Darwin Festival is a catalyst for creativity in the Northern Territory. Shining a light on NT artists is an important part of the Festival and we involve NT artists in many ways. We present existing work, commission new projects, showcase artists and connect local artists to visiting artists.
Darwin Festival is a multi-artform festival and we want to hear from NT artists who work in any artform. That could be theatre, dance, experimental performance, circus, cabaret, comedy, visual arts, spoken word or installation.
If you are interested in getting involved in the Festival, please be in touch by emailing hello@darwinfestival.org.au. Read on for details on some of the ways you can get involved.
In 2022, nearly 250 NT artists were involved in Darwin Festival, with work featurng in theatres, galleries, outdoor stages and sites, and in Festival Park.
Please send an email with how you might like to get involved and links to your work and we will get back to you. Most of the Festival program is finalised by the end of March, so it would be great to hear from you by January if you want to be involved in that year’s Festival. For bigger projects, the longer the lead-time the better.
Darwin Festival invests in new projects and supports the development of new work by Northern Territory artists through the Spotlight Creative Development Fund. You can read more about some of the projects that were supported in 2022 below.
If you have a new idea that you would like to discuss with Darwin Festival, then we would love to hear from you by emailing hello@darwinfestival.org.au
We’re looking for projects that explore new ways of working, new collaborations, new sites, and engagement with new audiences and communities.
We will have a conversation with you to find out more about your idea. Support for new work can happen at any time of the year.
The Creative Development Fund has been made possible through the generous support of our donors and a $10,000 contribution by Power and Water.
Send us an email so we have your details and we can make sure you are included on emails to our arts community about upcoming opportunities. There are many opportunities to connect with visiting artists through talks and workshops as well as other industry events.
We employ many people in various jobs, both full-time and short-term, so email us if you are interested and we can let you know of any job opportunities as they arise. Or check in on our Join the Team page to see what jobs are available.
Read about our successful Creative Development Fund recipients below.
Artists from NT Dance Company, NAISDA Dance College, Miku Performing Arts and Darwin Symphony Orchestra, will come together to present A Soul's Journey - a reimagining of Gary Lang's 2014 work Mokuy. A Soul's Journey draws together an interpretation of ceremonial song cycles played in the elaborate funeral rites of the Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land with classical music and contemporary dance.
Image: Paz Tassone
NT Dance Company
A new experimental contemporary dance work ‘SUB’, created by NT based independent artist Ashleigh Musk in partnership with GUTS Dance and Tasdance. The project brings together an exceptional team of local and interstate artists to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) to develop the work. SUB will explore the effects of climate catastrophe and futuring, focusing on the exploration of the underground as the next frontier, and how we may adapt and grow to inhabit new worlds.
Image: Ivan Trigo Miras
Ashleigh Musk in partnership with GUTS Dance
Rosealee Pearson is a Yolngu woman from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, working across many art disciplines as a director, dancer, actor, choreographer, writer, cultural consultant, producer, and artist. Song Spirals will be a work in four parts sharing Yolngu women's knowledge of songlines through Milkarri (Keening, crying for the land). This work is inspired by and based on the 2020 book Song Spirals, written by Rosealee's mother and the Gany'wu Group of Women which won the Prime Ministers Literacy Award.
Rosealee Pearson
Two-time NT Song of the Year winning Songwriter/Producer Resin Moon, aka Dave Crowe, will create an album of new original music featuring 10 different NT vocalists on each track. The new material will culminate in a performance of the new work, with selected guest vocalists.
Dave Crowe and collaborators
Jocelyn Tribe’s artistic practice is a processing of half of her cultural identity that was never directly integrated through family while growing up. Understanding her Indonesian diaspora in contrast to her upbringing in so called “Australia” is a priority. Catur explores these themes through a rhythmic soundscape of Indonesian electronic urban textures played live with projected imagery of familiar Darwin scenes with Balinese dancing in a site specific location.
Image: Helen Orr
Jocelyn Tribe
SONICDRIFT is a unique music collaboration by innovative classical musician Claire Kilgariff and music industry professional Chryss Carr. The SONICDRIFT idea sparked between the two and swiftly manifested into an exciting creative concept. It fuses Claire’s music direction, Chryss’ ability to creatively direct and connect neo-classical, electronic and First Nations musicians and members of the renowned Arafura Music Collective. SONICDRIFT will be an extraordinary multi-dimensional journey and otherworldly, intercultural musical experience.
Claire Kilgariff and Chryss Carr
