In the September edition of What’s On, OTR highlights an array of critical creative projects that cultivate alternate spaces. (Image: Vitalstatistix)
By Anisha Pillarisetty | @nishkinsilk
Remember last month’s edition when we mentioned the haunting sound of the economy (read: low to middle-income earners) creaking under the weight of Australia’s ever-elusive national debt? Well, it has reached a fever pitch.
The controversial stage-three tax cuts for high-income earners are set to be rolled out in 2024 to the tune of $243 billion – a wildly generous amount for a nation whose leaders have continually pointed to budget deficits when asked about raising JobSeeker rates.
But, as also noted in last month’s edition, Adelaide creatives continue to chip away and OTR’s brief monthly guide of local projects is trying its hardest to keep up.
After two years of operating at a reduced capacity, Vitalstatistix’s Adhocracy returns to Port Adelaide with its trademark annual “intensive artist lab and festival-style public program”.
Visual art, film and performance
Sprawling across the Waterside Workers Hall and nearby warehouse spaces in Hart’s Mill, Adhocracy is packed to the rafters with choreography and dance, poetry and text, performance and live art, ritual, social practice, theatre and visual art.
Kicking off at 3pm on September 3 and 4, the program features 12 teams of creatives whose work will delve into a wide array of issues including climate and capitalism, queerness, cultural theft, and precarious work.
Speaking of pertinent issues, Just Not Australian continues its tour through the regions. The exhibition will hit Bordertown’s Walkway Gallery on September 16 after finishing up at Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery on September 4.
Both the opening and closing events will be earmarked in style, with a showing of artist duo Soda Jerk’s “political satire, eco horror and road movie” TERROR NULLIUS.
And although the deeply impacting and generous Our Words program finished up on September 3, Our Mob – showcasing art by South Australian Aboriginal artists – will be showing at The Galleries in the Festival Theatre until October 9.
Talks, conferences and workshops
Accessibility issues have been simultaneously exacerbated and brought to the surface by the pandemic. The National Union of Students (NUS)’s biannual Disability and Accessibility Conference aims to nurture collective organising and skill-sharing through workshops and panels. Open to all disabled students, including those living with mental illness, the conference will run via Google Meets on September 12 and 14. Registrations are free.
In a similar vein, Access2Arts and fine print are facilitating COMMON ACCESS, a discussion on “the practice of accessibility and its role in arts and culture today”, aimed at artists and arts workers in small-to-medium organisations. Running from 9.30am to 11.30am on September 17, registrations are also free for this event.
Keep those diaries open, because the very next weekend – from September 23 to 26 – cabaret producer Diana Divine will be bringing Embrace, a new multi-platform disability arts festival, to Adelaide venues.
For a sneak peek into next month’s edition: we are ever so proud of OTR chief sub-editor Sarah Herrmann, who will be part of a National Young Writers’ Festival showcase of regional writers selected as part of the Writers SA’s This Breath program.
Until then, stay tuned, safe and inspired, and look out for each other.
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