We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Elders, Ancestors and leaders of the Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands ILBIJERRI Theatre Company is based.
We extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, recognising their resilience and ongoing connection to land, water and culture, despite ongoing colonial interruption and genocide.
Always was, always will be, sacred Indigenous land.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be advised that this website may contain images of deceased persons.
APAM - First Nations Lead
Creative Victoria’s successful bid to deliver APAM 2020–2024
ILBIJERRI continues its partnership with the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) as the First Nations Lead organisation into 2022
Background
The Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) showcases contemporary Australian performing arts: dance, theatre, emerging and experimental art. Established in 1994 by the Australia Council for the Arts, it has been held as a large-scale biennial event in Canberra (1994–1998), Adelaide (1998– 2012), and Brisbane (2014–2018).
Creative Victoria’s successful bid to deliver APAM 2020–2024 – developed in collaboration with a consortium of leading Victorian performing arts presenters – proposed a new approach to APAM that responded to the changing landscape of international market development. This new model includes the establishment of an APAM Office and provides for a sophisticated, ongoing, year-round operation: it encourages collaboration, exchange, capacity building, and relationship development within an international community of artists, producers, presenters and organisations. The APAM Office, the Australia Council for the Arts, and Creative Victoria are committed to embedding First Nations leadership and programming in the new APAM model.
APAM, ILBIJERRI and the FIRST NATIONS ADVISORY GROUP
The APAM Office and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company have formed a partnership to deliver the First Nations Lead role for APAM from May 2019. A central component of the First Nations Lead role is the APAM First Nations Advisory Group.
The First Nations Advisory Group will:
• Ensure a rigorous First Nations Framework is applied to APAM’s First Nations program and/or activities, ensuring a diversity of First Nations experiences and opinions are reflected in artistic and cultural decisions
• Collectively guide the programming, cultural, and creative decisions relating to APAM’s First Nations program and/or activities
• Support the First Nations Producers employed by ILBIJERRI Theatre Company but based in the APAM Office.
• Help engage the First Nations community in APAM, ensuring information is disseminated through the networks of the Culture Council members and allowing additional channels for community consultation and feedback
• Help establish links to First Nation communities and artists on country where APAM Gatherings are to take place
The Culture Council will take both a national and global view in guiding APAM’s First Nations program and/or activities.
APAM staff
In order to co-ordinate and deliver this significant partnership, ILBIJERRI have appointed two dedicated positions. We are delighted to welcome Kath Papas as Senior Producer working with Emily Wells, in the role of Producer. Both will work alongside the rest of the team in the APAM office to facilitate the APAM First Nations Lead program.
