We are proud to present the 2023-24 Be Bold Residency artists:
Pacific Island Creative Arts Australia Incorporated (PICAA Inc) with Asalemo Tofete and Gina Tafea – Theatre and Culture
Carmen Yih (hitahhchi) in collaboration with Giuliano 'Gino' Hammal aka 24 and Kihmo Quintela – Dance
Parminder Kaur Bhandal and Jim Adams, with Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa – Immersive Theatre
- Memetica / Daniele Poidomani with Dan Jerinel Bay and Natasha Librero – Puppetry
- Wit Incorporated – Theatre
The Be Bold Residency
program enables artists and arts organisations to make and present work with and for the Brimbank community. Discover new and innovative projects in theatre, dance and community cultural development.
As part of the residency program, the selected artists will have a safe presentation space to take risks and shape new works. They will be provided with financial, professional and creative development and in kind support.
Artists
Pacific Island Creative Arts Australia Incorporated (PICAA INC.) with Asalemo Tofete and Gina Tafea
Pasefika Theatre Festival
Theatre and Culture
PICAA brings together Pasefika creative artists and provide a platform for Pasefika arts to thrive in Australia. PICAA is a pathway to creating and sharing their work with the world.
The Pasefika Theatre Festival led by Asalemo Tofete and produced by Gina Tafea aims to showcase theatre works created, produced and directed by Pasefika established and emerging artists over the course of a 3 - 4 day festival. The aim of this festival is to create a platform for Pasefika artists in the west and assist with the development of emerging and aspiring young artists.
Asalemo explains that storytelling is an ancestral art-form in Pasifika cultures, “It is how the tales of our ancestors, the history of our tribes, and the paths of our lineage were preserved from generation to generation. Stories were passed down through oratory, songs and dance. It is in our blood!”
Asalemo Tofete is a director, playwright and award-winning actor.
Gina is the main cultural designer and advisor regarding Measina for PICAA and their representatives at community events and/or ceremonies.
Carmen Yih (hitahhchi) in collaboration with Giuliano 'Gino' Hammal aka 24 and Kihmo Quintela
M_N
Dance
Carmen Yih is an emerging Chinese-Australian dance artist exploring the intersection of street and contemporary dance practices. Her practice centres on platforming the unique perspectives and stories of young people of colour, exploring intergenerational tension, self-definition and diaspora experience through vernacular and contemporary dance forms.
This residency is a collaboration with Giuliano 'Gino' Hammal also known as 24, a multi-disciplinary artist of Egyptian and Sudanese cultural backgrounds, as well as Kihmo Quintela, a Filipino dance artist with a passion for movement improvisation, choreography, battling and performance. Both artists are Melbourne-based, having grown up in Brimbank.
Together they plan to produce a new street dance-theatre work focussing on the impact of traditional notions of masculinity on mental health, centring on society’s shaming of emotional vulnerability among men.
Image by Phillip Trinh
Parminder Kaur Bhandal and Jim Adams, with Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa
Inner Sanctuary
Theatre
Parminder Kaur Bhandal is a visual artist, creative producer, and poet, whose practice focuses on re-entering peripheral bodies and disrupting traditional narratives around people and place. She is joined by Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, a first-generation Australian Sikh spoken word artist, educator, performer & human rights reformer.
This residency will culminate in a new theatre work set in the Western suburbs’ lush green landscape. Inner Sanctuary is an expansive engagement within the natural space. The environment in which we live. The interior and exterior place. Braiding together personal monologues about community and ecology through poetry, music, and projection. This is a journey of freedom within a world that feels increasingly chaotic.
Memetica / Daniele Poidomani with Dan Jerinel Bay and Natasha Librero
Reeflings' Memeries
Puppetry
Founder of Memetica, Daniele Poidomani is one of Australia’s leading giant puppet artists, boasting a versatile practice spanning design, construction, performance, direction, and facilitation. He has created many giant puppets shows and puppet-making projects in Australia and overseas, culminating in largescale performances involving broad community participation.
Daniele has been an integral collaborator on Woodford Folk Festival and its Fire Event for their last seven iterations. Working with renowned Melbourne group Snuff Puppets since 1998, he has also led many of the company’s international projects, most recently across China, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea.
Memetica’s residency involves collaborations with dance and visual artist Dan Jerinel Bay, new media artist Natasha Librero and local theatre company Wit Incorporated. Together, they will produce a life-size puppetry performance of imaginary characters, the Reeflings and their experiences in joining life on land and amongst humans in Brimbank, with help from the local community
Wit Incorporated
I Me She Him by Stan Lai 你和我和她和他
Theatre
Wit Incorporated is an award winning, artist led theatre company based in Melbourne's West, championing diverse and engaging work that inspires artists and audiences alike. Their mission is to forge artistic connections in Melbourne's West by sharing stories that are culturally rich and representative of humankind as a whole.The company has staged 17 theatre productions, 3 play-readings, and an award-winning online short film series, working with over 150 established and emerging theatre artists and organizations.
In 2023, Wit Incorporated presents the Australian premiere of I Me She Him 你和我和他和她 , a theatre work by well-known Taiwanese playwright Stan Lai which follows two high flyers Jing and Mo, a chance encounter and a love they used to have.