. I T M E AS U R E S T H E I M PAC T O F A R T S A N D C U L T U R A L PA R T I C I PAT I O N F O R YO U N G P E O P L E.

24

PAG E 22

PAG E 23

PAG E 25/26

Kinky Boots Illustation Illustrator: Carissa Jackson

World Stencil Photo: Shutterstock

The Ultimate Tensile Strength Photos: Jasmine Ellem

H

OP E

PAG E 19 Costume Design Photographer: Robert Catto YAY

for

i will not be silent.

Yo rub u’re b recy ish at clin g

PE AC E

Each gift was delivered with a handwritten note putting a

GAY PUT YO

UR

we shall overcome

NOPE.

POSIT IVE PANT S ON

H LOV GEAS N E ND O ER

women's rights are human rights

Craftivism

EQUAL RIGHTS

I started knitting in 2000 at the age of 25. At this point I was putting together how I viewed the world still, and began to see how craft and activism were inherently connected. How what we make with our hands is not only an act of agency for ourselves, it also can be an expression of our world view, which we can use to connect with others. I started to connect those dots over a few years and when a friend in a knitting circle came up with the word craftivism one night when I was talking about it, I decided that was the license I needed to share my thoughts on the subject with the wider world. To my surprise and delight, I wasn’t the only one who thought those two things meshed together well.

meat is murder

I wasn’t an activist in any sense of the word beforehand. I was raised in the American South and the act of protesting was pretty much the antithesis of my upbringing. But, as I began to see that creating in itself is a form of activism, ‘this is where my soul lies’. Craftivism came from a place of wanting to give and find goodness in this world. To my greatest awe, it’s become a construct based on those two things that’s been fine-tuned by the hands of many.

Trump and being back in the south now, I was feeling

I’ve been a craftivist since 2008 but I’ve always been an activist. I grew up in a low-income area of Liverpool in the 1980s and aged three I was present with my parents and other local residents trying to save good local housing from demolition.

At secondary school I successfully campaigned for lockers

working for large charities as a professional activist and

see how this fight was intergenerational.

movement-builder.

And to see so many handmade hats, to see products of so

But by 2008 I was a burnt-out activist. I’m an introvert;

phenomenal. I know the march had critics, and rightly so, but seeing so many crafters come together for this

campaigner was online and not very creative.

to stitch on a train journey when I felt

It’s also about me creating what I was looking for in the

too travel-sick to work. I immediately

world. When I was 25, I was on a super destructive path

experienced how handicrafts could

mired with alcohol and depression and having a hard time

help address some of my difficulties

finding my people as it were. Who knew that talking about

with traditional forms of activism

an idea would have led to the creation of a like-minded

and add to the activism toolkit what I

community? Finding craft saved my life, and finding

call ‘slow activism’, ‘mindful activism’,

craftivism saved my spirit.

’intriguing activism’, ‘quiet activism’ and ‘graceful activism’.

RACHEL

"Finding craft saved my life, and finding craftism saved my spirit"

I Googled ‘craft and activism’ to see

I have been a keen crafter for a number of years, working

if others agreed that the two could

across a variety of mediums to create wearables, sculpture,

combine for social change. Betsy Greer coined the term

and photographic pieces. I guess you could say that I

‘craftivism’ in 2003 but I couldn’t find any craftivism projects

and communities.

has been amazing! Craftivist groups have been popping up, craftivist projects have been started and through the #craftivism hashtag on social media, people can share like-minded ideas as well as get inspired by what others are up to.

On a quieter level, the most powerful intervention I’ve been a part of has been knitting items for charity, something I’ve been doing off and on since I started knitting. I say quieter because it’s something many people do, but don’t really talk about. But it gives

people agency to create change in the world and directly help other people. For some stitchers, it elevates what some

or groups I could join. With Betsy’s blessing I created my

may see as an obsolete hobby to something that is important and meaningful. It also connects people together in these

after people around the world wanted to join in with my

efforts and creates lasting friendships, it’s a much quieter

a message. It was empowering to realise that the things realise that I can use craft to make some noise and make a difference. Through my projects I hope to encourage

activism should be beautiful, kind and fair. Being a craftivist can be world-changing, one stitch at a time if delivered with care, courage and compassion.

RACHEL My project Apomogy would have to be my biggest, personal

The organisation ShareAction had been trying to get a

act of craftivism to date. Apomogy is a communal art project,

meeting with the company but the Chief Executive kept

where people share their apologies via a pom pom. Since

refusing. The CEO of ShareAction contacted me for help.

launching my Apomogy project in 2015, I have received

I had five weeks before the company AGM (annual general

thousands of submissions from across the world. I photograph

meeting) to plan a craftivism campaign to get a Living Wage

the contributions and share them daily on the @apomogy

for their lowest paid employees. My aim was to create a

instagram page. I have also exhibited the Apomogies in a

craftivism project that would initiate a new relationship

number of intimate gallery spaces around Australia.

with the company and encourage them to become Living Wage employers.

I asked 24 craftivists across the UK to hand stitch positive messages onto the company’s handkerchiefs that connected

these apologies feels like an act of defiance and resistance…

to the 14 board members, the five Chief Investment

particularly to the #sorrynotsorry movement and the trend of

Officers of its largest shareholders and five of its celebrity

idyllic self curation (particularly occurring on social media).

spare time purpose. This, to me, is important because it

At its heart, craftivism is about creating dialogue and

ambassadors. The handkerchief gifts encouraged them not to ‘blow it’ but to use their power to lead the way in the retail sector.

Apomogy has brought about change in small ways for people who have interacted with the project. Some have been moved to share a verbal apology with someone who they felt deserved

effecting change, and that comes about both in scores of

Each craftivist was encouraged to research their allocated

it, others have simply felt an immense sense of catharsis

similarly made hats worn in protest and in helping people

person to make their ‘gift’ attractive and engaging: for

simply by taking the step to share their story. My own life has

feel useful and that they are giving back. The ways in which

example one board member seemed a thoughtful introvert

been affected by the project, in that an old friend (who I had

people can use craftivism in their own lives are endless, and

and received a quote from Rosa Parks saying “memories

previously had an awful falling out with) used the project to

Definitely seeing all the pussy hats made for the Women’s

it’s always lovely to see how people are connecting craft and

of our lives, of our works and of our deeds will continue

Marches held around the world. With the election of Donald

activism to better the lives of themselves and others.

get back in touch with me and say I’m sorry we’re not friends anymore. Her apomogy led us to repair our friendship and let go of the old argument which was definitely occupying a nasty space in our minds!

in others” alongside the words “Please don’t blow your opportunity to support life-changing decisions".

others to do the same!

