Fed Folk
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9am - 5pm
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Stories from the people who work, walk and play at Fed Square
Have you ever wondered what stories lie under the surface of Fed Square? Who the people are that you walk past and what’s going on in their lives?
Each week, we catch up with a person who works, walks or plays here at Fed Square. It could be a journalist from SBS or a curator from the Koorie Heritage Trust or someone who eats their lunch here every day – it could be you! So, watch out for us in the Square, as we’ll be on the lookout!
And if you’ve got a story to tell, tag us on Instagram with #FedFolk and we may be in touch!
Meet Ronny Kareni, event producer of the BLAKTIVISM: Morning Star Ceremony
This Friday, the Morning Star Ceremony will be celebrated at Fed Square, prior to BLAKTIVISM at the Arts Centre. The ceremony will bring together dancers and artists from West Papua, the Torres Strait, Arnhem Land, Timor-Leste and the Kulin Nations, to share dance and ceremony.
The cultural dances and ceremony reflect and connect each people’s skylore, and the significance of the morning or evening star – also known as Venus.
In the lead up to the event, we spoke to event producer Ronny Kareni, about what the event means and what he’s most looking forward to about this coming together of different Indigenous cultures in ceremony and dance.
Ronny Kareni (left), The Black Sistaz (centre) and Sam Roem from Sorong Samurai, will be performing for The Morning Star Ceremony at Fed Square.
Hi Ronny, can you introduce yourself and your relationship with the Morning Star Ceremony?
My name is Ronny Kareni. I’m a Canberra-based, West Papuan activist, musician, and also a scholar.
I’m from the northern part of the island of New Guinea. It’s very close to the Australian mainland: it’s much closer to travel to New Guinea from Australia than to travel between Sydney and Canberra.
West Papua is still under Indonesian occupation, whereas the eastern side is Papua New Guinea, an independent state. The island that I come from, Japen Island, it has a strong story related to the morning star, as my forefathers have continued to use the morning star, the ocean, and even the sky, the winds as navigators and to sail across the ocean, to the other islands or for fishing.
My uncles and my dad would always encourage me to get up at 4am or 5am in the morning, just before the dawn. They’d tell me those stories, reminding me to be being watchful, to look out to the sea to see where the clouds are before setting sail.
My upbringing was around these stories, but when I hear those stories now, it’s not necessarily on that island, in Japen, or Ambai (a small island off the coast of Japen), but it’s on the other side, in the PNG side, North Coast, in Wewak.
What resonates with me is that connection of the story itself. As an Indigenous West Papuan, when my uncle speaks of the sea and the sky or the stars in the sky, he speaks of them as being connected to each other and connected to mother earth. That’s how our story is written, whether it’s through the songs we sing or whether it’s through the chants or dances.
In many respects, the stories also relate to some protocols: what you can do and cannot do. For example, a fishing spear, where it’s placed you can’t cross over it. Or if an uncle is sitting, you cannot pass in front of him. So those kinds of dances and little things that really ground me in terms of my understanding of the stories that are connected to the land, the water and the sky.
Can you tell us a little bit about the significance of the Morning Star Ceremony, happening this Friday at Fed Square on 1 December?
This will be one of the first times different Indigenous People from our region will be coming together, dancing under the Morning Star, or even the Evening Star (as it is known here in the Kulin Nations).
So as First Nations people, the stories that we connect to the star draws on our song lines. Yolngu dancers will come and do the Morning Star Ceremony, and then the mob from the Kulin Nation will also do the ceremony – they also have their song line, the story of the Evening Star. And then First Nations people from the Torres Strait Island have their song line, and then that connects across to West Papua.
To bring First Nations artists together to sing and dance under the story of the Morning Star signifies the importance of the Sovereign People, which we continue to practice our ceremony. It’s our identity and shows that our culture is still alive and thriving and practiced in a way where it’s acknowledged in a safe space, with the Elders and everyone coming together. It’s about connecting the stories, the songs through the story of the skylore that we all share.
Who are the groups that will be performing as part of the Morning Star Ceremony?
From the Kulin Nation, Aunty Joy Murphy and her descendants will conduct the Welcome to Country. And then people from the Timor-Leste community in Naarm will be there. From PNG, Sprigga Mek will be there, and Yolngu dancers and dancers from the Torres Strait Island will be coming down. The West Papuan include The Black Sistaz and the Roem Brothers, and also the broader West Papuan community will come together.
And then our wider Australian community, the multicultural community in Melbourne will all come together to celebrate under the Morning Star ceremony together.
After the ceremony we’ll do a procession across to Alexandra Gardens, before the BLAKTIVISM concert at Hamer Hall.
It’s really exciting to commemorate 1 December with so much of the rich and diverse culture of this region.
What is the connection with BLAKTIVISM?
BLAKTIVISM emerged after the George Floyd incident in the US and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Now it’s also evolved into looking at the human rights situation in the broader region.
I’ve also worked with the BLAKTIVISM artistic director, Airileke Ingram, and BLAKTIVISM director, Deline Briscoe, prior to the BLAKTIVISM concept, through Sorong Samarai and other projects.
The idea for the Morning Star Ceremony was to focus on the narrative of BLAKTIVISM, but also to highlight our cultural resilience, and that we still continue to celebrate our culture through our dances and our songs. And with 1 December coming up, it made sense to find a way to celebrate that day, by focusing on our culture, together.
What are you most looking forward to about the Morning Star Ceremony?
What I’m looking forward to most is to be able to see all our First Nations artists come together to be able to freely showcase our culture through our art, which is alive and thriving.
Also for the West Papuan community, to show how creativity plays a role as a conduit to continue to bring a positive message, in light of our human rights situation. In a positive way, we are showing that our culture still alive.
I’m looking forward to us all coming together and celebrating in a positive light, the Morning Star Ceremony.
Is there anything that you would like to tell people who might be unfamiliar with the culture, who will come and see the dances and performances?
The West Papuan community will be wearing our traditional attire and costume. We wanted to showcase that our costume is what we are. It shows the diversity of West Papua.
There’ll be some people that are dressed in the costumes from the Highlands and also from the Coast. So, for people coming along, I’d advise to keep an eye out for the different costumes.
We’re going to have the traditional instruments, the tifa, which it’s the drum. In Bahasa Indonesia, we say ‘tifa’, and it’s ‘kundu’ in Tok Pisin, and ‘warup’ in Torres Strait.
As you look at that instrument, think about the rhythm – it’s the beat that speaks to the audience and to us – and how the sound travels, from West Papua and then across to the Torres Strait and then across to PNG.
When we speak about culture, it’s also transmitted through the sound of the drum, the tifa, and the garamut (the slit log). We’ll be bringing that as well to play some of the sounds. But also, it’s important to highlight some of the sounds coming from parts of Papua New Guinea, particularly on the island of Manus.
In recent times in the Australian media, we hear more about Manus as a place where deterrent policies place refugees there. But we celebrate the sounds of Manus through the garamut, and how their culture is much alive when the garamut beat is being played. It gives you goosebumps. It’s amazing. It travels across to Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Tahiti: Tahitians, they play those rhythmic beats too.
And there’s a piece where we come together: it’s a culmination of the West Papua, the Torres Strait and Yolngu: it’s the Morning Star dance. That’s the high point of the ceremony, because straight after that, it’s the calling of the West Papua Morning Star flag.
Is there anything else you wanted people to know?
I am grateful for creative spaces. The freedom of expression, it’s much alive in this country. And it’s something that I encourage within arts spaces: to allow more artists to be able to come out and freely express their views creatively.
I hope that it can also resonate in other art spaces, allowing artists to be able to creatively and freely express themselves. Audiences don’t need to know the background, so long as they can see that the practices, the culture is still alive – that’s what they can connect through. In turn, this strengthens the capacity of those artists.
When those artists thrive, it amplifies the voices of those who remain voiceless back in their home country.
In the case of West Papua, if our West Papuan artists can be strengthened – in their capacity of what they do here, whether it’s the dance or through music – then they’re channeling that voice of the people back in West Papua.
The Morning Star Ceremony will be at Fed Square from 4pm until 6.45pm on Friday 1 December. Tickets for BLAKTIVISM at Hamer Hall (following the Morning Star Ceremony), can be purchased from the Arts Centre Melbourne website.
Chair of the African Music and Cultural Festival
Since it began ten years ago, the African Music and Cultural Festival (AMCF) has grown to an enormous three-day celebration of African culture and community in Melbourne, representing more than 35 African nations, and attracting more than 60,000 visitors. In the lead-up to the festival from 17–19 November, we spoke with Fred Alale AM, the festival’s Chair, about 10 years of the AMCF at Fed Square: what has changed, what visitors will be able to look forward to (it sounds like the Jollof Rice Wars competition will be a highlight!), and his visions for the future of the festival.
Image: Fred Alale AM (right) with AMCF emcee Poni Tongun (left) and master drummer Kofi Kunkpe (centre).
Hi Fred! Please introduce yourself and your role with AMCF.
Hi, I’m Fred Alale AM, Chair, and Co-founder of the African Music and Cultural Festival (AMCF). My primary role is leading the festival’s planning committee, ensuring smooth coordination of all event aspects, and aligning activities with our goals.
Tell us a little bit about AMCF – when did it begin, how has it grown to what it is today, who is the key team making the magic happen?
The AMCF’s inception traces back to a pivotal meeting with Ike Nwokolo, then President of the Nigerian Society of Victoria, and myself, the Treasurer of the Nigerian Society of Victoria, in 2012. Seeking support to bring Nigerian artist D’banj to Melbourne, we met with Victorian Multicultural Commission Chair, Chin Tan. While funding for a specific community wasn’t feasible, Mr. Tan encouraged an event uniting all African communities. This sparked the concept of the African Music and Cultural Festival (AMCF). The idea was temporarily set aside until my presidency and Uche Njoku’s vice presidency at the Nigerian Society of Victoria. Upon sharing the AMCF concept with Uche, he embraced it, and together, we turned the idea into reality with our first annual event in 2014. Ike, Uche, and I serve as the Co-founders.
AMCF has grown from a small event with 5,000 attendees in 2014 to a three-day festival with 55,000 expected visitors in 2023.
The key team making AMCF happen is a team of 30 steering committee members from across 20 African-Australian communities and organisations that work tirelessly throughout the year.
What can people expect at the festival?
Come experience the delicious tastes, vibrant sounds and infectious rhythm of Africa right in the heart of Melbourne – Fed Square! This three-day celebration of the very best of African culture is a spring highlight and the only place in Melbourne where you will see over 35 African countries and community organisations represented through music, food, fashion, film, dance, art, and culture. With the rhythms, sounds and tastes of Africa spread throughout Fed Square, the atmosphere is electric and guaranteed to make you feel good!
What will be different this year at AMCF?
This year marks the 10th anniversary of AMCF and we are celebrating with some special features and surprises.
We are proud to have never missed an annual event, even during the height of COVID where we ran an online event but with artists and performances live at Fed Square.
We are honoured to have received a strategic 4-year funding of $100,000 per year from the State government for the first time.
We are grateful to have loyal sponsors that have been with us right from the start of AMCF like the Victorian Government, Slater and Gordon Lawyers, Victoria Police, City of Melbourne, JSS, AMES and CYM and of course Fed Square.
Have you got any hot tips for the festival – must-try fave foods, activities not to be missed?
Try the Zuya African BBQ for some mouth-watering meat skewers.
Taste Jollof Rice from different countries and be your own judge of the best. Tastes of Senegal have been the reigning champions of the Jollof Rice Wars competition since 2019 – much to the disappointment of Nigeria and Ghana!
Join the free African drumming classes with Master Drummers like Kofi Kunkpe, Shabba and Appiah.
Grab your Christmas shopping from our market stalls like Savannah Fashion and Chaya Boutique and Rhythm Unites.
What sorts of activities are there for kids?
For families, there is kids’ entertainment including free African drumming classes, Australian Football League (AFL) activities, face painting, jumping castles, Santa’s grotto, mascots, African board games and more!
What does it mean to you to have this festival each year at Fed Square?
Hosting AMCF at Fed Square is a dream come true for me and my team. Fed Square is an iconic landmark in Melbourne that represents multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. It is the perfect place to showcase the rich and varied cultures of Africa to the wider Australian community. We are very thankful to Fed Square for their support and partnership over the years.
What is your vision for the festival in the future?
My vision is to make AMCF a world-class event that attracts millions of visitors from across the globe, bringing Melbourne CBD to a festive standstill. We aspire to have airlines scheduling extra flights and hotels offering special deals because everyone is heading to the African Festival, creating a cultural phenomenon that celebrates the diversity and richness of Africa. We are happy to have Fed Square as our home and we want to make it the ultimate destination for African culture in Australia.
The 10th African Music and Cultural Festival is on at Fed Square from Friday 17 November until Sunday 19 November. See the full program of activity on the AMCF website.
Musician and Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) First Nations Resident Artist
If you haven’t yet heard of Noongar singer, songwriter and musician Bumpy, it’s time you did. Her performance at the APRA Music Awards in honour of Uncle Archie Roach led to none other than rock legend Jimmy Barnes stopping her in the street afterwards to sing her praises. She also recently won the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAS) New Talent of the Year award and she’s the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s First Nations Resident Artist this year.
Bumpy performed with her seven-piece band as part of the MIJF event Free Jazz at Fed Square on Friday 20 October, so we caught up with her prior to that event to have a chat about what it’s like playing at Fed Square (she’s previously delighted us with her soulful sounds at Fed Live in 2022) and what she was looking forward to for MIJF.
Read the full interview below.
Hi Bumpy! Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey as a musician.
I was kicking around for quite a couple of years doing a lot of collaborative work: working with Squid Nebula, which is a five piece and very collaborative. We all worked together. I was performing as well with DRMNGNOW, a First Nations hip hop collective and doing keys and backing vocals there. And between those two, I was touring around and navigating the industry with them, getting an understanding of it.
After doing that and some sessional work, I realised that I wanted to have my own voice. So that’s kind of where Bumpy really came from. My first release was just myself and guitar. Originally, it was really about it being myself in a raw form: my voice and my stories.
I’m still on that journey, but I have these beautiful musicians who support me and can help out with the arrangements and bring it to life.
How would you describe your music style and your influences?
It’s a really good question. I think especially with the EP [Morning Sun], I wanted to capture Bumpy in a little bubble and the range of what we have been doing for the past couple of years. I think the most fitting title or genre for me right now feels like alternative soul, just because it maybe covers a bit more of the folk elements that we have in a few songs to the hardest soul and the R&B elements.
So, I feel like if I chuck ‘alternative’ in, it’s kind of represents the fact that there’re traditional aspects, but also there’re different arrangements and different sounds and areas that are explored.
Who will be performing with you as part of Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Free Jazz at Fed Square?
For Melbourne International Jazz Festival, we will have the full seven piece band, which I’m really excited about. That has my brother, Ben [Yarram], on the drums, and my partner, Mick [Power], on guitar. And then my really good friends, Noah Hutchinson on the bass, Jake Amy on the keys, and Emma Volard and Isadora Lauritz on backing vocals.
I adore playing with them. They gig so much, and they all have such incredible solo works as well. I feel really honored that they bless my music and help me bring it all to life.
You’ve performed at Fed Square in 2022 for Fed Live, supporting Hiatus Coyote. What is it like performing at Fed Square?
It’s always very exciting playing at Fed Square. I mean, it’s such a dream stage to be there and the atmosphere of Fed Square is such an interesting one where you’ll have people who know what they’re coming for, know what to expect. You have the roving people who are going to the shops around the city, and then just the complete passerbys who stop in, and you might see them stay for the whole set.
I really love that it kind of has this huge fluid nature about it, which means it feels that you can create the space to be whatever you want it to be, as a performer. So I’m really excited to get back there. And I always love playing outdoors and feel very honoured to be performing for Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
It’s a good point, isn’t it? That you can see people cross the street to come and listen, when they hear the sounds of music that they like.
It is really cool to see how the activation works with that space and being able to watch the audience decide how they want to be involved in it. It is just very fun to play there. I feel like there’s not many spaces like that in Naarm where you can have that kind of experience.
What you are looking forward to as part of the lineup for the MIJF program? Have you got any hot tips or things that you’re really keen to see?
I have snapped up a few tickets, actually. I’m obviously very excited to see Chaka Khan and Nile Rodgers and CHIC [for Jazz at the Bowl]. Jake, who plays keys in my band, plays for Kaiit, who is opening for Chaka Khan, so it’s all very exciting in the family that Jake gets that opportunity as well. So I’ll be there. And then I’m super excited to see Ebo Taylor and The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. That’s definitely one that I’m really, really looking forward to as well.
I saw as well that you’re playing for Meredith this year. Have you ever played before or have you been before? Are you excited?
I am ridiculously excited, honestly. I pretty much go every year since I have moved up to Naarm. It really has been a pipeline dream for years. It has felt like that has been out of reach or that it will never happen, but now that it is, it feels very surreal. So I’m so looking forward to it. It’s very much a dream come true. It is funny talking to my friends now and they’re like, “Your dream is literally coming true.” How crazy is it that that happens?
The programming is always amazing. They just always seem to know what you need at what time of day, and just the one stage and such a beautiful crowd and energy.
Do you know what time you’re playing?
I believe I’m going to be on at 1pm on Saturday.
It’s the: all right, wake up, let’s get going again and we’ll pass you on to continue your day and get back into the spirit of it.
And I just love the daytime dance party. I think my favorite moments have been during the day: amazing music, and you’re just all having a boogie in the sunshine. So I’m so excited to have that set and get to be a part of that.
And talking about career highlights: you said that was your dream – would that be your career highlight so far?
I think that’s definitely my highlight as in achievement, just because I never thought it would happen. But I think another one that really sticks out for me that took me by surprise was performing at the APRA Music Awards in honour of Uncle Archie Roach. I got to sing his song, One Song.
Bumpy sings Archie Roach’s One Song, at the 2023 APRA Music Awards.
I didn’t really know what to expect. I had never been to that event before. I got to play with his band and Folk Bitch Trio as well were backing. It was really magical.
When you perform and there’s just something else that’s present in the music or something else that’s present in the space, and then at the end of the song you’re like, “Oh my God, what was that?” It was just one of those experiences that really stuck out to me and was a huge honour.
A funny side note: as I was running out to catch an Uber to run back to the hotel, I got stopped by Jimmy Barnes and he was like, “Oh my God, I loved your performance. Thank you so much.” And I was so shocked and so overwhelmed.
It was just one of those experiences where I had no idea what to expect, and the experience really blew me away.
I guess if you’re feeling that kind of magic or something in the air, everyone’s feeling it. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum, does it?
It really felt like the whole room, that we were all there together, and I think especially honouring someone as incredible as Uncle Archie, there was just a whole other spirit to it and a whole other emotional world of it.
I think to hold that and sit in that space was something that I really think about and reflect on a lot.
What a beautiful moment to have. And then you’ll have Meredith and who knows beyond that.
That’s right. And another career highlight was just a couple of months ago, when I received the New Talent of the Year award at the National Indigenous Music Awards [NIMAS] up in Darwin.
Congratulations!
Thank you. It was so unexpected. Me and my best friend went up. We were like, “Let’s just go to the awards and go get warm and be in 30 degree heat.” So it was very not expected to receive that and definitely a highlight to be recognised at a place like that.
Have you got anything else coming up in the works?
With Squid Nebula, we have an album coming out [From Here to You] on 20 October. It’s released through Northside Records. We’ll be doing a few festivals over summer like Strawberry Fields and Inward Goods and playing a bit in Naarm in January. But the album’s out on the 20th, and we’ll be playing at the Eight-Six Festival at the Northside Label Show on 28th.
How people can follow you keep in touch with what’s going on in Bumpy world?
I guess socials, Instagram and Facebook are probably my most active places to follow. I am working on a website at the moment, but I am very slow with the whole comms and social media. So I think Instagram and Facebook are kind of the places to find what’s happening and what’s coming up.
And listening to your Triple R show, Pebbles, at 2am on Friday mornings!
That’s right. You can also just listen online on the playback on demand and that’s actually with my sister. We do the show together, which is really fun.
Bumpy performed as part of Free Jazz at Fed Square, for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, 2023.
Founder of Rooftop Bees
As part of RESET, our month-long festival of sustainability-focused events and activities held during September, Rooftop Bees installed two beehives on our roof. Visitors went on a tour to visit these hives, as well attend an introduction to beekeeping workshop.
We had a chat to John from Rooftop Bees to discover why bees are so important, and what our bees will be up to over the next few months as they settle in.
Hi John! Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be involved with Rooftop Bees.
My name is John Prince, founder of Rooftop Bees. I started beekeeping following the passing of my mother who had a dream of retiring to the southern highlands of NSW to live a homestead life with market gardens, chickens and bees. At the time I was working as a Chief Operating Officer of a live entertainment publisher and was unhappy with my work life balance. I decided to pick up beekeeping in honour of my mother and I quickly became obsessed with the magical world of bees and how important they are to our planet and people. I quickly started coming up with business ideas centred around bees. Following months of research here and abroad I found that there was no one in Australia specialising in providing professional beekeeping services to corporate clients.
What does Rooftop Bees do and why is the work you do important?
Rooftop Bees installs and maintains beehives for corporate organisations to achieve sustainability and environmental outcomes. We deliver workshops and experiences centred around bees that help corporate organisations and their staff, patrons and tenants make meaningful connections with nature through bees.
Where is the most unusual place you have installed a rooftop beehive?
The most unusual place actually isn’t on a rooftop. We manage beehives for the Reserve Bank of Australia and we have bees where they print money and passports. Needless to say, it’s high security access and most of the site is restricted access so I haven’t been lucky enough to see all the piles of cash being printed!
Fed Square is about to install two beehives on our roof, thanks to Rooftop Bees – tell us about the story of these bees and what you expect they will be doing over the next few months as they settle in?
We are super excited to be bringing bees back to Fed Square. We will be installing two beehives containing approximately 120,000 honey bees (Apis Mellifera). Honey bees are one of the world’s most important insects playing a critical role in pollinating 71 of the top 100 fruit and vegetable crops that feed 90% of the world. They are also Mother Nature’s most precious storytellers and have had a symbiotic relationship with ancient civilisations throughout antiquity. Bees and their beehive are also nature’s medicine chest providing natural medicine through the honey and propolis they produce.
Being the start of spring, the timing is perfect for the bees as they will be rapidly expanding their colony size as the weather warms up and there is an abundance of flora in bloom. The bees will be visiting surrounding parks, gardens, bushland and rooftop gardens pollinating an area of approximately 80 square kilometers around Fed Square.
What is the honey like from Rooftop Bees hives?
The honey produced by the rooftop beehives will be a reflection of the local flora that’s in bloom at any given time. The colour, aroma, viscosity and flavour profiles will change throughout the season as different species of trees and flowers come into bloom. The bees will be spoilt for choice given the proximity to the botanical gardens and the parklands along the banks of the Yarra.
If people at home are interested in bringing bees to their own community – what is your advice?
The most important advice I give to anyone wanting to get involved with bees is do your research. There are lots of great beekeeping clubs across Victoria. You can find more information and your local club on the Victorian Recreational Beekeepers Association website. Try and link up with a beekeeper who can become your mentor and show you how to get started. It’s also important to make sure you or anyone in your family isn’t allergic to bees as a bee sting can lead to serious illness. If honey bees don’t sound like your thing, you can still help bees and pollinators by planting out your garden with flowering plants. Try to purchase raw honey directly from a beekeeper knowing you are supporting a beekeeper and their bees.
