The Hon Rod Kemp was Minister for the Arts and Sport from Friday 23 November 2001 to Tuesday 30 January 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Arts funding for regions

Dance performances, stone carvings, and an installation on a remote island are some of the projects to be funded by the Australian Government’s new Festivals Australia Regional Residencies program.

The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp announced today that 25 community projects are to receive funding totalling $435,096 under the program, which was launched earlier this year to assist communities tell their stories at festivals and significant community celebrations.

All the projects funded by Festivals Australia Regional Residencies involve artists collaborating with regional and remote communities to develop a performance or artistic work for local and regional festivals and community celebrations.

“This exciting new program will assist regional and remote communities to tell their stories, and the stories of their communities, at a local festival, celebration or community event,” Senator Kemp said.

“Each community has its own sense of identity and sense of place and through this program those stories can be shared. Funding will help Australians living in regional and remote areas to work with an artist-in-residence, to tell their stories, through art, literature, dance, music and other mediums.”

A variety of exciting projects have been funded in this first round of the program, including:

Maritime History of the Coffs Coast at the Coffs Coast Centenary Celebration, Coffs Harbour, NSW — Composer, Paul Jarman, will research and present a musical with choral performances by a local choir on the maritime history of the area, drawing from the local Sea Scouts, Council archives, government organisations and community groups.

Let’s Dance at the Australian Youth Dance Festival, Horsham, Victoria — Let’s Dance will bring artist/film maker, Malcolm McKinnon, to the Australian Dance Festival to work with local and regional dance groups and historians to create dance film evoking the various dance cultures of the Wimmera region.

Words on Water at the Word Feast (Festival of Writing Townsville), Queensland — a professional writer, composer and photographer will conduct a series of public sessions exploring Magnetic Island life through the words of the Island’s inhabitants.

A list of the successful applicants for the program is available online from: www.dcita.gov.au/festivals_residencies The deadline for the next funding round of Festivals Australia Regional Residencies and its companion program Festivals Australia is 15 February 2006.

MELBOURNE
19 December 2005
Media contact: Michael Christo 03 9650 7274 or 0409 040276