Gertrude Projection Festival: Animatism Piece
Role: Concept, Video Direction & Production
Project Founder:
Chris Parkinson
In the lead up to the Gertrude Projection Festival the Animatism collaboration received funding to bring out three of East Timorese's finest artists to make a combined mural and projection installation in Fitzroy. Tony Amaral, Alfe Pereira and Etson Caminha are all renowned artists in East Timor, although had yet to experiment in the medium of projection. We set up a studio at the Fitzroy community art centre where they were able to paint the reverse of glass – the idea was not just to allow audiences to see their process, but for that process to become a performance within itself. Luckily for us, the project won the 2014 Walker Abercrombie Judge's Award. Collaborating artists: Etson Caminha, Alfe Perreira and Tony Amaral, Chris Parkinson, Michael Fikaris and Michael Meneghetti.
Artist Interview
Tony Alfe and Etson discuss what is was like to work in the new medium of projection.
Credits / Thanks
Massive thanks to Chris Parkinson for introducing me to the project and his incredible work along side East Timorese artists Tony Amaral, Alfe Perreira, Etson Caminha, and the rest of the Aussie crew in Michael Fikaris, Amanda Haskard and Michael Meneghetti.
See the full camapaign site at:
Related Work
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.
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.
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 in late 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.