Follow the Fed Square beehives on our Bee Cam.
Creative Producer at Fed Square
To celebrate the beginning of spring and the commencement of RESET, Fed Square’s month-long program of sustainability-focused events and activations, we spoke to Loz, the program’s Creative Producer.
We asked Loz a bit about what she thought about when designing the program, what people can expect, who the program is for, and we got the buzz on what she’s most looking forward to.
Hi Loz! Tell us about yourself and your role at Fed Square
I am one of the Creative Producers here at Fed Square. I have the awesome privilege of arranging free events and experiences designed to resonate with individuals from all walks of life. This role allows me to shape immersive moments that not only captivate but also educate and inspire the community.
Me on a personal level: I have a passion for learning about all things related to sustainability, which is an immense subject. It is constantly evolving, with developing technologies, research and innovations offering rich insights and new perspectives.
I also love playing AFL and our Grand Final is next weekend! I love travelling, reading and eating out with friends.
You’ve programmed RESET, Fed Square’s spring program of activity and activation – tell us about what it is and what people can expect?
A little bit of everything! The program includes a Zero Waste Festival, where you can meet those making a difference in the sustainability space. There will be market stalls, panel discussions, a clothes swap, a Repair Café and a mending circle to fix clothing that may need some TLC.
What else? A vegan market full of food, fashion and beauty; a day full of free workshops, focused on how to be sustainable and cost effective in your own kitchen and garden – with free coffee if you arrive early!
Then we head into the school holidays to entertain and educate the kids (for FREE), through immersive theatre, hands on workshops and you can even jump on a bike to generate the power that will play a movie on the big screen!
What were the key elements you were thinking about when designing the program?
This program not only reflects my personal passion for sustainability and the environment but showcases a range of community groups, non-for-profits, creatives and collectives who are committed to positive change.
The elements of the program are designed to help people refresh their thinking about sustainability; reinvent the way they may have always done something, to make even just a small positive change for the environment; and renew their commitment to sustainability.
I hope to inspire a collective shift towards more sustainable living while providing a platform for local businesses, creatives and innovators who are committed to sustainability.
Why is RESET relevant to Victorians, Melburnians and other visitors who come to Fed Square?
I think as a community we all have the good intentions and a shared commitment to a sustainable lifestyle. Making positive change for the good of the environment and our community resonates with the people of Melbourne.
Who should come to RESET?
EVERYONE! Whether you are curious about a waste-free lifestyle or just need a bit of inspiration, RESET is for you.
After a long winter we all want a bit of a fresh start.
What are you most looking forward to as part of RESET this year?
Getting my broken items at fixed at the Repair Café at the Zero Waste Festival. Ha ha!
There are a number of panel discussions I am eager to hear at the Zero Waste Festival – I’m particularly interested in the Community Innovation in the circular economy session, because I really believe that as a community, we need to work together to create real and positive change.
But the event I’m most looking forward to seeing is the installation of two beehives on our rooftop right here at Fed Square – that is pretty special. Our bees will be helping to improve local biodiversity while they pollinate plants and make their honey. There is an opportunity for some of the public to view these rooftop bees too!
What are your top 3 tips for people looking to live more sustainably?
- An easy win is always carrying a coffee cup and water bottle with you – there are some super cool ones out there. Avoid creating that single use waste that ends up in landfill or polluting our waterways.
- Find out what your council is doing in relation to waste streams – most councils have now adopted green bins for food waste that they then turn into compost. Did you know Australia currently creates more than 7.6 million tonnes of food waste each year?! And a third of that is generated in the home.
- Avoid fast (and ULTRA) fast fashion. The average person only wears a garment 7 times before discarding it. This industry is producing new styles faster than we can wear them! Consider secondhand clothing (there is some cool stuff out there) or attend a clothes swap (like the one at the Zero Waste Festival) – it is just like getting a new wardrobe! You can even hold a clothes swap with your own friends. To check if the brands you are buying stack up ethically, head to: https://baptistworldaid.org.au/resources/ethical-fashion-guide/
See the full RESET program here.
Co-founder of the Zero Waste Festival
Fed Square is set to be the home of the Zero Waste Festival for the second year in 2023. Presented as part of RESET, a month-long program of sustainability-focused events, festivals and activations held during September at Fed Square, the festival includes a market, talks, panel sessions and much more, designed to educate and inspire.
In the lead up to the festival on Saturday 2 September, we spoke with Kirsty Bishop-Fox, the festival’s co-founder, about how the Zero Waste Festival came to be, what people can expect at this year’s festival – and asked her some of her top at-home sustainability tips and tricks.
Hi Kirsty! Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to get involved in the Zero Waste Festival.
I’m one of the co-founders of the festival. In 2018, there was a group of us who were talking about ideas and things we could do for zero waste and Zero Waste Victoria, and we came up with an idea to have an event.
It didn’t start as a festival. We called it: ‘Speed Date a Zero Waster’, where we had different stations, and people could learn about fixing and mending, composting, cloth nappies, and different things like that.
As it grew, we had the event at Brunswick Town Hall for four hours. Four hours is a long time, so we thought why don’t we get a speaker? And then we put in a clothes swap, and it got to a point where it was looking like a mini festival.
And so, we called it a festival. And then the next year, in 2019, we went in with a bit more, and it’s just grown from there.
What does zero waste mean to you?
Zero waste is a term that I don’t take completely literally, but it’s about working towards having less waste. But even more so than less waste, about living sustainably with the purchases that I make or don’t make.
What are some of the principles that guide zero waste for you?
For me, there are different aspects to it. One is looking at the things I buy, and asking myself, do I actually need to buy them, or do I need to buy them new? So, I might think: Okay, why am I looking at these shoes, and why do I need a pair of shoes? Maybe I could re-sole shoes that I already own that need some repair instead, and keep them going.
Or is it something that I’m going to use a lot? Perhaps I’m only going to use it once or twice, and perhaps somebody has something that I can borrow, or I can hire it instead of buying something that’s just going to be used twice and sit in my cupboard collecting dust for a long time. So, it’s really being sensible about what I get, and how I use it.
How will the Zero Waste Festival help people learn to live more sustainably?
There is a huge range of things that people can do, and people can slip into their interest area.
We’ve got the Clothes Swap, for people who like to regularly get new clothes. If you look in your wardrobe, there are usually a handful of pieces that you wear all the time. Maybe jeans or a particular jacket, they just kind of get worn to death. And then other things, they just kind of get worn sometimes. Maybe only once or twice. So, if that’s you, then there’s a clothes swap. So, you can go in and take those items of clothing that are in great condition, but you’re not going to wear anymore. Put them into the clothing pool, and then you can go shopping, and you can get somebody else’s clothes that meet those same criteria. So, it’s a great way to keep your clothes out of landfill, but still get new things to wear at the same time.
There’s also the Repair Café, if people have things that need to be fixed, or there’s the mending circle. So, if you’re not really great at repairing things yourself, like when your hems come loose or buttons come off, you’ll be able to bring along your garments, and learn how to fix those things.
Or if you’ve got something that’s perhaps a bit more specific, like something electrical – I’ve gone to a Repair Café, and I had a cord that was starting to fray. I went along, and a trained electrical person changed it over, and now it’s working as good as new. So, just those little things, people will be able to get them repaired.
Then we have the market, and the market stalls are a mix of education – there are some groups there talking about what they do – and then there are other organisations that have reusable products that they’re selling, to help create less waste.
There’s a speaking program as well, featuring some great topics. The first one is, Can we Recycle our Way Out of it? We’ve got a mix of people on the panel, including Dr Deborah Lau from CSIRO, as well as some plastic recyclers.
Then we’ve got Confronting the Fashion Waste Crisis, which should be quite an interesting conversation about what we’re doing with textiles. Clothing is just one of those things that often doesn’t get thought about, but it creates a massive, massive amount of waste.
And then people can book in for the clothes swap, as I mentioned, if they’re interested in taking that a step further.
What are your top three hacks for living more sustainably that people could incorporate into their daily lives?
I think you’ve got to look at where you’re at, but one of the most sustainable things people can do is to look at their food, and to not waste any of it. A lot of resources go into growing food and managing what gets wasted. So, if we can actually eat everything we buy, then that’s a really simple thing. It also saves us money too.
I encourage people to look at the waste that they can avoid. Plastic bags has actually got the attention of a lot of people, and it’s as simple as asking yourself: how can I reduce my plastic bags?The easiest way to reduce them is with your produce: your fruit and veggies. Because you’re actually choosing to put the fruit and veg in a bag or not. I would encourage people to buy their produce without bags, or to use reusable bags if they need to have a bag for something like spinach or mushrooms.
And thirdly, when you buy something, ask yourself: how much do I need it? How often will I use it? Is it something that I’m going to use all the time? And if it’s something you’re going to use every day like a toaster, sure, you need to get one. If it’s something you’re going to use just every now and then, then perhaps see if you can borrow it from someone.
An example I often give to make it make more sense is when my son was having a birthday party a few years ago, he wanted to have a fairy floss maker. A fairy floss maker is something that you would get for a party, you may use once or twice, maybe three times a year.
And so I put a call-out to see if somebody had one that I could buy or borrow off them. And in the end, someone gave theirs to me. She was doing a clean out, and she was going to get rid of it, and so it made sense for me to take it off her hands, instead of buying a new one. Because what’s the point of me buying something while somebody else sends that exact same thing to landfill?
Certain foods, particularly in the supermarket, come in plastic bags. Your spinach is already in a plastic bag. Is there kind of a way that you would recommend avoiding that?
Yeah. It does depend where you shop, because I actually don’t shop in supermarkets for my fresh produce. There are a lot of reasons for that. One is the plastic, but even more so I find that you actually get better quality and often better value elsewhere.
But yeah, do shop elsewhere, and see what you can do. I know in supermarkets, a lot of the stuff is pre-packed, but get what you can that’s not pre-packed. Or shop somewhere else that gives you the opportunity not to have to do that.
Who is doing great things in the zero waste space right now?
One of our speakers for the Zero Waste Festival, Belinda Goldman, is from an organisation called FoodFilled. They’re a youth-led food rescue charity who are dedicated to combating food waste, alleviating hunger. So, I think that’s an up-and-coming not-for-profit organisation to keep an eye on.
What are you looking forward to most at the Zero Waste Festival?
Look, I’m looking forward to the whole lot, but we’ve also got a film screening of a documentary called The Endangered Generation. And I’m quite excited about that, in that it’s not solely about waste. It’s just about what’s happening in the future as a whole too.
Monash University were involved in that documentary, and we’ve got a couple of the people who featured in that, Dr. Rebakah Henry and Associate Professor John Bradley, who will be doing a Q and A following that documentary. So, that’ll be quite interesting, I think, for those who are looking at a broader perspective than just waste.
Have you got any recommendations for where people can learn more about the Zero Waste Movement, or get more information on how to live more sustainably?
There is heaps of information online. I mean, obviously the best place to come to is the festival. I have to say that. And jump onto our website. There’s a lot of resources on our website or the Zero Waste Victoria Facebook group. That’s a great place to ask questions, too.
Learn more about the Zero Waste Festival – and book your free ticket (where you can register for the Clothes Swap and Repair Cafe) here.
Composer and creator of 10,000 Kazoos for RISING 2023
We caught up with Ciaran Frame: musician and composer and creator of 10,000 Kazoos, which performed at Fed Square as part of RISING in 2023.
We asked Ciaran about what inspired him to bring 10,000 kazoos together in one place, his interest in collaboration and the accessibility of art – and what he’s looking forward to as part of RISING.
Hi Ciaran, tell us about yourself and your background as a composer.
I’m originally a flute player and percussionist, but I moved into writing music when I studied music composition at the Sydney Conservatorium. Now that I’ve found a home in composing music, the two things that drive my music are an interest in collaboration, and a commitment to creating music that is accessible and meaningful to a broad range of people.
What is 10,000 Kazoos?
10,000 Kazoos is exactly that! 10,000 people will descend on Fed Square at 4pm on June 10 to play beautiful and chaotic kazoo sounds. We are going to rehearse and then perform our very own piece about Melbourne – but this isn’t some high-pressure concert, it’s for everyone. You just turn up, grab a kazoo, and give it a crack. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been practising all your life for this moment, or this is the first time you’ve ever touched a musical instrument. You and 9,999 other people are going to perform in a record-breaking kazoo orchestra, so come along!
What is the inspiration for 10,000 Kazoos and how did this project come about?
Kazoos are the most ridiculous, beautiful, annoying and amazing instruments that anyone can play, so I thought: wouldn’t it be great if 10,000 people could play them! I want to prove that everyone in Melbourne can be a musician, regardless of musical experience, and what better way to prove that than with 10,000 of the most silly instruments in the world.
And what has been the response so far?
We’ve actually run over 20 workshops with all sorts of groups across Melbourne (from schools to libraries to choirs), and the response has been amazing. Everytime I mention the event to people, I always hear “wait… but it’s not really 10,000 people, right?”. Then I usually get a mixture of fear, excitement and disbelief once they learn it truly is 10,000 people playing 10,000 kazoos. That’s usually followed by the question “what does 10,000 kazoos sound like?” And I don’t have an answer for that one! We won’t know until 10 June…
What are you looking forward to seeing (or hearing!) at the event?
The most exciting thing for me is that I’m not sure what it will sound like! We can offer all the prompts and instructions we want, but nobody has ever heard this many Kazoos in the one place before. I can’t wait to see all corners of Melbourne come together for some cacophonous music-making.
What else are you looking forward to seeing at RISING this year?
I’m a huge Thundercat fan, so I’ll be heading to that straight after 10,000 Kazoos! But also very excited for Speak Percussion’s Sonic Eclipse (another participatory music event) and Aphids’ Oh Deer! (who can say no to experimental theatre?).
How can people follow you as an artist?
I keep all my adventures at www.ciaranframe.com
Register to be part of 10,000 Kazoos here.
Aboriginal Elder and music legend
Uncle Bart Willoughby is a pioneering musician who has changed the landscape of Australian music – forming the first Indigenous rock band, No Fixed Address, in 1978 and becoming known for his revolutionary fusion of jazz and reggae with Indigenous Australian influences in his music.
Uncle Bart also has a long history of association with the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy, and Blak activism through his music – his song ‘We Have Survived’ is an Aboriginal anthem.
For YIRRAMBOI this weekend, he will be performing as part of the Yung Tent Embassy, produced by Blak & Bright, and curated by Deline Briscoe and Miss Kaninna – which will be set up at Fed Square.
We spoke with Uncle Bart a bit about his music and what you can expect.
Hi Uncle Bart, tell us a bit about your association with the Aboriginal Tent Embassy?
It’s always been an important part of my life. Each time I headed that way, I stayed there over the years, off and on for over four years. Like I said, it’s been an important part of my life. And, just like music, it makes up my character.
What drew you to the original Tent Embassy, and why is that an important thing for you?
Well, we were the Stolen Generation. You lose a lot of things. And, so you slowly spill back into the community in some cases, a lot of cases people just don’t have a clue where they come from. Yeah, so I’m just very grateful. It’s, like I said, a very important part, it’s who we are as First Nations people.
Is it that reconnecting with other First Nations people was significant for you, or is it because political activism is part of what you do as an artist?
Well, it’s actually more mind blowing than that from my point of view, simply because I’ve always been teaching, like if I’m doing something, it’s actually teaching, but I’ve always loved teaching. This is music, okay? And I also play instruments very well. And so I can … How to explain it? I somehow know how to nurture their gift and make them understand that it’s all right to be a multi-instrumentalist, because that allows you to do a lot of different things. And then I’ll show them what you can do to control all that. So, do you want to be a drummer in a band, knowing that you’re really doing it together, or do you want to play bass? But what I teach them is how to grab all that as a young kid and go into the studio and put it all down.
But the way I look at it is I mistakenly fell into it. If I play the drums, it means I have control of the music. Yeah? And so, I can teach kids how to control their multiplicity.
When I teach kids and teenagers and even old people, I always tell them, “Learn the ancient instruments first, like bongo, clapstick, didgeridoo.”
And you master them. And then you get onto the drums, bass, and all the rest.
When I was young, it used to take me a week to practice because there were so many instruments I learned to play. So one day I’d be just playing piano all day, and then next day I’d be playing bass, the next day I’d be doing bongos and didge and clapstick. And next day I’d be doing guitar and getting shown how to play really, really sophisticated chords, jazz chords, classic chords.
And even funk, I could play funk on the bass. So when I teach the kids, I teach them all of that.
And they just love that, and that’s because the Tent Embassy teaches you how to respect them and cherish life.
Tell me a little bit about what you’ll be doing at the Yung Tent Embassy for YIRRAMBOI this year?
Well, just, I might bring my woodskin, my harmonica, but that might change … Anything. Because you’ve got me thinking, I could even take my piano there. Because I’ve got the piano, play bass on the one hand and play the piano on the other hand.
And then I could, now I’ve got this instrument that lets me drum from my feet.
Yeah, it could be anything, because I’ll just leave it, I’ll go, me, myself and I, and when I get there, it just starts.
When I spoke to Deline (the co-curator of Yung Tent Embassy) she said what she hoped would come from the Yung Tent Embassy was going to be more ongoing collaboration between the older generation, Elders, like yourself, and the next generation, the young First Nations people. Is that what you hope?
Well, if they want to have a jam, yeah.
I’m cool, because yeah, I love jamming.
And so who should come along to the Yung Tent Embassy? Who should come and visit and hear what you have to say and hear your music?
Just bring yourself, if you want. With all of us there, they’re going to have a hell of a good time. Yeah. It just explodes, bang! Bang! Bang! And then it stops.
That’s what I’m starting to notice when I look back at previous concerts, especially by myself, there’s none of this, “One, two, three, four.” It just goes bang! Bang! And I didn’t know I was doing it, that’s the energy I use to start off, do you know what I mean?
So, I just can’t wait.
Musician, composer and co-curator of Yung Tent Embassy for YIRRAMBOI
On 26 January 2022, The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra turned 50, becoming the oldest continuous site of Indigenous land rights protest in the world. Originally set up on 26 January 1972 under a beach umbrella opposite Parliament House by four First Nations land rights activists, the embassy grew in population and popularity, becoming at one point the site of over 200 camped tents.
The Yung Tent Embassy, produced by Blak & Bright, pays homage to the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy and will be erected at Fed Square as part of YIRRAMBOI, on 6 May.
We spoke with co-curator Deline Briscoe to learn a bit more about what people can expect and what it’s been like for her curating the program of Blak artivists for Yung Tent Embassy.
Hi Deline! Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you came to curate the Yung Tent Embassy for YIRRAMBOI this year?
I’ve been singer-songwriter since I was about eight, but I’ve been touring since I was 17, in 1997. I’ve done a lot of work over the years with different companies like the Black Arm Band, Ilbijerri Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, some places in Cairns – Miriki Performing Arts, some of the youth performing arts companies – and did a lot of different things with composing dance music, working with film, working all different across with music. And then 2021, I did a bit of creative producing and artistic directing for Cairns Indigenous Art Fair when I lived in Cairns.
In 2021, I had an opportunity to present a show that I’d been conceptualising since about 2018 called BLAKTIVISM – a show that I created and presented at Hamer Hall last year in December. That show is all around Blak artivism and how that can be the catalyst for social and political change – I wanted to celebrate how art can really influence our mob positively.
Following that, Blak & Bright asked me if I would be interested in coming on board to curate their Yung Tent Embassy this year for YIRRAMBOI. And so I just said, yeah, sure! I said to them it’ll be good to use this as an opportunity to work with a young curator and someone who I can teach a bit about how to curate an event and what goes into that – given the theme of ‘Yung’ (young) Tent Embassy.
They were keen to support that idea as well. And I called Kaninna, or Miss Kaninna, as she goes by, and she was really keen to be a part of it. We collaborated to make it happen and curated all of the young artivists in the event.
Who will be performing?
Miss Kaninna is the MC for the event. She’ll be keeping things rolling. And then starting with our Elder Bart Willoughby, he’s going to share some of his anthems but also the stories behind them and how he wrote them. And there’ll be space for questions and what people want to know about how he came up and why. What was the reason for writing the song We Have Survived, such an iconic Aboriginal anthem?
And then there’s a young fellow, Caution. He’s got an incredible story and really positive outcome. He’ll be there, bringing some of his spoken word pieces. And then young Jahmal – these mob are all mates, and they all hang out and they all talk about resistance and repatriation. And they’re all working together doing these things as well as being mates. They’re also really incredible performers.
And then there’s a beautiful actor and powerful spoken word artist, Tamala Shelton. If you haven’t seen Tamala Shelton perform, you need to get down and experience the depth of her writing. She’s definitely a young person with a very old soul. She writes a lot about climate change and Indigenous knowledge as being the core of what that movement should be following. She’s got a really strong global perspective on it, but also just about our mob leading the challenges of saving the planet.
Then there is Waari. He’s a really versatile but extremely talented artist. He’s originally from North Queensland, but he’s there in Naarm now, and really established with his band Izy and also doing his solo stuff.
It’s going to be good I think for these young people. At least two of them, Caution and Jahmal, they are hiphop artists. But hiphop essentially comes from spoken word. The performance for the Yung Tent Embassy, it’s going to be really stripped back – you will be able to hear every single word that they’re going to say – whereas sometimes in those hiphop gigs it can get a little bit lost. But this will be right to the point where they can really get their message across just by saying it out there, sending it out there.
Who should come to listen to what these Blak artivists have to say at the Yung Tent Embassy?
I think it’s really important for our Elders to hear the voice of the young mob. I really think that they would be inspired. When I see young people like this standing up strong, I really appreciate all of the work that those Elders have done for these mobs to have those platforms. It also gives me hope for the future when I see these young people. I would encourage some of our Elders to come along and listen to these young people speak.
I would also think that families and non-Indigenous mob should come along and hear what these young people are saying. Come and listen and take notes on what these mob have got to say because this is the voice of the future.
I really think that it’s really encouraging that these young people are doing this and doing it strongly and proudly.
What will the experience and set-up in the Yung Tent Embassy be?
It’s unamplified. I think they might have a mic only, so you’ll have to get in close, it’ll be cozy. And I think there’s a lot of space for questions. If you are curious about some of these things, it’s really open for conversation. And Kaninna will be the MC and we’ll lead that, but also facilitate all of those yarns.
What has the process been like working on the Yung Tent Embassy for YIRRAMBOI?
Monique Grbec from Blak & Bright, she’s been really deadly, just real solid, bringing it all together. Blak & Bright are producing the event and Kaninna and I are co-curating the event.
Monique was saying they’ve never really curated artists in the Tent Embassy, it’s always been activists. And I said to her, that that’s interesting because the original Tent Embassy actually came about from a street art performance and it was a theatre group who set up the Tent Embassy. And from there they found loopholes in the law, and they’ve been there 51 years this year.
It’s really fitting that Blak artivists should be curated in that space because that’s where it comes from.
The original Tent Embassy has been the catalyst for change – and that’s what art does.
For a lot of our mob who weren’t aware of the political system, it changed the way that we thought about ourselves and where we sit in this Westminster system. It also changed the course of action that people were taking around land rights. Art is so powerful in that way. This is one example of it.