30

Cold Chisel - Khe Sahn • Common - The People • Common & John Legend - Glory • Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son • D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better • Dan Sultan It Belongs To US • Dead Letter Circus - While You Wait • Dead Letter Circus - The Burning Number • Dropkick Murphys - Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya • Edwin Starr - War • Enter the Shikari Sssnakepit • Enter the Shikari - Gandhi Mate Gandhi • Faithless - Mass Destruction (P*Nut & Sister Bliss Mix is the best version) • Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised • Goanna - Solid Rock • Grandmaster Flash - The Message • Green Day - Holiday • Green Day - Minority • Green Day - American Idiot • Helen Reddy - I Am Woman • Imagine Dragons Radio Active • India Arie – I Am Not My Hair • James Newton Howard - the hanging tree (Jennifer Lawrence - Mockingjay) • Janelle Mona - Cold War • Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N • Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers • John Butler Trio - Revolution and Something’s Gotta Give • John Farnham - You’re The Voice • John Legend - Wake up Everybody • John Lennon - Power To The People

Apomogy has served as a powerful tool for people to share the things that they may otherwise keep silent or hidden by bringing them to the foreground. The act of sharing

effort, but I’ve heard from many individuals, usually older

BETSY

I made could be far from just decorative – it made me

in wages in line with Living Wage rates for 50,000 employees of a well-known retail company in the UK, allowing people to work and live with dignity.

women, who say creating items for donation has given their

WHAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL OR EFFECTIVE CRAFT INTERVENTION YOU’VE BEEN PART OF?

I have gone on to launch the Apomogy project (saying

One craftivism project I created in 2016 led to an increase

projects. Over the years I’ve been learning, in this ever-

helps strengthen community ties.

you’re sorry through a pom pom). Both projects taught

been discussed before our campaign.

If we want our world to be beautiful, kind and fair I believe our

SARAH

changing world, where and how craft can be a powerful tool for positive change.

me how I can use my craft to make a difference and spread

29

and after their wage increase announcement Board members told me that our handmade gifts had touched them and put the Living Wage at the top of their agendas when it had not

Since January, there has been a sharp uptick in people wanting to do craftivist work, which

own projects and founded the Craftivist Collective in 2009

I ended up doing two large-scale dressmaking projects over a few years via my website i make. you wear it. cumulatively raising over $10,000 for charity. Since then,

appeals to us all: the way you’ve done this is remarkable. It’s a campaign that is thoughtfully done and heartfelt. We feel every

A Tribe Called Quest - We The People • AB Original - Jan-26 • Against Me - Black Me Out • Against Me - White People for Peace • Ali Barter - Girlie Bits • Anti-Flag - The Press Corpse • Anti-Flag - 1 Trillion Dollar$ • Anti-Flag - Turncoat • Arcade Fire - Intervention • Archie Roach - They Took The Children Away • Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) • Beyoncé - Freedom • Beyoncé - ***Flawless • Beyoncé - Formation • Billy Bragg Between the Wars • Billy Bragg - Which Side are you on? • Billy Bragg - There is Power in a Union (actually, just about anything by Billy pre-1990) • Björk - Declare Independence • Blink 182 What’s My Age Again • Bliss N Eso - Addicted (explicit) • Bliss N Eso - I am Somebody (explicit) • Bloc Party - Kettling • Bob Dylan - Hurricane • Bob Marley - Redemption Song • Bob Marley and The Wailers - Get Up Stand Up • CAKE - Nugget • The Cat Empire - The Chariot • Chemical Brothers - Galvanize • Chumbawamba - Tubthumping • COG - Are You Interested?

bit as heartfelt about our employees". At the AGM a year later

really showed how handmade items still have poignancy and relevancy in our lives

stumbled into craftivism, as I initially started off selling before suddenly having the bright idea to make dresses

us for our gifts in his introductory speech. After the meeting he thanked us again adding that it was “an approach that

continued to create conversation as people talked about them in various ways. They

my hand-made headbands and dress designs to boutiques, specifically to raise money for charity.

fairness issue.

We made 250 craftivism kits to give to shareholders when they arrived at the AGM and the Chair of the Board thanked

was inspiring. After the marches, the hats

like shouting or telling others what disengagement from power-holders

media in a gentle, positive way and show the company that their customers expected them to show leadership on this

many hands that spent several hours making each one was

going to protests, meetings and street stalls asking people to sign petitions drained me. I didn’t

to online quick actions or ‘clicktivism’.

become a Living Wage employer.

I also coordinated a series of ‘stitch-ins’ outside stores of the company across the UK to engage the public and

away to friends) was about realizing we are not in this alone, we are in it together. Four of the hats I made were given to two mother-daughter sets, and that made me so hopeful to

Much of my work as a professional

on the difficultly of employees living below a living wage, as well as the difficult role the hanky-receivers had, but how wonderful a legacy they could have by helping their company

of the culture going backwards now he had seemingly normalized certain types of behavior. For me, making the hats (I made six all together, wearing one and giving five

for the students and at university I campaigned on global

to do. I worried about the increasing

well as how the maker used the time creating the gift to reflect

increasingly worried about how some of his comments were going to be extrapolated by society at large. Having been assaulted in various ways over the years, I was so scared

issues and spent the first seven years of my adult career

cross-stitch craft kit from a local shop

BETSY

my thoughts began to pivot from, ‘activism isn’t for me’ to

it's time

SARAH

In the summer of 2008 I picked up a

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN CRAFTIVISM… WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

PUGS NOT DRUGS

DRAFT BEER NOT BOYS

robust business case for a Living Wage for their employees as

Well known as a powerful tool for individual physical and mental health, craft also has a long history as a tool for the expression of political dissent.

Around the world craft activism or craftivism, a term coined by American Betsy Greer in 2003, is growing as a way to advocate for social change in a very personal, intimate and gentle way. Three of its leading proponents – Betsy Greer from the United States, Sarah Corbett from the UK and Australia’s Rachel Burke – share some of their stories.

26

This time, we know we all can stand together. With the power to be powerful, believing, we can make it better.

