Regional // Regional: Festival Alliances across Australia and the Indo-Pacific

Regional // Regional Alliance Participants

The Regional // Regional Alliance is a group of up to 30 producers and directors from across Australia and the Indo-Pacific coming together to share insights, address barriers and promote opportunities for international engagement.

• Alex Wisser

  

  Alex Wisser is an artist and creative producer living and working in regional NSW in the town of Kandos.  His practice involves  large scale, long term projects within a cross disciplinary, community engaged practice exploring the potential of art to participate in everyday cultural contexts.

  He has participated in the establishment and development of Cementa Festival and the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation, both regionally based, socially embedded arts initiatives that work to adapt and engage contemporary art culture to real world contexts with social as well as cultural benefits.

  He has participated in delivering five successful Cementa festivals, giving over 200 artists the opportunity to explore the socially engaged form and works to constantly refine and rethink the capacity of art to function in cultural contexts other than the gallery or artworld.

• Ashleigh Campbell

  
  Ashleigh Campbell is a skilled strategic thinker, creative leader, curator/producer who hails from Jagara/Giabal Country, the Great Dividing Range township of Toowoomba. Experienced in the formation and delivery of regional arts festivals, she’s worked in curatorial and arts management roles for local government public galleries, art fairs, artist-run spaces and organisations.

  Ashleigh trained in studio practice, majoring in visual culture/sculpture/ printmaking and holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts and a Masters in Art Curatorship. She’s passionate about placemaking in regional contexts and ever-committed to forging fresh pathways, supporting and profiling Australian artists.

  She’s the Vice President of Public Galleries Queensland. Ashleigh took on the leadership of KickArts in late 2018, guiding the re-visioning of the organization to grow into NorthSite at Bulmba-ja in 2020; a multi-arts platform that continues to support 300+ artists across Far North Queensland each year.

• Aven Noah Jr

  

  Aven Noah Jr is an alumnus of the National Gallery of Australia’s Indigenous Arts Leadership program (2015) and has over 14 years’ experience as Gallery Officer at Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Thursday Island.

  Growing up on Thursday Island and hailing from the Eastern Island of Mer (Murray Island), he approaches his work with deep understanding, respect and observance of cultural protocols.

  Aven has worked on major exhibitions and touring shows including Evolution: Torres Strait Masks exhibition (2017-2020), Mer Contemporary Black Bamboo Project (NGV, CAG, GTCC), Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (2015-2018), as well as the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.

• Brian Ritchie

  

  Brian Ritchie first came to prominence as bassist/multi-instrumentalist for American folk-punk legends Violent Femmes. 40 years later he is still touring with the band.

  Brian moved to Tasmania in 2007 and in 2009 launched Mona Foma festival, which has won the coveted Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Music Festival four times. Mona Foma emphasises unique approaches to music, cross-genre collaborations, and unusual use of spaces. The festival expanded from its Hobart origins to include Launceston starting 2018. In 2011 Mona (Museum of Old and New Art) opened to the public and Brian expanded his duties as Music Curator onsite. This represents hundreds of performances a year in up to four venues a day.

  Brian’s contribution to regional arts in Australia includes acting as Music Mentor for Bush Bands Bash in Alice Springs, and as Musical Director of Spirit of Churaki within the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

• David Maseng Nalo

  

  David Maseng Nalo has led and created festivals in Vanuatu to support youth engagement in creative industries. He has travelled in the pacific to promote Vanuatu music taking bands on tours to Australia, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and to Europe, organising and creating opportunities for various bands and performers via the establishment of relationships with partners regionally, and working with musicians for live and recorded productions.

  In 2009 David and Dely met and have since then been working together on numerous projects in the arts and cultural sector, and community development in Vanuatu. David is now an Executive Director for LOKOL EYES supporting Dely’s vision for arts and community projects.

• Dely Roy Nalo

  

  Dely Roy Nalo has been supporting kastom as a means to encourage respect in youth-led initiatives, involving arts. From 2011 to 2015 she founded and led a grassroots movement in Vanuatu called TEKS, to revive and maintain biocultural knowledge and practices in rural communities through projects support and co-producing creative multimedia content.

  Activities she supported include: creative arts workshops for children, water music touring in Australia and Borneo, the creation of a DVD on water music, research on traditional music instruments, the Singaot Musik Kamp involving musicians from Europe and the Pacific, and support of festivals in outer Vanuatu islands such as Gaua, Santo and Ambrym. TEKS supported a range of traditional wisdom practices such as dances, music, songs, stories, carving, weaving, painting, drawing, and fabric art.

  In 2018 Dely created LOKOL EYES to continue pursuing her vision for endeavours that give back to communities.