What do you hope comes from the Yung Tent Embassy?
I think one of the outcomes that would be awesome is more intergenerational collaborations with people like Uncle Bart and some of these young mob. Elders like Uncle Bart and the late Uncle Arch and Aunty Lou Bennett and Aunty Ro, they all influenced me as a young artist. What I was doing was something different to them, but I learned so much from collaborating or just working with them as a backing vocalist or as a co-writer or whatever it is I was doing.
I think for me what I really would hope for is that there would be a future collaboration with some of the Elders in the industry, in the music and arts industry with these young mobs.
Poet, performing for 21 Poems as part of YIRRAMBOI
Bebe Backhouse is a Naarm-based Bardi Jawi man from north-Western Australia, poet and creative. Bebe will be performing as part of 21 Poems, a spoken word poetry event presented by Blak & Bright as part of YIRRAMBOI this year.
In the lead-up to 21 Poems on 5 May, we spoke to Bebe to learn a bit more about him and his journey from pianist and composer to poet, what he’s been up to lately – and why 21 Poems provides a special opportunity for those with a curious mind and an open heart to hear First Nations writers and creatives express themselves in their own way.
Hi Bebe! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background as a poet.
I’m an Aboriginal man of the Bardi Jawi people from northern-Western Australia, and I grew up in a tiny coastal town with a diverse circle of friends and a wide community of extended family.
Creativity has always been a big part of who I am, which first took the form of music when I began to study piano performance and eventually composition and conducting. At the same time, literature was something I was strongly connected to and I always had a book to read, and I regularly translated my thoughts and emotions into poetry and verse. It was always for a personal therapy purpose and I never thought I’d find myself in a position of sharing these intimacies with anyone – I always believed the piano would be my future, but I’m glad I allowed myself to fall away from music and into the hands of my words on pages.
I find the ability of releasing myself through authentic transparency and honesty to be very grounding, and I believe words to be powerful, so if I can gift mine to the world in the form of poetry then I feel I’m honouring myself and creating a legacy for my people.
You’re going to be performing some of your poems for 21 Poems as part of YIRRAMBOI this year – what can people expect?
Everything I write is based on my own truth, and is either something that’s happened in my life, or is something I feel or believe in. People can always expect honesty and authenticity with my work.
When it came time for me to decide what I was going to perform at 21 Poems, I was unsure because there’s a part of me that asks, ‘what do I want to share about myself at this point in time?’ But, all I can be is who I am and if I’m not myself, then I’m no one at all. And how I feel right now is happy, content and surrounded by love … and busy like there’s no tomorrow! What you can expect from my poetry at YIRRAMBOI is a reflection of this – sprinkled with my usual confessions of deeper thoughts and personal unravelling.
What are you looking forward to as part of YIRRAMBOI this year?
I remember when YIRRAMBOI was reborn several years ago, and the excitement and pride that washed over the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community here in Narrm and across Australia, and seeing a strong celebration of culture, identity and freedom of expression and existence. Those feelings, and that empowerment, has continued to be present at every festival, so I’m looking forward to experiencing it again. It’s wonderful to see our urban places being transformed into spaces filled with First Nations voices and bodies. There’s also been a constant shift and transition away from traditional and standard definitions of art and creative expression, into experimental and open ideas where there isn’t really a limit. It helps to reimagine and reinvent the meaning of what it means to be a Blak person of ancient origins in a contemporary and colonial society. So, I’m also looking forward to the empowerment and determination that’s achieved through the festival.
Who do you recommend should come to see 21 Poems at Fed Square?
Poetry is an interesting medium because there are a lot of people within the community who feel they don’t necessarily understand or connect with it, but that doesn’t mean they should be excluded. That’s the thing with art and creativity – it’s an accessible and tangible invitation to see the world through someone else’s eyes, which might change your own perspectives and beliefs on a particular subject.
What the project of 21 Poems enables, is an opportunity for First Nations writers and creatives to express themselves and tell their own stories, woven with the threads of their own truths. This is a rare and special thing to witness, so I think anyone who has a curious mind, an open heart and a malleable view of the world will enjoy the experience. Even then, if you don’t feel this is you, I’d still encourage you to come because you should never underestimate the value and power of words.
What’s next for you and how can people follow your art?
My new book, ‘more than these bones‘ was released in March so it’s been a busy and fruitful time, committing to that journey and everything it’s provided. I’ve been tying together the pieces of my next collection, as well as riding the wave of a couple of anthologies I’ve been published in this year, including a couple of special projects and performances at Sydney World Pride. I have an international commission I’m working on with another First Nations writer, and I’ll be at both Byron Writers Festival and Canberra Writers Festival later this year. If anyone wants to stay up to date with anything I’m working on, or even stay in touch, I can be found on Instagram at @bebe.backhouse – and if you’re at 21 Poems, say hello.
Poet
Ryan Prehn is a Naarm-based Worimi man from Iutruwita and poet. Ryan will be performing as part of 21 Poems, a spoken word poetry event presented by Blak & Bright as part of YIRRAMBOI this year.
We spoke to Ryan to learn a bit more about him and his poetry and why writers, readers – people who love poetry and people who don’t – should come along. We also got some of Ryan’s hot tips for what he’s looking forward to at YIRRAMBOI this year.
Hi Ryan! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background as a poet.
I’m a Worimi fella from Iutruwita but I have been living in Naarm on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country for much of my adult life. I’ve been involved in Aboriginal health research for the last few years while finishing up a Bachelor of Arts, and before that I was a chef for a long while. I’ve lived a life across many worlds, in a Bourdieusian sense: as a member of the ‘down and out’ underclass, through working-class struggles and middle-class disillusions. I don’t really have a concrete life narrative but hopefully I continue to plod along without causing too much pain to myself and my loved ones along the way.
My background in poetry is haphazard. Originally, I entered competitions for money when I had no income; I was wishing, really, that I might win some. After not too long I actually did when I got runner-up in the Overland Nakata Brophy Poetry Prize, and it made me think maybe I might actually be alright at this.
As it turns out, I’m not actually all that good at poetry, I don’t think. I haven’t really found my own articulation yet. Sometimes I get a zap of inspiration and I think ‘oh wow, this is good’, but most of the time I can’t shoehorn it into something poetically legible. I really like cryptic crosswords, and I think that a lot of my poetry ends up being too cryptic when what most people want is tangibility. Or I produce a blend of intellectual theory and personal voice that requires specific knowledge to unlock meaning. I guess I write more for myself than an imagined audience, and I’m ok with not as many people getting what I’m doing because of that.
You’re going to be performing some of your poems for 21 Poems as part of YIRRAMBOI this year – what can people expect?
I’ve been writing a lot of different kinds of poetry in preparation for YIRRAMBOI. I think there’s a big difference between poetry that is silently and personally read off the page and poetry that is read aloud socially. The auditory processing and social dynamic give a different value to the same words, in comparison to them being read in isolation. It’s like the difference between engaging with an idea versus interpreting its meaning.
I think it’s easier for dense meaning to be communicated via text than via speech, but that’s only my personal understanding because of my particular brain/ mind, and not something that I believe is universal. I don’t see how we can ever really go beyond ourselves and our perception of extrinsic feedback, though, because it’s all channelled through our own understandings, strengths and limitations.
For this event I have focused on writing things that are (hopefully) meaningful and interpretable to a wide audience, things that are influenced by the theme of Indigenous futurisms and that push me to articulate my innermost self without filtering it through external expectations.
I expect there to be a great literary diversity among the poets involved in 21 Poems and am excited to hear what these other mob have come up with.
What are you looking forward to as part of YIRRAMBOI this year?
I’m particularly looking forward to seeing A Night With An Angry Blak Woman, which is a conversation and academic subversion of the demonymic gendered racial stereotype, with Chelsea Watego (Munanjahli / South Sea Islander), Sofii Belling-Harding (Yorta Yorta, Wiradjuri, South Sea and Meriam) and Apryl Day (Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba and Barapa Barapa).
But honestly, it’s such a deadly program that everything is just jostling alongside one another, and I want to see everything.
Who do you recommend should come to see 21 Poems at Fed Square?
Come and see us if you’re a writer. Come and see us if you’re a reader. Come and see us if you like poetry. Come and see us if you don’t like poetry. I don’t really like poetry and I’ll be there performing poetry, so we will have something in common no matter what.
I want to see a crowd full of other Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander mob so that I feel like I’m supported there on stage both by ancestors and contemporaries. This isn’t just us doing poetry in isolation – our stories, successes, and struggles are inseparable, and I wouldn’t be doing this if it was just performing for the wayibala (whitefellas). Particularly regarding the theme of futurism, it’s important for not just mob and allies but everyone to get involved in and exposed to First Nations perspectives.
We’re constantly on the verge of something momentous and beautiful in this country, if only the one hand wouldn’t be so reticent to being held by the other.
What’s next for you and how can people follow your art?
Hopefully once I finish studying, I can dedicate more time to art. There is never enough time, but I’m particularly bad at managing what little there is. I want to write poetry collections, fictions and memoir. Once I have something more comprehensive to be followed, I’ll figure out how it can best be followed. For now, enjoy the uncertainty.
Ubuntu Food Hub Coordinator for United African Farm
Getrude Matshe is many things, including an entrepreneur, author and celebrated speaker. She also works with community-based initiative United African Farm (UAF) and will be here at Little Food Festival this week. We recently chatted with Getrude about her role at UAF, what she will be doing at Little Food Festival – as well as her festival tips.
Hi Getrude – what brings you to the Little Food Festival?
I am coming to the Little Food Festival representing the United African Farm in Cardinia. I am their Food Hub Coordinator responsible for working with African youth in Victoria. We are creating programs to teach children of African descent about food security and to educate them about the indigenous fruit and vegetables consumed on the African Continent, which are now grown right here in Victoria in our UAF community garden.
Our programs extend to the greater community and we welcome school visits and have regular volunteer working bees where anyone can come and visit the farm and learn about African culture and food. We also are designing programs that help kids explore their intuitive gifts such as acting, dancing and singing and sports like basketball and soccer. We believe that once a child discovers their strengths they will excel in anything they do in life.
What will you be doing at the Little Food Festival this year?
We will bring various activities to the festival, including the ‘mystery box’ where children have to identify what is in the box and learn about plants and vegetables grown in Africa. We will also show how we use cornmeal and baking flour for fabric painting and the kids can get an opportunity to do some fabric painting as well. In addition, we will invite the kids to join our ‘tribe’ and get their tribal markings with our face painting team at our stand.
What do you love about the Little Food Festival?
What I love about the Little Food festival is that children will learn about food in a vibrant and fun way from a host of food hubs and professionals in the food industry. In Africa, we believe that friendships are formed with the breaking of bread; so food is the glue that binds our relationships. I also love the fact that we will share our African Heritage and culture with thousands of children during the festival.
Who should come to the Little Food Festival?
Anyone who loves food and learning about other cultures should come to the festival, and children especially so they can learn and experience food in very unique ways. It is a place for children to be educated and stimulated in a very unique way.
What’s your hot tip for the festival?
My tip for the festival is to be curious and inquisitive and ask lots of questions so you can learn something new; this festival is a great place to broaden your horizons and have lots of fun doing it.
Melbourne-based designer and artist
In the lead-up to Little Food Festival this week – Australia’s first and only food festival for kids – we speak to well-known artist and designer Beci Orpin about what she’ll be doing – and her tips for the festival.
Hi Beci, you’re a very well-known artist and designer – what brings you to the Little Food Festival?
This is my third year at Little Food Festival (or fourth if you include virtual workshop during lockdown!) – it’s always a fun and busy event.
What will you be doing at the Little Food Festival this year?
At Little Food Festival this year you can join me to make seasonal paper lunch boxes. We will have a variety of pre-cut paper fruits and veg and other popular and healthy snacks which you can put together based on what is fresh in a particular season. I have made some ‘in season’ charts for everyone to reference (and learn from as well!)
What do you love about the Little Food Festival
Little Food Festival always has a great message which I love to promote. Plus: anything to do with food is always great too!
Who should come to the Little Food Festival?
Obviously it’s a great free school holiday program so it’s perfect for kids and parents, but actually anyone who is interested in learning about healthy food and a healthy planet too.
What’s your hot tip for the festival?
My workshop! I also always fangirl over Fruit Nerd (aka Thanh Truong) and am excited to eat from the food trucks.
Image: Beci Orpin at the 2022 Little Food Festival. Photo: Liam Neal.
Visual Artist, Producer and Singer/Songwriter
Ree Peric is an Australian-born artist and producer, who grew up in Uganda before settling in Shepparton (Yorta Yorta country). With Fijian and Croatian ancestry, her exposure to many different cultures has meant she has developed a love of food culture from many parts of the world – which she is looking forward to sharing with visitors at the Little Food Festival this week. We asked her about what she will be doing and her hot tips for the festival.
Hi Ree – what brings you to the Little Food Festival?
I was approached by the organisers of this festival through another project I was doing around food and I loved the sound of this. I love working with children and I love food, so I was immediately excited once I heard about it.
What will you be doing at the Little Food Festival this year?
I will be facilitating The Table at the festival. It is focused around children learning about their favorite food and creating a space for those conversations about food culture, where it comes from, perhaps why we eat it and allowing kids to be a bit more educated and culturally aware of food.
What do you love about the Little Food Festival
I love that it is centered around young people because it really starts from there. Educating youth is important for a healthier, culturally safe future and it’s also great fun to be working in these spaces.
Who should come to the Little Food Festival?
Everyone and their friends! There is so much food and learning to be shared, so much to see and I think it will be a great 2 days for anyone who is keen for some fun and learning a new thing or two.
What’s your hot tip for the festival?
Definitely bring an umbrella just in case, but also bring a friend and an open mind, it’s great to experience activities in these spaces and great to share it with someone. Also bring a little bit of cash because you won’t want to miss the food trucks and it’s great to support local businesses as well.
Image: courtesy Ree Peric.
Melbourne-based artist
Kenny works with ceramics, painting and drawing to playfully – and often humourously – critique the everyday. He currently has his work on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition and will be running a creative workshop for kids this week, Fun Food in Clay, at Fed Square. We recently had a chat with him to learn more about his art, his inspiration – and what kids can expect at his workshop.
Hi Kenny! Tell us about how you came to be involved in Melbourne Now at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia?
I was lucky enough to be invited to be part of the exhibition by a curator at the NGV, which is a total dream come true and so of course I said yes please!
What inspires you in your art?
I like to make work about the seemingly mundane things that make up our daily lives, elevating and celebrating the little things that can often be overlooked.
Tell us a little about the artwork currently on display at Melbourne Now.
My work in Melbourne Now is a new series of 52 ceramic sculptures of shopping lists. They are all replicas of actual shopping lists that I’ve found while working at a supermarket.
I was 15 when I first got a part time job as a supermarket cleaner and trolley pusher, and I’ve now worked there on and off for more than half my life. Part of the job was getting rid of any rubbish left behind in the trolleys, it’s usually just receipts and banana peels, but sometimes more interestingly, it’s abandoned shopping lists. Rather than throw away the shopping lists I would instead read them and began to collect them. I now have a collection of over 7,000 found shopping lists.
Most shopping lists are written quickly, unlike ceramics which is a very slow medium, and it’s through this act of carefully recreating the lists in my studio that I allow myself the time and space to reflect on them. The shopping lists read like poetry, and are often as revealing as portraiture. Despite their anonymity they’re extremely intimate, providing a unique insight into the people we pass in the aisles.
By creating a permanent tribute to a fleeting moment, the fifty-two ceramic shopping list sculptures presented in Melbourne Now reveal a portrait of our city, and a time capsule of Melbourne, now.
What does it mean to you to be part of Melbourne Now at NGV Australia?
Melbourne Now is a survey exhibition of some of the amazing contemporary art happening in Melbourne and it’s such an honour for my work to be included alongside so many great artists.
Tell us a little bit about the workshop you’re running this week at Fed Square.
It’s a fun workshop for people of all skill levels, where participants will pick up some sculpting tips and tricks, and get to create their very own sculpture of a food item they’d like to bring to a picnic.
How can people follow your work and what you’re doing next?
You can find my work at my website kennypittock.com and the easiest way to stay up to date is to follow me on social media @kennypittock
Image: Kenny Pittock with his work, 52 ceramic replicas of shopping lists found while working in a Melbourne supermarket, 2022. On display at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, as part of Melbourne Now.
Artistic Director of Sanctum Studio
Each Thursday afternoon from 4.30pm until 6.30pm, Fed Square comes alive with roving entertainment from some of Melbourne’s creative community of performers and makers, thanks to the Metro Tunnel Creative Program. This week, we talked to Lachlan Plain of Sanctum Studio – who has brought his colourful creations to Fed Square as part of the program – about his creative practice and inspiration.
Hi Lachlan, tell us a bit about the history of Sanctum Studio.
I started Sanctum Studio (originally Sanctum Theatre) in 2006. For the first six years we created ‘folk theatre in everyday spaces’ – those spaces could be in a burnt out factory, a vacant lot or in the artist’s home. Since then, we’ve been touring puppet shows and roving acts to festivals around Australia. We also work with community groups to create art for public spaces and create giant puppets by commission for festivals and television. We have also created short puppet and animated films that have screened at festivals around the world, including at the St Kilda Film Festival and Revelations Perth International Film Festival.
What does Sanctum Studios do and what inspires you?
We create big things in public spaces. We tear fissures in the fabric of monotony. I love the double take people do when they see something out of the ordinary in an everyday space – something wondrous, something outside the realms of commerce and the usual functions of public space.
What is the inspiration for the costume creation you will wear at Fed Square, as part of the Metro Tunnel Creative Project, and how was it created?
Both acts we are taking to Fed Square this month draw on contributions made by community groups around Melbourne. The puppets we took out last time, One Eye and Frill Neck from Planet Bird Colourful Jelly Sparkle, were created for the Moomba Parade in 2020. Our Moomba puppets and floats tend to be based on children’s drawings. You can also see them in the context of the parade here (scroll down to where it says Moomba 2022).
The puppet I’m taking out next week is Ghost Turtle. It was built with some help from Springvale Community House ESL students, as part of a residency in Dandenong (these students were mostly elderly people with Asian backgrounds, but also included people from all around the world). The Periwinkle Sea Snail was added at a later date for a bit of fun (and so that the puppeteer can stand up).
What are some highlights of performing for crowds and showcasing your art at Fed Square?
I perform and create the puppets. I love all aspects of it – I love the creative development when you’re dreaming up the vision; I love nutting out technical solutions to impossible problems; I also love performing in them, the exhilaration, the squeals and laughter, the license to be a bit cheeky in public spaces and interacting with a whole lot of strangers. The puppets are simple and joyous. They transcend age and language barriers. They’re visual and interactive.
What else are you working on right now or looking forward to?
As well as moving our studio from the outer suburbs to Brunswick, we are working on something very exciting for the screen. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to talk about it just yet. Stay tuned to find out more! (@sanctumstudio.au on Facebook and Instagram.)
Curatorial Manager at the Koorie Heritage Trust
For International Women’s Day, we spoke to some of the incredible women who make Fed Square the place it is: the community, cultural and civic heart of Melbourne and the gateway to the Arts Precinct. Meet Gail Harradine, Curatorial Manager at the Koorie Heritage Trust.
Hi Gail, tell us a bit about your role at KHT and what drew you to it.
Dalki Nyaui. Nyarri-ngek Gail Harradine na Wotjobalukidj. This means Good Day (hello) and my name is Gail Harradine of the Wotjobaluk People, in Wergaia language.
I am the Curatorial Manager at the Koorie Heritage Trust based at Fed Square in Melbourne. I hail from a small country town known as Dimboola, deep in the heart of Tchingal (Giant Emu) country and Purra (Kangaroo) country; our creation beings formed country and the river system. The journeys and storytelling connecting in with my family and our knowledge of culture and country, continue to greatly influence my working life.
I have completed studies in Fine Art, Secondary Teaching, Postgraduate in Art Curatorial Studies (with Thesis), Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management and recently completed my Masters of Arts (Arts Management) at RMIT.
I have so many interests but ultimately, curating is a great passion. I love supporting other artists and genuinely helping people to extend their practice. My heart is always entwined with country – ceremony, kinship, making and creating and connecting with my spirituality – and I feel most connected with the country of the South-East of Australia: I love to hear about all our nations and clans. I am very grateful to work on the lands of Naarm and pay respects to the Wurundjeri and the connections across the South-East Kulin Nations.
In managing a team of five at present, I am heavily involved in planning our schedule of exhibitions, public programs and have direct input into the care of the collections. This involves a lot of communication, planning and coordination to present a range of meaningful and culturally significant exhibitions and programs. Having an opportunity to work with a team at the KHT has been very rewarding to me.
My other interests will always centre on First Peoples-led education, and art that recognises the importance of inclusivity in First Peoples nations and clan decision-making.
Previously I have worked across the public service (Department of Justice) and as a lecturer and sessional teacher, and often felt very isolated in workplaces where it was hard to contribute to best practice for women, let alone First Peoples women. Opportunities in art and work have often not been sustainable and were few and far between until I began commuting to Melbourne to work.
As a proud First Peoples woman, I love to immerse myself in roles that involve South-Eastern Australian First Peoples knowledge and creativity. I am a painter and photographer and my practice centres on individual Traditional Owner rights and women’s perspectives. My work has been acquired recently by the Horsham Regional Gallery for their collection.
What has been a standout career highlight so far?
I worked at the KHT in the 1990s and now have returned in the last few years, and this has enabled me to see the development of the collection over a sustained period. I feel very strongly connected to the unique collection, which has been thoughtfully curated by key Elders over many years, and which values and balances work from all genders. This is hugely important to me personally, and it aligns with my cultural values that all genders are equal, in terms of what we contribute to culture.
At KHT, we focus on the art and culture of Aboriginal Victoria and South-East Australia (when for many decades, this was not important in ethnocentric terms), enabling us in the Collections/ Curatorial/ Public Programs realm at the KHT, to really explore innovative ways to showcase the KHT collection material and the incredible skills and knowledge of our mobs. We work to encourage a range of First Peoples arts practitioners to exhibit in the KHT galleries while being fully inclusive of our women.
Lately some of the highlights have revolved around working catalogue contributions, especially with our upcoming Josh Muir Forever I Live exhibition scheduled for August, 2023.
Additionally last year, I worked with the Women’s Art Register on the exhibition Seen and Unseen, featuring some wonderful First Peoples artists, including Dr Treahna Hamm. Treahna is a staunch Yorta Yorta woman who I have been fortunate to liaise with, and I enjoy seeing such wonderful artists consistently progress forward in their arts careers.
Throughout my career, I have witnessed a growing interest in and recognition of the importance of First Peoples arts, especially the art of women, who explore facets of culture, family and connection through their art. This is very exciting to me. First Peoples women have consistently shown art to be an important catalyst for change, as well as culturally significant – and this is worthy of attention nationally and internationally.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It means always being non-apologetic about being oneself (for myself, that means being non-apologetic about my identity as a Blak feminist – acknowledging Destiny Deacon for the interpretation of ‘Blak’) and recognising that there are changes needed before women will have the same opportunities that men continue to have. We must be vigilant to systemic limitations surrounding gender and combat domestic violence, which continues to be a huge issue across communities.
