The Next Big Things

Any festival with enough clout (and an equivalent fistful of finance) can pull together the big names, but it takes a little more care, and a lot of faith, to curate a festival boasting the country's next best artists. That is, of course, not 'next' as in second-best, but the rising stars who will light the future paths of top tier art in Australia.

“I can see how it could be a challenge but I don't think my experience in the last year has been that, I think having faith in artists and having faith in audiences to engage in work that they might not discover otherwise is really important in that process. It's looking for artists who have really great ideas,” explains Eliza Sarlos, Artistic Director of Underbelly Arts, a festival that has been fostering the next crop of artists since 2007.

“That idea of the next great artists of Australia,” Sarlos continues, “it's really picking out those artists that we think are doing fantastic things, and will continue to do fantastic things, and telling audiences to come and see them now because the work that you make in the early stages of your career is sometimes the most wild, the most challenging, and so what we do try and do is give those artists the space to take risks when they're so up for it.

“One of the great things about how we program is that it's about the ideas, it's not about the artists – well, of course it is about the artists,” Sarlos stops herself, mock gasps, laughs, readdresses the phrasing, “but it's about what their ideas are and how they're planning to use the time to develop the idea.”

For many of the works, a good portion of that time plays out in public; the two-day ticketed festival is foreshadowed by a free eight-day mini-residency where artists converge at the site of the festival, Cockatoo Island, to develop their work in a collaborative environment. The process is called The Lab, and audiences are invited to witness works come to fruition.

The process is just as revealing for Sarlos; it once again boils down to faith. “The Lab isn't just where the audience gets to see what the artists are working on; it's also where the programmers get to see those ideas translate from on paper into reality – it's exciting.”

In a first, the 2013 festival will take the idea of fostering Australia's next generation of great artists one step further, or younger, with the inclusion of a Young Creatives program that includes Marcus Whale (of Collarbones) doing a talk on pop and art, two-time Archibald nominee Abdul Abdullah leading a session on portraiture for kids, and Teen Tours of the island.

“It's about recognising that the work that is happening is great and engaging and appealing for all ages, and giving those younger people in points in to engaging with that work; the workshops are great example of how younger people will start to become more literate with these ideas around artworks and artforms.”