2011 Creative Challenge Punmu Montage from AWESOME Arts on Vimeo.

Check out this video created by my fellow AWESOME Artist, Jarrad Seng, during our stay in Punmu, a remote community in the north west of Australia.  We were guests of the community for 2-weeks as part of the AWESOME Arts 2011 Creative Challenge ’15 Minutes of Fame’ Project.  We worked on using video & photography to capture stories about the famous places in and around Punmu.  As we will be leaving Australia in June 2012, this will be my last residency with AWESOME Arts.  Over the last 5 years, I’ve visited so many amazing places and worked with some very special bright young things!

Enjoy the video, it’s truly beautiful and really captures the lovely spirit of all the kids and teachers we had the pleasure of working with during our 2-week stay in Punmu!

’15 Minutes of Fame’ currently has a collaborative exhibition of all 14 residencies from the past year as part of the AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things.  The exhibition is being held at the 140 William Complex beside the Perth Underground Station.  If you live in Perth, please stop by to check out all the amazing work from the past year!  The festival runs until Sunday November 27th, so you’ve still got time left.

To check out other exhibitions and shows happening as part of the festival click here for a sneak peek of the works from the last few days of the festival.  Also here is a link to an article in the Pilbara Echo about the residency.

If you like what you hear, visit the Voltaire Twins website to stream Animalia as well as their new single Romulus live on the internet.  You can also check out their upcoming tour dates!  They are fantastic in concert so I suggest checking them out live!

Voltaire Twins music video, photo by Jarrad Seng at www.jarradseng.com

It’s been an exciting few weeks!  I was lucky enough to be asked to work as the Movement Director/Choreographer for my good friends The Voltaire Twins for the music video for their newest single, Animalia.  The video was directed by Ben Young and his concept for the direction was very inventive and left so much room for creative movement possibilities!

I met the dancers for our rehearsal the week before the shoot and couldn’t have been happier with the level of professionalism and skill, not to mention how lovely they all were to get along with!  We had a great rehearsal session and got everything accomplished that we needed for the shoot!

The shoot was amazing, when the dancers got into the fantastic costumes, designed by Emma Vickery they transformed into dark, aggressive but beautiful birds!  Despite the wet weather, we persevered and from the playback I saw on the night, there will be so much great footage to use for the final video.

I felt very privileged to be part of the process of making a music video of this caliber, this is going to be a huge project to come out of Western Australia.

The launch of the Animalia Single and Music Video will be held on 20th August at Amplifier Bar in Perth, WA. More details of this can be found on the facebook event page.

I can’t wait to share the final video with you all, watch this space!

To view more photos by Jarrad Seng taken during the music video shoot please check out his facebook page.

Click Here to Watch!

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

One of the perks of working for an AWESOME arts festival is the opportunity to experience a variety of interesting and engaging shows and installations!  This past Saturday night was definitely a perk as I got a chance to watch, Crocosmia a lively theatre production by Little Bulb Theatre, here from the UK.  I started by workday Saturday by doing a meet & greet with these performers and finished the evening by watching their performance and I was blown away!  Not only were they lovely people but they are a fantastic ensemble as well.  I full heartedly recommend you head to this show, you won’t be disappointed!

http://www.trybooking.com/HSF

3 festival days down and 6 to go…

What can I say, I’m an AWESOME girl and therefore I can’t wait to share the 2010 AWESOME Program with the world!  Check out this fantastic Festival Reel for a taste of what’s to come…you’ll recognize the music as the single, D.I.L, from my good friends, The Voltaire Twins!

The AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things boasts an awe-inspiring line up for 2010, showcasing amazing artists from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, Australia and of course, the best from the West.

The 2010 AWESOME Festival is on in the Perth CBD from 19 – 28 November and is a must see-do-experience event! Many events are free and are suitable for the young and the young at heart!  For more information on the full program visit www.awesomearts.com or call (08) 9485 0560.

Photo by Max Kordyl courtesy of AWESOME Arts

I just returned from Wickham, another two weeks in the Pilbara and I can’t believe how well I know the area now after spending a month there over the last 8 weeks!  On this Creative Challenge Residency I was working with textile artist, Bronwyn Constance.  We had a fantastic and fun school holidays doing all sorts of arts activities.  We wanted to keep the workshops from feeling like school and I think we were successful!  However unwittingly the kids ended up learning all sorts of interesting things including how to use leaves to create natural dye for fabrics, how to mix amazing new shades of colour and even how to work as a team to use bodies to create structure like shapes!

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

On our third day of workshops the kids took us on a walk around Wickham, which is located up in the Pilbara, about 45 min inland from Karratha.  We were introduced to the oval, school, pool and even the skate park!  We gathered interesting things along the way including leaves, sticks, flowers and seeds.  We used these materials to make all sorts of things including small structures, natural dye and even printing tools.  We loved that all the kids’ work was made from things from their “Home Ground” as this was the theme for the project.  On the last day we had a fantastic celebration with parents and community members celebrating the work of these amazing kids!

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

Check out more photos from the residency here and check out www.awesomearts.com for more details on the Creative Challenge project!

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

While exploring the concepts of “homes” and “dwellings” the kids came up with fantastic “dream home” ideas and not only created structures but also objects such as a generator, a pool table and even a desktop computer complete with usb plugs!  We also had fun doing a bit of body painting, with the Year 4s we used the paint to create a banner for our “house” and with the high school students we took the painting even further, exploring the culture of the kids.

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

On Celebration Day we welcomed the students from the Karratha Creative Challenge with a sausage sizzle and then shared the High School Exhibition and also got a chance to see some of their performance scenes.  The Karratha kids were also special guests at the Year 4s celebration installation and everyone had a great time sharing their works.  Overall it was a great residency and we were truly grateful for having such a supportive school to work with during our residency.

Till next time…

Photo courtesy of AWESOME Arts

Check out the article on the Roebourne and Karratha Residencies in the Pilbra Echo here.

Next adventure, heading to Wickham for a school holidays HOME GROUND Creative Challenge on September 27th, stay tuned!

Please leave comments as I look forward to sharing with you and receiving your feedback, can’t wait to read what you have to say!

All the best,

Amanda Barrett Hayes

p.s. to leave comments simply click on the specific post you wish to comment on to access that post’s comment box.