It is crucial to continue to work towards making a difference with ongoing serious injustices against First Peoples – and women have always been at the forefront of advocating for change, alongside our men.
I pay homage to my great-great-grandmother (Blanche Oliver nee Cameron, from Apsley), in staying staunch to speak up against poor treatment when she was forced onto Ebenezer Mission and not allowed to speak our Wergaia language or practice culture. Back then, the act of speaking honestly and calling out wrongs could get you sent to another Mission away from your immediate family. It was a divide-and-conquer technique and many of us are working through transgenerational trauma as a result. Not being on the same level of access and success continues to create the challenges we face as Blak women.
At the same time, IWD means we have to support each other as women, and it is important to have empathy for each other. Like many women, I balance work that involves varying levels of caring responsibilities for my family and Elders, finding time to channel creativity as a First Peoples arts practitioner, and working with staff at the KHT and being supportive and encouraging in a very dynamic workplace.
Which women do you look up to and why?
My mother, Senior Elder Aunty Leila Harradine (Wotjobaluk), continues to be a huge role model for me and always fully supports my focus on First Peoples ways of education from a First Peoples perspective. She encouraged my work ethic when she never had such opportunities in education or employment. At the same time, she continues to be a dedicated mum and always available to work through anything that crops up and I appreciate her ability to be a fair and balanced confidant and a deadly listener.
My Aunty Irene Clarke always encouraged me to have an education as she was also my mother (in a kinship sense) and her early influence has managed to stay with me over the years, as did my Aunty Cath Hartman. Both aunties are gone now, into the Dreaming, but not forgotten.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
Stay true to your own unique spirit and identity and know your own worth.
Photo: Phoebe Powell.
Curator of First Nations Art at the National Gallery of Victoria
Shonae is a Southern Kaantju and Umpila woman from Coen, Cape York Peninsula, and Curator of First Nations Art at the NGV.
For International Women’s Day, we spoke to Shonae to learn a little bit about her role at the NGV, her career highlights – and some of the women she looks up to.
Hi Shonae, tell us a little bit about your role at the National Gallery Victoria, and what drew you to it?
I work as curator of First Nations Art at the NGV. I have been at the gallery for two years, and prior to this, I worked as the Inaugural First Nations Curator at Bendigo Art Gallery for three years. My role as a curator is multifaceted – I curate exhibition, engage in public programs and talks as well as develop the First Nations art collection through new acquisitions. Through my role I have had the privilege of working with First Nations artists and communities both nationally and internationally. I am passionate about sharing First Nations stories and histories with global audiences. I see art as an important avenue for change – a space to ignite discussions and provide opportunity for self-determination for my people. The most rewarding part of the job is that I get to work with so many creative and talented people.
Thinking about your own career, have you got standout highlight?
One of the most recent career highlights has been the development of the NGVs Inaugural Indigenous Fashion Commission. I worked closely with Yuwaalaraay designer Julie Shaw, the Founder and Creative Director of premium Australian fashion line MAARA Collective. Julie collaborated with an incredible group of Yolŋu artists from the community of Ramingining in Northeaster Arnhem Land – Evonne Munuyngu, Lisa Gurrulpa, Serena Gubuyani, Mary Dhapalany and Margaret Malibirr – to create an exquisite couture garment for the NGV permanent collection, which was featured on Vogue Australia’s December Issue digital cover. It was such a dream to work with Julie and the weavers, and to have the garment featured in Vogue Australia was a pinch-me moment! I am so grateful to everyone involved in the project. The garment is titled Maayama-li (make by hand) meaning to ‘mould or fashion’ by the hand and is currently on display at NGV International.
And what does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women’s Day for me, is about celebrating the important achievements of women both past and present. It’s an opportunity for us to pause and reflect on the legacy of all pioneering women who endured so much to get us to where we are today. Today we celebrate them as we continue to break down barriers and open doors for future generations of women to follow.
Who are some other women you look up to?
I spent most of my life surrounded by strong, independent women. My mum, my aunties, and my grandmother are all people I look up to. My miimi (mother’s mother) was an important leader and activist in Cape York. She was the first female CEO of the Cape York Land Council and instilled in me the importance of speaking up for what you believe in. My mum is an artist and has been a trailblazer and important person in my life that I look up to every day. She is always pushing the boundaries in her creative practice and has helped me with my career as a young curator.
One of the many joys of working as a curator is that I get to meet so many talented women and to hear their stories, where they come from, and what motivated them to get to where they are. They also inspire me every day.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Always stay true and grounded in your morals and your values. That means being authentic and comfortable with who you are and what you stand for – when you have that as the driving force behind everything that you do, you will be successful in everything that you do.
Image: Eugene Hyland.
Business owner and restauranteur at Chocolate Buddha at Fed Square
Angela has been a business owner and restauranteur at Chocolate Buddha since the restaurant opened at Fed Square in 2003. Since then, Chocolate Buddha has become a firm fixture at the Square, serving visitors delicious Japanese food in comfortable, modern surrounds.
For International Women’s Day, we spoke to Angela to learn a bit more about her career and what IWD means to her.
Tell us a bit about your role at Chocolate Buddha and what drew you to this career.
I have grown up in the hospitality industry, as my parents opened their first venue when I was eight years old.
When I was 20, my brother and I opened our first F&B venue. Since then, I have owned and operated nine venues, including Chocolate Buddha, which I originally opened in 2003, in partnership with my brother (who is no longer a part-owner).
Having successfully operated other venues in the other two large precincts in Melbourne – Southgate and Crown – we were able to successfully secure a tenancy at Fed Square. We had never operated a restaurant with an Asian offering, but we absolutely love Japan and the food and set out to do our own interpretation of the cuisine at this location.
We were drawn to Fed Square because it was a new and exciting precinct that was planned as our public Square for the people and had a focus on the arts and events which differentiated it from the other precincts.
I have a hands-on role at Chocolate Buddha which includes inspiring, supporting and guiding my amazing team.
What changes have you seen in the industry throughout your career?
The entire industry has changed over the past 15 years with the advent of cooking shows, celebrity chefs and social media. We saw an explosion in F&B offerings, with supply outrunning demand in some areas. This was particularly evident in the CBD but in time, spilt over to other inner and outer suburbs and now in regional areas.
The upside to the explosion was and continues to be passionate and dedicated people in our industry from Baristas to Mixologists to Chefs and professional front and back-of-house career hospitality people.
Melbourne IS THE food capital of the world surpassing other global cities in my opinion. This is great for business, the economy and tourism.
I am still passionate about Chocolate Buddha and Fed Square and the continued success of the entire precinct.
What has been a standout career highlight so far?
Having a much-loved and popular restaurant at Melbourne’s iconic Fed Square, in such a super location with dramatic vistas of my favourite city, continues to be a privilege.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
IWD is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the important role women play in hospitality and all other industries.
Women in the hospitality industry are under-represented in key roles. IWD is for me, an opportunity to also reflect on how I can continue to support women at Chocolate Buddha in leading roles.
Which women do you look up to and why?
I look up to the many women I have worked with in Front of House and Kitchen who juggle all the pressures of professional and family life with grace and humour.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
I don’t have a motto, but I am fond of ‘Stay Calm and Drink Great Sake!
Photo: Phoebe Powell.
Event Coordinator at Fed Square
Steph Champion is part of the MAP Co team who are at the heart of delivering the extraordinary events hosted at Fed Square. From major cultural festivals through to intimate performances – Steph helps make it happen.
We spoke to Steph, to learn a bit more about her role and what International Women’s Day means to her.
Tell us a bit about your role at Fed Square and what drew you to it.
As an event coordinator, I help clients put together exciting events in the Square. Planning events at Fed Square comes with different rules and restrictions which means I need to work with a lot of different departments and learn new things every day from the teams around me.
As an event professional getting to work for such a cultural and diverse meeting place is what drew me to it!
What have some of your career highlights been so far?
Progressing my career working at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre for almost 10 years and delivering so many events.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It is a day to celebrate the women around the world, reflecting on their impact on the world.
Which women do you look up to and why?
Simone Veil, French Women’s right defender. She was a political activist who led the battle to legalise contraception and abortion in France. Veil inspired women to fight for their rights. She fought hard as a minister of health, standing up against men to pass these laws. I admire her for her courage and determination.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
Never give up and enjoy the moments life gives you.
Photo: Phoebe Powell
Lead Creative at Fed Square
This is Amanda Stockley, our Lead Creative. You would be familiar with Amanda’s work – although you wouldn’t necessarily know Amanda.
Amanda is the person behind the brand at Fed Square – from coming up with the creative concepts for brand campaigns, creating graphics, designing event posters, animations on our social media and digital screens: Amanda has had her hand on them, pulling the creative strings and using her incredible and diverse skills to communicate ideas beautifully, simply and with purpose.
We asked Amanda a few questions about herself, and some of the women who have influenced her.
Photo: Phoebe Powell
Tell us a bit about your role at Fed Square and what drew you to it.
Fed Square is such landmark building and bold vision – it stills feels like a miracle it was ever built.
I was drawn to it as it felt like a place where everything in Melbourne was happening. I thought it would be a progressive workplace and I haven’t been disappointed. The more I learn about the vision of the architects the more I’m impressed. They [Don Bates and Peter Davidson] had such integrity; the focus on sustainability was so ahead of its time. How they imagined Fed Square working as a gathering place for everyone still informs business decisions we make today.
My role is broadly about our making sure the Fed Square brand is communicating what we want it to. It is about synthesising a whole lot of information (business objectives, project objectives, external landscape and more) into its purest form: to tell the Fed Square story in a creative way that people want to engage with.
What have some of your career highlights been so far?
This example is a bit of a strange one given my current role, but in essence it’s still about creative expression and building a story in a way that resonates with an audience. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to my work making me throw up with nerves, so it’s stayed with me.
I was working at Melbourne Storm at the time – my first gig in a corporate environment (as opposed to a studio) and still slightly overwhelmed by the number of acronyms that the work involved. Although I’d worked on the Player of the Year awards night in my first weeks there, it was in a limited capacity.
When it came around again, I was able to take on more of a lead role. Fortunately, I also lucked out working with a great, clever and energetic team. The look of the night, the music and the motion graphics/vision packages came together and translated on to the big screens with a power and presence I hadn’t anticipated. It felt we created an electric atmosphere and took the audience with us on an emotional journey: building momentum in the right places, pulling on the heart strings in others.
When the Player of the Year was eventually announced the place erupted. It was a little bit intoxicating.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
I think IWD is a time to reflect and appreciate women around us who are making a positive contribution to the lives of other women. It is a reminder that decisions we all make are subject to an unconscious bias and it’s good to take the time to examine that and remember to continually and consciously advocate for other women.
I was once in a seminar where they said men will put themselves forward for a role when they have 6o% of the skills but women still don’t step forward until they have 100%. That’s why we need IWD.
Which women do you look up to and why?
I will take the opportunity to name and shame with this one and answer in the context of my career: there are two women who have had a life changing effect on me – Wani Wall and Christine Finnegan.
I firstly worked with Wani many years ago in the TV industry, and her ability to get innovative creative concepts through a very thick layer of conservative old-school male-dominated management became legendary. She did it by staying focussed on a well-thought-out creative strategy. The vision and integrity of the project were always paramount, and she tackled every job with grace and intelligence.
Then, as champions of women go, the ultimate superhero would have to be my former manager at St Kilda FC, Christine Finnegan – to whom I will be forever grateful for her career nudge (well, shove maybe), her advocacy and encouragement. In a context where women have often been pitted against each other and it is easy to step into the shadows, Finny was (and is) a passionate force of nature, seeming to exist to make sure other women were recognised and succeeded. I don’t actually think she even realised what a powerful and important force she was for so many of us there.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
I don’t remember the poem itself but the line from it – ‘Press on’ was my father’s parenting mantra and I think it’s defined me. Just keep going until you find a way forward.
Photo: Phoebe Powell
Site Security Manager at Fed Square
Crystal is the Site Security Manager at Fed Square. Crystal manages a team of security guards to ensure that visitors to Fed Square are safe and our events run smoothly.
We asked Crystal what International Women’s Day means to her.
Hi Crystal, tell us about your role as Site Security Manager at Fed Square – what are you most proud of?
As a woman, I was excited for the opportunity to take on this role, as the security industry is known to be male-dominated. I wanted to help break the mould.
Since taking the position, we have had an increase in female guards join the team, showing women can be an asset to the security industry as they bring a different set of skills to the role.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women’s Day is a day that women are celebrated, as we continue to break down barriers that have come from the old-world mentality that women belong in the kitchen, so to speak, and don’t belong in stereotypical male industries.
This is also a time to reflect and remember those that have sacrificed themselves to help women achieve equality in the workplace and across sports and politics. My thoughts go out to those women who are still experiencing oppression throughout the world and are fighting for an ounce of the comparative equality that we women in the western world enjoy.
My thoughts also go out to those women experiencing domestic violence and hope they receive help for themselves and their families to keep safe.
What women do you look up to and why?
I admire women who have succeeded in obtaining a position in any male-dominated industry. I find this empowering for women to see other women achieve these huge feats.
Some examples include: women who work across industries such as the Victoria Police, the Australian Defence Force and in trades; the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern; and the many women in sports, who continue to work and fight for equality in an industry characterised by grossly unequal pay and fewer professional opportunities – there are improvements being made, but there is a long way to go.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
Women can be anything!
Photo: Phoebe Powell.
CEO of Yarra Riverkeepers Association and ultra marathon runner
We caught up with Karin in recovery mode, after she ran the full length of the Yarra from source to sea, stopping by Fed Square on her way through – 280km over six days, starting on World Rivers Day, 25 September. Woah! We talked with Karin about what inspired her to take on this huge challenge and what she learnt.
Hi Karin, tell is a little bit about yourself.
I’m the CEO for the Yarra Riverkeeper Association. I was involved within the organisation before working there, as a volunteer. I was organising events that involved running and picking up rubbish.
Originally I’m from Chile. I’ve been in Australia working in the conservation space for the last 15 years now. I’m very passionate about conservation, about wildlife. I used to be a wildlife vet back home.
I’m really passionate about sharing my love for the environment with community, either by running or doing cleanup events or in any other way.
Karin, you’ve just done this mammoth epic run of 280 kilometers down the Yarra River. Tell us about how that came about.
Yeah, that crazy idea!
I have been doing ultra running for the last five years. Ultra running is any distance that goes over the marathon distance, which is 42 kilometres.
I thought: is there any way that I can use this rare, weird superpower of being able to run a long time in a way that benefits something bigger than me?
In 2020 when I started my role at Yarra Riverkeepers, I thought, maybe this is going to be a really good fit: that I can eventually run from source to sea.
I had a couple of friends that helped me out with a few tracks and mapping and then I just started spending almost every second weekend going up into the Yarra Catchment and running or hiking and mapping, like a lockdown project. I mean, people were baking banana bread, I was mapping stuff on Google Maps.
And after all, if no one has done it, it’s a really a great milestone – not just for me, but also representing the Yarra Riverkeeper Association.
It’s very much linked to the whole outdoors experience – trying to bring people into nature. You don’t have to run 280K though, but you can just experience so much stuff in the Catchment that many people don’t even realise.
And I thought, this is the best way how we can show people where the river starts, show people: this is where our drinking water comes from. And take them on the journey to show them all the really amazing things that we have.
As a female runner, I feel like there’s not a lot of representation of women doing these sorts of things. That was my own personal reason too: how can I show other women that you can do some crazy stuff and it can be really cool.
What other kinds of preparation did you have to do to be able to run this length of distance over six days?
I had never done something like this before. There’s a similar concept called multiday stage running, but for me it was a whole new picture.
I started trialing nutrition, going on hikes and seeing what actually worked for me out in the outdoors, if I’m carrying very little. I needed to know how much I really needed to eat to keep fueling. Because of course, you’re moving all day, so you need a lot of food: very calorie dense food.
Then well, the whole logistics of who’s going to be driving the car, who was going to meet me where. I tried to find access points where my friends could supply me with things. That was a bit of a Hail Mary, because from my experience running the trail, I knew what was accessible, but then I wasn’t sure it was going to work on the day – but if it doesn’t work then we’ve got a plan B and then a plan C and a plan D, so, I’ll just keep running until I hopefully find people or food.
How was the experience seeing the river change over the six days? Did you see things you’d never seen before? What was it like?
The whole experience for me was amazing. It was a really healing project, and with the lockdowns over the last few years, I think a lot of people lost focus on what they were doing in life. So, this really brought me back to basics – dedicating that whole week to reconnecting to the river, and to be able to share that experience with friends and other people in the community.
Then from the river perspective, I mean it was so beautiful and I wish more people did similar things or they at least went to explore the upper parts of the Yarra. I feel like a lot of people don’t really know what’s up there, that’s why they don’t really go there.
You start behind Mount Baw Baw, which is all Mountain Ash trees and pristine forest. And then you go into Warburton and Reefton. You can really immerse yourself in nature and the magic of the catchment. You can see echidnas and plenty of native birds, cockatoos, parrots. It is a really nice spot that’s not too far from Melbourne.
For me it was really extreme to transition from pristine forest into the urban, very populated city and changing the canopy of the trees for the canopy of the buildings.
So that was quite a funny comparison we were doing: “Oh, we were looking up two days ago and it was all trees. And now we looking up, it’s all power lines and bridges.”
One of the things that really concerned me was that I wasn’t expecting to find polystyrene pollution so far up the river. When I went down to Mount Lofty, which is close to Warrandyte, there was already polystyrene fragments in the riverbank.
That’s sad because if it’s so out there in the middle of nowhere. I’m assuming it comes from construction.
We’ve been seeing the same trend in the city: construction is the main polluter, with the polystyrene slabs for insulation. I’m assuming that because people are developing in the upper Yarra, maybe that’s going down creeks and other waterways and feeding into the river.
What, from a wildlife perspective or other environmental perspectives, are the problems with this kind of pollution?
There are duck-billed platypus in the middle and upper Yarra, so if you keep polluting the waterway, of course they’re going to be impacted. They might eat the polystyrene or they might eat things that eat the polystyrene. That’s the main concern: how much of that plastic load in the river is going to affect animals.
We didn’t see a lot of wildlife in the upper and middle parts of the river, but I assume that’s because there’s so much space for them, so you can’t spot them. And interestingly enough the last day, which is right up near the West Gate Bridge, that was the day that we saw way more wildlife than the rest of the week.
That means that the river acts as a corridor: it’s the refuge for wildlife. We saw a whole flock of 50 yellow-tailed black cockatoos, a blue-tongued lizard, a couple of snakes. There was plenty of stuff going around. It was like, “Wow, I haven’t seen wildlife all week until today.”
What do you feel you learned from the experience?
That my body can recover pretty well. I mean I’m almost done in terms of the recovery, I’m pretty good.
But in terms of learning, well I think I didn’t even know how this is going to work until we did it. This actually really worked and drew people’s attention.
I think people were really craving to see this type of content, this type of campaign, but also to see that to connect with the river, you don’t have to be an environmentalist per se – you could just want to share that story of connection with your family or your friends.
Any reflections key memories that stick with you?
I think the main memory is that I was able to share this experience with my friends.
I didn’t want to do it on my own because I feel like this is not something just for me – it’s more of a community project. I wanted to share it with my friends, my work colleagues and other partners, and the rest of the community so they can experience it.
What about the finish? Did that feel good?
That was great. I’m like: wow, that’s it. I’m done. We’re done. We had a good time.
But yeah, after six days you really want to get home and have a shower.
And you doing this run to raise money for the Yarra Riverkeeper Association. Can you tell me a bit about what that money will go towards?
We do a lot of things in the organisation. We advocate to protect and engage community with the river and we have different projects going on at the moment – research on microplastics, particularly polystyrene.
Then we have regeneration projects. At the moment, the tally is we have planted over 27,000 plants at different places around the river.
We also like to engage with friends’ groups and support them with volunteer training. So, the money is going to help us keep doing the work that we need to do.
Are there other ways that people can help support Yarra Riverkeeper Association?
They can follow us on Instagram, on Facebook – and they can come to our events. Upcoming events are on our website. If they’d like to support the long term, they can also donate generally or become a member.
Do you have last thoughts that you’d like to share?
Well, I think we are pretty lucky in terms of the global context that we have a really healthy river right on our doorstep that we can connect with – and being able to acknowledge that and to appreciate that 70% of our drinking water comes from there.
If we want to keep having that value from the river, we need to give back somehow. It doesn’t need to be directly to Yarra Riverkeeper, but if you find some litter on the trail or next to the river, you can go and pick it up, and eventually, everyone in the community should be finding a way to give back to either the creek or the river.
You can support Karin and Yarra Riverkeeper Association by donating to Yarra Riverkeeper’s Run The Riverkeeper fundraising page. You can check out Karin’s epic Run the Riverkeeper daily runs over on Strava.
Fed Square CEO, 2005-2013
Kate Brennan was appointed as Fed Square’s CEO in July 2005 – fewer than three years after we opened. She had to grapple with a host of challenges, including being in charge of a brand-new public space that was yet to find its identity and significance in the heart of Melburnians.
As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we spoke to Kate about her experiences at that time – what she learned and what has changed since.
Hi Kate! Tell us about your role as CEO of Fed Square – what did your role entail and what were some of the major challenges at that time?
Previous CEOs were largely focussed on high profile project challenges (construction complexity, business model establishment, including tenancy attraction, financial and timing variations, and public attention and accountability and media scrutiny).
Numerous individuals in the team of staff, architects, builders and consultants, the City and State Government, really worked hard to realise the vision for a public place for Melbourne. The photo taken by the Age on opening is testament to the huge breadth of contribution to this idea made by so many.
Published in The Sunday Age, 16 May, 2002. Photo by John Donegan
While there had already been important activations, like the anti-war rallies and Robyn Archer’s “Dancing in the Street” for the Melbourne Festival, and while we were still in the construction finalisation phase, my role was largely about the future. When I first met the small team, my comments were along the lines that “the baby has been born and our role is to help it grow up”.
Having been involved in the Design Brief and Fed Square’s Civic and Cultural Charter development for the City, I felt confident to pursue public participation in an innovative and meaningful relationship with the Square and to bring the Charter to life, as the key. But that also meant ensuring that: the business model (without government operational funding) was robust; internal and external stakeholders understood and supported the vision; the physical site was fit for purpose, safe, clean and welcoming; we had a solid and shared business plan, an organisational structure and team members and contractors that could deliver; a positive local, national and international reputation was created; and most importantly, helping to develop and sustain relationships with the many, many sectors, organisations and individuals who enrich our diverse community.
I will always be grateful with the then Board, led by inaugural Chair Peter McMahon, who contributed to and supported all of this. This was especially important as the volume, scope and risk of public activity and visitation developed beyond that previously experienced in the City.
We know Fed Square received quite a lot of mixed reception when it was first built – tell us a little bit about what that was like from the inside. Any comments that stick with you from that time?
It is true that in the early days the prevailing public story was about time and cost overruns, concern about the contemporary architecture, controversy about the West Shard removal, some retail closures and the doubt that it would ever “work.”
I did lots of interviews batting back these perceptions as we worked to develop partnerships, profile and programs that engaged people and demonstrated the value of Fed Square as a community gathering place. Establishing a new narrative wasn’t straightforward and it developed through innovative communications, public events, partnership and advocacy.