John Lennon - Imagine • John Lennon - Power to the People • Kanye West - Who will survive in America • Katy Perry - Roar • Kendrick Lamar - Alright • Lady Gaga - Born This Way • Les Misérables - Do you hear the people sing • M People - Search for the Hero • M.I.A. - Born Free • Major Lazer - Get Free • Marvin Gaye - What's Goin' On • Matilda the Musical - Revolting Children • MGMT - The Youth • Michael Jackson - They Don’t Care About Us • Michael Kiwanuka Black Man in a White World • Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning • Midnight Oil - US Forces • Muse - Uprising • Muse - Resistance • N.W.A. - F*ck the Police • Neil Young - Rockin in the Free World • New Radicals - You Get What You Give • Nickelback - If Everyone Cared • No Doubt - I’m Just a Girl • One Day – Matisyahu • Patti Smith - People have the Power • Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody - From Little Things Big Things Grow • Pearl Jam - Indifference • Honey County - People Loving People • Pharrell Williams - Freedom • P!nk- Raise your Glass • Pink Floyd- Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) • PNAU - No More Violence • Public Enemy Fight the Power • Queen - Don’t stop me now • Rachel Platten - Fight Song • Radiohead - Idioteque • Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name • Rage Against the Machine - Renegades of Funk (probably their most accessible song) • Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade • Red Gum - A Walk In the Green Light (I Was Only Nineteen) • Rihanna - Cheers (drink to that) • Rise Against - Prayer of the Refugee • Rise Against - Hero of War • Run the Jewels - Close your eyes • Sam Cooke - Change is Gonna Come • Sara Bareilles - Brave • Script - Hall of fame • The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army • Solange - Don't Touch My Hair • Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence • Sucker - 28 Day (language warning) • The Beatles - Revolution (either single or album version) • The Clash - Guns of Brixton • The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control • The Jam - Eton Rifles / A Town Called Malice • The Living End - Prisoner of Society • The Presets - My People • The Real McKenzies - The Tempest • The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want • The Style Council - Shout To The Top / Walls Come Tumbling Down • Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers- I Won't Back Down • Tracy Chapman - Talkin' bout a revolution • Tracy Chapman - Fast Car • U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday • Warumpi Band - Blackfella/Whitefella • Yothu Yindi - Treaty

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PAG E 27/28

PAG E 29/30

PAG E 32

PAG E 33/34

Badge Illustration Illustrator: Jackie Elliott

Apomogy Photo: Rachel Burke Hankie Craftivism Photo: Craftivism Collective

Pussy Hats Photo: Shutterstock

Soundtrack to Resistance Illustrator: Jackie Elliott

Immunity to Change

cultural brokers. Bennelong’s legacy is less revered as one of resistance having taken a liking to the Governor’s lodgings, food, clothing and liquor. Early accounts celebrated the possibility of his civilisation into white society observed by

Still Here

his ability to grasp the English language. In 1792, Bennelong travelled with Phillip to England to meet King George III however on his return he was less interested in assisting

In contemporary public discourse,

the British. He returned to his old habits, mixing with his own people in nearby Aboriginal settlements, cast as a

be said. His voyage and benevolent treatment in Great Britain

presence, Indigenous resistance too is misunderstood. We

For as long as Indigenous peoples’ presence has been understood by white people, it has been misunderstood. From the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius which insisted we were incapable of land ownership, to racial theories insisting we were the missing link between apes and humans, to contemporary debates insisting we aren’t authentically Indigenous; white explanations of Indigenous presence can be variously categorised as dehumanising, invisibilising, fanciful and fraudulent.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples have and

as continuously present and exclusively in possession

One of the earliest documented acts of Indigenous

continue to assert our humanity and our identity via a

of Mer and its surrounding islands and reefs. Historian

resistance can be traced to Pemulwuy, a Bidjigal warrior of

relationship to the land that has and always will be, ours.

Professor Noel Loos and close friend of Eddie Koiki Mabo has described the ‘accidental’ origins of Mabo’s legal action

1700s, Pemulwuy led several successful attacks against

in his book Edward Koiki Mabo: His Life and Struggle for Land

the British over a period of 12 years, most of which were

death reintegrates our body with that of our mother the

Rights. Working as a gardener at James Cook University in the 1970s, Mabo spent time in the university library

Several expeditions were launched to capture and kill

learning about white misunderstandings of Indigenous

Pemulwuy however he managed to evade them on many

nationhood has been built, of ‘land belonging to no-one’.

presence. It was during a casual lunchtime conversation with Loos and historian Professor Henry Reynolds, that Mabo

combat, these narrow escapes led people to believe that

was shocked to learn that his land was not recognised as

he was a clever man immune to British bullets. However

river, And where is your wine? There is only the river”.

Indigenous women such as Truganini, Pearl Gibbs, Essie Coffie, Oodgeroo and Mum Shirl to name but a few. While

effort, is a testament to Indigenous resistance, in a form

demise. The continued growth of the Aboriginal and Torres

belonging to the Meriam people. According to Loos, over

in 1802, Pemulwuy was shot and killed after an order was

frustration with Indigenous presence and Indigenous

Strait Islander population at rates in excess of growth

the years, Mabo sat in on a number of classes, seminars and

issued to capture him dead or alive. Decapitated, his head

peoples’ unwillingness to comply with, or conform to

witnessed in the Australian population is itself a testament

conferences to contest and correct claims about Indigenous

to Indigenous resistance to the colonial project. It is both

presence. He described one encounter in which Mabo

in our presence and through our presence that Indigenous

“did his dance… [and] exploded into a physical and very

resistance is evident.

It was not until after two centuries of white invasion that Indigenous presence was legally recognised by the High Court of Australia. The landmark Mabo decision (1992) refuted the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius after a 10 year legal battle which recognised the Miriam people

vocal demonstration of his Islander identity”. Eddie Koiki Mabo passed six months prior to the High Court’s decision, however throughout his life and in death, he resisted white claims about Indigenous presence. His legacy is reflective of a long and varied tradition of Indigenous resistance across the nation.

was sent to England and has yet to be returned home.

colonial aspirations for them. Regardless of our location,

A few years prior to Pemulwuy’s murder, Woollarawarre

either culturally incommensurable with the modern world

from the likes of Andrew Bolt and

Indigenous presence is framed as flawed or failing, deemed

Bennelong, a Cadigal man of the Eora nation had too

or culturally inauthentic as an Aborigine. Yet Indigenous

been captured, by order of Governor Arthur Phillip.

parts of the country aren’t really

in the red dirt – continues to be

Aboriginal, because according to them,

problematized and contested. And

learn more about Aboriginal people and foster harmonious

each and every time we are compelled

song We Have Survived.

