Free Workshop: Festival Commissioning

Join Arts Northern Rivers for a conversation with Arts Festivals  leaders; Hannah Fox (RISING) & Rosie Dennis (BLEACH*, Big City Lights).

Designed for artists and arts workers eager to present their work in festivals, this session offers a rare and in-depth discussion of contemporary arts programming across metropolitan and regional festival contexts.

Art festivals stand as vibrant celebrations, bringing together diverse cultures and creative expressions of place. From visual art, installations, and performances to live music, participatory/community-engaged projects and food events, festivals are a unique space for cultural production. This conversation is a professional development opportunity to gain valuable insights and strengthen your creative pitch for working in festivals.

Guest Speakers:

Hannah Fox
Hannah is an artist, curator and festival director with a focus on sound art, large-scale public art, contemporary music and live art. Prior to her role as RISING Co-Artistic Director, Hannah worked as Artistic Associate at Melbourne Festival; and as the Associate Creative Director of Dark Mofo.

Her broad spectrum of work has included performance interventions for the Tate Modern, a Janes Addiction stage show, and choreographing cranes and forklifts for a large-scale car stunt show. She’s a founding member of the creative partnership Supple Fox, which currently collaborates with artist Byron J Scullin on work including the large-scale, outdoor sonic artwork Siren Song, which continues to be remounted in cities around the world.

Rosie Dennis
For more than 15-years’ Rosie Dennis has curated and delivered large-scale place-based experiences. She is a well-respected arts leader whose work has contributed to a national conversation about contemporary place-based practice and the role arts and culture plays in creating community and shaping liveable cities.

She is the current Executive Director of Bleach and Big City Lights Festivals on the Gold Coast. Prior to moving to the Gold Coast, Rosie was the Artistic Director of Urban Theatre Projects and the inaugural Live Art Curator at Campbelltown Arts Centre. As an independent artist Rosie’s work has been presented at over 25 festivals across Central Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Most recently Rosie was the co-Artistic Director of Performance Space’s LiveWorks Festival (2023) and the inaugural Creative Director for Hobart Current (2021).

Register for free here

Tue 13th Feb 2024, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm AEDT
M|Arts Precinct
Cnr Brisbane &, Wollumbin St, Murwillumbah NSW