Art

Urban Theatre Projects | About

Urban Theatre Projects (UTP) makes work that has social impact. As one of Western Sydney’s premier independent arts organisations, UTP has created over 115 new Australian works that have received awards and recognition internationally and nationally. They tell personal, real-life stories that present a complex portrait of contemporary Australia and bring these stories into the everyday by creating site-specific, distinctive, cultural experiences for audiences. They’re driven to make work that has the power to shift perceptions and break down stereotypes – work that inspires us to create a fairer and more compassionate society. They do that by connecting people through great storytelling and rich, shared experiences.

In 2017 UTP set up a new Satellite Hub in Blacktown to support artists-in-residence in bringing RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. to life. This upcoming program is the 6th partnership between UTP and Blacktown Arts and reflects our shared commitment to re-setting the cultural conversation about contemporary multicultural Australia.

Past projects between Blacktown Arts & Urban Theatre Projects

Home Country, 2017

One Day for Peace, 2015

Democratic Garden, 2014

The Folding Wife, 2010

Back Home, 2006

Connect with Urban Theatre Projects

Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Photo credits
Home Country | Joshua Morris
The Folding Wife | Heidrun Löhr
Back Home | Heidrun Löhr

15/10/2018 0 comment

Art

‘One Dance at a Time’ excerpt | Maryam Zahid

One Dance at a Time is based on Maryam Zahid’s personal story. Maryam, an activist in Western Sydney’s Afghan community, started the online group ‘Afghan Women on the Move’. After establishing this large network, she started hosting monthly Afghan women’s-only social nights at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre. Her play tells this story.

We asked Maryam to share an excerpt of the play with us.

Laila, the event organizer, waits for people to arrive:

When I meet God I am going to have a lot of questions to ask him.

Yes, when I meet you I have a lot of questions to ask.

I’ll start with something like this, to explain myself:

Please don’t think I am questioning your love towards your creation. But, I have to tell you … I am worried about what is really happening on earth in your name. I love you very much. I believe in you. I see you in everything.

You have written us into life. Created us. But do you hear and see how men interpret your intentions? Did you really write this story for women, or did our men make it up.

What is her story? That good woman who sits quietly – maybe behind her veil – not really there, not showing any feelings, not moving a muscle, not making a sound; still. Does she have a story besides perfection, beauty, service, sacrifice? Is her story simply about being good at being the good woman?

Why can’t we write our own stories?

Actually, I have to tell you a story god – please bear with me. It’s a sort of a gossipy type of story. You don’t mind? Oh, you don’t. Really? What did you say? Wait. Is that … a woman’s voice I hear? God, are you actually … ok, ok, ok. Just saying. Sorry. Forgive me. I have a vivid imagination. But I’m sure I heard… anyway, like I was saying …

Rokshana, a woman who attends the dance

This is first time in life… the lights off, music loud and I dance. No one looking me. I have in Australia 13 years but never chance to go out and enjoy. Just only women, we can just be us. I want stand on the mountain top, I want scream: nothing so good as to have a free soul and mind, to choose your own peace. Take my gold necklaces, have, have, take. Take away my 10 meter curtain. It’s no sun in my house – I have to sneaky beak my neighbour – and it’s no sun in my soul. Give my soul back to me.

By Maryam Zahid

Project initiated and curated by Maria Mitar.
Script development/writing mentoring by Robert Colman.

Daneha (Seeds)
5 July – 9 September 2018

Photo credit
Emily McTaggart

02/10/2018 0 comment

Art

Make Art at Home | Pearls

Have you ever made your own jewellery using recycled materials?

Watch this fun video and make your own wearable art inspired by Simryn Gill’s artwork Pearls.

Simryn uses paper from books and other documents to make beads that are threaded together to form long necklaces.

About this artwork

Pearls is an ongoing project that started in 1999 when Simryn began using printed material to make beads that can be worn.

Blacktown Arts commissioned Simryn to make Pearls from two speeches delivered in Blacktown by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the 1970s.

Materials

Book pages or other paper
Hand needless
Glue stick
String
Scissors
Skewer or chopstick

Artwork credit
Simryn Gill, Pearls: Gough Whitlam, Australian Labor Party Policy Speech, delivered Blacktown Civic Centre, 13th November 1972; Gough Whitlam, Australian Labor Party Policy Speech, delivered Blacktown Civic Centre, 29th April 1974, 2014, typed speeches, glue, cotton thread

28/09/2018 0 comment

Art

Community Day | Stitching the Sea

Blacktown Arts presents Stitching the Sea, an ongoing program that explores climate issues affecting our Pacific communities.

Stitching the Sea showcases the rich body of work by artists Latai Taumoepeau and Angela Tiatia to explore how artists address global warming.

“Pacific island countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and the people of the Pacific have a history of resilience in the face of extreme weather events,” Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP said.