36

undone. As audiences we want to shout out, warn them ‘Pay attention, you’re in danger, don’t do that, change what you’re doing before it’s too late’.

So counter-intuitively by surfacing and naming our fears Their tragic downfall happens because of their refusal to

we discover why it doesn’t make sense to change. ‘If I

and controlled – but like Pemulwuy,

Reconciliation into the attitudes of

Bennelong and Mabo, we are

give up sugar, I’ll be depriving myself of the thing that

understand what compels them to act. Think about Romeo’s

compelled to resist.

brings me pleasure and in my busy life I need a reward

impulsivity, Hamlet’s indecisiveness and procrastination,

Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1990s found that “no matter where

Lear’s egotism and inability to see his daughter’s truthfully,

or if I exercise, I’ll look foolish and people might reject

We are still here.

the research was conducted, the

me’. Here lies the immunity, the protection. I remain

Macbeth’s unbridled ambition and blindness to his wife’s

committed to not giving up sugar because I don’t like

madness, and spectacularly Othello’s blind jealousy which

‘real’ Indigenous people were

feeling deprived, I’m committed to not exercising

ends Desdemona’s life. Despite their enormous stature

always somewhere else”.

because I don’t want to look stupid…

Shakespeare doesn’t allow any of them to understand means to change.

here. We are ever present – as is

Our fears and resistances are there to protect us and,

our resistance.

built up over a lifetime, they work out of full

37

PEMULWUY! FINALE CONCERT – VOICES FROM THE TRENCHES

BENNELONG Bangarra Dance Theatre

2 July 2017 Concert Hall, QPAC

25 August – 2 September 2017 Playhouse, QPAC

THE MABO ORATION 2017 28 August 2017 Playhouse, QPAC

he had one.' 'I shall take the heart,' returned the Tin Woodman, 'for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best

1893 Great Depression.

thing in the world.'

Using the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion as

Whether it’s big ‘C’ change leading a country, or an families, there is one certainty – change is never easy. What Kegan and Laskow Lahey’s model and encounters with art

for themselves, hence acquiring a brain. The Tin Man

offer are meetings with the unknowable.

as human beings isn’t just the subject matter of tragedies.

we can begin to change.

A failure to look at what sits underneath make-believe

Long before Kegan and Laskow Lahey, Shakespeare had

of Oz. Audiences relate to a Scarecrow’s need for a brain,

lots to say about what happens when we can’t surface our

a Tin Man in search of a heart and a Cowardly Lion looking

fears. Think about his great tragedies. In every situation

for courage. Yet, many have speculated that writer L. Frank

39

Attacking our resistance to change by dismantling our

metaphor for William Jennings Bryan, encouraging

protections, we’re able to telescope our big assumptions

him to find his courage as the Democrat Presidential

testing their validity and grip on our lives. In art it’s the

candidate for the 1896 election to speak out for American

flawed and dysfunctional characters acting as archetypes that we use as litmus indicators measuring our own lives

families and the country’s future posterity.

these assumptions in action and stay alert to them that

organisation or little ‘c’ change, leading ourselves and our

to see the Scarecrow as representing American farmers and their 19th century troubles, urging them to think

their workers, in essence to find a heart, and the Lion as a

in relation to others. As Kegan and Laskow Lahey suggest:

Certainly a resistance to change and an ability to develop

consciousness. Interestingly, it’s not until we surface

'All the same,' said the Scarecrow, 'I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if

parable, it focuses on the need for the United States to come together and make significant changes after the

representing the industrial steel industries need to look after

what’s driving their irrationality or provide them the

But we are still here, right now, right

Pauline Hanson has a long tradition in this country and extends beyond

Baum had much more in mind when he wrote the book at the beginning of the 20th century. If read as a political

allegorical devices, it’s suggested Baum wanted audiences

characters’ fears is the stuff of the famous musical The Wizard

Address proudly proclaimed; “you can’t change the rhythm of my soul, you can’t tell me just what to do” in the iconic

and ‘son’ of Phillip, lauded as one of the first Aboriginal

change. What we’re protecting ipso facto works steadfastly to ensure we’re not achieving our goals.

Australians toward Aboriginal and

is an act of resistance. In 1981 Aboriginal band No Fixed

relationships between the local Aboriginal population

to see things as they really are that ultimately brings them

exercising – that we come to understand why we can’t

civilise and relinquish our identity as Indigenous peoples

and the settlers. Bennelong became an informant, friend

it’s the tragic heroes’ hubris that makes their downfall so heartbreaking. Despite illustrious careers, his heroes lack an

the domain of conservative right-

women and men have long recognised that our refusal to

Bennelong’s capture we are told, was to enable Phillip to

we come to understand why we can’t change.

sugar and exercised regularly.

And, here’s where the insight has a chance to emerge.

ability to look at what’s really driving them. It’s their inability

to resist. Our presence continues to

to hinder the colonial project. The

achieving the nominated goal, the authors direct us to consider doing the opposite and monitoring what fears come up. In this example, how we’d feel if we gave up

understand internal resistances.

It’s by being intensely curious about naming the fears

be curtailed, surveilled, regulated

contestation of Indigenous identities

we do the opposite that

be eating a diet high in sugar and not doing enough exercise. After an exhaustive list of what’s interfering with

They claim failure is in large part due to our own inappropriate operating system, causing a mismatch between the world’s complexity and our ability to

that surface if we do the opposite– stop eating sugar and

by the Council for Aboriginal

in contemporary public discourse

are currently doing and not doing. An example might

Laskow Lahey believe that it’s the way we’ve traditionally approached change that gets in the way of our success.

unexpected of places. Our presence

there is nothing tribal or traditional

land in which we come from continues

to change model asks us to look closely at what we

Harvard leadership Professors Robert Kegan and Lisa

– on a sporting field, in a courtroom,

about our way of life. It is thus hardly

we are, and refusal to relinquish the

that remains recognisable today.

