Sydney WorldPride have announced the names of six professionals who will be joining the team as Curatorial Associates, helping shape the 2023 festival program.
Joining Festival Creative Director; First Nations, Ben Graetz and Festival Creative Director; Daniel Clarke are six Curatorial Associates who bring expertise across a wide range of artforms.
Interdisciplinary artist Bhenji Ra, Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding, producer and DJ Jennifer Greer Holmes, queer & disabled artist Felicity Nicol, award-winning performance artist Harriet Gillies and playwright Michael Kennedy each bring diverse professional and lived experiences to the team, ensuring a multiplicity of voices are contributing to the development of the Sydney WorldPride Festival Program.
The experience of these nationally recognised artists and curators span youth arts, literature, music, visual arts, dance, digital arts, contemporary performance and house-ballroom culture.
The Associates were selected through a rigorous open EOI call-out during 2021.
“It was always our vision to ensure that we had diverse opinions, expertise and experiences contributing to the Sydney WorldPride Festival Program,” Festival Co-Creative Directors Ben Graetz and Daniel Clarke said:
“This team of Associates are exceptional and it is a privilege to have their minds on the Festival program with us. Their experience, connections, ideas, insights and passion will help us make sure that the Arts and Culture Program of the Sydney WorldPride Festival is relevant, inclusive and inspiring. We value their feedback on our programming ideas and look forward to rigorous discussions about the program as we develop it.”
Sydney WorldPride CEO Kate Wickett adds she is thrilled to welcome the Curatorial Associates to the team.
“Including their broad range of insights and life experiences will help us create a world-class Festival of LGBTQIA+ arts and culture that is inclusive, diverse and accessible, with something for everyone in our communities.”
The Sydney WorldPride Festival will run from Feb 17-March 5 2023. The arts and culture program will include performance, literature, digital art, visual arts, public art, food, fashion, film, parties, music, history and other arts and cultural experiences that reflect our diverse LGBTIQA+ communities with a strong focus on First Nations artists and the Asia Pacific.
The program will prioritise the development of events that provide a platform and opportunity for voices that have traditionally been under-represented whilst developing new audiences for LGBTQIA+ arts and cultural events.
The Curatorial Associates will assist with the development of the program through advice and feedback, project ideas, community connections and through the assessment of any open call out opportunities for inclusion in the Festival.
The team commenced work towards the end of 2021 when they contributed to the assessment of 63 applications that Sydney WorldPride received for investment into Creative Projects.
The Curatorial Associates join Ben and Daniel (Festival Co-Creative Directors), Liza Mare-Syron (First Nations Creative Consultant) the newly appointed Festival Producer; Lisa Freshwater, Alex Daoust (Executive Producer) Bonita Ayalon (Major Events Producer), and Laura Fazzolari (Festival Coordinator) to create and deliver the program of events for the Sydney WorldPride Festival in 2023.
Sydney WorldPride runs from 17 Feb – 5 Mar 2023. For more information including dates, visit www.sydneyworldpride.com/events
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