• Diat Alferink

  

  Diat Alferink is a performing artist, festival director, comedian and creative producer from the Kala Lagaw Ya language group of the Western Torres Strait Islands. She’s a skilled project manager with extensive experience leading, developing and directing community arts organisations, large scale festivals and events, and community and youth arts projects.

  Born in Port Augusta and raised in Lyndhurst, Diat’s mum Daisy was from the Badu and Mabuiag Islands and her dad is well known SA sculptor Cornelis Alferink ‘TALC ALF’.

  Diat now lives with her partner and three young children on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, where she’s Chief Executive Officer of the Torres Strait Islander Media Association. She’s passionate about the positive contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and media can make to the lives of all Australians

• Doni Maulistya

  

  Doni Maulistya studied photography at a formal institution before focusing his study on documentary photography non-formally at Angkor Photography Workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia (2009) and Foundry Photo Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey (2010). His artistic journey as a photography-based artist has continued since then.

  His artworks have been presented in exhibitions such as Sumonar Festival, Yogyakarta (2019); Photo Bangkok, BACC, Bangkok (2018); Ceritera, Kuala Lumpur International Art Festival (2017); POLA, Jim Thompson Museum, Bangkok (2017), and ARTJOG, Yogyakarta (2013 & 2012). He is also active as a cultural professional for creative projects and festivals in the sector.

  He participates in other functions as Art Director, Festival Director, Curator, Producer, Exhibition Designer, Art Manager, and Cultural Archive Practitioner. Since 2021, he has been appointed by the Department of Culture as Director of Yogyakarta Cultural Festival (2021-2022); and serves as Deputy Chair on the Board of Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja Art Centre

• Emma Porteus

  

  Emma Porteus believes deeply in the power of art to positively transform both people and communities. She has over 15 year’s experience working as a performance maker and producer on dance, community and festival projects throughout Australia and Internationally, including with Vrystaat Festival (South Africa), ANTI Festival (Finland), Sydney Festival (NSW) Dancehouse, FOLA, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Next Wave (Vic), Tracks (NT), Dark Mofo, Mona Foma, Tasdance, Ten Days on the Island, Festival of Voices, Junction Arts Festival and Tasmania Performs (Tas).

  In her current role as Co-Creative Director of Assembly 197 and Executive Producer of Situate Art in Festivals, she is really interested in performance and art-making models that connect people and places. She creates and produces tourable live, visual art, and festival events that can be delivered in any community, in any country, to produce rich experiences that speaks directly to the place, the people, and communities who help create it.

  Headshot photo credit: Melanie Kate Creative.

• Hannah Clissold

  

  Hannah Clissold was the former Director of Horizon Festival, the Sunshine Coast’s leading contemporary multi-arts festival, which takes place on the lands of the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Peoples.

  She is passionate about developing artists and audiences within the region and beyond. Hannah has an extensive background in the arts and culture sector and has held previous roles in partnerships, funding and program management at the Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art, Woodford Folk Festival, The Planting Festival and The Dreaming Festival.

  Hannah is now  Strategy Manager for Cultural Tourism at Arts Queensland.

• Henriette Kassay-Schuster

  
  Henriette has worked in the arts and culture for over 20 years, in festival administration and event management roles as well as creative practitioner and scholar.

  She has worked for key cultural events and organisations in Australia and Germany such as Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Abbotsford Convent Foundation, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation), ARD/Bavaria Film Productions, Erlangen City Council Cultural Office, Erlanger Poetenfest and Erlangen International Comic Salon.

  Before joining the Castlemaine State Festival in 2017 in the role of Creative Producer Henriette completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne and focused on her creative practice and research. Her video installation works – developed, created, and produced in collaboration with Hermione Merry – have been presented in White Night Bendigo (2018), Nite Art Melbourne (2017), Anna Pappas Gallery Project 14 (2014), Brisbane Festival Under the Radar (2012), Linden Centre for Contemporary Art Innovators Program (2012) and shortlisted for the Substation Contemporary Art Prize 2016 and 2012, FACT (Liverpool) and Channels (Melbourne) Video Art Award 2015.

• Ilda Karwayu

  

  Ilda Karwayu is an Indonesian writer  who works in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her poetry book, Binatang Kesipian dalam Tubuhmu (Lonely Animals inside your body) was published in 2020 by GPU  and received a nomination from the Ministry of Education , Culture, Research and Technology  Literary Award in 2022.

  She is the Co-Director of Makassar International Writers Festival, and is actively involved in  art management particularly in literature - Akarpohon Lietrary Community, music and theatre, in Mataram, Lombok and West  Nusa Tenggara.

