12.02.13
The Griffins are very happy to announce the appointment of three new creative talents to the Griffin fold – Jenevieve Chang, Sopa Enari and Nakkiah Lui have all joined us through a new Emerging Cultural Leaders program.
In 2012, Griffin received support from the Australia Council for the Arts to provide a cultural leadership program in 2013 for three emerging artists. At the same time, we were developing Story Lab, our new professional development program for 15 writers, directors and theatremakers.
Like the Lab, our cultural leaders program is aimed at supporting artists interested in creating work from a diversity of cultural and artistic perspectives, and nurturing the brave new voices of contemporary Australia. Unlike the Lab, however, we won’t be focused on developing their craft as artists, instead providing a more holistic approach to their roles as future cultural leaders.
So, over the coming year Jenevieve, Sopa and Nakkiah will be given a seat at the programming table, expand their networks with senior artists, participate in national and international mentorships, and have the time and space to articulate their ideas and views, with the ultimate goal of generating more conversations both within and outside Griffin about the state of our art-making.
There will also be an opportunity for the cultural Leaders to curate a new work program for Griffin in 2014. For a group of young artists who have been very much focused on generating their own work, it will be an interesting challenge to step outside their solo practice and engage with some of the broader issues we face as producers, presenters and audiences.
It’s always a joy to welcome new artists into the building and we feel particularly special about this wonderfully talented, intelligent and of course friendly bunch, who we began a fleeting romance with over 6 intense days last November, and now have the great fortune develop a more serious relationship. (Well, it is Valentine’s Day.)
