Cultural Connections

Cultural Connections is a program providing opportunities to artists and community leaders from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, People of Colour and people who identify as culturally diverse.

Applications for the 2023/24 Cultural Connections EOI are now closed.
The 2024/ 25 Cultural Connections EOI will open in July 2024.

Cultural Connections program 2024

Stale Biskitz 20 Year Anniversary Jam
Jack Wardana
24 February 2024, 10.30am - 9pm
Ashfield Town Hall 

An action-packed day with dance workshops and ending with a one-on-one battle and special 20 Year Anniversary showcase of Stale Biskitz.

Stale Biskitz is one of the longest standing Street Dance crews in Australia founded in 2004 by Poppin Jack and Alby. The crew will celebrate this occasion with a showcase featuring a mix of projection, live dance and music.

@stalebiskitz
@poppinjizzack
@photography.jny

Bersama / Togetherness
Refugee Art Project & Taring Padi
16 - 24 March 2024
Chrissie Cotter Gallery

Bersama/ Togetherness (Bahasa) is a creative collaboration between two community art organisations, Refugee Art Project (Djarrawunang/Ashfield) and Taring Padi (Yogjakarta, Indonesia).
 
Refugee Art Project will host members of Taring Padi in Ashfield’s Thirning Villa residency to create Bersama - a graphic collaboration which explores the care, ethics and politics of art-making in a community setting with a strong focus on knowledge sharing, storytelling and cross-cultural understanding. “The aim of our collaboration is to create new threads, the tangible and intangible connections, ties of friendship, shared practices and emerging collaborations which play a vital role in sustaining our communities, reflecting the role of art in processes of community formation and support for individual agency”.

@refugeeartproject
@taring_padi

Storytelling Through Camera - Children & Teens Creative Workshop 
Settlement Services International (SSI)
16, 17, 22 & 24 April, 11am - 2pm
Community Refugee Welcome Centre

During the school holidays, 16, 17, 22 & 24 April, SSI will be holding a series of free storytelling and filmmaking workshops Storytelling Through Camera for  Children & Teens at the Community Refugee Welcome Centre, in Lilyfield for young people aged 10-17 yrs.

The first 2 sessions are dedicated to crafting stories with a First Nation storytelling facilitator- Brittany Jackson. The remaining sessions will be making a film based on the stories with filmmaker facilitator Ali Rezvani. Workshops are provided in a culturally safe environment.

Register online here (places limited).

Free lunch provided.

@ssi_news
@crwc_lilyfield
crwc facebook

Cultural Education, Then & Now
Hayden Walsh
April, May, June

Hayden Walsh will ask the Inner West Community to share their learning experiences of Aboriginal Culture and History – gauging an intergenerational overview of peoples learning experiences. He will record responses via film (for those comfortable) to create a digital record. 

Hayden Walsh is a proud Aboriginal man from Sydney  with over ten years’ experience across the education and not-for-profit sectors, along with many years in the arts and museum space. Throughout his career, Hayden has worked closely with First Nations Elders and knowledge holders across NSW, collaborating and producing cultural events, festivals and programs as well as developing multi-year strategic visions for organisations aiming to better support and empower First Nations communities. Hayden is also the Founder and Director of ‘Think Successful’, a social enterprise that delivers life changing personal development programs to young people.

 

 

Connected
Yacou Mbaye
May
Marrickville 

Contemporary dancer and musician will work alongside other artists in a multidisciplinary work combining storytelling, music and dance in a cross-cultural production. The community is invited to see this work in development.

@yacou_mbaye

Satrang (Rainbow)
Trikone Australia
22 - 23 June
Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Pidcock Street Camperdown

Trikone Australia presents a celebration of creativity in the South Asian queer community at Council’s Chrissie Cotter Gallery. Satrang includes an exhibition and public programming exploring intersectionality in the arts. The opening night will include Tabla Music, a drag performance, poetry reading and an artists talk. On display will be painting, ceramics and film. Early morning yoga drop will be held in the morning before the show opens as a fun way to experience culture and the connection to arts and wellbeing.

@trikone.australia

Aims and objectives of the EOI

The Cultural Connections EOI is for the communities mentioned above to access resources to encourage:

• diverse representation in the arts
• an increase in cross cultural understanding
• engagement of children and young people in arts programming with a cultural perspective
• recognition of cultural diversity as an asset and contributor to innovative arts practice
• the development of the story about our local area and who we are.

Application process 2023

Application dates

Applications for the Cultural Connections Expression of Interest open Monday 28 August, 9am and close 16 October, 3pm.

Information session - about the EOI with Dr Paula Abood

Tuesday 26 September, 12pm (midday) to 1.30pm
Boomalli Aboriginal Arts Cooperative, 55 - 59 Flood St, Leichhardt
Application support workshop - participants encouraged to bring their application and questions with Dr Paula Abood

Tuesday 10 October, 12pm (midday) to 1.30pm
Thirning Villa, Artists Residence, 40 Arthur Street, Ashfield
Information and support session provided by Dr Paula Abood from TAFE NSW supporting community leadership in the arts..

Eligibility criteria / who can apply

• If working with children a valid and current Working with Children Check (WWCC) must be attached to the application
• All applications must be submitted online through smartygrants
• Only one application per person/group is permitted
• All projects need to be documented and shared with Council for inclusion on Council’s website
• Applicants must reside in the Inner West area or be undertaking projects that are of benefit to the local Inner West community
• Applicants do not need to identify as an artist or creative, however the proposal must have a creative outcome
• Successful applicants will be required to enter a contract with Council and to supply Public Liability and other relevant insurances or licenses
• Australian residents or permanent residents aged over 18 years, or
• Legally registered, incorporated not-for-profit organisations or groups
  *Unincorporated groups or non-Australian residents must be auspiced by an incorporated not-for-profit organisation.

Assessment criteria / what your application needs to show

• The individual or team’s skills and experience to deliver the project (25%)
• How well the project meets the EOI aims (50%)
• How practical and achievable the project is within the proposed budget (this includes clear documentation of what you intend to spend the money on with quotes for any items over $500) (25%)

Timeline

Documentation of the projects

Successful applicants will be required to document their project as a resource for others to engage with.

The documentation must include:

• a showcase of the work/ project which meets Council’s standards (file size/ quality – this could be a sound file, recording, photography, illustration etc)
• a short description of the project and outcome to accompany the work as well as artists names, social media links and a promotional image 540px x 540px.
  This documentation will be shared on Council’s website and will need to be compatible with Council’s website (e.g. YouTube video, mp3, pdf, jpeg).

Guidelines

Cultural Connections Guidelines (PDF 475.2KB)

Got questions?

You can reach out to Council's Community Arts Project Officer, Monday - Thursday, 8.30am - 4pm, via phone 9335 2293 or email raffaela.cavadini@innerwest.nsw.gov.au

2023 application form portal

Apply here