“The Stitching the Sea program is an example of our sustained engagement with our growing Pacific community, and working with them on projects that tackle important community concerns.”

The program begins with a Community Day on Saturday 22 September 2018 at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.

“Climate change is not abstract for me,” Angela Tiatia said. “For much of my youth I grew up in a small village on the island of Savai’i in Samoa. My family home now floods regularly.

“We can no longer grow our staple foods on our property as the soil has become saline,”

Visitors will be able to take part in a video workshop with Angela Tiatia to record their own feelings about climate change in the Pacific region, and view stunning video works by the artist.

The Australian Cook Island Community Council will present a series of performances and invite visitors to share food from the Pacific region.

Visitors are also able to complete a circuit of Latai Taumoepeau’s Hg57 installation to help create a single ice cube from human energy.

Latai Taumoepeau will be available until 6 October 2018, to host a series of gatherings, exchanges and actions around climate change activism that addresses key questions such as: What can I do? How can we engage our communities? How can we lobby the Australian Government to take action?

Video works by Angela Tiatia – Tuvalu, Holding on and Salt Stone – will continue for the duration of the exhibition (27 October 2018). These works focus on the island of Tuvalu and help to convey the value of these islands and their people, and to make clear what is being lost through rising sea levels.

Visitors can also enjoy an installation by the Australian Cook Island Community Council, and view archival works by Latai Taumoepeau, and other artists and organisations from around the globe whose work addresses climate change issues.

Stitching the Sea is part of the Oceania Rising: Climate Change in Our Region partnership with the Australian Museum and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, a program raising awareness and engagement in climate change issues.

By Author Name

Community Day Program of Events
Saturday 22 September 2018
From 10 am – Latai Taumoepeau’s interactive installation on climate change
10 am – 1 pm – Video workshop with Angela Tiatia
12 noon – 2 pm – Viewing of Pacific cultural objects from the Australian Museum (booking essential)
1 pm – BBQ lunch
2 pm – 5 pm – Performances by artists from the Cook Islands community

21/09/2018 0 comment

Art

Installation | ‘Star Seed’

Star Seed is a new work created by Nazanin Marashian with the Afghan Women on the Move.

This delicate artwork was installed over two days and is made of turmeric, paprika, cardamom, cinnamon, dried herbs and poppy seeds.

The symbols, seeds and spices to link refugee women’s experiences and how they find empowerment. The eight-pointed star is a symbol often used in Persian carpets, Islamic art and esoteric mysticism. In this work it represents a compass, a potent symbol of finding one’s way back home; the elemental forces of nature: air, water, fire and earth; and the goddess Ishtar/Innana – the goddess of love, pleasure, joy, and empowerment of women.

The seeds and spices, those most commonly found in Afghan kitchens (turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, dried herbs and poppy seeds), express the idea of planting seeds and ‘growing’ a new identity in a new culture and country. The small discs carrying the women’s personal intentions radiate out from the centre, representing the potential of new beginnings and expansion.

This work is part of our artistic program Daneha, which explores the displacement of the Afghan community across the globe, and the cultivation of roots in foreign, unfamiliar soil.

Daneha

FROM A TINY SEED GREAT THINGS GROW

Share the Experience of Afghan Migrants through New Artistic Program

In what will be the first major artistic engagement with the Afghan and Persian communities of Blacktown, Blacktown Arts presents Daneha, a multi-faceted artistic program made up of a visual arts exhibition, artist talks, musical performances and theatre.

Daneha (“Seeds” in English) explores the displacement of the Afghan community across the globe, and the cultivation of roots in foreign, unfamiliar soil. The program will transform The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre into a multi-functional space for community to engage with contemporary artists, as collaborators, audiences and active participants in reimagining identities.

‘The Afghan community of Blacktown has grown by almost 40% since 2011,’ said Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP. ‘Daneha is the first major artistic engagement with our Afghan and Persian communities. I am proud that our arts centre is presenting a diverse program that offers unique opportunities to reflect on the experiences of migrants and refugees, and explore the challenges they face when settling in a new land.’

The program launches on Thursday 5 July with a visual arts exhibition featuring new works by Avan Anwar (Melbourne), Elyas Alavi (Adelaide), Zainab Haidariy (Germany), Gerrie Mifsud (Sydney) and internationally acclaimed and Blacktown-based artist Khadim Ali. Khadim is an established artist who was awarded the NSW Government’s 2016 Western Sydney Arts Fellowship worth $50,000 and his work is held in numerous public collections around the world.

“I’m now a Hazara-Australian,” said Khadim Ali. “My work for this exhibition focuses on how I am enjoying being an Australian, and how this transitional period of my life is changing my art, changing my perspective.”

The arts exhibition will feature works by members of the local group Afghan Women on the Move.