It may seem simple, but until that point few images of the Square included people, understandably focusing on the award-winning design. My rule was that all images must include participation and interaction – symbolic of our aspirations.
Exuberant Saints fans watch the 2009 AFL Grand Final on the Fed Square Big Screen. Photo: Julie Renouf.
In those early days I was always buoyed up by the commitment of very hard-working team members and evolving public perceptions. Crossing the Square one evening as fading light highlighted shapes, people and the city beyond, one of our Kates (we seemed to employ lots of Kates) said “I could just hug Fed Square” and I immediately felt we had established a personality for the place. It was equally heartening to hear a teacher telling students one day, “We used to say ’let’s meet under the clocks at Flinders Street’, but now we say, ‘let’s meet at Fed Square’”.
Now the litany of noteworthy public events from protests, commemorations like Sorry Day, festivals like the Light in Winter and Multicultural Festivals, public art installations from enormous undertakings like Solar Equation to micro events and partnerships with so many business, community, sporting and cultural people and organisations are testament that the story was rewritten in our time.
As journalist Chris Johnston wrote in “Cheers to the Square”, an article published in the Age in 2006 after the first World Cup Soccer gatherings, “It’s now clear that this grand, unusual plaza is the postmodern village green and amphitheatre it was always meant to be.”
Did you perceive any additional challenges or advantages as a female CEO in the early 2000s? Have you noticed a shift in culture towards female leaders since then to now?
Fed Square initially was perceived as a piece of infrastructure hardware. Not only did I need to ensure others understood that I was on top of the hardware (usually a boys’ game) but that the overlay of Place Management and cultural and community engagement (seen as “software”) was important, if not more important, in making the investment a success.
There were always instances of latent bias, references to “what girls don’t know” or are “better at” (i.e admin) but my style is direct, and I have always been prepared to see and work beyond that perception.
Has it changed? In some sectors, yes, but generally I think women still need to work harder to prove their capability whilst remaining authentic. It is a journey.
What are you most proud of having achieved as CEO of Fed Square?
I’m really grateful that, with the team, we responded to the vision for Federation Square, made the model work and established a real benchmark for the way such places work with a community and become significant in its life.
I am proud of the way we worked with others and brought the practice and culture of independent artists and diverse organisations and communities to centre stage in the life of Melbourne – hopefully stimulating and enhancing community understanding, enjoyment and tolerance.
I have always thought that Fed Square was a bridge from the old Melbourne of stately inward-looking buildings and culture to a new city of dynamic engagement and brave contemporary ideas which it both represented and facilitated.
Looking back, how has Fed Square changed or stayed the same from its beginning?
I think places like Fed Square should evolve as the life, interests and expression of the community evolve. This can include evolution of profile, program, governance, infrastructure and relationships. There was a period after I left where I wondered if that evolution was being nurtured in the context of a commitment to community benefit. Today, as part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct, I trust that this ethos is front and centre.
As a member of the public, what is your favourite part of Fed Square?
I regularly sat on the edge of the planters at the top of the Square – just watching people and things – sometimes for planning, sometimes for improvements, sometimes for problem solving, sometimes to catch up with people and reflect, sometimes just for the sheer pleasure of it! I think that is my favourite place.
NFT artist
Luke Milanta is a technology entrepreneur, games designer and artist. His NFT-based evolving digital artwork ‘Disconnected’, will be on display at Fed Square this weekend as part of its east-coast tour of Australia. We caught up with Luke to learn more about this work, why it’s important – and what people can expect to see.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey to become an artist.
I have always tried to work with the newest and best technologies, whether that be to create products that solve real-world issues – as evidenced through some of my past business ventures – or to simply build something that I think is unique, interesting, and fun – as evidenced with my hobbyist activities in game design and (now) art.
Tell us about this new artwork, NFT Disconnected. What is it and what can people expect to see?
Disconnected is a dynamic NFT – an artwork that will evolve over time. The piece itself provides a graphical depiction of global internet connectivity rates. As more and more people connect to the internet, the artwork will change and, for lack of a better word, ‘grow’ to show these new connections.
People who visit Fed Square will see Disconnected, a rotating globe that I believe succinctly demonstrates a very real humanitarian issue – that some 37% of the global population has never had access to the internet.
Learn what NFTs are: https://decrypt.co/resources/non-fungible-tokens-nfts-explained-guide-learn-blockchain
What were your inspirations in creating this artwork?
I knew I wanted to do something interesting in the NFT space. This kind of technology is certainly once in a generation, and I wanted an excuse to play in the sandpit. I also wanted to do something different, something that would both demonstrate dynamic NFT technology but also raise awareness of an important issue. A lot of NFTs are cool but, in my mind at least, they lack a deeper meaning or purpose. Disconnected is different as it allows me to play with the cool technology but also raises awareness that will hopefully lead to broader conversations around how to solve said problem.
We’re seeing NFTs pop up everywhere nowadays – tell us a little bit about why you’re interested in them and what drew you to use them for this artwork.
NFT technology interests me as the use cases are endless. I believe that NFT technology certainly has a somewhat obvious future in gaming and art, but I also believe that NFT technology could be used to solve several major, real-world issues (fraud in the fashion industry, identity fraud etc.).
Were there any particular challenges you encountered when creating this artwork?
Not really. While it was certainly a learning curve, I had a good team of people around me that helped me to sidestep the usual potholes. For that I am thankful.
What are your hopes for this artwork at Fed Square?
I would just like people to see it, appreciate the technology behind it, understand the deeper meaning behind the piece, and enjoy their time at Fed Square.
Creator of The Invisible Opera, for RISING
Sophia Brous is a theatre maker, performer, musician and curator. Her latest project is The Invisible Opera, making its Australian debut for Melbourne’s RISING Festival, only on this Friday and Saturday June 10 and 11 at Fed Square. The site-specific theatrical work is all about public spaces – where Fed Square, and the city of Melbourne itself, form crucial elements of the work. Intrigued? Us too!
We caught up with Sophia to find out what people can expect.
Hi Sophia! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to become a theatre-maker.
I’ve always been interested in artistic spaces, as a lover and listener and observer of performance, as well as an artist. I’ve always just loved going to see performances and shows and that interest deepened as I’ve gotten older.
I came from a background of music and improvisation, as a vocalist and writer of music. Then that increasingly moved into other disciplines within live performance: incorporating music, theatre, dance or film. Now I see myself as a creative maker where the form of what I make is very much defined by whatever the idea is. In this case, it was to make a piece of theatre in a public square.
The work was previously performed at a public square in Austria – what is the role and significance of public spaces in this work?
I’ve spent the last few years making this piece with different collaborators in New York and in Australia, including Lara Thoms and Faye Driscoll and Samara Hersch and Tilman Robinson. In order to do that, I spent a lot of time at public spaces and squares, essentially taking notes about everything I saw and everything I observed, kind of transcribing the public space. That would be about all of the buildings, the monuments, the actions of the lights at different times of day, the mechanics. Then of course the life, the living bodies, conversations, gestures.
I transcribed all of those things and began to put together almost a taxonomy of public spaces, which is made up of many of the things that we expect and are familiar with, but then also elements like cameras, microphones, surveillance and policing. I was interested in exploring the ways that private interests in public spaces affect the ways that we can behave within them and experience them.
We were commissioned to make the piece by the Singapore International Festival of the Arts, and before that I was developing the show in New York where I’m resident artist at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This is the Australian premiere of the piece for Fed Square and for RISING.
Tell us a little bit more about The Invisible Opera and what audiences can expect.
The audience really experiences the work through headphones. Headphones act as a portal into the world of the piece, and there are a whole range of different hidden and not-so-hidden theatrical elements that may or may not be staged by us in the square that happen throughout the course of the show.
Essentially, the audience is welcomed into a sonic world created by a network of microphones that are hidden around the city square, picking up all of these different sounds, actions and layers, the micro and the macro. The audience get to listen in and hear this bustling metropolis, and then in time we start to hear a narrator begin to sing and talk us through all the elements that are happening in the square in real time. The bodies, the moving bikes, the movement of the trams, the turning off and on of lights, the weather, the asthma and pollen counts. It’s like an omniscient, all-seeing eye, and then through the course of the show, the audience is guided through this story, the narrative of the show, into being able to see and understand the space in different ways. A whole range of different things happen in the square that forces us to ask what’s staged and what’s not staged. Also, it allows us to ask what role we play in this space, this spectacle that we’re seeing before us.
So, it’s music based, it’s sound based. There’s song, there’s melody. There is spectacle, movement, surprise. Hopefully it’ll be quite fun and funny. We’re trying to be quite tongue-in-cheek with some of the things that we’re exploring, but I think it’s also hopefully a bit of a kaleidoscopic view of city space. Maybe it will leave the audience thinking of spaces like Fed Square and those that we walk through each day in an entirely different way.
Tell us a bit about the creative process and the development of the work at Fed Square, and how it might have differed from previous incarnations of the work.
We have a show and a script and a form that the show takes, but in order to make it for Fed Square, I’ve been essentially sitting for days on end and making many notes, transcribing all the things I see, researching the different buildings, the different monuments, the histories of different things that we see in front of us. I’ve just tried to understand as many of the different layers as I can of the space, so that all forms itself into a libretto essentially, that is sung from, is performed from, but within that, there’s a whole lot of spontaneous and improvised elements that very much are based on what is happening in the square at any one time.
The show’s made up of a libretto that’s both in the moment and precomposed, and then we’ve worked with a cast too….I can’t give too much information away, but let’s just say that we have some conspirators in the show who play a role in animating the storytelling of the show throughout the hour. Our conspirators, some alive, some more prop-based, play a role in the show and telling the story.
Is there anything that you’re particularly excited about seeing coming to life in this show?
What happens in a public square from day to day is more theatrical than any of us could possibly speculate. Every time we perform this in different spaces, what actually happens, the things that bare themselves, that interact with the show, that interact with the music and the storytelling, is just so surprising and exciting and fulfilling for us as a team because the urbanised world does a lot of the work for us. I’m just excited to do it in front of audiences from my hometown. There are many different references that perhaps only Melbourne audiences would truly understand about our way of life here, elements of our culture, what things play out in public spaces. I’m excited to see Melbournians respond to that.
Tell me a little bit about that journey to bring The Invisible Opera to life through RISING. How did that come about?
We’re just so thrilled to be a part of the festival. We love everyone involved and it feels like a really creative community-conceived event, which is so exciting for the city. It’s felt like the perfect and right place to be doing the show, and also premiering the show. We had been exploring doing it for next year’s festival, but thanks to Fed Square, we got to do it this year. We’re really thrilled about it.
We’ve got team members from New York who have flown in, from Europe who have flown in, and it’s just an amazing thing because we all remember what happened a year ago. I was in Melbourne during the lockdown, and it’s just amazing to be here a year later with people from around the world in the same city, experiencing art. It’s what we all do it for.
Can you tell me a little bit about how the creative team all came together to work as a team for this project?
I first wrote up this idea for this show around four years ago, and then the process of making it has just been this incremental phase-by-phase process. As I’ve gone along, I brought in Lara Thoms. She’s a wonderful theatre-maker and artist and performer herself, and we started developing the piece. Then we brought in Faye Driscoll, who’s this wonderful artist and performer and choreographer from New York who helped us continue developing ideas around the piece. Then we did the same with Samara Hersch.
It became this train locomotive where the piece grew richer and richer through the collaboration team that formed around it. Now, as we have made the piece and there is a work now, it can be respun and reimagined in each city, where it takes on a different life. Even though we’ve made the piece, essentially doing it in each city is like making an entirely new show. It’s so site-specific and working in public spaces is so very different to working in a theatre or in any other kind of venue. It’s months of preparation. As we move forward, it’ll be exciting to continue developing the show in different parts of the world.
It’s been a real joy actually. It’s not without its own dramas – we’ve been hit by members of the team coming down with COVID in the last few weeks, like everyone else. So making art is a different process these days. You have to be very agile and able to respond to change, but that’s what public spaces demand of you, so it keeps us on our toes.
Why is it important that this work is presented in a public space – what is it about public spaces?
The piece is about public spaces. It could be nowhere else, I think, than in a public space. I was interested by the ways that public spaces are staged like pieces of theatre, and that any day of the week within public spaces in cities, a huge number of these spectacles or animations or activations are brought into play. Whether that’s jumping castles, or corporate car demonstrations, or people giving out free energy drinks, alongside security, of policing, surveillance. All these things came together to feel very much like a piece of theatre or opera, where all of these staged moves are choreographed like a piece of theatre, but we just take them to be our public spaces each day.
The piece quite playfully looks at those similarities and almost posits a public space as a piece of entirely staged theatre, and for the audience of course, that means: Okay, who’s in the show? Who’s not in the show? Is that dog an extra? What’s that seagull doing? How do they train those birds? There are always speculations, so we try and be really playful – and really, the city is the canvas.
In starting any show in any city, it’s about finding our heroic setting: our hero image of where the audience will be sitting and what they’ll be seeing. We’re particularly thrilled with how that came about with Fed Square and how beautifully the space emerges, how it changes and adapts through the day as the lights go down and lights come up. So, yeah. It feels really good to be working at Fed Square and with the city as a canvas.
What advice to you have for people considering coming to The Invisible Opera?
Come open and curious, come dressed warmly, come knowing that we’ll look after you if it rains, come ready to experience – and maybe be transformed – through what you see and hear.
Composer for Unvanished
Unvanished is an artwork specially commissioned by Fed Square to mark the beginning of National Reconciliation Week. The work is by Barkindji artist Kent Morris and Studio John Fish – but it’s more than a stationary sculpture. Featuring augmented reality filter by creative tech company PHORIA that brings the sculpture to life, as well as dynamic lighting design that works in concert with a bespoke ten-minute composition by composer James Henry, the sculpture is truly an immersive journey that must be experienced in-the-flesh.
We caught up with composer (and photographer!) James Henry, to learn more about the sound composition – and we found out a few very interesting things!
Hi James! Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to compose the music for Unvanished.
I’ve been working as a composer for various disciplines, such as theater, screen, art installations. I’ve got a good relationship with Kent through my photography, and I take a lot of photos for the Confined project. Confined is a prisoners’ art project that he runs through the Torch Foundation, and so I’ve been documenting some of their work and their exhibitions. So that’s where I know Kent the most, but then just through community as well and I’ve gotten to know him. And I guess yeah, he knows of my music and he must enjoy working with me to have got me on board for this.
And have you ever collaborated together in this fashion before?
No, no, this is the first time and yeah, so it was quite nice because I think that there wouldn’t be any other way because his work is primarily printed image. So, I didn’t expect to do anything with him, but then I was quite pleased that he offered me the job with this project, Unvanished.
What was the process of working together like?
Kent told me about the basic idea and the concept of the artwork to see if I was going to be interested to be on board, and then he told me that there’d be a bit of a storyline to the piece, so even though it’s a stationary sculpture, through the lights and music there’s a storyline that gives shape to what he’s trying to express through the work. The ten-minute composition was broken up into series of chapters of Aboriginal history, from the Dreamtime to the present and then the future.
It starts off in the Dreamtime and goes through a process of the creation and of Aboriginal people and culture, pre-colonisation. And then, it comes into the third chapter, which is the first signs of colonisation/ invasion, where certain sounds are coming into play, like a door slamming – an unfamiliar sound in Aboriginal times – and the sounds of the building of the city, using tools and sounds of carpentry; mechanical sounds start to enter, and then it gets to a point where, without it sounding too unpleasant, it becomes a gentle cacophony of sounds. But through it all, there’s that strong heartbeat that continues together with aspects of Aboriginal culture to symbolise that despite the fact that we’re surrounded by concrete and bricks and metal, that the culture still remains and is still ‘unvanished’. Once we get through that part of the composition, then we end up in a little bit more of a harmonious end to that ten-minute sound cycle.
So, currently we’re deep in between the last and second to last chapters, where we’re coming out of this chaos of cultural clash and destruction of the Aboriginal culture and environment to a place where it finally ends up in harmony – multicultural, multiracial harmony – and a place of more respect for the environment at the end.
Did you use disharmony and harmony in the music to symbolise these themes of harmony and disharmony in the story?
I was conscious that this was going to be on repetition for quite a while, so I had to express disharmony in a musical way that’s not too unpleasant to be immersed in. If you’re sitting there at Chocolate Buddha, wanting to enjoy your sushi, you don’t hear too much disharmony entering your dining experience.
Did the music change much throughout the process of collaboration with Kent and Studio John Fish?
Kent had the initial vision and concept, and I had to remain true to that, and express that musically. I had to speak to both Studio John Fish and Kent, so I would send through different sounds and different progressions in what I was doing. Luckily enough, from early on they enjoyed the direction it was going in, so then it was just a matter of polishing things up. Then, there are little gains – I think the last thing we added was Kent playing the didgeridoo. Kent plays quite well, so it was nice to incorporate his sound into the piece.
What are some of the other things you’d like people to know about the sound composition?
You hear the heartbeat throughout the whole composition, and it speeds up as it goes through the different chapters. It might be a bit subtle – you just hear this very soft and low heartbeat. But throughout it all, through the harmony and the sparseness of the Dreamtime, and through to the sounds of destruction, it’s a continuing percussive element. Through it all, the heartbeat remains, and the culture is there, still. It’s a little bit drowned out by the sounds of the city, and then it comes back to a place of harmony and unity that both black and white people would like to see moving forward.
What do you hope people get out of the experience of the sound composition, as it complements the whole sculptural work?
I hope that people are curious to read more about Kent’s concept and also, to be able to be inspired, to want to learn more about Aboriginal culture and see it as a part of contemporary life as opposed to, just something in the past.
Read artist Kent Morris’ artist statement to learn more about Unvanished, at Fed Square until 5 June for National Reconciliation Week.
Palaeontologist at Melbourne Museum
To celebrate the Melbourne Museum’s Triceratops Dino Dig at Fed Square (opening April 11 until April 17, 2022) and Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, we got in touch with a bona fide dino expert (that’s Dr James Rule, Curatorial Research Assistant of Palaeontology at Museums Victoria) to ask him your kids’ (or your own!) DINO QUESTIONS!
You asked – he answered! Check out the Q&A below.
Why does this new Triceratops dino skeleton look so different to other dino bones in the museum? (Lakshmi, 27)
The Triceratops skeleton looks so different to the other skeletons in the museum because it is actually the real fossilised bones that are on display. Only 15% of our Triceratops is missing and artificial; the other 85% is fossil. The other Dinosaur skeletons in the museum are replicas (or casts) of fossil bones, and that’s why they look a bit different.
Why does the skull of a triceratops look so big and flat and not like other dino skulls? (Brody, 10)
The skull of Triceratops looks bigger and flatter than other Dinosaur bones because of the massive frill at the back (as well as the big horns). This frill was possibly used for display, to either scare off rivals or predators (but we don’t really know for sure). Because of this frill, the skulls of horned dinosaurs (such as Triceratops) are among the largest land animal skulls ever!
How do you know a triceratops bone is a triceratops bone? Do they look different to other bones? (Sui Lee, 12)
This is a tough one, the short answer is: by comparing it to other dinosaur bones. Animal skeletons are more or less made up of the same types of bones, but the shapes of these bones (the morphology) is different between all animals. By comparing more complete Triceratops skeletons (such as the Melbourne Museum one) to other Dinosaurs, we are able to figure out how the shapes of Triceratops’ bones are unique.
Have any DNA of a triceratops ever been found? If you did have its DNA could you clone one or bring one back to life somehow? (Rose, 15)
No DNA of any non-bird dinosaur has ever been found. This is because DNA has a half-life of about 500 years. This means half of the DNA disappears after 500 years, and by 3 million years it is all gone! If we ever did manage to get some dinosaur DNA there would be other problems, such as what egg to put the embryo in? Dinosaurs eggs were much larger than their closest living relatives (birds and crocodiles), and may not be able to help a dinosaur embryo grow.
How many horns does a triceratops have? And were they cold or hot blooded? And what would they like to eat? (Charlie, 13)
A Triceratops has three horns, one on the nose and two on its brows. We don’t know exactly what Dinosaur physiology was like, but they were likely either warm blooded, or somewhere between warm and cold blooded. Triceratops would have liked to eat nice, green plants!
Why are Dinosaurs extinct? (Emma, 10)
Non-bird dinosaurs are extinct because an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago. This asteroid was aboyt 10-15 kilometers wide, would have wiped out all life where it impacted, and ejected a lot of dust and debris into the atmosphere, effectively blocking out the sun for a few years. Because of this, food was in low supply, and all large animals that would need lots of food (i.e. dinosaurs) would not have survived very long. However, not all Dinosaurs are extinct, because birds are Dinosaurs! They survived this extinction event, and became extremely successful (there are 10, 000 bird species alive today.
What’s the closest animal on earth to a dinosaur? (Katie, 9)
The closest living relative of dinosaurs are all birds. In fact, birds are so closely related to dinosaurs that they technically are dinosaurs. The next closest living relative are crocodiles.
What was the first dinosaur? (Esmond, 9)
The first dinosaur (that we so far have discovered) is possibly Nyasasaurus parringtoni, which is 243 million years old. This dinosaur was small, and may have walked on two legs.
When do creatures stop being classified as dinosaurs and start being called animals? (Belinda, 44)
Dinosaurs actually are animals, just like dogs, birds, fish, and us (humans). What makes dinosaurs separate from other animals is the morphology (the shape) of their bones and skeleton, which has many unique features. Interestingly, birds also share these unique features with dinosaurs, and that is because birds are Dinosaurs.
How many bones does the biggest dinosaur have? (Jack, 12)
Dinosaurs all have around 200 bones in their skeleton. However the largest dinosaurs, Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan, have only 13 and 130 of their bones discovered respectively.
How do we know what colour dinosaurs were? (Tom, 9)
We do know the colour of some dinosaurs. Specifically, the ones with feathers! Yes, some extinct dinosaurs had feathers. These fossil feathers preserve structures called melanosomes, which are pigments that produce the colour of feathers. We have yet to find out how to discover the colour of scaly dinosaurs.
Were insects around over the times dinosaurs were there? Does that includes bees? (Camille, 7)
Insects were around during the time of the dinosaurs, and they were also around long before them! The oldest insect fossil is around 410 million years old, whereas the oldest dinosaur is 243 million years old! The oldest bee is around 80 million years old, during the Dinosaur times! Insects have been around for a very long time!
What are your best go-to books, games and movies for budding miniature dinosaur enthusiasts? (Rebecca, 42)
Okay, here is my list of best dinosaur stuff:
– Books: The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs (Stephen Brusatte); Dinosaurs: How they Lived and Evolved (Darren Naish and Paul Barrett); Triceratops: A Natural History (Erich Fitzgerald).
– Games: Saurian (PC), The Dinosaur Game that appears on Google Chrome when the internet stops working (PC, phone).
– Movies: Walking with Dinosaurs (BBC TV show); Prehistoric Park (TV show); Jurassic Park.
What is your favourite dinosaur and why? (Aisha, 8)
Oh it is so hard to choose a favourite dinosaur! When I was a kid it was Ornithomimus, a two legged dinosaur with a long neck like an emu that could run fast. But now it is defiantly a tie between Stegosaurus and Triceratops. Stegosaurus looks very impressive with its big plates, and Triceratops has such a cool beak with lots of teeth!
