AFTER THE GATHERINGS

The Gatherings are now over and everyone is feeling replete and well nourished : ) congratulations to all the organisers and thank you to everyone who participated and contributed.
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• Photos from Magdalena Aotearoa's Gathering: some here and some here
• The Exquisite Corpse letter from the Perth Magdalenas, and the Brisbane responses: the breasts and the ovaries
• The Bus - an image of the facilitation process
• 'Documenting performance' workshop - day 2 + maps & references
• day 1 - opening circle + facilitation workshop
  

Works in progress presented in Brisbane:

• Day 1: 'Los Lunch Dates' , 'Miss Take's French Farce!', 'The Flowering'
• Day 2: 'The Woman who dreamt of an afterlife', 'A Gesture through the flames', 'The Bus' Anthea Lock, 'Polyanna meets Piaf'
• Day 3: 'Salome's seven veils', 'Popping lead balloons', 'Pink Twins'

some more images from wellington

Above, the forum on community arts and activism, Monday morning.


Left, Helen Moran performing The Bonekeeper, which she also presented at the 2007 Gathering. The show has evolved significantly since then, so it was a great opportunity for us to see its progress and talk about how the feedback Helen received and the new collaborations as a result of the Gathering have contributed to the show's development.





Right, Jade Valour performing a track from her musical/film Jade ov Arc at the final night concert. And below, Madeline McNamara surveys the objects of her research from which she is constructing her solo show, during her presentation.

Day 4 in Brisbane - responses to the cadavre exquis

...........Bree.................Therese.....................Scotia.....
Look in the comments for all written responses.

Day 4 in Brisbane - the bus, an image of a facilitation process

to enlarge and read the comments, please click on the image

The final day of the Gathering was an opportunity to reflect on the activities over the four days, reaffirm some of the Gathering’s aims, and look towards the future.

The morning began with a deconstruction of the facilitation process introduced at the start of the Gathering, in which participants were separated into two smaller groups to reflect on the way the process had worked. There was a sense of agreement that the facilitation process had created a feeling of safety, and allowed artists to safely show their work in a caring environment.

Scotia Monkivitch then invited participants to create a sketch of a Magdalena bus, capitalising on an image that had come up during the weekend to create a metaphor for what is needed to support work in development. People came forward to add parachutes, brakes, passengers, lights, some chickens and even a library, each addition representing elements necessary in supporting artists in the process of developing new work. There was a clear focus on being prepared with a spare tire, a repair kit, a first aid kit, and so on.

Day 3 in Brisbane - 'Pink Twins'

This session began with facilitator Therese Collie asking spectators to turn away, so as to hear a reading of The Pink Twins, a radio play in development by Sue Rider. The Pink Twins is a biographical look at the story of Brisbane’s ‘pink twins’, Dorothy and Moiya, who were well known personalities, and set up the SWARA institute. This radio play, along with a stage play, represent twin parts of Rider’s research into the story, reflecting her interest in twinness.

In the feedback session, facilitated by Therese Collie, the spectators commented on issues of identity, individuality and sacrifice for another person, the journey of people and relationships, and the interest in examining the twins lives and relationships.

Day 3 in Brisbane - 'Popping Lead Balloons'

Popping Lead

In Popping Lead Balloons, Liz Skitch and Bridget Boyle of DeBase Productions are developing a show to give high-school students a look at female bullying. This reading showed how Skitch and Boyle plan to use humour, pathos, and reflections on high-school bullying from a ‘queen-bitch’ character who has since grown up to become a stand-up comic, to show the way bullying behaviour impacts on both bully and bullied.

In the feedback session, facilitated by Saffron Benner, the group talked about the value of humour in reaching a high school audience, the value of this sort of work in raising students’ consciousness of what to do when bullying happens, as well as some of the interesting ways in which Popping Lead Balloons was tapping into new forms of bullying for a techno-savvy generation.

Day 3 in Brisbane - 'Salome's Seven Veils'

Gabriella and her team

The story of Salome’s Seven Veils, by Gabriella Erakovic, takes place in the 24 hours between dawn and dawn on Easter, making this showing quite resonant for a group of women Gathering over the Easter Weekend.

As Gabriella explained in her comments before the showing, the seven veils allude to the seven ideas of illusion, and the work in progress – including temple, birthing and other scenes – combined different styles of dance, music, film and imagery to explore these mysteries.

After the showing, Gabriella and her collaborators offered participants a taste of the process involved in developing the work, which combines theatrical and healing techniques.

At the feedback session, facilitated by Anna Yen, the group discussed the merging of theatre and film, the idea of self-discovery through meditation, and the importance of articulating the right message in these sorts of practices.