June announcements from APAM
Friday 7 June
APAM has now been established in Melbourne — working nationally and year-round! We’ll soon have a new APAM website and a permanent physical office; both are on track for mid-2019.
HOW?
The new APAM model has an expanded function. With support of the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria, APAM is responding to an increasingly connected, sophisticated and established Australian performing arts sector.
Australian and New Zealand artists and arts organisations are well-connected, savvy and resilient market-leaders working across a spectrum of international engagement strategies: touring, co-commissioning, collaboration and residencies. The role of APAM is to deepen relationships that foster opportunities for exchange, reciprocal connections, and hospitality.
APAM has three functions:
1) An APAM Office open year-round to facilitate visitors to Australia.
A physical and figurative office based in Melbourne with a staff of advocates ready to welcome, host and connect international artists, presenters and partners with contemporary Australian performance.
2) Hosting 1–2 annual APAM Gatherings at established festivals around Australia.
Gatherings replace the previous biennial market events; increasing the number of APAM events and the diversity of contexts to visit performing arts communities around the country.
3) Market intelligence for contemporary Australian performance.
APAM will serve as an Australian-based hub of market intelligence for the benefit of contemporary Australian performance and its advocates internationally.
WHO?
The APAM team under Director Catherine Jones is growing! Following a national recruitment, APAM is delighted to announce ILBIJERRI Theatre Company as First Nations Lead.
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company is an internationally significant First Nations-run and led performing arts company. In delivering the APAM First Nations Lead, ILBIJERRI brings extensive expertise and leadership to the APAM Office, including a strong focus on building the capacity, skills, and networks of First Nations arts leaders.
Central to the delivery will be the convening of the APAM Cultural Council. This Council will frame APAM’s First Nations’ programming, ensuring that cultural sensitivity and consideration are embedded in our processes. The APAM Cultural Council, comprising six performing arts sector First Nation artists from across the country, will guide the work of the First Nations producing team employed by ILBIJERRI and based in the APAM Office.
‘ILBIJERRI welcomes this opportunity to offer pivotal cultural leadership from within this key industry platform, supporting the growth and sophistication of Australia’s First Nations performing arts sector.’
— Rachael Maza, Artistic Director, ILBIJERRI
Working alongside the First Nations Lead in the APAM team is a dynamo squad of Program Producers: Naomi Velaphi and Josh Wright who will work on the design and delivery of the APAM Office, Gatherings and market intelligence functions.