In contemporary public discourse, there remains a

improvement goal to improve my diet. The immunity

quite counter-intuitive. Don’t despair if this sounds heady,

other eight – full of good intentions, but never quite achieving your longed for goals.

in the academy, on city streets, or

the reality of Indigenous presence

surprising that research conducted

Indigenous peoples’ refusal to die out,

affair than first thought. And the secret of success is

the fears that surface if

throughout Australia, insisting that

Indigenous presence both tells us

refusal to go away, refusal to forget who

curious about naming

those not living in the most remote

about resistance and is itself a site of resistance.

tale of Indigenous resistance in the same vein of Pemulwuy and Mabo, his refusal to be civilised, despite every best

occasions. Suffering a number of critical injuries during

Our presence in this country contests colonial mythologies of the doomed and dying race which anticipated our

of Indigenous women’s resistance in our history books and national consciousness, decentring the efforts of

Bennelong’s life may not present as the archetypal heroic

retribution for the misdeeds committed by the settlers.

earth”. Our presence in this country, in life and in death contests the foundational mythology on which Australian

It is via our presence that we continue to resist, in the mundane and most

“Pour your pitcher of wine into the wide

Indigenous resistance has included the invisibilising

the Eora nation. Believed to have been born in the mid-

Goenpul scholar Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson says “The Indigenous body signifies our title to land and our

wing commentators. Innumerable anthropological texts have discounted

Assimilation – No! she writes,

won’t power’ (method). According to the authors this is where things go awry. Let’s consider a scenario, say an

let’s say – lose weight, give up smoking, desist from

In 1989 Noonuccal poet and activist Oodgeroo asserted “the gum cannot be changed into oak”. In her poem,

did, and continue to resist colonisation be it physically, legally and personally. This critical misreading of

It’s by being intensely

A usual approach goes something like this. I decide I

harmful behaviours – or would you be like the

colonial aspirations for them.

Bennelong’s life is thus marked as a tragic tale of a savage incapable of being civilised. However much like our

of a process or thing.

Let me explain…

Turns out identifying the need for change, let alone making necessary changes, is a much more complicated

be one of the one in nine people who could change,

to comply with, or conform to

for civilised life; but every effort was in vain… he was a thorough savage, not to be warped from the form and character that nature gave him by all the efforts that mankind could use”.

"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart."

way of being. To get beneath the ‘big assumption’ we need to dismantle our understanding (the narrative we create)

What if you were given the ultimatum: change your lifestyle, change your beliefs otherwise bad things will happen. Would you

Indigenous peoples’ unwillingness

which were naturally barbarous and ferocious. The principal officers had for many years endeavoured, by the kindest of usage, to wean him from his original habit and draw him into a relish

largely unconscious. They argue we create an overarching or dominant narrative that overwhelms us and our way of thinking, hindering our ability to look at an alternative

want to change (desire) and begin (plan) using ‘will or

with Indigenous presence and

produced no change whatever in his manners and inclinations,

BY DR CHELSEA BOND

work to ensure we can’t succeed. The thesis is that we hold what they call ‘big assumptions’ about ourselves that are

BY PROFESSOR JUDITH MCLEAN

there remains a frustration

drunk, violent and hopeless character. His death in 1813 was followed by an obituary in The Sydney Gazette reading: “Of this veteran champion of the native tribe little favourable can

In their 2009 book Immunity to Change Kegan and Laskow Lahey explain how unacknowledged resistances and fears

This exchange between Baum’s Scarecrow and Tin Man

“Neither change in mindset nor change in behaviour alone

illustrates the certainty with which each reinforces their own

leads to transformation, but each must be employed to

(or their allegorical sectors of American society) long held

bring about the other”.

narratives about human nature and unwillingness to investigate the fears that underpin them:

THE WIZARD OF OZ

40

From 4 November 2017

41

Lyric Theatre, QPAC

PAG E 36

PAG E 37

PAG E 39/40

PAG E 41

"Pimbloy: Native of New Holland in a canoe of that country", engraving, on sheet.

1840. Author: Samuel John Neele (1758-1824) Source: State Library of Victoria. This image is of Australian origin and is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired.

According to the Australian Copyright Council (ACC).

Eddie Mabo Photo: Jim McEwan.

Portrait of an Aboriginal man, named Bennelong Photo: Alamy

Wizard of Oz Illustration Illustrator: Carissa Jackson

Wizard of Oz Illustration Illustrator: Carissa Jackson

B Y

E

R

L U K

R I D G

E

K E

Dear Reader, This letter you hold in your hands has travelled a very long way to find you. It has sailed across the skies battling the winds and weather and chance, looking for you. I sent it away with nothing but a wish. If you are reading this, my wish has come true.

Let me explain.

I was born a tiny thing, so small that my parents could cradle me in the palm of their hands.

“Impossible!” is what the doctors called me, but my parents named me Bambert. I grew a little bit, but not like the other children did. The doctors tried to fix me – stretching my sinews, breaking and resetting my bones – until finally they had to admit, I would never be any taller. I grew old, but not up.

No one could explain it, no one could change it.

I was indeed, ‘Impossible’.

I soon discovered the world was not built for a man like me – my little footsteps could not keep up, my quiet voice could not be heard, my skin was just not thick enough. I was laughed at and pitied and plagued by the feeling I did not belong here – that I had been marooned in some foreign world, shipwrecked on the far side of a dream. I had no choice but to accept it: I did not fit into this world, quite literally.

So, I built my own world.

I had the little attic I lived in completely renovated and everything resized to fit me perfectly. A tiny elevator was installed to connect me to the grocery shop below so that Mr Bloom, the shopkeeper, could send up whatever I needed.

I made sure I never had to go outside again. Ever.

I lived a quiet life, but not a sad one. You see, my body may have failed me, but my mind had not.

The world might have been unkind to me, but I knew how to make other worlds.

I began to write.

In my stories I was free in a way I could

never

be in the outside world. I could travel through time and space as I wished, my body no longer a hindrance. I could finally express all of the things I’d been told to keep on the inside, even my

darkest of feelings. I created characters who were so real to me it was as if they were made of flesh and blood. I cared for them so dearly they became

my family.

My stories became my refuge, but also my resistance. They were my challenge to an indifferent, violent world that values what is big and loud and fast over what is small and gentle and slow. For the first time in my life, I felt powerful. With just a pen and a blank page I could give voice to the smallest people, to forgotten people, to people who dared to see the world differently. I could propose a different way of looking, one that valued art and beauty and truth above all else. I could undo the very worst chapters of history and create new worlds where love prevailed.

I wrote my stories into a big book that I called my Book of Wishes. As it slowly filled up my faith in my act of resistance grew. I was taking a stand, however small, against the cruelty of the world. I was writing a kinder, gentler world into existence.

Then suddenly, I was struck by a fault in my plan.

