Crucial By Engelbert Schmidl
TWO ARTISTS from Newport and a Williamstown-based theatre group received a welcome boost to their creative coffers with the state government’s recent arts funding announcements.
Arts Minister Lynne Kosky last week announced $895,000 for the creation and presentation of new work by Victorian artists, with $35,000 going to artists in the inner West.
“The grants support artists working across a range of platforms, including dance, contemporary music, theatre, visual arts, new media, puppetry and literature,” she said.
Newport resident Kate Daw was awarded $10,000 to develop ‘Love Objects’, a project which explores the historical and cultural meaning of objects and their users.
An established Australian gallery artist, Ms Daw recently exhibited at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts and the National Gallery of Victoria.
She said the grant allowed her to start interviews and research for her project.
“Love Objects is about memory and the relationships that people have with objects and things,” she said.
She likened her work to a fictional narrative where new meanings were created by placing things in different contexts and sometimes inventing objects.
She said her inspiration came from conversations and observing odd coincidences.
“It’s like walking around with your antenna up,” said Ms Daw, who is currently engaged in a creative research fellowship at the Victorian State Library.
The mum of two said the project would probably take about 18 months to complete. She said her biggest challenge at the moment was juggling her art with her home life.
Respected theatre actor Margot Knight said it was crucial to get this kind of support from governments to keep Australian theatre vibrant.
The Williamstown resident, who started theatre group Shy Tiger Productions in 2002, said the funding would be used to commission award-winning playwright Michael Gurr to write ‘Mercy’, a play about the Australian legal system.
“It’s everything to us to secure funding and sponsorship and it was wonderful to have such a great result in a highly competitive category,” she said.
Newport musician Fiona Roake was also awarded $8,000 in funding to develop original songs for release. Ms Roake has worked extensively in creating music and sound design for theatre productions and was nominated for a prestigious Green Room award last year.
Western Metro MLC Martin Pakula said the funding was a great reflection on the vitality of the arts scene in Melbourne’s inner west.
“I am thrilled that two artists from Newport, a photographer from Yarraville and a company of players from Williamstown will be receiving government support for their work.”