What is the most common dinosaur bone to find? (Edward, 10)
This is a tough one to answer, great question. Most dinosaur bones found are very fragmentary/incomplete, and so it may be impossible to determine what they are. But usually, mandibles and teeth are very common; due to them being the hardest parts of the body, they can survive the ordeal that is fossilisation.
How do the bones of the dinosaur stand up? (Eva, 5)
The dinosaur bones on display at the museum are usually held up by something called an Armature. This is a metal support structure, that holds the bones safely in place like a cradle. If you look closely at our Triceratops, you can see it hidden underneath the bones (take a look behind the frill).
I’m almost 40 and just about to start a Bachelor of Science/Paleontology a bit late in life. What advice could you give someone wanting to make a career change to Paleontology in Australia? (Adrian, 38)
The best advice I can give is to stay passionate and take up opportunities when you can. Try to volunteer to gain some experience. Looking for palaeontology books is also a good start (I find searching online and at Second-hand bookshops is a good place to start). I would also have a go at trying to find your own fossils; the best place to look in Melbourne is Beaumaris. Also: Palaeontology is usually taught as a Geology subject, but this teaches you only a few skills you need. Make sure you also try to learn Zoology (fossils represent animals after all) and Anatomy (to understand bones). It may also be good to brush up on Chemistry (fossils are chemically modified bones) and Physics (or more specifically, Biophysics). Try to pick up as many skills as you can!
The artist behind the Fed Square Letters
Robert Michael Young, a proud Gunnai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta man and celebrated artist, has created murals in iconic locations, from Chopper Lane to Charcoal Lane. He’s been a contestant on Channel 10’s Making It, designed a jersey for the Richmond Football Club and shoes for Puma that he gifted to Prince Harry and Meagan – and now has created the eye-catching super-cool mural on our Fed Square letters. We caught up with Robert to learn a bit more about his art practice, the inspiration for the mural – and how art can change our perspective on life.
Hi Robert! Tell us a bit about your art practice and your journey as an artist so far.
I grew up in a very artistic family. Mum and my uncles made art, but also just all traditional cultural practices, like making boomerangs. It was really the end of 2015, after I went to VCA for a year to do theatre and acting, I realised art is whatever you say it is, not what the world says it is. And so I was like: alright, cool. I can make art. When the protests happened against the foreclosures of our Aboriginal communities in 2015, I ended up in a newspaper article and there was a big photo of me.
But what they wrote down really didn’t capture what we actually wanted to speak about. So, I was like, alright. How do I change the conversation? Well, paint.
I sold my first painting for $60 or $80.
In 2017, I got asked to put in a concept for the Charcoal Lane Restaurant Mural, and I ended up winning.
I think what makes me unique is my focus on capturing the story and the culture of who I am and where I come from – but also how I celebrate it. My aim is to portray strength, resilience and sovereignty in my art.
In 2018, I got to meet Prince Harry and Meghan at my mural. And I gave them the shoes I designed for Puma that year – the first Indigenous-designed shoes for any sporting company in the world.
How was that experience?
Last year, I did a painting for Tennis Australia for the winner of the men’s open, which was Novak Djokovic.
I also started getting into sculptures. I’m doing a sculpture for Hume City Council out in Craigieburn, a representation of the Stolen Generation. And I got to go on a little TV show called Making It on Channel 10 and create art, and culture, on television.
It was full-on, but I got what I wanted to get out of it, which was to meet some really cool people and create art and share story. Me and my cousins, we were like, Ernie Dingo was the only black fellow you seen on TV when we were growing up. And now, it’s like: you get to see your cousin. Who looked like an idiot. Nah!
Do you consider yourself a mentor?
Yeah. I’ve just recently become the Artistic Director of Western Edge Youth Arts in the Western suburbs, which supports young artists who are wanting to have a voice in the art space, including POC artists.
It’s something that I felt ready for: this change to being a part of the community, in that kind of space. But also, being a voice for our community. That’s very important to me.
Tell me a little bit about the Fed Square letters. How did that come about and how was that process for you?
I actually applied to do the design for the Fed Oasis deckchairs.
And a close friend she just said to me, oh, you should apply for this thing. And I was like, okay. And I spoke to the person at Fed Square and she said, oh, well you’re too late, Robert, but would you be interested in creating something else? I said: like what? How about you paint a mural on the Fed Square letters? Okay. What do you want me to do? And she said: well, just send the design in. We’ll let you know. Cool. So I did. Deadly.
And what was the inspiration for your work?
I wanted to create something bold and creative and inviting, but also something that is very strong and representative of Aboriginal community and mob down here in Victoria and Southeast Australia. Because there is still this – I don’t want to say ignorance, but there’s no other word for it – ignorance around what Aboriginal art, and culture, and people are in that kind of space.
Some of the markings at the beginning of the Fed Square letters is a scar tree, which represents my great-grandparents, but also my great-grandfather who carved canoes, and my grandfather who made boomerangs. And where I learned how to make my shields and my boomerangs from was from my uncle. And then the different totems: I put the little turtles on there to represent me, represent the different mobs I’m from. So Gunnai, Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara, and celebrating those things.
But also, doing something that just looked cool as well – that was fun and vibrant, something that people would really want to get a photo with.
I’ve always just tried to create from a space that celebrates and honours who I am and where I come from, but also honours my family as well.
And what was the process of painting the mural on the Fed Square letters like?
It was over a two-day period. And I was just like: all right, cool. What am I going to do? Because I was just asked to paint the front. And then I was like: can I paint the sides as well? Can I paint the back as well? Can I paint everything? They said: If you want to! And I was like, alright, cool, that’s what I’m going to do.
And what’s driving you in all these projects you’re doing – in your art and in your new leadership role?
I think all the works that I’m doing this year, and stepping into this new role that I’m going into at Western Edge, is all about: how do you transform how people relate to art, but also what is art in their own story, in their own culture? And how does art bridge that gap of unknowing, or discrimination, or ignorance, or even fear of coming back outside again? How does art invite you into the world which is beyond your door?
I think it’s always a privilege in art, because you’ve been given an opportunity to create or tell a story where, one, people pay you to do it. But also, art actually informs how people relate, or celebrate, or connect with one another. You got to feel good to create paintings, to create art that brings life into this world. And when you create a piece that invites somebody in, you can help them change their frame of mind too.
ENESS's storyteller
How does an enormous, beautiful, light-up, inflatable fountain complete with calming soundscape like Cupid’s Koi Garden by ENESS come into being? It takes a team of highly talented creatives at innovative art-meets-science Australian company ENESS to birth such a beast, and we wanted to learn a bit more about the process, and what it’s like in the lab. To find out, we caught up with ENESS’s delightful Story Director and Conceptual Creative, Lyndal Hall, to learn more.
Hi Lyndal! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at ENESS.
My role at ENESS is multi-layered. I am Story Director and Conceptual Creative. I work with Artist and Founder, Nimrod Weis in conceptualising creative experiences. I work from the position of research, ideas, story, image-making with words and naming. He is an artist, sculptor and designer. We work really well together as a creative team because we understand that the best ideas can come from any angle – the design, the idea, the name, the story. Then, each from our respective disciplines, we fill-in and round-out the execution. We also have some very talented designers in the design team. I also collaborate with them on the story angles for their designs. We have some groundbreaking experiences coming-up for which I have steered narrative and ideas including an art destination that will feature multiple installations; a high-profile kinetic work; and a city-wide trail of installations.
I have a varied background as a creator: I’m an author and I have a history of creative executions in public spaces. I’ve been Creative Director of Regional Flavours: a food festival in Brisbane and prior to joining ENESS, I was Creative Director of Flowstate – a redevelopment project at South Bank (Brisbane) whereby we turned an under-utilised restaurant precinct into a 3000 square metre, multidimensional artistic space with an open-air pavilion (where we held over 600 art experiences in 2018). ENESS created an incredible, interactive sculpture called JEM for Flowstate that functions like a musical instrument. JEM has been so popular that while it was commissioned as a temporary piece for 18 months-3 years it has been in place for five years.
JEM by ENESS. Image courtesy of ENESS.
I also have a background in marketing and communications and pitching. So having developed the creative on the floor with Nimrod and the designers I then control the narrative through all channels. I really love guiding narrative from inception and pitching through to broadcast.
What is a typical day like in your job?
Immensely varied. I’m usually writing conceptual pitches; conceptualising creative ideas; writing narratives across creative, marketing and media; and organising things like photoshoots and videography.
Tell us about the history of Cupid’s Koi Garden: how did this project come about and what was the inspiration for the artwork?
Nimrod has a great fascination with combining technology with unexpected materials in unconventional ways – i.e. LEDS with soft organic forms like inflatables. Cupid is the next variation in a series of public realm artworks that have furthered this aspect of his artistic practice. The first Cupid was pitched for a project in Hong Kong. That iteration (while unnamed at that point) was quite ‘fleshy’. It was also a fountain. Fountains have a long and illustrious history in art. From a story perspective, it seemed obvious to pair the fecund fleshiness of the first iteration with the idea of water and its fertile resonances by way of the central character being Cupid. Nimrod has a strong connection to Japan and his Koi fish emerged in the final iteration – further investing the piece with fertile references. When stone-like ponds emerged in an Italian Terrazzo-style (undergoing a resurgence in Design currently), yet another link deepened the reference back to Baroque and Italian fountains, which hero Eros, Cupid and other creatures like fish – often under the control of Neptune. I sincerely love collaboration like this because it is a dynamic ebb and flow of design and story.
Have there been any challenges along the way in developing Cupid’s Koi Garden from first conception to finished project? Any necessary design changes/ technical or artistic challenges?
Design, technical and artistic challenges are always plentiful when making custom work. The beautiful thing about ENESS is that the studio is filled with very talented people across a range of disciplines – industrial design, music, programming, engineering, project management, conceptual creativity and writing. All these separate talents come together to nut-out and resolve problems as they emerge.
What are your favourite features of the artwork?
I love the size and resolution of Cupid’s LED eyes. Eyes are an ENESS motif – they appear in many variations across many different artworks. However, the eyes incorporated into Cupid are the largest an inflatable work has featured to date. I also adore the patterns on the inflatable skins. Nimrod has great artistry when it comes to colour and pattern and with these aspects of his work, he’s working in an aesthetic that is very close to my heart. It’s such a personal joy to watch which colours and patterns emerge each time, along of course with the form. Because the studio is filled with other artists – I know that they all feel this way too. And finally, I do love the music of every ENESS installation. The music was created for this work by a young, in-house designer and musician who executes many of our soundscapes. It is like stepping into a verdant garden with all the visual embellishment and detail – water, bees, breeze, and the sweet bloom and scent of flowers – translated into sound. There is also a mysterious exoticism to the sound design, emblematic of romantic gardens in far-flung places.
What would you like people to know about Cupid’s Koi Garden that they might not know from visiting it?
Amid all the highly-patterned forms and the general excitement as kids splash in the water, visitors may not realise that the stream of water that each Koi fish spurts is interactive. So that the movement of people walking by and playing in the water actually stimulates the fountain. This is one of the interactive aspects to Cupid being the World’s First interactive, inflatable fountain. The other interactivity relates to the sound design and lighting.
What are you looking forward to about seeing Cupid’s Koi Garden at Fed Square?
I absolutely love watching audience interaction, in fact everyone in the office does – it’s the delightful outcome of all of the hard yards. With Cupid, there is awe on visitors’ faces as they see the 6-metre-high Cupid; children splashing happily in the ponds and people generally delighting in the beauty, frivolity and mystique of the piece. I am also looking forward to the idea of a temporary fountain, appearing in the red-tiled Main Square – a temporary mirage that dramatically alters the vista. And finally, at night, when the sky darkens, the forms glow and pulsate with hypnotic sherbet-soft pastels, blushes as well as more dramatic hues – all blending and contrasting with the external skins.
Cupid’s Koi Garden by ENESS will be at Fed Square until 6 February 2022.
A chronology of ENESS installations that have featured at Fed Square:
Pixile – 2006
Crowd for the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) exhibition Eyes, Lies and Illusions – 2006
Möbius – 2011
Light Seesaw (then called A Tilt of Light) – 2012
Light Bubble – 2016
Sky Castle – 2020
Cupid’s Koi Garden – 2022
Artist behind Reconstruct (the) Normative
Australian artist Soraya Zaman spent three years travelling across the United States, capturing and recording stories and photographs of people in the trans-masculine community. The exhibition Reconstruct (the) Normative, opening at Fed Square on January 29 – as well as the book, American Boys Project (2019) – are the culmination of that journey.
Soraya flew over from New York for the exhibition’s opening, where we were able to catch up with them to talk about their journey as an artist, the exhibition and their views on the importance of – not only ensuring the visibility of trans stories in our culture – but the next step in reaching equality.
Reconstruct (the) Normative is an exhibition running from 29 January–10 February at Fed Square, exploring trans-masculine identities, and part of Midsumma Festival.
Hi Soraya! Tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey as an artist.
I was born and raised in Sydney. I’m a self-taught photographer. I actually have an economics degree.
I was in my early 20s and feeling like this is not really what I want to be doing. And I always loved photography, and it was more of like a hobby or a side project for me, or a way of escaping my office life at the time. And I just decided to throw it all in. I went traveling for a year. I traveled from Hong Kong to Cairo by myself. I just had my camera, and it really became a tool for me, a way of engaging and understanding the environments that I was going through and my way of connecting with places – taking pictures of people and landscapes.
I feel like that was really a formative part of how my photography has progressed. I work as a commercial photographer as well, but for my personal work, it’s really a tool for me to understanding the world and people and how I see things.
So, yeah, this project – Reconstruct (the) Normative – is an evolution of all of that. I started it in 2016, so quite a while ago now. And at that time, I was really exploring my own gender and just figuring out that I identify as non-binary and really getting to the depths of understanding that for myself. That’s when I started this project, photographing trans-masculine people.
I don’t think I really understood that’s what I was doing at the time. But looking back, it was a way for me to explore my own identity and understanding that [process] for other people, and for myself, and using photography as the medium, as my way of connecting.
As a result of meeting people, recording their stories and capturing their images, there was another level of realisation – that there was an important need for this, because there wasn’t a lot of representation of trans people, in general, especially trans-masculine identifying people, in media or anywhere, at that particular moment in time.
So, even though the project is intensely personal, it’s also became bigger than myself. Because I took on this thing – like, I really have to do this, to the best of my ability, to tell these stories and share these narratives that aren’t really out there in the world.
I mean, they exist in online spaces – a lot of the people who are in the project, I found through social media, because that’s how people were sharing their stories, the trans-masculine community in particular. I really wanted to take these stories from the online space and give them a more permanent setting and to share the stories in a way that’s positive and uplifting but also really honest. I feel like a lot of trans narratives can be focused on the tragedy or the dramatic side of things. I wanted it to be really honest and raw.
It’s extremely important, especially for young people, to see yourself reflected back in the world, in society. And back then, none of that really existed. So that was a really driving force as well, to put something out there so people can see themselves and their stories in the world.
And this exhibition is the result of your travels around the US, and meeting many people in the trans-masculine community, and an extension of The American Boys Project, the book that you produced as a result of that journey. How did that come about – meeting all the people that were part of that project. Did it snowball? Or how did it come about?
It totally snowballed. It started off a very humble, small, personal project. Just the first person I photographed was in Brooklyn, and I was living in Brooklyn. And then, I was traveling to California for a job, and so I met with somebody there. Then, it just started to escalate and grow – I started traveling around the country and doing the same thing, documenting these people in all different places around America. And I called the project American Boys as an intentional call out to this notion of what Americana and boyhood looks like in different parts of the country, but also to challenge that narrative around gender and the gender binary and to break that down.
What were the kind of standout things that you took away from that experience?
And I feel the message is that the trans community are living everywhere, all across the country, from small towns to big cities. Obviously, it can be very challenging, but within their little world and bubbles, they have family and community and relationships and partners and normal, quote-unquote normal – whatever “normal” is – lives.
When I photographed Emmett, at the time, Emmett was living in Utah and was a Mormon. And there were other people from Texas and people from traditionally conservative states in the U.S. who have happy lives with their families. I mean, obviously, there are always challenges, but they have got to a point in their lives where they are really happy with who they are and have a strong community and foundation around them.
Do you think things have progressed in society, in general, for trans communities?
Yeah. I feel like social media has played a really big part, enabling community to find like-minded people and to see other people that look like us, which never really existed before. And that can be really powerful. The more that you can see yourself or see other people that look like you, reflected in the world, it gives you the permission to say, “Okay, this is who I am. This is me.”
But at the same time, the U.S. is going through this crazy time, where there were more trans people killed last year than in any other year. There’s legislation being passed through different, very conservative states, limiting trans youths’ access to hormones and gender-affirming care. So, there is also a real attack, right now, on trans people. And I feel like there’s a real juxtaposition. Unfortunately and tragically, trans lives in America have become a political battleground to create division. We have to understand that these are just kids and their lives are at stake.
What’s your view on kind of the situation in Australia, and how does it compare?
I feel like maybe Australia is a few years behind. There is a real push for visibility – and visibility is obviously really, really important – but you need to look beyond visibility. The best example that I can give is when we, as queer people, thought marriage equality was going to be the end goal, when really, it’s just the starting point. Visibility is the bare minimum. And real progression is having trans people, especially trans people of color and Indigenous trans people, really integrated into systems and culture and in positions of importance and power so they have a voice at the table. That’s really the end goal, not just being visible, because the problem with just being visible is you can get tokenised. It becomes about identity politics, where it’s like, “Oh, we can tick that box because we’ve got that person there, front-facing.” But you have to ask: what’s happening behind the scenes? Where are we including diversity in our board rooms and creative spaces and writing rooms, to really make sure that different voices are being heard?
Tell us a bit more about this exhibition, Reconstruct (the) Normative, which opens at Fed Square on January 28. It’s a huge exhibition in the middle of Melbourne: it’s pretty exciting. How did it come about? And what does it mean to you?
Philip, who owns Batik Projects, he’s a really good friend of mine. He used to live in New York, and he was there when I was in the throes of this project. He was a really integral force in helping me find a publisher and putting together presentations to show different publishing houses for the work. So, he’s really been personally involved for a long time. He always really believed in this project. Then, he moved back to Melbourne. And he was always saying, “Oh, we’re going to do this. We’re going to show this exhibition in Australia.” And I would say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Sounds great. Here’s everything. You can do whatever you want with it.” And then, I didn’t realise this is what he was going to do!
So, I’m incredibly indebted to him and to Fed Square. It’s incredible to see this happening. I feel, for the community here in Melbourne, it’s hopefully a really validating moment to have these images on display, in such a public space, on these huge screens, with this big build out. Yeah. I really hope that people feel happy that it’s here. I think it’s just amazing. I’m just blown away. Watching the build today, I’m just pinching myself.
Talk me through what the experience of the exhibition will be for people.
There are 10 large screens, five on each side. You come up the stairs and up onto the scaffolding bridge, and then, there are screens on either side going down.
Each screen rotates through images of three people, and there is a text element as well, which is taken from a conversation that I had with every person.
I feel like the text is almost just as important as the pictures because they are really informative and interesting narratives of how people came to understand their gender and their sexuality and how they navigated that with family and with society – even with religion. It really adds another contextual layer to the images. And if you don’t like reading the screens, there is a QR code that you can scan, which links you to voice recordings. Sage Akouri has narrated all of the stories. So, you can look at the pictures, and if you have your phone, you can listen to it being read while you’re looking at the images
As you mention, the exhibition is presented across a bridge structure. How has the exhibition presentation come about from the initial American Boys Project that it’s based on?
The bridge structure, that’s Phil’s brainchild. The bridge is meant to represent the connection between to USA and Australian communities. The build this a scaffolding bridge, and I was thinking about its use in construction and representative of the social construct of gender. So we retitled the work under the heading “Reconstruct (the) Normative” to challenge people to unlearn society’s heteronormativity. Also these stories and the narratives are universal. So that’s how we kind of project-worked the title of the exhibition.
What are your hopes for this exhibition?
I just hope that it’s really well received and that a lot of people can come and see it, and it can open some people’s minds and perspectives.
I feel like a lot of people’s prejudices and fears come from not understanding or not knowing. And so, I just hope people can come with an open mind and a willingness to learn and relearn –because it’s our society and our culture that have created these boundaries and rules around gender and sexuality that are really limiting and are not necessarily real and true. And so, we really need to unlearn all of that and start to appreciate that we are more complex human beings and there is more than just the binary gender system and a heterosexual story of the world. That we are more complex than our language lets us be. And I feel that if you can understand that and just be a little bit more open minded, then we can hopefully provide a safer environment for a lot of people.
Reconstruct (the) Normative is open daily in the Atrium at Fed Square from 29 January until 10 February
Fed Square's Public Programming Producer and Harry Potter superfan (like: permanently inked-level superfan)
In the lead-up to the 20th Anniversary of the film release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and the Christmas in the Wizarding World celebrations at Fed Square on December 7, we caught up with Loz, who is producing the event.
We were keen to find out what is being cooked up in the cauldron for the day, and what it’s like for her working on a dream project like this one.
Hey Loz, tell us a bit about your job and what you do.
I am one of the Public Programming Producers (PPP!) You might remember me from the organising of such events as, Christmas Square, May The 4th Be With You, the Australian Open Live Site, the African Music and Cultural Festival and more. In short: I am lucky enough to both work as an event producing partner, alongside external Fed Square clients, and also create Fed Square-run events that are free to the public.
And we hear you’re a bit of a Harry Potter fan. On a scale of 1-10, how super a superfan are you?
If I’m not allowed to go over the scale of 10… then I guess it is 10 x infinity. Some highlights of my Harry Potter journey thus far would be:
- Travelling the USA and flying to Orlando for one day, just to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. On the way back I was pulled aside by airport security and asked if I had batons in my carry on … Nope that would just be Dumbledore and Voldemort’s wands … A few laughs were had by all, including security.
- Flying to Sydney for the Harry Potter Exhibition (as it was not coming to Melbourne). It is here that with a crazy amount of insane joy, three friends and I decided to confirm our dedication to HP with a Deathly Hallows tattoo.
- Queuing online for tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in a pool of sweat as I was 1868 in line. Only to find out my friend was 22,000. We were lucky and got tickets for the first weekend! It. Was. INCREDIBLE! Would love to go again.
How does it feel now being the PPP for Christmas in the Wizarding World at Fed Square?
I think I could probably retire after this event and be happy – ha ha! I am also trying to maintain my professional bravado, but it may be slipping out of sheer excitement …
What can people expect for the celebrations?
Not only will there be a special edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to watch on the Big Screen, there will be a performance by the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, free ice cream, plenty of prizes to be won and many a giveaway just for attending! Definitely dress up in your best wizarding attire. It could win you a prize too! Can you tell I’m excited?
Which house are you in?
Look, the first time I was sorted it was into Hufflepuff however I did want to be in Ravenclaw. Then I managed to be sorted into Ravenclaw second time round. But it felt like I was cheating. Hufflepuff is my home.
Favourite Harry Potter character?
Controversial, but it is Severus Snape. He has such a profound background that is essential to the story. Always.
What are you most looking forward to for the celebrations?
All of it?! Well, it will pretty special to see the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child perform live in the Square! To think that it has been 20 years since the films came into our lives and that they continue to be such a magical world for so many is amazing. I still remember when I first saw Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the cinema. Goosebumps.
See all you witches and wizards on 7 December! Mischief managed.
Diwali Chairman and Festival Coordinator
Seventeen years ago, on a picturesque walk through a very young Fed Square, Arun Sharma’s wife Jaya sewed the first seeds of an idea that would develop into the Victorian Festival of Diwali at Fed Square. From its early years, it has grown into a festival where upwards of 60,000 people come together to celebrate Indian culture. While things have changed a little bit during COVID-times, the Victorian Festival of Diwali has managed to keep shining a light into people’s homes around the world, thanks to Arun and the team at Celebrate India. For this week’s Fed Folk, we caught up with Arun to find out more about how it all started – and what you can look forward to this Diwali.
Hi Arun, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your history with Diwali?
Well, I’m a health professional. I am employed in a practice of my own, specialising in stress and pain management. That’s my daytime job. Apart from that, we’ve been always interested in the community and always been involved with some community organisation or another, because when we first came here in the mid-seventies, it was a very lonely place for us. Very few Indians were here and our local friends, most of them didn’t know anything about Indian culture and we were too new for them. So it became a very big priority for us that we need to build up some understanding so we can share our culture and where we come from.
And how did the Diwali come about then the idea of bringing it to Fed Square?
Well, that is quite interesting actually. I was fortunate, because I got married in India, and when I came back, my wife had absolutely the same interest as mine. And she was quite driven to do what I wanted to do too. So, in one conversation with some close friends, while we were organising a festival – a different festival, because India is a land of festivals, it’s not one festival, so many throughout the year – that was an excuse which we used to use to get together. And we had like 350 families in Melbourne all together in Victoria. So it was a good reason for us to somehow get together and meet. Then Australian friends started joining us and they were just having a ball, having a great time there with us.
That’s when it just clicked: why are we celebrating within ourselves? Why are we not inviting the local community and celebrating together? They need to understand where we come from. And we have a rich culture, a very old, ancient culture. So, that’s where the seeds were sown.
And then Jaya, my wife, she used to work at SBS, running an Indian program – she started that. In 2002 Federation Square got established. By 2004, Melburnians were still getting used to it, it was a strange looking building, so people were pretty polarised, not sure which way to take it.
While we were there, enjoying the river and walking around, Jaya said, wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate Diwali here, right in the middle of a city? And it just stayed with me: wow, that’s a great idea. I imagined the light on the river, how happy people get from that feeling. That’s something we used to visualise in India when we were kids – there are so many rivers and you see the reflection of lights everywhere during Diwali.
That was the beginning. And then four of us got together and in 2005 we established an organisation called Celebrate India. 2006 was our first year – we picked Diwali because the message of the festival is amazing and it doesn’t belong to one religion. It’s open to everybody. It’s really asking for people to remove the darkness from their lives and celebrate the light, which can come in any form – it could be any wisdom, any knowledge or in kindness to each other.
And that we made our mission: that we make sure that we get as many people involved in it as possible. We’ll break the boundaries. And that’s where Diwali came to the fore – any other sort of festival has some strong religious restrictions, like Holi is another beautiful festival – it’s a festival of colours – but water gets thrown on people, colours get thrown on people and I knew Victorians would be pretty shocked.
But light is easier. It’s understandable. It allows people to take time to get into it. That was the mission. And that’s what we felt would be perfectly acceptable to start with. And then let’s see what happens.
And how has it changed since those first days?
Oh, big time. Because, well, I remember going and meeting the Lord Mayor and talking to some Australian friends, talking to a lot of ministers and politicians to get some support to start with. And we had to take photographs from India to show them what Diwali means. Today you just walk out and say, well, we organised Diwali at Fed Square. We don’t use the name The Festival of Lights anymore, no, we just say Diwali. And they know what it is.
In fact, there was a really amazing moment for me personally, when Ted Baillieu was the premier and he was coming to our festival. He said, it’s not the Indian Festival anymore, it’s actually the Victorian Festival of Diwali. And hence the name changed from there. We adopted it straight away. I said: that’s perfect. This is what we achieved.
We are very fortunate, we got amazing support from Lord Mayor at the time, John So. He was the first person who actually said, okay, we’ll support you. And then he helped us contact other people and then slowly the Victorian government and the Indian government, everybody joined in. And then of course, a lot of organisations kept joining in and we expanded from there until gradually we built it into a five-day event.
In 1996 or 97, we hit between 60,000 to 65,000 people walking through Fed Square that day.
Another thing that’s changed that we’re really proud of – when we first started running the festival, 99.9% of the team were Indian. Two years ago, when we did the Diwali live there at Fed Square, 23% of our artists were non-Indian.
Tell me a little bit about the last couple of years and how things have changed during COVID times.
We’ve been very fortunate. The group of people we have in our team and our volunteers, they’re pretty supportive, very dedicated to make sure that our cause continues and we keep doing something to bring some happiness.
We did not want to stop last year or even this year. Last year was even more challenging because it was the first shock. And a lot of people, including students, were experiencing difficulties – mental difficulties and emotional difficulties and even financial – because we didn’t know when we could open or what was going to happen. So, we made it a project that we should be able to deliver something.
We created a few online competitions so people could get involved while they were at home and we had an amazing response from people. And of course, in the end, the day the festival was supposed to be launched, we were allowed to have ten people in the Square. The online Virtual Diwali had almost 480,000 people viewing it worldwide.
What can people expect from the virtual show early this year?
Our whole purpose every year is to provide different elements or a different angle to the culture. This year, it’s based on Indian folk music and folk dances. So, there are a big variety of folk dances represented from different parts of India, some live instrumental music, which has been pre-recorded, and we have a comedian, Dan Nainan, presenting an item from the USA. He’s from New York. There’s a good variety.
Is there anything that you would like to share about Diwali that you would like people to know?
What I would like people to do is to participate in something, because the message behind the Diwali is to bring the light into their lives. But light can be in the form of one word: a caring message to our neighbour, to our family members, to appreciate all the good things in life. So, if we can make a difference that way, Diwali’s message is fulfilled. It is just a reminder of what we have rather than worrying about what we don’t have.
That’s the focus I’d like people to share. On top of that, I know we are coming out of restrictions now, and everything’s looking good. Why not celebrate by lighting our homes and show the rest of the world how happy we are and that we accept life as it is?
We’d like every Victorian to join us, because we have a Facebook competition going on. Whether you join the competition or not that’s up to you, but we invite everyone to join in and decorate your home bright enough, to illuminate the house inside and outside for Diwali until Christmas – to break down all the boundaries and enjoy what we have.
What are you looking forward to now that restrictions are easing; what are you excited about?
I’m excited about the smile on people’s faces. When you go out, you can see that people are a bit more relaxed and just being able to meet friends and family is probably giving them a little happiness. And everybody has got a bit of bounce in their voice and their faces are more lit up. That’s what we want.
Do you believe in ghosts? We’d heard whispers of a Fed Square ghost story and so of course we had to get to the bottom of it.
For our Fed Folk Halloween edition, we chased up the story with Nick, one of our security guards, who experienced the spine-tingling brush with the otherworldly while on duty one night.
It was a dark (and probably not stormy) night …
I think it was around five or six years ago. So, long ago. It was two or three in the morning.
Now our alarm system in the Yarra Building at Fed Square kept going off, jumping from the first floor, second floor. And there was no one there – we checked with the cleaners – there was no one up there. And it’s a sensor alarm. Basically, with any movement that’s there, it senses it.
So, the alarm was going from one level to another level, to another level – quickly. That’s impossible. Now we got called to go in there. It was me and another guard, Billy. Basically, the idea was that he’d check one section and I’d check the other section.
You’ve got to realise, if you walk past one section of the Yarra Building and you’re at the front of the plaza, you can see in and you can see the guard walking through. Now we’ve gone up there. He’s gone to one section and I’ve gone to the other section. He’s called me. And basically, he shouts and says, “This area is clear.”
As I’m going through, there’s like an alleyway, which you can see from outside through the glass. As I’m walking through there, I hear a call on the radio, “Nick, behind you.” And I looked behind me. There’s no one there, because the alleyway’s very narrow. Now I’ve called back and said, “Well, what are you calling for? There’s no one here.”
And as we checked the area, we’ve gone through it again, doubled it up. Nothing.
We’ve gone back to the control room and we told the guys, “Listen, there’s nothing up there.” And one of the guards says, “Just look at this.” As we’ve looked through the footage, you can see like a shadow … I can’t explain it. A shadow person run right through me, run past me.
And I couldn’t see it. Like they said, “Nick, behind you.” Now the footage shows the person ran right past me, but the shadow figure was like half the size of me.
Did you feel anything when it happened?
No, I didn’t. That’s why when the guys on the radio were calling me, I thought, “There’s nothing here.”
Because they had the camera directly pointed where the glass areas are at the front. And you can see in because the lights were on.
Did it ever happen again after that one time?
No, that’s the only time it happened.
And how did you feel on seeing that footage when you were back in the office and replayed it?
I was surprised, but I didn’t really feel anything. I was just basically surprised just seeing that and not feeling anything. You’re supposed to feel something when something happens like that, but no, I didn’t.
Did you feel scared, or … Do you believe in ghosts?
Here and there, yeah. But scared? No, no.
Have you ever had any other creepy things like that happen at Fed Square?
We have. Where Big Esso by Mabu Mabu is, there used to be Il Pomodoro, an Italian restaurant.
This is not from my experience. It’s from another person’s experience. Where the toilets were, there used to be a little gap where that toilet was at the back of the tenancy. One of the people working there stated that there was someone walking up and down there – you could see through the gap underneath – walking up and down there when there was no one there.
But, that’s secondhand information. That’s not really my story to tell.
Fed Square events supervisor and the fount of all Fed Square knowledge
When you have a heritage-listed public square that’s not a square, that’s built over a train line, covered in undulating cobblestones and hosts thousands of events a year (in normal times), you want to have an events operations person that knows their stuff, right? Well, that’s Ellora. With an in-built mental data map of the whole site and the keys to the place, Ellora is one of a team of event operations staff that make things happen at Fed Square. We talked to her this week about what her job is like, what she’s been doing in lockdown – and about making friends with a duck at Sky Castle last year.
Hey Ellora, tell us a bit about yourself and your job at Fed Square.
Though the title has changed over the years, I am an event operations supervisor, which is quite difficult to define. Basically, I ensure the safe installation and operation of events that take place at Fed Square from bump in to bump out, and I have been floating around now for about four years.
What does a typical day look like in your job?
All people in events will say that there is no such thing as a typical day and with current restrictions my days now are vastly different to what they used to be. However, if I turn back the clock to the start of 2020, my typical day consisted of about four coffees, 25,000 steps, jumping on the forklift, setting up event infrastructure, liaising with event clients, cleaners, security, completing risk assessments, and enjoying all the amazing events that take place at Fed Square.
What would most people not know about what you do in your job.
I guess an interesting fact would be that I have memorised different aspects of Fed Square – such as all the locations that have access to power and the types of outlets that are in them, or the different weight loading areas and how to calculate the weight loading of a vehicle on the spot.
Having this information at the top of my head makes solving problems easier and minimises delay. For example: if a coffee cart needs to be in a certain location for an event, and I was briefed that the cart requires a 15-amp port, but they arrive onsite with a different machine due to a fault and this one has a 20-amp plug – I would know that a 20-amp power outlet is available seven meters away and have a 20-amp extension lead available onsite, so the site map won’t need to change. That’s probably not interesting to most people, but I love knowing where all the solutions to potential problems are before they occur and having extensive knowledge of our site helps.
Do you have any interesting or unusual stories that you can share with us, about what has happened in your job?
During last year’s Sky Castle event one night, I was standing by to deflate it at 11pm, when I noticed a duck walking around the activation. Now it was a lovely warm night so there were still a tonne of people around, so I was amazed at how close this duck was waddling around people. I think at some point it noticed me watching it and came over to where I was sitting. Now I cannot express how chill this duck was – it let me touch and eventually it just settled between my feet and just fell asleep. Unfortunately, I did need to move (a crime, I know), but while I was packing down Sky Castle it just followed me and the security staff around. Eventually it just flew away – but that was definitely the cutest moment I’ve ever had at Fed Square.
Image: Ellora Keeley, Fed Square event operations supervisor, Fed Square, September, 2021.
Ellora’s duck friend, at Sky Castle, 2021. Image: provided.
Any favourite memories of working at Fed Square you can share?
My favourite memory would have to be NYE 2019-20, we had a DJ playing all the hits from the decade. They started playing Fix you by Cold play and the entire crowd started pulled out their phone lights and started singing along and it was so beautiful. Then beat dropped and my brain immediately tried to calculate the KPA rating of 10,000 people all jumping up and down at once.
What’s your favourite place in the Square?
The top of Transport’s roof – not the bar, the actual rooftop. It has THE best 360 degree view of the city and the greatest view of the Main Square.
Top recommendations for eats/drinks at Fed Square?
Cannot go wrong with coffee from Time out café! Best onsite in my opinion. Food from atiyah as well is absolutely amazing and well-priced.
How has being in lockdown affected your job and what you do?
Extremely! I am an event supervisor … with no events to supervise. However, it has been nice to be able to catch up on all the “housework”, so to speak. That has included assessing all our event infrastructure, reorganising storerooms for better efficiency and upgrading procedures regarding bump in/ out of events to make the process easier for our clients.
What do you do to unwind? Any tips for things to watch/read/listen to, to get through lockdown?
I am a relatively boring person, to the point where I’ve watched the same movie three times in a row on the same night just because I was convinced everything else on Netflix was boring (the movie was titled Everest and it has an amazing soundtrack). But I’ve recently got into a podcast called “Distractable” which is just three guys telling life stories or discussing some strange topic in a comedic manner. That has kept me extremely distracted from being in lockdown, which has been nice.
What are you looking forward to when we get back (out of lockdown)?
Being able to go to the store and purchase socks when I get holes in mine; I have very specific sock needs and I can’t tell online if socks have padding or not.
Ever wonder why Fed Square always looks so fresh? Well, that’s thanks to Suranjan and the team of Fed Square cleaners that work hard to keep everything looking ship shape, clean and even more importantly since Covid-times – safe and sanitised. We caught up with Suranjan this week to find out more about his job, playing guitar to get by in lockdown – and what he’s looking forward to when we’re all back at the Square.
Hi Suranjan! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am an afternoon cleaning supervisor and have been at Fed Square for more than six years.
My role is to assign the duties handed over from the previous shifts, monitor the daily activities around the site and supervise the evening staff. Also, I am responsible for maintaining a tidy site and reporting any OHS issues. I also assist in the periodicals, rosters and the audits.
What does a typical day look like in your job?
Well, I just love coming to work and getting the handover and plan for the day. I don’t think there’s any typical day; as we do lots of events, each event is different. But we have our processes and plans in place, so we have a good idea of what to expect for any event, including major events, that might be on. Also, our Venue Supervisors are really helpful, making sure to give us a heads-up immediately if there are any changes to events, or the scheduled tasks, and we are always ready to make adjustments to our work accordingly.
What would most people not know about what you do in your job?
As a supervisor I do audit rounds, where I walk around and visit offices around the Square, to check on everything. One day I was walking around with the site phone, doing audits. One of the security guards said: “I see you always on the phone! Don’t you do any work?”. I told him, “This is what I am hired for!”. He wasn’t aware of my SOPs (standard operating procedures). But things have changed now. He appreciates the way I work and he compliments for the good job we do here. And that’s really pleasing.
It’s also part of my job to make sure that Fed Square minimises waste that goes into landfill. We do this by checking bin contamination levels and assisting tenants with their waste removal.
How has being in lockdown affected your job and what you do?
We are so grateful to Fed Square that we didn’t have to change anything with the core rosters. We do regular deep cleanings and industry-standard sanitisation to keep the site safe and also provide OHS training to our staff in these quiet times.
What do you do to unwind? Any tips for things to watch/read/listen to, to get through lockdown?
Well, even though I am working, definitely lockdown has affected me in many ways. I have been waiting to go and see my family, who are in Nepal, for the last two years. Due to the travel restrictions, I am still waiting. To keep my mind busy, I play guitar, I watch sports and a few Netflix series, and I listen to music. I also communicate with my friends and family through Facebook or other social media.
What are you looking forward to when we get back (out of lockdown)?
Definitely I will be looking forward to more and more events at Fed Square. The glory of Fed Square is with all the big events. I have been able to witness all the multicultural diversity of Victoria through events at Fed Square.
If you’ve ever met Sarah, you won’t forget her. She’s a dynamic creative that works like a hurricane: zooming around with ideas, picking up inspiration, churning it up and creating the amazing programming that you see at each year at Fed Square. Anything cool you’ve experienced at Fed Square: that’s because of Sarah. Anything you didn’t like? You can blame Sarah. Lol. Well, as she says herself, it can be a challenge working to satisfy everyone, but if anyone is up to the challenge: it’s her.
We caught up with her to find out what life being Sarah is like and how Covid-19 has thrown a few spanners in the works over the last 18 months.
Image: Sarah Raftis (left, in mask, at Sky Castle in 2020 at Fed Square) does not like having her picture taken, so this is what she sent us. We think it’s because she likes to maintain a secret identity, like Batman.
Hey Sarah, tell us a bit about yourself.
I am the Curator of Public Programming and I have been at Fed Square for just over two years. I am responsible for the creative vision and planning for most of the events at Fed Square. From free workshops for the community right through to large installations like Sky Castle or The Knot.
What does a typical day look like in your job?
One of the things I love about my job is that I don’t really have a typical day. One day I might be working with an international artist and working through concepts the next I might be looking at how we can improve comfort for community seating in the square.
What do you love most about your job?
I really love the creativity and the opportunity to work with artists, musicians, community groups and festivals, to work on collaborative projects with NGV, ACMI and Koorie Heritage Trust – but most of all I love seeing the public enjoy and interact with the things we have planned. Everything we do is aimed at bringing joy and showcasing culture.
What are some of the highlights from working here at Fed Square? Anything that you’re most proud of, or any fave memories?
I already have so many great memories, even though 75% of my time has been while we have been in lockdown. My all-time favourite memory though, would have to be coming back to Fed Square last November after a long period and seeing people wandering though Sky Castle, crying tears of joy. People were hugging and holding hands when Johnny Wonderpants and Bernard Curry sang Here Comes the Sun, all while we played messages of love and support from iconic Australian actors, singers and personalities on the Big Screen. It really felt like we were all connected and were all one big community. It really did encapsulate our vision for that event, which was: “After every storm, there’s a rainbow”. Another huge highlight was the opportunity to interview NASA astronaut Dr. Andrew Morgan. It really was out of this world (sorry bad pun) and something that showcases the variety of things I get to do within my role.
What sorts of skills and qualities are important in your job?
I would say: resilience, because everyone will have an opinion (good and bad) of what you create; creativity, because you want to present things that people have not experienced or seen before; and being adaptable. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic I have been forced to look at different ways to approach public events and programming to ensure that they are Covid-safe and to always have Plan B, C and sometimes D in place should a snap lockdown occur. I think anyone in events has faced the same challenges.
How have stay-at-home restrictions over the last 18 months affected your work? What have been some challenges and highlights?
The obvious challenge is lockdowns means people cannot visit Fed Square, so we really had to find ways to also engage the community via our Virtual Square offering. Some highlights for me have been virtual Little Food Festival and WATSON screening with Sea Shepherd for Sustainable September last year, the East Arnhem Live concert series and actually being able to launch The Knot back in July this year, one day before lockdown.
What is something about your job that you think most people wouldn’t know about?
That we plan sometimes two years in advance and that we work with and support over 150 community groups, artists and musicians each year.
Is there anything you’d like people to know about programming at Fed Square?
That we are always happy to hear from the community about things you would like to see at Fed Square, or perhaps provide feedback on something you attended. I encourage anyone with ideas or feedback to contact us at info@fedsquare.com . We do read and respond to all emails, and it’s a great way to have input into what we do at Fed Square for the community.
How are you getting through right now, while we’re all under stay-at-home orders? What are your top tips in terms of what you’re watching/ listening to/ reading/ doing to stay sane?
I may come undone here as my taste in films and music is horrific according to my family and friends, however some of my recent fave things to binge watch have been Chapelwaite on Stan, Spike Lee’s NYC Epicenters 9/11 to 2021½ on Binge, The Conservation Game on Netflix and rewatching classics like Beetlejuice, Puberty Blues and Ben-Hur. Music-wise I love everything from Beethoven to local musician Dylan J or SA group Electric Fields. I have also somehow had some local ducks decide to make my pool their home, so I often feed them when I need to relax.
What are you looking forward to, once we’re out of lockdown?
Events!! Our industry, along with many others, has been decimated over the last 18 months, and we still have a long road ahead of us with restrictions – but I am so excited to see everything we have planned come to life. 2022 is looking like it will be one of the busiest years ever in terms of programming, and I cannot wait for the community to be able to return and enjoy all of these free activities and events.
We would like to introduce you one of our dearest treasures, Owen Crawford: the head of Fed Square’s on-site security team. He’s the guy that keeps you all safe when you’re in the Square, and right now, as an essential worker, he’s making sure Fed Square is safe and secure for when we return. We caught up with him this week to talk to the man behind the control room.
Hey Owen, tell us a bit about yourself.
My title is Site Security Manager at Fed Square. I oversee the Core Security Team that operate on site 24 Hours a day. I also coordinate the ad-hoc and event guarding requirements on site. I’ve been working here at Fed Square since December, 2008.
What does a typical day look like in your job?
One of the best aspects of my job is that there is no such thing as a typical day. Under normal circumstances (pre-covid) anything can happen at any time. Having said that, my day commences with reviewing any issues from the day prior, briefing the team on anything pressing that needs to be attended to, responding to requests from Fed Square staff and tenants, assisting the Rovers (roving security guards) if there are any situations where they need an additional resource or if there is something that may be out of the norm or potentially a volatile situation. I also check on the welfare of my team that is on site on that particular day – because they rotate across days and times of day, I want to see how they are doing, particularly during periods of lockdown.
What would most people not know about what you do in your job?
Probably something that most people would not know is that I am on call and available to my team 24 Hours a day. If there is a situation that arises that the team on site are dealing with and they want advice or another perspective, they can (and do) call me at any time. They also alert me to any incidents of a serious nature that occur on site and if necessary, I come in to offer support to the team during or post incident.
Do you have any stories that you can share with us, about what has happened in your job, and what you’ve had to do?
Having started in the Security Industry in 1995 I have a great many stories of things that I have witnessed or been involved in over the years. Dealing with members of the public that are substance-affected or are experiencing an acute mental health episode (and sometimes both at once) can be quite tense, as it’s not always clear what is going on. We have had specific training in dealing with these situations, so the main thing to worry about is the safety of the individual and those around them, and to ensure the situation is de-escalated as soon as possible. Another type of situation that is equally as tense is when there is an emergency situation on site, such as a fire alarm, as there are a lot of moving parts all at once. It is in situations such as these where I am grateful to be able to call on (Fed Square’s Security Manager) Peter Middenway and seek advice or clarification that what I think is the best course of action is correct.
Any favourite memories of working at Fed Square you can share?