If my stories were living, breathing things, then

43

A QUESTION

too I knew of Wishes? in my my Book body, them in – in my stories, I trapped to my to be trapped hadn’t same thing it felt like be free, out to the exact well what crying I done were hadn’t hear them attic – my stories that if ers? I could realised to let them my charact well. I I had ce, I needed knew too a cry I freedom of resistan them the be an act to give truly to world, into the go out so for. an idea longed always big idea, my it I had to make is when world out whole And that work, take the my life’s big it would into my stories, each one . I tore I folded happen Wishes. to a little Book of d them of my e and attache from Mr an envelop that I ordered I set my balloon And then, hot air below. s shop I sent them Bloom’ by one by free. One carried stories window and a my attic breeze out of but a gentle float nothing ng them Watchi to find small wish. sky, off st the night happie away on was the homes, their new life. t of my my way momen g up to had been , of standin my stories a world stances Writing n me, my circum forsake stories that had of defying end my world a – In the they where the world in return. that is rejected of adding because that I had my way the world free was back to rt-sized led me my stories Bambe d. Setting – a small, of hope. belonge the world an act hope It was back into myself ated spirit. own homes, find their c of undefe my little would republi hope that my stories faced small, be heard, Hope that be this finally my ce. To would that was differen that they hope – make a still have might and wishes this large, world with a ce. in your of resistan holding true act you are I sent my the letter way letter, sent the same wish. I I sent this the world , with a I out into air balloon the way hands, little hot loves stories story can – on a a e who stories to tell of someon can do, tands that a person it in search unders e who ul thing this letter, do, someon most beautif are reading es be the If you lights hope. sometim this letter act of is that it is an I hope My wish because by hope. e is you. you one fuelled that someon how small your heart, takes no matter fire in ce. It only a little s you that, differen remind make a my story you can es feel, sometim a wish. story. for your is waiting The world Love,

Bambert.

of RELEVANCE

Fierce Façade

MADE BY AN IMMIGRANT

Cultural organisations have claimed for a

BY MARIA VLACHOU

long time to be ‘safe’ or ‘neutral’ places which do not get involved in politics and welcome everyone. However, more and more voices among culture professionals are questioning what ‘safe’ and ‘neutral’ actually mean.

There are many ways and many reasons why we disguise who we are.

The façade of our physical appearance can be a powerful tool in hiding our real selves or resisting the judgement of others. Our disguises run the spectrum from complete transformation to subtle illusion.

Here Callum Francis transforms into Lola in the Australian

#

Does it mean that we should favor anodyne and meaningless narratives, afraid of being challenged and criticised for our views?

production of Kinky Boots.

Does ‘safe’ actually mean ‘safe for us’ rather than ‘safe for them’? Could it be that we would rather not bother and be bothered?

Does ‘safe’ rather mean ‘easy’?

There is no easy way to deal with life in society. Living

GIVEN BY AN IMMIGRANT

in society, finding ways of sharing a common space and acting in it involves tension, and history, art, science reflect this tension. This is why it must also have a place in cultural organisations. However, the question of when and how to take a stand is very pertinent. The danger of getting entangled in partisan politics and personal agendas is real. We do believe, though, that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and most cultural organisations’ mission to promote understanding, dialogue, tolerance and respect, as well as much needed critical thinking, can provide the necessary guidance in making decisions. Should cultural organisations wish to

#

remain relevant in people’s lives, can they remain silent in front of social injustices, intolerance, hate and discrimination?

In 2015, a number of US museum professionals and museum bloggers issued the ‘Museums respond to Ferguson’ statement, questioning the role of cultural organisations, museums in particular, in promoting greater cultural and racial understanding. “New laws

B A M B E R T’S B OO K O F L O S T S TO R I E S

and policies will help, but any movement toward greater cultural and racial understanding and communication

11 – 15 October 2017 Playhouse, QPAC

must be supported by our country’s cultural and

45

46

PAG E 44

PAG E 45/46

PAG E 49/50

Bambert's Book of Lost Stories Photo: Matt Biocich

Given by an Immigrant Photo: Courtesy Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Kinky Boots Photo: Robert Catto

1. FIRST EVER TWEET

22 March 2006

4. OCCUPY MOVEMENT

from 2011

“We are the 99%”: the catch-cry of ‘Occupy’ activists, referring

The Tweet that started it all, from Twitter CEO and

to the disproportionate wealth and influence held by the

co-founder Jack Dorsey.

5. BLACK LIVES MATTER

upper class. Anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters first invited

and after D-Day, was involved in combat with bodies of German troops sent to destroy the Maquis.

New Zealand, on 30 August 1912. Her family moved to Sydney, where she grew up, when Nancy was just 20 months old. She ran away from home at the age of 16 and found work as a nurse, but a windfall enabled her to leave Australia for Europe in 1932. Wake settled in Paris, working for the Hearst group of newspapers as a journalist.

As the 1930s progressed, the rise of German Fascism formed the basis of many of Wake's stories. In 1935 she

September 1944 she left the Resistance and went to SOE

Fearful of being captured she too fled Marseilles and, after

reached England where she began working in the French Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

with strings, and also a percussion instrument, because the strings makes sounds when a hammer hits them. There are more than 200 strings in a grand piano, the tension of which

England. In 1957 she married John Forward, an RAF officer. The couple returned to Australia in 1959. A third

correlates to the pitch. The tension in a concert grand is

attempt to enter politics also failed and she and Forward

close to 30 tons.

ultimately retired to Port Macquarie where they lived until

several thwarted attempts and a brief period in prison,

sound of the instrument.

The piano is both string instrument, because sound is made

again unsuccessfully.

Unsatisfied with life in Australia, Wake returned to

his death in 1997. In December 2001 she left Australia for

Wake escaped across the Pyrenees. In June 1943 she

piano houses more than 7,000 parts – including keys, strings, hammers and pedals – that contribute to the rich and unique

January 1949 aged 37. Shortly afterwards she ran for the

her husband assisting in the escape of Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees from France into neutral Spain.

England where she lived out her remaining years.

Germany Star, Defence Medal, British War Medal 1939-45,

with Palm and French Medaille de la Resistance for her courageous endeavours. Wakes' medals are on display in the Second World War gallery at the Australian War Memorial.

15 December 2014

The decision to display live Tweets in ABC1’s Q&A TV broadcast in May 2010 has led to Tweets in their hundreds of thousands; earning #QandA the no. 4 spot on Twitter in Australia in 2016, and spurring some of the show’s most controversial moments in the process.

3. ARAB SPRING

30 May 2017

7. I’LL RIDE WITH YOU

10. COVFEFE

In the wake of the 2014 siege in Sydney’s Martin

Donald Trump’s infamous (and now-deleted) Tweet

Place, Australians showed their solidarity using

from December 2010

Social media played a key role in the ‘digital democratisation’

led to the introduction of the Communications Over

the hashtag #IllRideWithYou. The Tweet(s) that

Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act

started the movement:

(COVFEFE Act), whereby US presidents’ social media posts could be preserved as public documents.

of North Africa and the Middle East. The Arab Spring revolutions saw a sharp increase in the nations’ social media use, as activists flocked to platforms such as Twitter and

6. ELLEN’S OSCARS SELFIE

Facebook to connect, rally and spark change.

3 March 2014

Ellen DeGeneres’ 2014 Oscars long held the title for most retweets of all time – over 3.4 million (until it was

31 January 2017 9. J.K. ROWLING VS TWITTER TROLLS Author and philanthropist J.K. Rowling has become

overtaken in May 2017 with American student Carter

almost as well-known for taking down Twitter trolls

Wilkerson’s petition for a year’s supply of Wendy’s

as for her novels.

chicken nuggets).

public space to Twitter… the revolution is

per second). These days, many orchestras and ensembles

now broadcast in 140-character bursts to the

tend to deviate from this standard, playing at a higher pitch.

networking platform’s 313 million monthly active users. From the Arab Spring to #BlackLivesMatter

QPAC has six grand pianos tuned between 440 and 442,

French Officer of the Legion of Honour, French Croix de

and stored side stage of the Concert Hall. Visiting pianists

Guerre with Star and two Palms, US Medal for Freedom

Working in the Auvergne region, Wake was engaged in organising parachute drops of arms and equipment,

2. #QANDA

from May 2010

From an upturned wooden crate in a crowded

In the 1930s, an official international standard tuning for orchestras was established which is A=440 Hertz (or cycles

She received the George Medal, 1939-45 Star, France and

After a period of training, Wake returned to France in April 1944 to help organise the Resistance before D-Day.

SOCIAL MEDIA: 21ST CENTURY SOAPBOX

The piano is a complex instrument. Under its lid, a grand

France and the United States but, being unable to adapt to life in post-war Europe, she returned to Australia in Liberal Party against Labor's 'Doc' Evatt and, having been

Resistance after France's surrender in 1940.

Her growing involvement in the Resistance saw Wake and

GRAND DESIGNS

Headquarters in Paris, and then to London in mid-

narrowly defeated, made a second attempt in 1951,

In November 1939 she married Henri Fiocca, a wealthy industrialist, in Marseilles. Six months later Germany invaded France. Wake and Fiocca joined the fledgling

marriage equality. Twitter celebrated using the hashtag #LoveWins, which was mentioned 6.2 million times on the platform within just six hours of the ruling.

Behind the Scenes

October. After the war she was decorated by Britain,

visited Vienna and Berlin where the overt and violent

Love won when the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of

continues to be one of social media’s most widely-used activism hashtags.

Upon liberation, Wake learned that her husband, Henri,

anti-Semitism formed in her a desire to oppose Nazism.

8. #LOVEWINS

the #BlackLivesMatter movement was co-founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. It

had been killed by the Gestapo in August 1943. In

26 June 2015

death of African American teenager Trayvon Martin,

the hashtag #OccupyWallStreet, igniting a global movement.

Nancy Wake, a prominent figure in the French Resistance

13 July 2013

Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the

Americans to protest in Zuccotti Park on 17 September, using

Nancy Grace Augusta ‘The White Mouse’ Wake during the Second World War, was born in Wellington,

49

movement, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, election

select the piano they wish to use in performance based on its tone and tuning. All of QPAC’s 9-foot concert grands are

commentary and calls to #ChangeTheDate from

Hamburg Steinways, so named as they were built in

26 January, Twitter is playing a key role in

the Hamburg factory of Steinway & Sons.

distributing messages and mobilising the masses.

Here, we chart some of the 11 year old platform’s most significant moments:

- AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

THE VOICES OF THOUSANDS OF

CA M A R ATA– T H E W H I T E M O U S E

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE HEARD

3 December 2017

AT SPEECH NIGHTS IN QPAC’S

Concert Hall, QPAC

53

55

57

CONCERT HALL EVERY YEAR.

58

PAG E 54

PAG E 56

PAG E 57/58

PAG E 59/60

Nancy Wake Photo: The Australian War Memorial. Reference Number P00885.001

Grand Piano Photo: Sam Worboys

First Ever Tweet Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, 2006. @jack

Black Lives Matter Broderick Greer, 2014. @broderickgreer

#QandA Kristal Kinsela, 2017. @IndigenousX

Ellen’s Oscars Selfie Ellen DeGeneres, 2014. @TheEllenShow

Arab Springs Photo: The anti-Morsi demonstartions benwedeman, 2013. @bencnn

I’ll Ride With You Sir Tessa, 2014. @sirtessa

AS AN ARTIST YOU SEEM FEARLESS IN P U R S U I T O F G R O W T H A N D E X P L O R AT I O N .

‘Occupy’ Movement Adbusters, 2011. @Adbusters

W H AT D O E S S C A R E Y O U ?

I actually don't think I was ever scared of anything until I became a mom. My son is 19 years old now but I still worry about him all the time.

YOU’VE WRITTEN AND RECORDED POP, JAZZ, BLUES, COUNTRY AND MORE. H OW WA S W R I T I N G F O R A B R OA DWAY MUSICAL DIFFERENT? With Broadway, there are no rules, which took me a long time to fully appreciate. With most genres, you’re writing based on that genre, but with Broadway, you’re writing for the character and not to fit any particular sound. That was really freeing when I first started working on the score for Kinky Boots.

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Cyndi Lauper For more than three decades Cyndi Lauper has been moving us… to dance, to cry, to cheer, to change our minds.

She’s a songwriter, performer, author, activist and provocateur. In 1983 her debut declared She’s So Unusual and her work across musical genres, art forms and social issues has never left us in doubt.

When Cyndi won a Tony Award for her score for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots she was the first woman to ever win solo in that category.

HAS THE ADVOCACY WORK OF THE TRUE COLOURS FUND CHANGED UNDER THE NEW U.S. A D M I N I S T R AT I O N ?