“Afghan Women on the Move creates a radically safe platform for women as survivors of war and trauma, to gather and participate in arts and cultural programs, outside of religious and political influences,” said Maryam Zahid, the group’s coordinator.

The video work Borderline (2017) by Atefeh Kazemi and Zahra Akhlaqi (Soraya) is also screening as part of this exhibition. The video is a series of interviews with second and third generation Afghan immigrants who were born in Iran and continue to live in the country.

Taking place in June, the women’s artworks will be developed in workshops lead by artist Nazanin Marashian, and will connect identity and culture through the use of personal signs and symbols.

The program includes two Artist Talks. The first, on Saturday 18 August, is moderated by Abdul Hekmat and will be an opportunity for audiences to connect with Khadim Ali, Elyas Alavi and Maryam Zahid (Afghan Women on the Move), find out more about their works, life experiences and the program.

The second, on Saturday 1 September, is a discussion facilitated by Paula Abood on work creatively with refugee women and will include Maryam Zahid, Monirah Hashemi (international playwright/actor) and international theatre director, Leif Persson, from Teatre Dos.

The Daneha program will culminate with the Australian premiere of Sitaraha – The Stars, a moving one woman play which intertwines the stories of three generations of women living in Afghanistan. Navigating war and religious oppression, the women use songs, dance and storytelling to try and keep their stories alive. Taking place from Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 September, Sitaraha features Monirah Hashemi and is based on real conversations and research.

Daneha offers a unique opportunity for the people of Blacktown and beyond to come together to reflect on the experiences of migrants and refugees, and join with them in all the challenges and opportunities that present themselves as they regather in new lands.

The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission to the visual arts exhibition is free.

Booking Information

Sitaraha (The Stars)

Click here for the preview, Thursday 6 September 2018
Click here for tickets to Sitaraha, Saturday 8 September & Sunday 9 September 2018
Tickets on sale Thursday 5 July 2018.

Panel discussions

Click here to RSVP for the artist talk on Saturday 18 August 2018

Click here to RSVP for the panel discussion on Saturday 1 September 2018

Image
Photograph of Khadim Ali and Maryam Zahid by Joshua Morris.

19/06/2018 0 comment

Art

Western Sydney Public Art Collections

Our current exhibition Recent Acquisitions presents artworks that have been acquired by Blacktown City Council throughout the past 4 years. The exhibition gives our community the opportunity to learn more about the individual artworks and Council’s entire art collection.

Like most public art collections, Blacktown City Council’s collection tells the stories of our City through the work of artists, reflecting the concerns and histories of our diverse communities.

Western Sydney is home to many public art collections. Does your local Council have an art collection?

Liverpool

The Liverpool Art Collection is managed by Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Liverpool Regional Museum. The collection was formally established in 1989 with the opening of the Museum. 30 years on, Liverpool’s collection now consists of over 30,000 artworks and heritage objects. Together, these items reflect the rich cultural and historic history of the greater Liverpool region.

Learn more and connect with Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre

Campbelltown

The Campbelltown City Council Collection contains nearly 1,500 artworks that were acquired as early as 1962. Campbelltown’s collection holds works of national significance by contemporary Australian artists and continues to focus on acquiring art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists as well as artists from across the Campbelltown and Macarthur and Western Sydney region.

Learn more and connect with Campbelltown Arts Centre

Penrith

The Penrith Regional Gallery Collection has over 1,600 objects. Both the collection and the gallery itself are the result of Margo Lewer’s wish for her home and collection of artworks to be given to the people of Penrith. The collection has grown since the establishment of the gallery and bequest, and now consists of a large range of visual art (painting, drawing, and sculpture), Aboriginal rock engravings, furniture, books, and other printed ephemera.

Learn more and connect with Penrith Regional Gallery

Hawkesbury

Hawkesbury City Council has a unique and historic collection of 300 artworks, most of which were acquired between 1975 and 1994. In 1999, the people of the Hawkesbury were also gifted with 80 paintings and prints by artists a number of significant Australian artists including Arthur Boyd, Norman Lindsay and Lance Solomon.

Learn more and connect with Hawkesbury Regional Gallery

Visit The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre to see more artworks from the Blacktown City Art Collection (until 26 May 2018).

Photo credit
Campbelltown Arts Centre Permanent Collection. Photograph by Nikki To.

14/05/2018 0 comment

Art

Recent Acquisitions: Blacktown City Art Collection

Blacktown City Council acquires artworks for its art collection from the annual Blacktown City Art Prize and from projects previously developed by Blacktown Arts.

The Collection tells the stories of Blacktown through the work of its artists, reflecting the concerns and histories of its diverse communities. The Collection fosters a sense of civic pride for the people who live, work and play in Blacktown City, development a sense of identity and belonging, and sharing the recent narratives of city life.

Recent Acquisitions presents new works acquired by Blacktown City Council between 2015 and 2017.