• Jeannie Park

  Jeannie Park is the Executive Director of the non-profit organization and cultural landmark Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja (PSBK) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia -advocating its role as an arts center. Throughout her tenure since 2007, she steers the organization to create notable achievements through unique arts engagement and professional development platforms, while developing strong organizational practices to support and sustain the vision of PSBK’s founder. Her endeavors include mission-driven program design strategies, instrumented major renovations, secured financial and operational stability, and continues to incite organizational development and partnership strategies.

  “At the core of any form of artistic exchange, is the cultural connectivity that nourishes our lives, professional objectives, and purpose.”

• Jih-Wen Yeh

  

  Jih-Wen Yeh is the founder and producer of Step Out Arts. The company is run as a sole trader with the business model of working alongside partners based on each project needs. Our overall aim is supporting artists and organisations to realise their performance projects.

  She is currently working on various international collaboration projects including:  senior production and  co-curator for The Place Theatre  for the project between Taiwan and UK  in 2023. She has been co-producing  Taiwan Season Edinburgh Festival since  2015 and curating Taiwan season symposium for the fourth year.  Taiwan season 2020 'Connecting with Taiwan'  was awarded the Infallibles Award in 2020. Jih-Wen  has been producing since 2012 and was one of the Escalator dance producer  funded by Arts Council England . In addition to this she is one of the British Council  and Edinburgh Fringe  producer trainees in 2015 and rewarded to attend  IETM in 2018.

• Jude Anderson

  

  Jude Anderson founded Punctum in 2004 working with over 400 artists to support their practise and new works. In 2018 Jude was awarded an Australia Council Fellowship for Experimental and Emerging Artform and in 2019  was the Green Room Awards recipieints of the Geoffrey Milne Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to experimental and contemporary performance.  Jude has been a Board Member of Regional Arts Victoria and contributes to many local, state and national advisory committees, organisations and grant panels.

• Jules Caburian

  

  Jules Caburian was born in the Philippines, emigrating to Australia in 1993. Completing her education in Sydney Jules has worked in Canberra for projects such as Indigenous Australians’ Government Development Program.

  A child of diaspora, Jules returned to her hometown of Baguio in the Cordillera region in 2019 to reconnect with her culture and Indigenous roots. It was there she co-founded 23 Sampaguita Artist Collective, a multi-disciplinary arts and advocacy service-scape with a focus on developing emerging artists with a passion for sharing Indigenous culture.

  Jules is the Executive Projects Officer of 23 Sampaguita, and has produced festivals such as Pagsibol (2021), Sining Eskinita (2021) and Salimisim (2023), and has partnered with Northern Luzon Pride (2022, 2023) and Baguio Gong Festival (2020 - present)

• Julien Poulson

  Julien Poulson is an Australian arts producer working a range of collaborative Asia Australia arts projects and festivals. In 2007, Julien received an Asialink Residency for Cambodia, and has since spent much time creating arts project in Cambodia where he is best known as the founder and guitarist of psychedelic rock band The Cambodian Space Project.

  Julien is also co-founder of the Fish Island Community Arts Centre a grassroots arts organisation offering international artist residencies and facilitating arts training, skills share and collaborations.

  This year, Julien is co-directing funk opera The Ratcatcher of Angkor Wat – an exciting new music theatre work that brings together Australian and Cambodian artists, and will be launched at its world premiere soon! At this year’s OzAsia Festival. Julien currently based in Yuendumu where he is engaged by PAW Media to produce Indigenous musicians Central Australia and will be performing with the PAW HOUSE BAND at First Sounds at Darwin Festival.

• M. Aan Mansyur

  

  M Aan Mansyur is a writer who also works as a community librarian at Katakerja, a social and creative space in Makassar, and is the director of the Makassar International Writers Festival.

  He is the author of several volumes of poetry and prose, including: Melihat Api Bekerja / Seeing the Fire Works (2015), Tidak Ada New York Hari Ini / There Is No New York Today (2016), Why Wounds Don’t Forgive Knives (2020), Waktu yang Tepat untuk Melupakan Waktu / The Right Time to Forget Time (2021), and Memasihkan yang Pernah / Doing the Done (2023).

• Makoto Kuzuya

  Makoto Kuzuya

  Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1972. Graduated from Aichi University of Education, Faculty of Education, Elementary Education Teacher Training Course. After graduation, taught for 6 years at a special support school for the mentally handicapped in Nagoya, Aichi, before becoming a painter. He has been involved in the Sanriku International Art Festival as a staff member since 2019 and assumed the position of head of the secretariat in 2021.

