Fast five: podcasts to listen to as you give feedback on Creative Wollongong

We’re inviting community members to unleash their imagination and join us in crafting a new cultural plan.

The Creative Wollongong Strategy has served for the past five years and brought a range of different events, programs, and initiatives to the City of Wollongong. Festivals like Culture Mix, the Short Film Festival, community projects like Standing on the Ceiling, and public artworks like Chris Duczynki’s outdoor photography exhibition at Port Kembla.

It’s now time to review the Strategy and to develop a new one that will shape our City’s cultural identity in the coming years. If you already know what you want to say visit the Our Wollongong website to get involved in the Let’s Talk Creative Wollongong engagement.

We want as many ideas as possible, so if you want to first get the creative juices flowing, why not put in some earbuds and take a listen to these Wollongong City Council-funded podcasts from 2020? The Creative Dialogues podcast series feature local creatives who have loads of experience in their chosen field such as writing, digital media, art, dance and music.

1. New Media and Creative Technologies – Connecting the Arts, Technology and Society

This Creative Dialogue session is for traditional arts practitioners wanting to upskill, or science / engineering / education specialists who are keen to bridge the creative gap.

Hear from Jane Venegas a Virtual Reality content producer, Abhiruchi Chhikara, an engineer who studied Robotics and Mechatronics then changed course into interaction design and electronic arts, and Dr Jo Law and Dr Agnieszka Golda, from the University of Wollongong who collaborated on an exhibition called Spinning World.

Listen and find out more here. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Deezer.

2. Joy and Mess – Sparking Young Imaginations

Meet the creatives who are capturing young minds and hearts through the arts without dumbing it down. Across theatre, performance, visual art, and experiential play, our panellists share the joy, impact and messiness of working creatively with children.

Hear from Martha Johnson from the University of Wollongong Discovery Space Education and Experience, The Listies, a comedy double-act who are serious about being silly, and Jill Talbot, artist, educator and author.

Listen and find out more here. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Deezer.

3. The State of Dance – Local and Global Professional Practice

How can we nurture a professional dance industry locally through collaboration, inventiveness and creative advocacy. And how can we make those important connections nationally and beyond?

Hear from Shaun Parker, Artistic Director and Choreographer, Michelle Forte, Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer of Austinmer Dance Theatre, Emma Saunders, dancer, choreographer, director, educator and curator, and Amrita Hepi, artist working with dance and choreography.

Listen and find out more here. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Deezer.

4. Inclusive Arts – Access and Advocacy

This session focuses on advancing the rights of, and opportunities for, people with disability and/or who are deaf, to develop and sustain professional careers in the arts and have equitable access to arts and culture across NSW.

We also talk about how we can make the arts and cultural experiences accessible to all communities.

Hear from Sofya Gollan, director and writer, Ethan Arnold and Christian Tagliaferro, actors with the Strangeways Ensemble and Matthew Hall, CEO at AAA.

Listen and find out more here. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Deezer.

5. The Music Entepreneur

It’s one thing to dream of being a famous musician but what is the reality for professional musicians in Australia? As artists, we often want to focus more on the music, not the business. What does a career in music look like, and how do you diversify for sustainability without compromising too far away from your artistic goals?

Hear from Emily Collins, Managing Director, MusicNSW, Jessie Lloyd, musician, producer and creative entrepreneur and Bec Sandridge, musician.

Listen and find out more here. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or Deezer.