Applications for the 2023 Wandima Fellowship are now open
19 MAY 2023
The Wandima Fellowship, supported by QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Brisbane Powerhouse, provides an outstanding First Nation’s Australian creative practitioner with a supported program of professional development, work experience and/or professional mentoring for up to one year.
Applications for the 2023 Wandima Fellowship are now open.
Inaugural Wandima Fellowship recipient, Wiradyuri woman Nicole Reilly’s application has seen her develop a work-in-progress showing of ngurambang-giyalang (Home Belonging) on Country in September, with a community consultation process already begun to find ways to share the work off-Country.
“My supervisors at QUT really encouraged me to apply as I was talking about my on-Country project with them, “ Nicole said.
“I’d recently wrapped up some nation rebuilding work with my mob out in Wagga Wagga, as part of our language reclamation practices, and I thought this opportunity was just perfect timing – even the name “Wandima” was in local mob language!
“The Fellowship has meant I have the capacity to create my performative work on and off Country, supported by both the practicality of having a creative fee involved and professional nurturing from the Brisbane Powerhouse team. The fees are all going directly to Wiradyuri creatives and knowledge-holders, who are involved in an important work, discussing really deep linguistic concepts of Home and Belonging in our language. The work is also about how it feels to bring your families Home with you. To reconnect. So many of us were moved on from Country, or taken from Country, or shamed out of our connection. I’m the first one in my family returning to language since it was taken, and it’s hard work bringing people along with you. There’s a lot of shame and resistance… I’m really hoping to be able to share it here after it’s lived on Country and see what it means to bring a piece of Country here to my chosen Home.
“First Nations artists are truth-tellers, they’re carrying their bloodlines, their ancestors – the oldest continuing culture. Stories and songlines are how we’ve made sense of the world since the Beginning. To have opportunities like this, to be supported by Brisbane Powerhouse and QUT, means the world to us as we rebuild what was broken.
“Brisbane Powerhouse is really walking the walk, elevating First Nations arts and artists by actively inviting us into conversations, into meetings, into opportunities to network and learn and share our craft.
See here for more information on the Wandima Fellowship.
Photo credit: Photography by Simon Woods. “Leading Ladies” (for Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre) featuring 2022 Wandima Fellow, Nicole Reilly.
