QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival ready to roll
Right: Air Play.
Playing with air, creating self portraits and showcasing children’s connections to culture are just some of the events lined up for this year’s Out of the Box Festival, and Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said tickets were now on sale for this event.
“This year’s festival, which will run from 26 June to 1 July, is bound to amaze the community and will celebrate and encourage children’s arts experiences through imagination, movement and music, nurturing their creative minds and thinking” said Ms Enoch.
“It will highlight the diversity of cultures in today’s society, and encourage children to think about ‘where do we belong?’ and find answers through play, creativity, wonderful productions and activities.”
Ms Enoch said that generations of Queenslanders had created memories from QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival.
“For more than 25 years and 13 festivals, the Queensland Government has supported this much-loved event, which has engaged more than one million participants and 3721 artists,” she said.
“Over the years there have been 1534 in-theatre performances, including 103 new works, some of which have gone on to tour nationally and internationally, 2335 workshops, and 9461 activities.
“Through Out of the Box, QPAC has created a legacy of artistic excellence, collaborating with the local community and state, national and international arts organisations to develop new works.”
This year for the first time festival goers can access every Out of the Box in-theatre experience, activity, exhibition and workshop with an all-inclusive Festival Day Pass.
“This year’s festival features seven in-theatre experiences, four activities, two workshops and pop-up exhibitions,” Minister Enoch said.
“This includes theatre experience Air Play, which is a large-scale circus-style spectacle that brings to life the very air we breathe; the program Dance …Like No One is Watching which engages school students in giant outdoor dance parties during the festival; and workshops including Guru Dudu “Silent Disco Walking Tours” with headphones, and Here I Am Self Portraits. Jarjums Life Museums curated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will also be showcased throughout the festival site.”
Ms Enoch said Queensland was proud of this longstanding biennial festival that brought together children, their carers and educators to share in rich cultural activity.
QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said the Centre played a pivotal role in providing arts experiences that deliver value, enrich lives and increase arts literacy for all Queenslanders.
“QPAC is integral in putting arts in the spotlight. Our Out of the Box Festival has invested more than 25 years in engaging young Queenslanders in the arts, which has many positive benefits for children’s social, creative and cognitive development,” said Mr Kotzas.
“Each Out of the Box Festival is curated to reflect the environment and communities that our children live within today. Bringing your children to this event is a wonderful way to start conversations about topical and important issues. We are strong advocates for exposure to and participation in the arts and its role in helping children better understand themselves and the world around them,” said Mr Kotzas.
The five-day festival will run at QPAC, South Bank from 26 June to 1 July 2018; over three days of the school term (excluding Friday 29 June) and the first weekend of Queensland’s June/July school holidays.
QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
The 2018 Festival program reflects the multiplicity of cultures that touch children’s lives in Australia today. It focuses on arts languages that children are expert in such as imagination, music and movement, and highlights the themes of journeys, self-discovery and belonging.
In-theatre experiences include: The Arrival, a production recreated with New Zealand’s Red Leap Theatre Company and Out of the Box, adapted from the award-winning novel by Shaun Tan; Air Play, a large-scale circus-style spectacle that brings to life the very air we breathe; Duck, a new theatre work especially created and commissioned by Out of the Box, based on the book by Janet A. Holmes and illustrator Jonathan Bentley; Slapdash Galaxy, an epic quest across the Galaxy; King of the Kids, featuring guitar, kazoo and rock n’ roll rhymes; Madame Lark, taking vocal flight with her musical saw; and Our Corka Bubs, an Aboriginal contemporary dance work for babies under two years and their carers.
For the full 2018 Out of the Box program and Day Pass bookings please go to www.outoftheboxfestival.com.au
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