Posts Tagged ‘Belvoir St Theatre’

Posted on January 18, 2010 - by sophia

Up ’til now… a brief history of the Namatjira Project

Welcome to Namatjira online… where we will keep you up to date with all our goings on.  But before we start on the here and now, let’s rewind 2 years. How did this project start? What is it exactly? Who is involved? Where is it going?

Namatjira is an arts and community development project by acclaimed arts and social change organization Big hART. You can read this concise post about the project, and find out more about Big hART on our website. Below you will read about the project’s evolution…

The project had 18 months of concept development prior to kicking into gear on the ground in July 2009. Writer/director Scott Rankin had been developing the idea for some time – discussing it with Namatjira descendant Elton Wirri, and actor Trevor Jamieson – when Company B artistic director Neil Armfield took up the idea, and agreed to program the show for his final season at Belvoir St Theatre.

And away we went… 15 months to consult, exchange and run workshops in Alice Springs and Hermannsburg – in Western Aranda country, the country of Albert Namatjira – before the show’s premiere at the end of September 2010. Which sold out and performed to critical acclaim.

The Namatjira Project is focused on research and development, as well as grass roots activity, engaging project partners and key senior Namatjira family members. Over the last few months, we have begun to collect and explore a resource bank of information, photographic material, anecdotes, artifacts and inspirational conversations. The Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs has been of vital assistance here. Further trips to archives, museums, galleries, missions, communities and families have and will be undertaken.

So read through the posts on this blog to find out more about the various aspects of this new Big hART project.