• Masoom Parmar

  

  Masoom Parmar, Global ISPA Fellow (2022 & 2024), and IFA Grantee (2021-22), is an artist, arts manager, curator, and educator. Trained in the Indian “classical” dance styles of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, his work explores ideas of identity and belonging through the oral, literary and cultural heritage of the subcontinent. Parmar strives to find the secular and contemporary in these "classical" forms. Parmar is the director of Alif Arts Consultancy, an arts management organisation representing some of the finest artists from classical dance, folk dance and music, and puppetry forms from India. He is also a visiting faculty at the Azim Premji University. In his curatorial work, he explores the diversity and variety of culture in the Indian subcontinent. This has led to two self-produced festivals: "Koi Suntā Hai - A festival of Bhakti, Nirgun & Sufi Poetry" and "The Platform”. Academically, he holds a bachelor's degree in physiotherapy.

• Melania Jack

  Melania Jack is a queer, non-binary artist and producer working within digital art, projection, electronic music and performance platforms. This broad experience fosters their enthusiasm for multi-art projects that are based in the community and social change sectors.

  Melania has worked for over 15 years on community-based music projects and organizations such as Q Music Womxn in Music Mentorship Program and Stylin’ Up Regional Festival both in project management and arts facilitation capacities.

  As programs and events producer for NorthSite Contemporary Arts, Melania facilitates a range of programs aimed at developing the local arts community and creating connections to other regional areas.

  As an artist Melania independently produces live performances and tours for the award-winning band, The Ironing Maidens, an immersive performance and installation project which turns irons and ironing boards into electronic instruments to explore themes of gender, labour, technology and climate.

  Melania has completed a Masters of Creative Industries at University of Newcastle, Diploma of Film Production and Contemporary Music.

• Norikazu Sato

  Executive Director, NPO Japan Contemporary Dance Network, Norikazu Sato was born in Hokkaido in 1960 and joined the butoh group Byakkosha in 1980. Until the group disbanded in 1994, he served as a butoh dancer and producer for domestic performances and overseas tours.

  In 1996, he received one-year training in art management at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York. In 1997, he participated in the Triangle Arts Program, which is a trilateral international project led by three partnering organization in the U.S., Indonesia, and Japan.

  In 2001, after a three year preparation period beginning in 1998, he established the NPO Japan Contemporary Dance Network in Kyoto to bring together individuals and organizations involved in dance including artists, event hosts, critics, companies, and foundations, from all over Japan, the Japan Contemporary Dance Network is involved in numerous activities throughout Japan to connect society and dance, including hosting Odori ni Ikuze!! (Let's Go Dancing), producing Dance File, operating dance performance/workshop reservation system Dance Reserve, and the coordination of workshops and performances.

  Starting in 2013, he has been carrying out exchanges with dancers from overseas and Japan to visit various parts of Tohoku (particularly areas affected by the earthquake) to learn folk arts. The Human Celebration--Sanriku International Arts Festival 2014 was held in Ofunato City Rikuzentakata City and Sumita, Iwate Prefecture, and Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture in 2014, for a festival that combined local folk arts; gamelan from Bali, Indonesia; Korean pungmul folk music; community dance; and contemporary dance. There are plans to continue this festival in the future.

• Ruth Langford

  

  With a diverse background in cultural arts/environmental/ social/ justice/ youth work and Indigenous Medicines Therapy, Ruth Langford divides her time into projects that reflect her passion for uniting ancient traditions and contemporary innovations for optimistic action and healing for all.

  As a Songwoman and Storyteller, Ruth draws upon the cultural knowledge of her Yorta Yorta lineage and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community where she was born and continues to live.

  Combining over twenty years traveling the world sitting with Indigenous Elders, Senior Knowledge Keepers and World Wisdom Teachers with conscious research, Ruth’s vision is to connect people to the ancient wisdom of Indigenous teachings in a contemporary and relevant context through the expression of cultural arts, ceremony and ritual.

  Establishing Nayri Niara Centre for the Arts of Healing and Nayri Niara good spirit Festival, Ruth is a capable facilitator and coordinator of programs, which have as their guiding principles, Connection to Country, Culture, the Self and the Sacred.

• Sarah Parsons

  
  Sarah Parsons is the Creative Producer/CEO of Outback Theatre for Young People, on Wamba Wamba Perrepa Perrepa country in South West NSW, a role that sees her design and deliver projects with regional and remote communities across a 30,000 square km area.

  Most of her arts practice to date has been dedicated to arts in counter-urban areas, and Sarah is fiercely passionate about theatre for young people, community driven work, advocating for regional based practice and sustainable arts engagement in remote and regional Australia.

  In April 2018, Sarah was appointed as a Director on the Board of Regional Arts NSW. Sarah also currently sits on the ASSITEJ Advisory Group for Theatre Network Australia and is a Peer Assessor on the Theatre and Musical Theatre Board for Create NSW.

  In the past, Sarah has been engaged as Lecturer of Theatre for Young People at Charles Sturt University, Director of the Bathurst Youth Theatre, Education Facilitator for Jigsaw Theatre Company (Canberra), and Workshop Manager for Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP).