It’s a wintery restful weekend here and I am here thinking of Sappho, the Ancient Greek poet known for her lyric poetry written to be sung to music. I am writing a piece ‘seeking after’ her and remembering that it is fifteen years since we moved to Ballarat, and fifteen years since a motley crew of artists came together as Weave Length Productions for a time, and put on our first work- A Tale of Winged Things- inspired by the poetry fragments of Sappho and of the challenges of language. The promotional flyer (designed by Julian as many of the early projects were) had her words in typewriter print:
Dripping scream shook her mind until the light became a voice & spoke for the first time
The show involved cross-artform collaboration, music, poetry, books, photography, projection, archives, time, communication and playing with the traditional theatre space, things that continue to interest and inspire me. (My honours thesis was called Translating Spaces, my Masters one was Sensing Spaces, and my PhD was essentially Activating Spaces, get me those spaces!).
Soon after that collaborative production in 2009, in our mid-twenties, and following time spent living and studying overseas, Julian and I moved from a mouldy sharehouse in Brunswick, inner city Melbourne, to our own little asbestos clad home in Ballarat, regional Victoria. (This was with financial help from a parent of course, the only way any of us can get anywhere near property these days- and looking back it was somewhat against the tide, not that we were bothered). At that time everyone was saying why would you move to Ballarat?! Even we still had no concept of it, interchangeable with Bendigo and known only for gold panning visits in primary school. And it’s true that one of my early memories in B-town is ordering a peppermint tea at a café and causing a stir of consternation and confusion… my how far the Ballarat cafes have come ; )
Julian also reflects that we may have been more open to the idea having lived in a regional town outside of London (our first abode together!), taking the train into the big smoke to see shows and things, and riding bikes around the country for picnics when not working at the local pub (J) and studying books and theatre at the university (me).
On moving to Ballarat, I immersed myself in the local creative scene and followed my nose as I tend to do, producing works in old houses, train stations, streets, shop windows, and curating events and projects to bring people together around town and to bring places and stories to life in new ways. In more recent years I have also worked in the beautiful Otways and will share some more news about that soon! Perhaps in a Part 2 I will also reflect on how these years of practice have evolved into my work with the Australian Walking Artists and international creative network, an evolving wonder.
But for now- I share with you a creative project (or two) from each of the last 15 years. I would love to hear from you if you’d like to share your memories or thoughts on of any of them, any interesting threads you see, or any requests for what you’d like to see me do next! Huge thanks as ever to all those that make, enjoy and support art, the heart of life that helps us to feel, to connect, to explore and to flourish.