One of my favourite memories of working here at Fed Square is when we had the event here on site to celebrate the homecoming for Cadel Evans after the Tour de France. The reception that he got from the members of the public was huge and it was a great event to have been a part of.
How has being in lockdown affected your job and what you do?
I have been very fortunate in that I have continued to come into work each day and to work alongside my team and also with the Fed Square staff who have been on site. There have been some changes in the way that we approach things during lockdown as opposed to when we are not. One thing that took a bit of getting used to was doing meetings over Microsoft Teams or Zoom as I was always accustomed to being in a meeting room with people but now the virtual meetings seem to be the norm.
What do you do to unwind? Any tips for things to watch/read/listen to, to get through lockdown?
When we aren’t in lockdown I unwind by going to training. I do boxing and I also study Filipino Martial Arts. When we are in lockdown I will train by myself and go for a walk to unwind.
What are you looking forward to when we get back?
I think that I’m most looking forward to being able to catch up with my family and my mates once we’re out of lockdown.
Assistant curator at the Koorie Heritage Trust
Meet Pierra Van Sparkes, Pibbulman Noongar person, new assistant curator at Koorie Heritage Trust, talented artist and all-around superstar. As one of our newest Fed Folk, we caught up with Pierra to find out about their job, what’s happening at KHT, their art and how she’s been managing trying to keep the balance right while working from home.
Hey Pierra, tell us a bit about yourself.
Hey there! My name is Pierra Van Sparkes, I’m a Pibbulman Noongar person and grateful guest living and working on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung boodja. I’m one of the new assistant curators at the Koorie Heritage Trust.
Tell us about your job as a curator at KHT. What might a day look like?
I work with a really mooditj team of people to develop and deliver KHT’s exhibition programming. I love the varied nature of the role: one day we’ll be liaising with artists featuring in an upcoming exhibition, the next I might be helping with install, or drafting some interpretive text to encourage audience connection with the works. I’m pretty new to the team so I’m enjoying learning new parts of the role as they emerge.
Tell us about your art and art practice (what inspires you, what motivates you, how you work)
It feels like a bit of a ‘full circle’ moment joining the team at KHT, because I really began to explore my practice more deeply after exhibiting my work for the first time in the 2016 Koorie Art Show – reiterating from personal experience what an important space the Trust is for emerging blak artists, and of course the wider communities we belong to (entries for the 2021 Koorie Art Show now open by the way you mob!).
I like to create with video, photography and projection mostly — it’s a way for me to try and make sense of bigger yarns I have with friends, family, myself about place, belonging, surviving the colony — even thriving in spite of it: an elusive endeavour I try to navigate with integrity, compassion and a bit of blak humour because it certainly wasn’t designed for us to thrive – quite the opposite really if you know your history and attentive to present injustices.
It would be remiss of me not to credit my mooditj Mumla as my greatest inspiration. Growing up with a single mum that had to work so hard to provide for us, she didn’t always have the time or means to explore creative pursuits that her talent would lend itself too. She was/is, however, consistently curating a beautiful space for us to call — and more importantly feel — home. Whether she was tending the garden, or arranging … and rearranging … the furniture, she instilled value in cultural and material bricolage that informs my practice to this day.
What are you currently working on?
In at the Trust, we recently opened Seen and Unseen: Expressions of Koorie Identity, which explores and extends on the work of trailblazing Koorie artists practising in the 1990s, the 1993 National Gallery of Victoria exhibition Can’t See for Lookin – Koorie Women Artists Educating, and their ongoing influence. We are also busy at work putting together Blak Jewellery: Finding Past · Linking Present, which showcases the brilliant work of each of the participating artists in the Koorie Heritage Trust’s inaugural Blak Design program. You really must check it out, I’m blown away by the beauty and range of the jewellers’ work.
As for my personal practice, I recently curated some programming for Counihan Gallery’s night screen: ALIWA, which is a Noongar word meaning ‘look out!’. Featuring video works by Savanna Kruger, Elijah Money and Jenna Rain Warwick, ALIWA is a reminder of what’s been. A warning of what’s to come — ALIWA! The haunted are haunting. You can see each of the works on Counihan Gallery’s social media until the end of August, or on the Sydney Road-facing screen itself if you live with in 5kms of the gallery. ALIWA! You can’t bury a ghost.
What’s been keeping your spirits up this time around under stay-at-home restrictions?
I’m fortunate to live right by Merri and Darebin creeks (writing this I’m reminded that I don’t know their proper names, so that’s something I’m going to educate myself on), so I spend as much time there with lush Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung biik/boodja as possible. I’ve carried on Mum’s tradition of rearranging and refining home, often several hours deep into a phone call she’s on the other end of, teasing out new stories when I thought I’d heard them all. Putting on some Sylvester and pretending that I can dance and am on Soul Train or something can also have a buoyant effect.
I’m resistant to get into a whole toxic positivity yarn though. It’s a really tough time, and I’m saying this from a place of great privilege to be housed, waged and in good physical health. Sometimes I can’t keep my spirits up. And that’s okay. I try and let it wash over me. Nothing is fixed. I can be soft and staunch all at once.
Do you have any favourite places at Fed Square?
Look, I may be biased but KHT is truly a favourite place at Fed Square. Even before I joined the team, I would always stop in if I was in the area to see what blak excellence was on show and never be disappointed. There’s a particularly special energy whenever Koorie Art Show opens, where friends and family all gather in this one place to celebrate mob’s artistry. I think the supportive and open entry nature of KAS does a really great job at demystifying the gallery space and making it feel more accessible to mob who may have felt – or been signalled explicitly or implicitly – that these spaces aren’t for us/them. It certainly had that effect on me, at least.
Having said all of this, I’m not sure if it’s technically a part of Fed Square, but you really can’t beat finding a sunny spot to sit along the banks of the Birrarung. Feel free to say hi if you see me there on my lunch break when(?!) we’re out of lockdown.
Creator of Future Food System at Fed Square
Joost Bakker is the creator of Future Food System: a zero-waste, self-sustaining, closed-loop house that produces all the energy and nutrients it uses. Situated at Fed Square’s River Terrace and occupied by award-winning chefs Jo Barrett and Matt Stone, the house has functioned as a living eco-experiment, gaining worldwide public interest and media attention, including from The New York Times, BBC and CNN.
We caught up with Joost to talk about why he thinks the project has been such a smash-hit success, what he’s looking forward to, now that Future Food System is staying on at Fed Square until 2022 – and solving the world’s problems one veggie patch at a time.
You have been characterised as an eco-entrepreneur and eco-warrior. The New York Times called you the poster boy of zero-waste living in 2015. How do you see yourself?
Joost:
Just someone having a go, pretty much. If I see a problem, then I try and work out a solution. Create a solution, I suppose, is probably an easier way to describe it.
Future Food System, your current project, was in the early stages of being built here at Fed Square nearly a year ago and operational since February. What you think the biggest lessons the project’s taught you that you didn’t expect?
Joost:
I didn’t expect the interest in the project, especially globally. So that was a shock. And I didn’t expect the systems to work as well as they have. I’ve grown food my whole life, first with my dad, watching my dad grow food, and then as soon as I moved out on my own – or Jenny and I moved out – I had my own veggie patch and I’ve grown my own food; and I’ve always dreamed about this idea where the building is completely designed from the ground up to be a food system. And although I’ve done lots of vertical gardens and different ways of growing food, installations and that sort of thing, I’ve never actually combined all those ideas into one building like at Fed Square.
It’s been a bit of a shock and surprise to see how productive the building has been. Our current food system is so destructive with this constant need for more land and land-clearing and logging, and the amount of water and chemicals that are used in our existing food system, transport, food loss – knowing that by simply changing the way we build, it can completely replace this food system that we have.
That means that we have an ability to rewild, replant, and turn a lot of land that we’ve cleared back into wilderness. And that’s really the main reason why I’m doing it.
You said that you didn’t expect it to be so successful. Is it the product of all the knowledge that you’ve accumulated or is it just the alchemy of all the elements?
Joost:
I think it’s the time. Lots of times in my career, I’ve done projects and have been frustrated that people didn’t embrace particular ideas, or they were almost ahead of their time. Whereas with this project, I feel that the timing was almost perfect: because of COVID and because of what’s going on in the world. Miele, one of our sponsors has told me that over seven million people have watched videos globally that they’ve made about the project. That’s seven million people in places like Germany and the United States and France, which is incredible that it’s reached that many people.
Because I think for a lot of people it just looks like it makes sense. They’re quite intrigued by the mushrooms and the rooftop gardens and the way that the water systems and the aquaponics systems work. And I think there’s so much to it as well. So for journalists that are doing stories about it, it’s like, “Oh, there’s too much to write about.” It’s always about, “We need to cut something out because there’s too much to write about, so for journalists, it’s been a bit of a feast as well – but it’s a real surprise.
I did another interview today with CNN and there’s been interviews with the BBC and New York Times and Netflix and lots of different organisations around the world. It’s been very surprising to see that level of interest.
Yeah, it is a positive project. Like you say, you’re a solutions-person in a time when we need solutions. The IPCC report just came out recently, with pretty dire findings about the human impact on our environment. What’s your take on that and can Future Food System’s lessons be something that regular people can really take on into their lives, to make meaningful change?
Joost:
I definitely am a solution-driven person, and I think that there’s a lot of people talking about everything that’s wrong. I think we need to be really careful, especially with younger people who get this sense of helplessness. When I talk to kids at schools, they do that a lot – there’s this real sense of helplessness and that the problem is too big to do anything about. Whereas I actually think human beings need to see something really bad in order to actually create the spark that then creates the change.
Obviously, this year is shocking with floods and bush fires in so many continents and the flooding in China and in Germany. It’s now almost a constant. There are so many things that go on. It’s not just in the Australian summer with bush fires anymore. It’s now events happening all the time.
Massive rainfalls, dumps of rain and irregular weather patterns. As much as I don’t believe carbon is as much of an issue as land clearing is – the more wilderness that we clear, the more problematic it becomes because these wilderness areas are like giant lungs and they’re really good at balancing out what we do. It’s just a shame that in 2019 we cleared more land than we ever have. I think it was over 400 million hectares of wilderness was cleared. And we’re just not talking about it.
I’m a big believer in saying, “Look, we need to stop that.” But yeah, you can’t argue with people that need land to grow food and they’re starving. But when you have an alternative system, which is what I’m trying to show people, well: we don’t need to be doing it. We can actually grow more than enough food where we live. We just need to change the way we live. It’s that simple.
And what has having Matt and Jo, the two award-winning chefs, what has it meant for the project to have them live in the house?
Joost:
Well, it’s made the concept appealing because the food that comes out and is shown is really appealing and it tastes amazing. I mean, everybody knows that when you grow your own broccoli and pick it and eat it – of course some studies show that 80% of the nutrients are lost within 48 hours of picking something – if you eat it: you can already taste that. You don’t need a scientist to tell you that. It’s got so much more flavour and is so much better for you. So that’s what the produce is about.
So people see the food that we prepare and the dishes that come out and don’t see it as a compromise, because I think most people think of an urban food system as a compromise. Urban food isn’t as exciting as a normal food. I think what we’ve done is turned that on its head and actually show the opposite. Urban food now looks like a really exciting proposition, and that was my goal from the outset.
Has it gone beyond what you expected?
No, I kind of knew that this would happen. Same thing with Greenhouse and past projects. You create a framework and it’s just a really creative process. And they’re not just ordinary chefs. They’re incredibly talented, and that’s what’s so appealing about working with them. What others would regard as a limitation, they see as a challenge and get excited about. But not using any butter, not using any dairy, not using any sugar – and wheat. We don’t use any wheat.
Well, most chefs would go, “What the hell? What am I supposed to use?” So those elements have forced Matt and Jo and Lou to really think outside the box. And it’s not just them. They’re surrounded by incredible people that inspire them and are constantly in contact with people that are in the fermentation game or people that are following the project from overseas who offer tips and say, “Oh look, we tried this.” So it’s not just about how we’ve gone about it, it’s a collaboration with so many friends from all over the world that are excited to see the project do well.
And you mentioned you’re staying on until April 2022. What are you looking forward to? What does it mean for you?
Joost:
Well, as great as the project looks, I had dreamed of growing a lot more variety and many different foods, which I didn’t get to. So this is like my second chance that I didn’t think I was going to get. So for me, I think the building will be off its head this summer. It’s going to be an incredibly exciting place for people to come and visit.
Lockdown-depending – we’re hoping to get a lot more people through, especially kids. We want to get as many kids through as we possibly can, and we’ve created a great digital twin – a Virtual Tour – that allows school kids to walk through the building and we’ll be constantly adding an uploading to that as well. We’re going to create lots of content around how to make different things, whether it’s an aquaponic system or sprouting grains or growing mushrooms, snails all these different things. I’m really excited about showing the potential of this building.
Tell me more about the Virtual Tour.
Joost:
So yeah, PHORIA are an augmented reality company based in Melbourne and they approached me and wanted to collaborate already before I started building, and they said, “We would love to create a digital copy of the building so that people anywhere in the world can see it and explore it.”
And the beauty about that is that every week it gets added to, so it’s not just a one-off tour that you go through. We’re constantly modifying and adding videos and adding content as well.
What would you suggest the best way that people can engage with future food system if they’re interested?
Joost:
Well, we are constantly updating our Instagram. Last week we did a story about how to make Koji fermentation. So that’s going to be a big part about what we’re doing over the next six months: creating lots of content. We’re also going to do a lot more YouTube videos about all the many systems. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment somewhere, you’ll be able to do some of the things that we have done. So, we’re trying to make it accessible, and an option for anyone, anywhere.
What do you hope that Future Food System’s legacy is?
Joost:
I hope that in 2030, I look at Future Food System and think, “Geez, how ridiculous was that building compared to what we’re doing now?” I hope that it sparks an urban food movement, where everybody uses their buildings for energy production and food production and harvesting of water and habitat creation. I really do believe that a city like Melbourne could be the most biodiverse environment on Earth; much more biodiverse than the Daintree rainforest. I think it has the ability to be that by simply using our buildings to create habitat, and I hope that Future Food System is a bit of a catalyst for that.
And what are your top tips for people to do now? People that might never have thought of themselves as being able to make a difference, what is something that people can do now to make a tangible difference to our environment?
Joost:
The first thing I would recommend to anyone to do is grow something. Grow a little bit of food, plant something. Even if it’s a few pots or just it could be some herbs, basil, or plant some coriander. Just get something going. And then as soon as you start planting something, you start looking at the weather, you start thinking: Is it going to rain? Do I need to water? So you suddenly think about the environment differently because you become aware that you’ve got to actually look after something. So once you start thinking about that and that becomes successful, then you can grow some more.
There are some great ways you can actually grow food on a balcony or anywhere. No one’s really got an excuse anymore. There’s actually a great Melbourne company called Biofilta that make wicking beds that could go almost anywhere. I would just recommend start growing something and that will lead to other things, I have no doubt.
And this last question is a bit of-the-moment, but with Melbourne and Sydney both in lockdown now, have you got any recommendations for how people can keep their spirits up? What are you watching or listening to or reading – or what’s keeping you up?
Joost:
Oh God, what am I reading? There’s so much to read. SuperLife at the moment by Darin Olien, an American author. There’s a great book called Soil by Matthew Evans, which I’ve read three times in the last six weeks.
I think the world is really focused on the negativity, and I know that there are a lot of people, a lot of my friends don’t have work, a lot of my friends are really struggling, but he fact that the world has stopped and the emissions have massively reduced and clean air in cities like Bangkok and all over the world – there are signs that it was a really good break for the environment, and I think that in that there are a lot of lessons for us. If we continue on, do we really want to live like we did pre-COVID?
I think it’s a really good opportunity. I really believe that in 2030, we’ll look back at 2020 and we’ll say, “Wow, that was when people started to really seriously look at things differently.”
And I get quite excited by what surrounds us. I think that we live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Melbourne’s got so many great parks. It doesn’t matter what part of Melbourne you live in. Most of us have good access to nature not that far from us, and then we’ve got some incredible forest near us, like the Dandenong Ranges or Macedon, so we are lucky in that way that we’re a city that has this incredible wilderness places. Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges was protected in 1958 as a National Park. It’s on our doorstep. It’s literally 40 kilometers from Melbourne. It’s incredible that this 300 million year old forest exists on our doorstep.
I just want people to embrace these places, go for walks when you can and get outdoors. And I know it’s not as easy at the moment – we understand how valuable those places are now because we can’t do it. Or we can’t as easily do it.
So, yeah, celebrate the places where you can get out outdoors and in nature, and even along the Yarra River, those beautiful morning walks: Birrarung Marr and those beautiful old gum trees near Fed Square. I mean, the location where Future Food System is, I’ve just fallen in love with. It’s such a special spot. It’s really, really amazing.
Have you seen since Salvatore the seal yet?
Joost:
No. But I have seen dolphins, but that was quite a few years ago. Fed Square is quite a special place to me. We had our wedding photos there when it was being built 20 years ago, and I just love the design and loved it when it was being built and managed to find the photographer that was actually taking the photographs for the architects during the building. So we were able to actually get in and get our photos taken. Jenny had to take her hard hat off and it was pretty funny.
Oh wow. This was during the build, when they were still building?
Joost:
Yeah, they said, “Oh, no, you’ve got to wear hard hats, and you’ve got to wear steel capped shoes.” And then the security guys just turned a blind eye when they saw my wife walk in her wedding dress and just let us get photos taken. But we’ve got some incredible photos. The glass wasn’t even in The Edge yet. It was just a steel skeleton. It looked amazing.
And then for me, doing the Greenhouse in 2008, that was incredible. Good memories.
Find out more about Future Food System by Joost.
We recently caught up with Sophie, a curator at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, to talk about her job, art, how she manages working from home and what it’s like working here at Fed Square. Oh, and about a very unusual dinner party starring one of Australia’s most famous paintings!
Hi Sophie! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m the Assistant Curator for Australian Art at the NGV. I’ve been at the NGV for about two and a half years now.
What does your job entail?
My job is very multi-faceted and gives me the opportunity to work on a range of really exciting projects. Generally, a curator is someone who works with the gallery’s exhibitions and Collection displays. A typical day could see me brainstorming an upcoming artwork changeover for NGV Australia’s permanent Collection, editing a future exhibition’s artwork list or writing an essay for a publication.
Why is Fed Square special to you?
Fed Square is a fantastic melting pot of creativity and culture. Before I worked at the NGV, I would often walk through the permanent Collection at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia – it was a moment of calm during an otherwise busy day in the city.
What’s your favourite artwork currently on display and why?
Iso Rae’s Young girl, Étaples is currently on show in She-oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism. For me, this is such a happy painting – its vibrant palette of pinks and greens, its larger-than-life scale and the open arms of the little girl depicted. It’s such a loving painting, that really just makes me smile.
What’s something most people might not know about the Gallery?
Arthur Streeton’s Spring is a well-known work in our Australian Collection and is on display in She-oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism. The previous owners of the painting displayed the work above their dining table in their Melbourne home. One night, after a dinner party, the owners used the cows in the painting as target practice and shot 14 revolver rounds right at the work. Though none of the gunshots hit the cows, the painting was riddled with bullet holes – one even hitting the young bather right in the back. The work was sold to the NGV at the turn of the 20th Century, and restoration work managed to patch up all 14 holes.
Any tips for working from home?
Get up early, get dressed and take yourself (or your dogs) for a walk before the workday begins. Getting out of the house first thing gives me a fresh mindset and prepares me for the day ahead. Oh, and make your bed!
Did you know there is a real human behind the huge Fed Square Big Screen? Well, that’s Ben. He’s the guy that programs what you see on all the various screens around the Square. Interesting job, right? Well, we recently caught up with Ben (our very own Wizard of Fed!) for a quick chat about his job, and his top lockdown tips.
Hey Ben, so how long have you worked at Fed Square? Almost 3 years.
And what do you love about your job? I love the fact that I get to provide a platform for local and community content creators to showcase their great work. And play Mario Kart on the Digital Façade.
Tell us your fave thing about working here at Fed Square. The passion in the workplace. Everyone who works at Fed Square is incredibly passionate about the community and providing a platform for their voices to be heard.
What’s your fave place in the Square? River Terrace. It reminds me of my British upbringing in Cambridge. It has a European sensibility.
Where’s your fave place to get coffee in the Square? Time Out.
Any Fed Square secrets you want to share? I am the reigning Mario Kart (a couple of classic wins on Mount Wario) and Fantasy Premier League Champion in the Fed Square office. But if you’re talking about trade secrets, a lot of people might not know that we use frictionless motion tracking here at Fed Square as part of our augmented reality gaming. We’ve worked with KASA Digital and wrnch.ai to use technology that tracks your body, using only a computer program. You might have seen this during Easter when we had the Dancing Santa and Easter Eggs game up on the Big Screen.
Any fave lockdown tips? Has your strategy changed from last time? Yes, it has changed from last year. If you’re working from home, I’d recommend you work on a different electronic device from your personal device. Being on screens after being on screens all day might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I am a very keen video gamer so having that distinct work versus downtime divide is vital. I’ve also been trying to make a concerted effort to walk outside, and: trying not to panic! We know from last year that lockdown doesn’t last forever, so my top piece of advice would be to have a coffee (or tea), keep calm and carry on.
On Monday 17 May, Australian Citizenship ceremonies recommenced after nearly a year’s hiatus due to COVID restrictions. We caught up with Anand and Anila, who both became citizens that day…
On Monday 17 May, Australian Citizenship ceremonies recommenced after nearly a year’s hiatus due to COVID restrictions. We caught up with Anand and Anila, who both became citizens that day.
Anand: I came on the tram from work. I work at Transdev, in public transport. Anila was off work today, so she caught the tram from where we live in Mernda. We both have been to Fed Square many times, but never inside the buildings like here in The Edge. It’s really beautiful here. Normally when we come to the city together, we like to go for a walk around Flinders Street and then come here to the Square. We like it here a lot.
It is an amazing feeling to now be an Australian citizen – I feel really proud! It was a big ceremony, with lots of people, but the event was very well organised.
During the ceremony, I was thinking that it would have been wonderful to have our children here – we have two children, and they both became citizens today too. It was not compulsory for them to attend, so they’re at school, but it would have been nice if they could have seen this.
And back in India, our parents are there; I would have loved for them to have seen this. Because the plan is to stay here in Australia for our remaining lifetime, so it’s a big decision, a big change. It would have been nice for them to see us make this transformation from one nationality to another.
Anila: I was off work today, so I caught the train in to Flinders Street. I work as a nurse, and at the moment I am stationed at the Royal Exhibition Building, delivering COVID vaccinations.
We love coming here to Fed Square – we came here for Christmas and saw all the beautiful Christmas decorations then, all the lights at night. It was really amazing. But now, being able to come inside the building here to see the inside of Fed Square, this is really special.
Now, after this ceremony, I am a dual British and Australian citizen. I could become a dual citizen with my British citizenship, but Anand today had to give up his Indian citizenship to become an Australian, so that was a big sacrifice. I had already given up my Indian citizenship to become a British citizen.
I feel very committed to upholding the responsibilities of being an Australian citizen. As a permanent resident, you don’t have the right to vote, so I want to take this responsibility and privilege seriously.
I felt proud today in the ceremony, listening to the Australian anthem. It was nice to be hearing that, and participating – singing along to our new anthem, as Australian citizens.
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