It is a very challenging and uncertain environment we are trying to navigate, but we are working with our partners and our friends in our Congress to do what we can to help the 1.6 million homeless youth in America, 40% of whom are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

A B O U T Q PAC Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is one of Australia’s

Just today, we got really good news that Congress increased

leading centres for live performance. Welcoming over 1.3 million

funding for a couple of crucial programs that impact youth

visitors to more than 1,500 performances each year, we embrace

experiencing homelessness. And, last week we celebrated

the best in live performance – the world renowned alongside the

our third annual #40toNoneDay to raise awareness about

emerging, local and new – and connect to the stories and ideas at the

LGBT youth homelessness and reached tens of millions of

heart of each production. Through the warmth and expertise of our

people online.

We got to celebrate the wins when we have them and be prepared for the many challenges that are likely to come. No matter what struggles we may face, we will not give up and we will do what we need to ensure that homeless youth, especially those that are most vulnerable, like LGBT youth, are protected and supported.

MOST USEFUL THING YOUR MOTHER TA U G H T Y O U ?

It’s kind of her mantra – you can't change the past but you can

staff, we have become a trusted curator, presenter and host; a place to come together to relax, reflect, share stories and celebrate.

OUR VENUES QPAC has four theatres suitable for a range of performance styles: Lyric Theatre (2,000 seats) is designed primarily for opera, ballet and large-scale theatre events such as musicals; Concert Hall (1,600 seats) is a versatile space, designed primarily for orchestra

PO Box 3567, South Bank, Qld, 4101 (07) 3840 7444 | qpac.com.au/story ABN: 13 967 571 1218

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Queensland Performing Arts Trust is a statutory body of the State of Queensland and is partially funded by the Queensland Government: The Honourable Annastacia Palasczuk MP, the Premier and Minister for the Arts; Director-General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: David Stewart.

QPAC respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Lands across Queensland and pays respect to their ancestors who came before them and to the Elders past, present and emerging.

performances and also used for contemporary music, stand-up comedy and presentations; Playhouse (850 seats) is primarily designed for theatre and dance; and Cremorne Theatre (312 seats) is an intimate and versatile black box theatre space.

change the present and the future.

CONNECT Story is published by QPAC. Printed in Brisbane, Australia. Contents of Story are

KINKY BOOTS

DISCOVER MORE - READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AND OTHERS,

From 22 August 2017

AT QPAC.COM.AU/STORY

Lyric Theatre, QPAC

@ ATQ PA C

subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission

@Q PAC

constitute an endorsement of views or opinions expressed. The publisher does

@ ATQ PA C Q PAC T V

PAG E 69/70 Cyndi Lauper Photo: Jenny Anderson Let's Dance Photo: Adam Gardnir

J.K. Rowling vs Twitter Trolls J.K. Rowling, 2017. @jk_rowling

C O N TA C T

of the publisher is prohibited. The publication of editorial does not necessarily

69

#Lovewins President Obama, 2017. @POTUS44

not accept responsibility for statements made by advertisers. All information was correct at time of printing. Story welcomes editorial contributions or comments.

They should be sent by email to story@qpac.com.au. Printed July 2017.

Covfefe Donald J. Trump, 2017. @realDonaldTrump

60

AS AN ARTIST YOU SEEM FEARLESS IN P U R S U I T O F G R O W T H A N D E X P L O R AT I O N .

W H AT D O E S S C A R E Y O U ?

I actually don't think I was ever scared of anything until I became a mom. My son is 19 years old now but I still worry about him all the time.

YOU’VE WRITTEN AND RECORDED POP, JAZZ, BLUES, COUNTRY AND MORE. H OW WA S W R I T I N G F O R A B R OA DWAY MUSICAL DIFFERENT? With Broadway, there are no rules, which took me a long time to fully appreciate. With most genres, you’re writing based on that genre, but with Broadway, you’re writing for the character and not to fit any particular sound. That was really freeing when I first started working on the score for Kinky Boots.

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Cyndi Lauper

HAS THE ADVOCACY WORK OF THE TRUE COLOURS FUND CHANGED UNDER THE NEW U.S. A D M I N I S T R AT I O N ?

It is a very challenging and uncertain environment we are trying to navigate, but we are working with our partners and our friends in our Congress to do what we can to help the 1.6 million homeless youth in America, 40% of whom are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Just today, we got really good news that Congress increased funding for a couple of crucial programs that impact youth experiencing homelessness. And, last week we celebrated our third annual #40toNoneDay to raise awareness about

For more than three decades, Cyndi Lauper has been moving us… to dance, to cry, to cheer, to change our minds.

She’s a songwriter, performer, author, activist and provocateur. In 1983, her debut declared She’s So Unusual and her work across musical genres, art forms and social issues has never left us in doubt.

When Cyndi won a Tony Award for her score for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, she was the first woman to ever win solo in that category.

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LGBT youth homelessness and reached tens of millions of people online.

We got to celebrate the wins when we have them and be prepared for the many challenges that are likely to come. No matter what struggles we may face, we will not give up and we will do what we need to ensure that homeless youth, especially those that are most vulnerable, like LGBT youth, are protected and supported.

MOST USEFUL THING YOUR MOTHER TA U G H T Y O U ?

It’s kind of her mantra – you can't change the past but you can change the present and the future.

KINKY BOOTS

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From 22 August 2017

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Lyric Theatre, QPAC

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C O N TA C T

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is one of Australia’s

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leading centres for live performance. Welcoming over 1.3 million visitors to more than 1,500 performances each year, we embrace the best in live performance – the world renowned alongside the emerging, local and new – and connect to the stories and ideas at the heart of each production. Through the warmth and expertise of our

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staff, we have become a trusted curator, presenter and host; a place

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to come together to relax, reflect, share stories and celebrate.

State of Queensland and is partially funded by the Queensland

OUR VENUES QPAC has four theatres suitable for a range of performance styles: Lyric Theatre (2,000 seats) is designed primarily for opera, ballet and large-scale theatre events such as musicals; Concert Hall (1,600 seats) is a versatile space, designed primarily for orchestra

Government: The Honourable Annastacia Palasczuk MP, the Premier and Minister for the Arts; Director-General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: David Stewart.

QPAC respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Lands across Queensland and pays respect to their ancestors who came before them and to the Elders past, present and emerging.

performances and also used for contemporary music, stand-up comedy and presentations; Playhouse (850 seats) is primarily designed for theatre and dance; and Cremorne Theatre (312 seats) is an intimate and versatile black box theatre space.

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They should be sent by email to story@qpac.com.au. Printed July 2017.