Freelancing and travelling 2017-2019
We visited Thailand, Laos, New Zealand and Japan. Caught the Transsiberian train through Russia, WWOOFed in Finland, France, and Portugal and travelled over 15,000 km by trains and busses through Europe. We hiked, explored and learned new skills in natural building and permaculture. Whole while we freelanced to support our travels.
Say No More a highlight of the Georgetown Festival 2018
Say No More was chosen as one of the highlights of the Georgetown Festival 2018 by The Edge Malaysia and Penang Monthly
Photo by Thum
Photo by Thum
Photo by Thum
Say No More Georgetown Festival
For the 2018 Georgetown Festival we premiered Say No More. Project that as I mentioned brought 26 women artists (with and without a disability) from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia together to share truths, debunk myths and expose the lies that we tell ourselves about being women.
Audiences experienced theatre, films, music and art installations which unraveled very intimate personal stories of struggle and survival within a highly unusual immersive setting.
Australian premiere for the Say No More is happening at the 2018 OzAsia Festival. https://www.ozasiafestival.com.au/events/say-no-more/
Say No More has received funding support from:
Catalyst
The Australia Council for the Arts
The Australian Government through the Department for Foreign Affairs And Trade
Vasudhara Foundation
Arts South Australia
Say No More workshops
This year I have been involved in an amazing collaborative project Say No More. The project brought 26 women artists from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia together to share truths, debunk myths and expose the lies that we tell ourselves about being women. This multicultural, multi-arts event was created by women artists with and without a disability.
Here are a few images from the workshops in Penang. Also a trailer for the project.
2017 Sabbatical Year
At the end of 2016, we decided to put some of our belongings in boxes, donate and sell the rest, and go trevel. We joined WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) organisation in Italy and spent time volunteering on farms and learning about sustainable agriculture and permaculture.
BACK IN PENANG!
This time working on a project for the Georgetown Festival! It's a collaborative project between Tutti from Adelaide and Stepping Stone from Penang. My role is co-curating / creating art installations and project managing. It's a big challenge and I'm loving it. Here is a little blurb from the BEASTLY booklet:
BEASTLY is the first fruit of a growing relationship between learning disabled artists and their supporters in Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the last year, this has grown into a collaboration, which seeks to democratise art further through including work driven by learning disabled artists in international festivals.
Beastly grew from conversations with artists about their real, mythological and imaginative relationships with the animal world. These are the relationships all cultures experience which give depth and nuance to our view of nature. Artists decided they wanted to transform an ordinary everyday built environment into a series of small, secret places where audiences can experience short beastly themed performances, which invite deeper reflection about how we as human beings relate to the animal world.
Beastly aims to be free and accessible to the widest possible audience – disabled and non-disabled, children through to festival connoisseurs - and for everyone to be invited to participate in the evolution of the work through photos, drawings and posting online.
I am staying at Stepping Stone art residency.
HONG KONG AND RANZCP CONFERENCE
I just came back from Hong Kong. I attended and presented my project at the International RANZCP Congress of Psychiatry. Nervous as hell but loved it! The audience loved it too, I got an overwhelmingly positive response. A very humbling experience and it just shows how much we all crave to connect.
RANZCP CONFERENCE
Next week I am presenting FACE IT project at the 2016 International RANZCP Congress of Psychiatry happening in Hong Kong. How it came about? Psychiatrist Branka Mijatovic saw my project and she found it fascinating how fast people identify their values and the correlation between the answers and cognitive-behavioral therapies such as ACT and DBT, so she invited me to present the project with her.
I intend to present my experience of talking to strangers about their personal life. How the project started, why this question and my findings. The fascinating fact that as the pace of our lives becomes faster and faster our need to connect and be heard is stronger than ever. Yet we seldom share our vulnerabilities and put our guards down. When I ask people 'What do you wish you knew when you were younger?' it often ends up in a conversation that lasts for hours.
I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity!
For more info on RANZCP and the Congress click here
LITTLE RUNDLE STREET PASTE UP INSTALLED
Great fun, great feedback from the community and lots of love for Jane and Trevor! The couple I got to know over the last few weeks and whose drawn portrait you can see here. You can find out a bit about them in the last post. It is such a privilege for me to meet people this way and get to know them. They loved seeing their portraits 5X3 meters on the wall!
Little Rundle St is full of amazing street art. Artists and the local community got together and transformed the back lane from a dark alleyway to a place you need to visit next time you're in Adelaide. Amazing to see what can be done when people come together. Click on the link to find out more about the Little Rundle St art project.
LITTLE RUNDLE ST PASTE UP IN PROGRESS
Jane and Trevor are a couple in their eighties. I was introduced to them by Claire Graham who started Little Rundle St art project. Jane is a musician and Trevor is a Historian and a Uni Lecturer.
The project was a part of Fringe Festival and I chose to do their portraits because older generations are often left out from the mainstream culture.
I drew the paste up in my small studio. Here it is in the common area - first time I'm seeing the rolls connected.
BACK TO MALAYSIA
Back to Penang to paint 2 murals in a private residence. They are 5 m in diameter. Big job and sore neck but enjoyed it nevertheless.
ART IN GARDEN MURAL
After 3 months at Hotel Penaga, I got an opportunity to spend a week and to paint a mural in this incredible garden. Art in Garden is set on a hill and surrounded by rainforest. Fuan Wong, a glass artist from Georgetown spent years working on his glass sculptures, commissioning other artists and landscaping. He created this incredible otherworldly place that is full of amazing colourful dragonflies, exotic plants and beautiful art.
Short video of the work in progress. Mural done on 140 x 280 cm cement board, painted with Murobond exterior paint.
HOTEL PENAGA EXHIBITION
Exhibition opening at Hotel Penaga at the end of my residency. http://hotelpenaga.com/residency/nina-rupena
BACKYARD MIXER EVENT
The event was organised by Backyard, a community organisation that supports creative industries in Penang. It was a night of great music, live drawing and interactive performances. I exhibited my Face It portraits and held Harts, Flaws and All workshop.
TRIP TO RIMBUN DAHAN
The owners of Hotel Penaga run Rimbun Dahan art residencies. I went to visit them and met the artists there. Inspiring place.
STEPPING STONE ORGANISATION
Stepping Stone is an amazing organisation in the small town of Balik Pulau. They are a part of the Asian Community Services organisation and they create job opportunities for people with disabilities. They do batik painting, weaving, soap making, pottery, cooking and baking. They reuse and recycle their materials and create beautiful products. I loved the place and I hope to do a project with them in the future... They thought me how to do batik painting and I held a workshop there. Can't wait to go back there and spend more time with them.
ULUMUDA JUNGLE
Ulumuda rain forest in the Malaysian State of Kedah is a protected area rich with wild life. I got to see a wild elephant and other amazing animals and birds. We stayed there for five days exploring forest, caves, saltlicks...
INDONESIA - YOGYAKARTA
I had one week in Yogyakarta and although it felt like I haven't even scratched the surface, it was enough to fall in love with the city. It is so rich with culture, traditional, contemporary and street art, passionate people, magnificent nature and breathtaking temples... I was there for a workshop and to help promote the work of the Tutti Organisation I worked with on the Their Shadows in Us project. They are starting a collaboration with a group of artists and children with disabilities from Yogyakarta.
Wells Blog
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