Are you an artist, scientist, critical thinker or a combination or all? 2High would like you to help them make a festival.
Play music that bids hearts to beat. Manifest theatre that exposes the bones.Instigate arguments that makes the blood run hot. Erode the wall between art and science.
Applications are now open for the 2016 Backbone 2High Festival Of Art, Science & Ideas - Vital Signs. 2High will inject every floor of Brisbane’s home of independence, Metro Arts full of music, performance, art and arguments at the January festival. Backbone’s 2High Festival team has spent the past few months absorbing knowledge from industry leaders and dreaming up the next incarnation of this 23-year-old Brisbane tradition that has launched the careers of countless local artists and arts workers.
Applications are now officially open for artists and scientists to embark on a journey toward making a festival that will change the pace, set the agenda and out live any new year's resolutions in 2016. After months of pre-planning, visioning and honing their ideas, 2016’s 2High team have developed a festival programme with four key multi-artform programme areas: Music, Feminism, Science and Performance.
Roy Gordon, Co-Artistic Director, MusicExecutive Producer at Backbone Youth Arts, Katherine Quigley, says the festival team this year have investigated their importance as artists and scientists. “This generation have not had the best run when it comes to trusting the powers that be. They are not afraid to question everything, and stand up for what they believe in – and use whatever tools they have to do so,” says Katherine.
“The programming ideas for the 2016 festival are designed to strike a chord with artists, scientists and critical thinkers who might be feeling like they have something pretty damn important to say that isn’t getting heard amongst the mess and noise of a Facebook feed – and who want to take advantage of a platform like this – to articulate their ideas in a public, physical world forum.”
The Music programme of 2High is more than just a typical gig. Artists involved in this programme will have the opportunity to create a unique experience for audiences. The programme seeks to facilitate creative collaborations between artists of different mediums, and also allows artists to present a new performance/ work. 2High are looking for solo/ duo acoustic musicians, bands, composers/ music ensembles, fashion designers, visual artists and poets/ writers.
The Performance segment of the festival will strip back to the bare bones of performance. Dance, circus and theatre artists of all ages – this is for you. The programme is interested in highlighting heightened body-focused performance styles to focus on the skill of the performer and bring an emphasis on communication through the body. If you only had use of the bare essentials of theatre – what story would you tell? 2High are seeking independent performers and theatre companies, youth arts companies working with diverse performers and visual artists.
Rhianne Blackler, Marketing ManagerFeminism: an important and sometimes inflammatory 'f-word' in 2015. The F-word programme seeks to open up a dialogue about feminism through performance, discussion and art. 2High would love to hear from artists from: gender and sexual minority groups, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, living with disability or disadvantage and people who wish to discuss the intersection of these issues.
For the first time in 2High history the festival will also include a Science programme. 2High are looking for artists who are interested in exploring what science is, looking deeply into both the known and unknown. This programme will aim to erode the wall between science and art through a number of focuses: bringing scientists and artists together to collaborate on new ventures, iluminating areas where science and art routinely interact, igniting a sense of curiosity in the people of Brisbane and giving a platform to minority groups and voices in science who experience prejudice due to cultural background, religion, gender and/ or culture.
Artist applications for Backbone 2High Festival Of Art, Science & Ideas close 30 August.
