With inclusion and access fundamental to Unbroken Land, these short films model ways of providing access to people with disability both as artists and as audiences.
Image: Image: Artists Tiffany Malthouse (left) and Elizabeth Trew (right).
As part of the Unbroken Land 2020 program, these two Connect2Culture films show the importance of water and fire in the desert. First Nations Disabled Artists Tiffany Malthouse and Lizzie Trew want the audience to experience how vital both fire and water are to them, their ancestors and their culture.
Portraying this through the mediums of dance, film and music enables their thoughts, ideas and visions to be understood and heard.
As part of the Unbroken Land 2020 program, the ‘stArts with D’ Performance Ensemble have created a series of short films, starting with flood, telling their stories about water. From the dramatic storms with thunder and lightning, water flowing from the sky and flooding the rivers, to that good feeling of the rain on your skin…Water everywhere!
Incite Arts’ collaboration with ‘stArts with D’ is a professional development, mentoring and performance creation program for Disabled artists, including First Nations artists, who are the members of the ensemble.
Unbroken Land offers them unique showcasing opportunities for their creative voices and ideas to be shared through the mediums of movement, imagery and film. Many of the movements are based on Auslan, which has been incorporated into the creative content of the films.
About the Artists
Tiffany Malthouse is a young Western Aranda woman, living in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) with family in Ntaria (Hermannsburg), whom she is passionate about. She says, “I really love performing. When I perform, I imagine no one is there and I pretend I’m famous.”
Tiffany has presented work in all three past Unbroken Land productions and is presenting works in the 2020 program in a series of short films.
Tiffany is also part of Incite Arts’ Connect2Culture and Move Masters projects. The Connect2Culture project was created in response to Tiffany and fellow artist, Elizabeth Trew, wishing to creatively explore their connections to cultural heritage, language, stories, song and dance.
When asked what her favourite things about performing are, Tiffany said:
“When you meet someone new in the audience or when you’re doing a performance, they are there for you…It’s nerve racking but when you look at someone and they’re looking at you, they will just be so happy to see you. That’s the most real thing I’ve learned from people.”
Elizabeth Trew is a young Pitjantjatjara, Arrernte woman, living in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) with family from lots of communities. Lizzie was inspired to join the stArts with D ensemble by watching her brother Isaac Trew perform. She says she saw Unbroken Land in 2015 and thought “I want to do that!” and returned to perform in both the 2016 and 2018 productions. She is further presenting works in the 2020 program in a series of short films.
Many of the people we support in Alice Springs participate in projects run by Incite Art. Both Lizzie and Tiffany are also in the Life Without Barriers NDIS SIL program and we could not be more proud of them.
Watch with closed caption and audio description availability here: https://www.incitearts.org.au/programs/unbrokenland/
Find more episodes here.
For media inquiries please contact communications@inciteya.org.au
