Hobart Ah Um

This research is situated in performing arts, non-traditional research output context. The festival showcased musicians, dancers and visual artists of various career stages and cultural backgrounds, both local and national. The aim of the research was to showcase high-level artistic practice (often of a challenging nature) to a local audience whilst encouraging collaboration between visual artists and musicians, creating dialogue between audiences and performers. This research builds upon existing knowledge surrounding multidiscipline activity, showcasing it in a uniquely Hobart context.

The research output is a curated exhibition in the form of a two-day multidiscipline festival featuring live performances, exhibitions, workshops and public talks. The output of this research differs from others in the field as it connects artists at varying stages of career development from multiple disciplines and communities, with a focus on audience development and engagement within a Hobart context. The research has enhanced and promoted new practice in the field through connecting local artists with acclaimed interstate practitioners of various disciplines. The interaction between these cohorts, and the presentation of these meetings to local audiences resulted in the creation of new works, new ensemble languages and operational methodologies.

The research output is of importance as it introduced local audiences to new art practices and practitioners, enabling the artists to develop their work and create new material unique to the local Hobart context. The collaboration encouraged by the festival between multiple disciplines uncovered similarities and differences between the various practices, giving rise to the exploitation of these differences for valuable arts output, unique to the context in which it was created.