Recording East Timor's Thriving Art Scene
Role: Creative producer, campaign design & video production
Project Founder:
Chris Parkinson
I've been lucky enough to work in East Timor on a handful of jobs over the last few years, but the stand out has been working with the inspired crew from the free school Arte Moris. I returned there late in 2013 to record a greatly expanded project covering dance, music, performance and visual art with workshops leading to a large scale exhibition at the Arte Moris facility. The project (the brainchild of the brilliant Chris Parkinson) also continued the commitment to cross cultural exchange with Australia - this time we were joined by a Melbourne street artist, a break dance instructor, and a musician with a passion for sampling local sounds and beats. The project now takes the name Animatism (a cross between Animism and Animate) and there will be more to come including - we hope - a 30 minute documentary to be aired on network TV.
Animatism Teaser Video
Animatism is an exchange of creative ideas and artistc action between Melbourne and East Timor.
Endure Dance Battle
The Endure Dance crew make the most of some of Dili's decaying spaces
Meet Alfeo
A portrait of an East Timorese artist trained at Arte Moris art school
Project Videos
A combination of videos explaining different parts of the project.
Animatism Campaign Website: www.animatismart.com
Archival Videos
Videos created in the early stage when the project was titled Myths and Murals and based on the street art scene.
Credits / Thanks
Massive thanks to Chris Parkinson for introducing me to the project and his incredible work along with the Timorese on the ground such as Etson, Alfie, Iliwatu, and Lewis who helped me film it all on the ground.
See the first campaign page at: www.animatismart.com
Related projects from East Timor
East Timor has been a place of immense creative inspiration over the years, starting during my first trip with the Oaktree Foundation in 2010. I've worked on a variety of creative development projects with Dili's free art school Arte Moris, using small grants to facilitate exchanges and workshops between Dili and Melbourne. The project has introduced me to some unforgettable characters, and will likely be a part of my life for many decades to come with many new projects currently in the pipeline.
Midway through 2014, the Animatism project received funding to bring out three of East Timorese's finest artists to make a mural and projection installation for the Gertrude Projection festival. Tony, Alfe and Etson are all renowned painters in East Timor, although projected art installations are yet to appear back home. So to capitalise on their artistic skills we set up a studio at the Fitzroy community art centre and had them freely pain the reverse of the glass. The project won the 2014 Walker Abercrombie Judge's Award.
In August 2014, the Animatism project lead us into an involvement with East Timor's first ever public art festival named Arte Publiku. The festival was a combination of music, art, dance, performance and all things creative, encouraging nation building and creative exchange through a week of workshops and performance opportunities. I was lucky enough to hold a camera to the event, and collaborated on two projection pieces for the festival.