Download the program:

EXHIBITION
Recent Acquisitions
22 February – 26 May 2018

Photo credit
Jason Wing. Photograph by Joshua Morris.
Recent Acquisitions features two artworks by Jason Wing, Blacktown Dreaming, 2009, and Know Your Place, 2017.

21/02/2018 0 comment

Art

Experiencing ‘Broken Glass’ with Vicki Van Hout

With mounting anticipation we are transported by bus from The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre to St Bartholomew’s Church in Prospect, the site of the evening’s performance of Broken Glass. It’s VIP night, so a good number of Blackfellas are in attendance for the maiden event, a roving performance installation throughout the chapel and grounds.

After a smoking ceremony held by local Elder Uncle Wes Marne, we walk single file into a small hall which looks like the ideal spot for girl guides or scouts to learn and earn their merit badges. Except our leaders are dressed in spare white smocks and, instead of pledging an oath of allegiance, they greet us with commiserations. An Aunty has died. We become a part of an extended family assembled in remembrance.

Soon enough good intentions give way to avaricious intent as a farcical stocktake of meagre possessions is claimed and

counter claimed. Before all is lost, the escalating tension is broken by the distracting absence of a beloved budgie, Nathan.

As the three women reconcile, a lone figure enters dressed in a purple floor-length colonial skirt. She clutches a round case close to her chest, individually taking us in before asking for something to drink, or perhaps a morsel to eat. As she leaves, she beckons us to follow her. This woman will be represented by each actor in turn as we are guided to each site. We later learn she is a Darug woman, although she could be the ancestor of many urban Blackfellas, forced into the fold of colonial culture.

This is a delicate three-hander placing the fundamental incompatibility between the Indigenous and colonial ways of bein

g at the forefront of the episodic narrative. From loud familial comedic role play, to the cli

nical treatment processing of the morticians’ rooms, where the mix of responsibility and revulsion is expressed through prose peppered with equal measures of procedural jargon and personal anecdotes. From the church to the grave site, we are gradually immersed into a multifaceted cultural experience of loss, where the ecclesiastical and spiritual are articulated in equal measure.

Embedded with Indigenous knowledge practices, Broken Glass acts as a song cycle, an in

digenous primer ensuring perpetuity for the next generations to utilise, as well as a work of entertainment. Broken Glass stands as a poignant testament to the ways in which Aboriginal culture has adapted.

The lighthearted opening is a clever device and before you know it you are embroiled. Invested. The tables have momentarily turned and it is the general public who are taken into the fold.

Moments not to miss:

Performer Andrea James wide-eyed stare of pious incredulity as she makes a self righteous bid for the microwave while the body lay directly behind in a wicker casket.

The cylindrical back and forth of Andrea and Liza-Marie Syron

describing the morticians’ experience.

Karen Norris’ lighting in the church creating an all-encompassing stained-glass effect as dancer/performer Katie Leslie moves with steady solemnity.

The unfolding tableaux (also in the church) reminiscent of Australian modern dance pioneer Margaret Barr’s women in Hebridean Suite, which begins with the four women as they process through the bracken mound installations and ending with their colonial selves looking prophetically to a future filled with bustling automation as they faced the motorway.

The broken glass memorial plots that twinkle like jewels.

The curious mourning head pieces which prompt us to contemplate the event with fresh eyes, as if from another planet.

Lily Shearer’s haunting wail for lost souls in the recessed alcove filled with funeral programs attached to the walls followed by the town’s elders affectionately clutching the same notes, and the discovery that they are/were comprised of deceased loved ones.

The lighting on the trees accompanied by a sound score by Brenda Gifford that makes them appear like witnessing spirits, making sure that we are practicing right-way.

By Vicki Van Hout

Broken Glass was presented by Moogahlin Performing Arts and Blacktown Arts for Sydney Festival 2018.

Photo credit
Joshua Morris

21/01/2018 0 comment

Art

Applications open for 2018 Creative Residency Program

Are you an artist looking for a great space to create new work in? Do you have a creative project ready for the next development phase?

Blacktown Arts Centre’s Creative Residency Program supports artistic development and emerging arts practices in all forms.

The 2018 program offers space and funded residencies in the following categories:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Residency $5000
Pat Parker Memorial Residency $5000
Performing Arts Residency $5000
Performing Arts Space Residency
Studio Residency
Without Borders Residency $5000.

The Creative Residency Program offers exciting opportunities for artists who want to engage with people or places in Blacktown, often resulting in a rich collaboration between artists and communities.

Applications for the 2018 Creative Residency Program close on Thursday, 14 September 2017.

Apply for a 2018 Creative Residency.

Download the Residency Guidelines.

Photograph
Sandy Maestro, 2017 artist-in-residence, by Joshua Morris

28/08/2017 0 comment