22 January 2014

Australian artists for IETM meeting announced

Fifty national artists, producers and presenters have been selected by the Australia Council for the Arts to participate in the inaugural IETM Satellite meeting to be held in Melbourne in May.
They will join arts leaders from Europe and Asia who will travel to Australia for the knowledge and cultural exchange event to increase international collaboration and engagement. The Australia Council for the Arts and the International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM) will present the three-day meeting in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne (Asian Performing Arts Program) and Next Wave from Monday 12 May to Wednesday 14 May 2014. It will be held at Arts Centre Melbourne. Australia Council Acting Executive Director Arts Development Collette Brennan said the IETM Satellite meeting would bring together the most prestigious and innovative performing arts producers and presenters from Europe, Asia and Australia. IETM is the largest and oldest European network for the performing arts with more than 500 members from 50 countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Australia, Ms Brennan said. In the past decade IETM has sought to broaden its membership outside Europe and a number of the biannual meetings have been held in Asia, including Singapore, China and Japan. A meeting in Australia has been discussed for a number of years, and this event will build on the existing partnerships and artistic opportunities already established in the region. Ms Brennan said about 100 Australian artists and arts companies applied to participate in the event and the 50 chosen had demonstrated extensive experience in collaboration projects in Europe and Asia. The successful applicants are drawn from regional and city centres and represent a broad range of artforms and events, including dance, theatre, visual art, puppetry and arts festivals, Ms Brennan said. They include Campbelltown Arts Centre (NSW), Australian Dance Theatre (SA), Chamber Made Opera (Vic), Terrapin Puppet Theatre (Tas), Brisbane Powerhouse (Qld), Boho (ACT) and Darwin Festival (NT). These arts organisations will have unique access to influential and dynamic European and Asian arts leaders to share expertise, build partnerships and create strong networks to facilitate the development of future projects. They will also have the opportunity to showcase the diverse talent and professionalism we are renowned for. The IETM Satellite meeting coincides with the Next Wave Festival and delegates will participate in its events held on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May. The festival will present a range of new work from innovative Australian and international performing and visual artists, including theatre, dance, media and installation art. Delegates will enjoy a curated weekend of activities that have been programmed for this years festival and meet some of the artists and producers involved, Ms Brennan said. The IETM Satellite meeting will start on the Monday and delegates can look forward to interesting presentations and speakers from some of the worlds leading performing arts companies, workshops with industry peers and making new contacts within the sector. The final program and participants from Europe and Asia will be announced in the coming months.

Media contact Karen Smith 02 9215 9030 | 0498 123 541 k.smith@australiacouncil.gov.au

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The Australia Council for the Arts is the Australian Governments arts funding and advisory body