NZ Fringe and Melbourne Fringe are teaming on a very exciting initiative.
The New Zealand Fringe Festival came to a close across the Tasman over the weekend, but why should that mean all the fun is over?
The NZ Fringe Festival has just announced they’ll be teaming up with the Melbourne Fringe Festival on the Melbourne Fringe Indigenous Exchange Award, which will bring one NZ artist over the ditch and send an Indigenous work from Melbs the other way.
The initiative is developed with the support of Deadly Fringe, a program which has championed First Nations artists and producers since 2017.
Deadly Fringe also announced they’re on the lookout for a First Nations visual artist or collective to create a new exhibition at this year’s festival.
There’s a $10k grant up-for-grabs, so if that sounds like you, you can chuck an application through here.
The exchange initiative is also made possible through Creative New Zealand’s Te Hā o ngā Toi fund, and is set to open up a bunch of international touring opportunities for Māori artists.
It’s not NZ Fringe’s first rodeo, as they’ve already had Tour Ready Awards set up with Adelaide Fringe, Sydney Fringe, and San Diego Fringe Festival for some time, but the more the merrier.
The recent 36th NZ Fringe Festival was held in the country’s alty capital Wellington, and ended up generating $395,000 in ticket income for all the artists involved (and that’s on top of the $91k given in grants during the awards).
Waikamania Seve has taken home the first ever Melbourne Fringe Indigenous Exchange Award, writing on her story “see you soon aus xx”.
The Melbourne Fringe Festival usually kicks off in late September, so if you want to catch Seve and a bunch of other awesome artists, hop onto Skyscanner ASAP.
