Sector: Arts and Culture

Art form or genre: Music

Country location: Papua New Guinea

Grantee: Victorian Arts Centre Trust

Project Description

Arts Centre Melbourne is Australia's largest and busiest performing arts centre. In 2016 Arts Centre Melbourne will present Rebel Music, a high-energy concert incorporating music, street dance and visual projection, in Papua New Guinea.

Bringing together rising stars from Port Moresby's urban music scene, Australian and Pacific artists, the concert will explore musical identity in Port Moresby and feature urban and traditional vocal melodies, electronic music and drumming. This collaboration will be directed by PNG-Australian percussionist Aireleke (Airi) Ingram, utilising knowledge of Western and Pacific forms to unite urban and traditional artists. A series of reciprocal workshops in Port Moresby and Australia will also explore themes of resistance and independence, interweaving tradition into contemporary music of the Pacific.

REBEL MUSIC will receive its premiere in February 2017 at Arts Centre Melbourne during the inaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA), a season of contemporary Asian arts presented by a consortium of Melbourne's leading cultural institutions.

Social media accounts: https://www.facebook.com/artscentremelbourne; https://twitter.com/artscentremelb; https://www.youtube.com/user/theArtsCentreMelb https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/

Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program grant offer: $17,600 plus $1,760 GST

Total project value: $53,200