Previous Fund Recipients

Delia Poon (Reservoir, VIC) Exquisite Bias ‘Exquisite Bias’ is an exhibition of collaborative, audio-visual portraits, exploring unconscious racial bias and cultural identity in contemporary Australia. ‘Exquisite Bias’ takes the form of a free, public photography shoot, and two-week exhibition, in a Darebin library. Taking place on the opening weekend of Autumn FUSE 2023, local residents are invited to register to have their portrait taken by professional photographer / collaborator, Pia Johnson. This participatory arts activation simultaneously captures recorded audio interviews, by sound artist Delia Poon, with each participant. The resulting collaborative portraits of diverse Darebin residents are exhibited within the same library for the remainder of the festival, however, like the collective drawing game ‘Exquisite Corpse,’ the audio doesn’t match the visual; images and biographies are mixed up, creating new combinations of lived experience and visual identity. The project playfully challenges audiences to question their assumptions of Australian identity, and what this looks like.

Nicole Robertson (Reservoir, VIC) Reservoir Little Art Gallery: When everyone is allowed to participate, what does an art gallery look like? Reservoir Little Art Gallery is a bookshelf-sized, public art gallery in Reservoir where locals can take an artwork home or show their work for free. The art gallery will be supplemented by 17 purchased artworks. One new artwork will be added daily and publicised alongside its maker on social media. The project aims to provide infrastructure for people living in Reservoir to access artwork and share their own.

Jens Altheimer (Preston, VIC) THINGAMABOBS : THINGAMABOBS is multi-disciplinary arts project, integrating Darebin people in a part of its creation. It culminates in a public exhibition of quirky inventions and contraptions. During an entertaining and guided theatrical tour, audiences get encouraged to interact with the contraptions, activate them and witness their secluded imaginary stories. 4 workshops prior to the exhibition are part of the project.

Colin Offord (Northcote, VIC) Time Distance Music: Music for the 21st Century - tradition and innovation across time and space. TIME DISTANCE MUSIC is a project four years in the making. Local musician and instrument inventor Colin Offord leads a group of internationally acclaimed musicians in two five-hour concerts of uplifting, cross-cultural, musical performance.

Marc Pascal (Reservoir, VIC) HOLD, PAUSE, LET GO! : The Northcote Town Hall Civic Square will be bathed in a spectacle of gently moving abstract laser light, which will be projected onto the grounds and walls of the Theatre. Rich colours will morph and swirl in ever changing shapes of light and colour activating the space at night and inviting the curiosity of onlookers.

Rosie Jones (Northcote, VIC) Hothouse: The Wild Conductors HOTHOUSE is a hands-on interactive greenhouse where the plants make music. Housed inside a geodesic dome, our playable jungle responds to touch with bursts of music and light. Featuring sounds from local Darebin musicians, this walk-through installation invites playful experimentation for all ages.

Lucie McMahon (Preston): Things Will Be Different Film Screening and Walking Tour
Things Will Be Different is a documentary that explores the everyday lives of people living at the now demolished Walker Street housing estate in Westgarth. The screening will happen at the All Saints Church adjacent to the demolished housing estate, and will involve a walking tour of the local area with the documentary’s subjects and audience.

The Parallel Effect (Preston): Message From Another You
What if you could communicate with another version of yourself in a parallel world? This interactive adventure, guided by a benevolent chatbot, explores the Many Worlds Theory and why we, as humans, are so fascinated by the notion of “doubles” and doppelgängers. Keep an eye on your inbox, you never know when another “you” might be in touch.

Ai Yamamoto (Preston): Ai Yamamoto and Dan West Sonic Collaboration
The creation of a new collaborative musical work between Darebin sonic adventurers Ai Yamamoto and Dan West, inspired by the sounds the artists collect and make in their immediate surroundings. The work will premiere as a live immersive audio/video performance at Neon Parlour, Thornbury.

Sarah Austin and Co (Northcote): An Uncertain Time
An Uncertain Time is an ambitious immersive, sensory performance work from artistic collective Sarah Austin and Co designed for babies aged 0-12 months and their carers. Featuring a dynamic combination of performance techniques including physical theatre, object puppetry, animation, aerial work and a musical score with live voice and instruments, this work explores the idea that the first year of life is experienced as a period of great uncertainty and newness for parents and babies.

Speak Percussion (Thornbury): Before Nightfall at Bundoora Homestead (Thornbury)
A series of new artistic encounters between Speak Percussion and invited guest artists. Each collaboration takes place across the course of one day, culminating in a free, intimate, live performance. Speak Percussion will partner with Bundoora Homestead to present a site-specific performance inspired by works in the Darebin Art Collection and in collaboration with a visual artist.

Dan Goronszy (Reservoir): Hearts in Isolation; A Map

A multiplatform, participatory mapping project, asking Darebin residents to create and submit an artistic map representing items in their home that hold their heart afloat while in isolation. This poetic project allows us to share our hearts space in isolation with others via an online gallery.

Diego Ramirez (Thornbury): Stray Dogs
An online reading featuring 5 writers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. These writers will produce a text reflecting on art in times of pandemia from an alternative perspective and deliver a virtual reading across media platforms. The texts will range from reviews, opinion pieces, autobiographical and fictocriticism.

Mark Pritchard (Northcote): Playwrights Bake Off
A two-day rapid playwriting challenge, challenging ten playwrights to each write an entire play overnight in response to a set of ingredients, and then share them with one another. The workshop focuses on creative inspiration skills development to build confidence and community between the cohort of writers.

Katie Eagles (Thornbury): Infinite Thanks
A collaborative LGBTQIA art project involving a growing collection of small ‘gratitude’ paintings, exhibited in a bespoke ‘chapel’ covered with Kaff-eine’s vibrant characters. It honours LGBTQIA saints and heroes and invites people to share stories of LGBTQIA gratitude by creating paintings or writing directly on the chapel characters, allowing insight into the private lives of the LGBTQIA community.

Northlands Campaign Community Aboriginal Reference Group (Preston): A Fight for Survival – Northland Gathering - Healing, Hope & Future
A creative project about Aboriginal people telling their own story and sharing this in a creative and cultural way, involving grassroots Aboriginal people’s intelligence, knowledge, strength and challenges. This collective story about Aboriginal identity, resilience and celebration supported by strong allies is an exhibition on Healing, Hope & Future.

Dominic Weintraub (Northcote): Anything You Can Do
A community-led performance work. Older members of our community will graciously teach a skill to a young member of our community. The student must perfect the skill, learn from their master's mistakes and challenge them in a dojo of theatrical proportion - a community council venue.