SAND: A premiere production in collaboration with Redlands Performing Arts Centre, Taikoz and Belloo Creative.

This is the latest in a series of performance practice works (4 thus far) in the SAND project investigating cultural encounter between First Nations, Japanese, Australian and Aotearoa/ New Zealand artists with Professor Sandra Gattenhof. SAND is also part of a longstanding research project with Tessa Rixon exploring eco-scenography in Australasian performance. The production features Professor Wesley Enoch as dramaturg, Japanese drumming company, Taikoz and dancers Waangeega Blanco and Raw Ely and the cultural input of Minjeribah based, Quandamooka elder, Uncle Norman Enoch. The digital content in the work was filmed on Minjeribah and the digital content developed by New Zealand company, Good Company Arts. Dr Kathryn Kelly and Professor Sandra Gattenhof were co-scenographic consultants.<br/><br/>The SAND project is an intercultural, transdisciplinary, practice-led research project 1) create a bi-lingual, intercultural performance; 2) for experimental, transdisciplinary artistic exploration and 3) to provide innovative research around intercultural performance practice, transdisciplinary content creation & community engagement. SAND uses a case study methodology to investigate and test inter-cultural performance practice that respectfully navigates cultural and artistic encounter between four cultures (First Nationsl Australians; non-First Nations Australians; Japan and Pakeha NZ) and that explores cultural understandings of the body and landscape through the universal material of SAND. <br/><br/>The SAND project will investigate, experiment and refine intercultural protocols and creative practice in multiple, iterative creative developments. Performance outcomes include: NORPA (Lismore) in 2018, Flowstate, Southbank Parklands, 2018, Tokyo Performing Arts Market (TPAM), 'House in the Dunes', 2020), Tokyo Tokyo Festival, 'Akiruno.' Peer reviewed competitive funding has been secured from the Brisbane City Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2018 and 2021) and the Australia Council (not Creative Australia).<br/><br/>The SAND project seeks to develop a range of cultural outcomes (workshops, installations and public performance) that are culturally respectful and culturally resonant for each participating culture. The research outcomes will include an innovative, intercultural performance methodology that draws from transcultural values; an intercultural community engagement framework that has been investigated in multiple geographic and cultural sites and a co-authored journal articles: ‘Dark Mountain: Scenography for the end of the world and a more-than-human future’ by Kelly, Rixon, Neideck, Pike and Brumpton <i>Theatre and Performance Design 7</i>(3-4).<br/><br/>The SAND project comprises the award-winning, all-female, intercultural theatre company Belloo Creative (of which Kathryn Kelly is company dramaturg); Japanese theatre company, Idiot Savant; First Nations choreographer Kirk Page; New Zealand Arts Laureate and installation artist Daniel Belton; cultural evaluation specialist and co-dramaturg, Sandra Gattenhof, Tessa Rixon, NORPA Theatre Company (Lismore) and QUT. The project has received substantial funding including from the Australia Council for Belloo Creative to attend the Tokyo Performing Arts Market in 2017, 2018 and 2019) and to undertake a creative development in Tokyo with Idiot Savant (February, 2018). <br/>