Wednesday December 15, 2010

Merry Christmas from all the team at Brown's Mart

The team at Brown’s Mart wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. 

From the Board: Honourable Sally Thomas AM,     Mr Ken Conway AM, Ms Lesley Faehse, Mr Darren Cole, Ms Jackie Halsey and Ms Anna Reece. 

And from the management: Mrs Barbara Vos,
Mr Alex Ben-Mayor and Ms Julie Blyth

Our thanks go to:
All who have helped at Brown's Mart during the course of 2010 especially Daniel Cunningham, Ben Graetz, Bonnie Parker, Sean Pardy and Dave Garnham – and thinking of Dave: we are proud of our association and wish him well as he is now in the final 10 in The Telstra Road to Tamworth.

Our gratitude to all who are working with Brown’s Mart to ensure a great venue for the future including Arts NT, Heritage Branch and NRETAS.

And - to all musicians and supporters who have helped Happy Yess flourish since the move to Brown's Mart.

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2010 highlights

'The Allure of Paradise'.
Photo with permission of Tracks Dance

2010 saw more than 500 artists using The Brown's Mart Precinct attracting a total audience exceeding 15,000.

Bookings included:
Comedy shows, dance, film, multi-media and music, workshops, forums, youth events and the Darwin Festival.

A focus on writers encompassed the Closing Night of the Writers’ Festival and the 32˚ and NT Writers’ Centre Off the Page events.

There were Art Back and Darwin Theatre Company productions, Brown’s Mart’s presentation of Peeled, the outrageous high-kicks of the Tru Razzle Cabaret, three weeks of great theatre during the Darwin Festival and rehearsals for Sanity Productions The Wardrobe.

And, earlier this month saw the success of Jules Hearts Romeo produced by Arts Access and Darwin Community Arts, CemeNTworx with major support from 32˚.

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32˚Production House

‘The Planets’, Darwin Symphony Orchestra, Verb Studios and 32˚, camera Lulu Madill

New Work in the Top End
News from Alex Ben-Mayor

It’s been a big year for 32˚ and for myself as inaugural Producer. During the course of 2010, I have seen a group of experienced and highly resourceful individuals gather to form the Brown's Mart  Board under the guidance of The Honourable Sally Thomas AM.

The Precinct has also gone through some major changes as Music NT and APRA exited stage left and kindly relocated to make way for a much needed rehearsal space, while at the same time Happy Yess entered stage right bringing new artists and audiences to The Precinct.

Some of the highlights for 32˚ this year included:

• supporting local Indigenous artist Ben Graetz to secure a professional development mentorship with 32˚ funded by Arts NT and the Australia Council

• seeing some of the participants of our Company 1 program go on to appear on local television and in Darwin Theatre Company's production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• producing the further development of Ella Watson-Russel’s Acacia Hills

• watching local playwrights work come to life under the direction of Alex Galeazzi and a bunch of talented actors in our partnership with NT Writer’s Centre’s Off the Page events

• facilitating 20 Top End visual and performing artists to appear (virtually) at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra in May as part of Victorian new media artists Matthew Gingold’s Perfect Artist Project;  www.perfectartist.net

• hearing Director, Younes Bachir, from legendary Spanish company La Fura Dels Baus  speak about his work to an audience of artists at Brown’s Mart in preparation for a major project in 2011

• partnering with Verb Studios and Darwin Symphony Orchestra on the theatrical and cinematic version of Holst’s The Planets

• one-on-one consultations with thirty-six Top End artists

A big thank you to all artists that I have worked with and met with this year for bringing their creativity and passion across a range of performance projects.

It’s about heart, but in our game it’s also about finances to make creative projects fly. 32˚ support with grant writing was instrumental in helping artists and projects for 2010 and beyond to secure more than $180,000 in external funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NT, DEEWR and the Spanish Cultural Council, to name but a few financial supporters.

Onward and Upward; Much of this year was spent consolidating the structures; 2011 and beyond will see a blossoming of professional performance in the Top End. 

News Just In: as part of Off The Page, 32˚ brought Alice Springs based writer Luke Scholes to Darwin to have his play Margin Walker workshopped and read by professional actors here. Luke’s work has now been selected to be produced as part of the Short + Sweet Festival of short plays in Melbourne!

Congratulations also go to the other talented Top End writers whose works are being produced for Short + Sweet in Melbourne and Sydney: Lee Frank, Sandra Thibodeaux, Kate Wyvill and Sam Young. Best of luck with wowing the judges!

Have a Merry Christmas and I look forward to working with you, or sitting in a theatre with you in the New Year.  Alex.

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Looking forward-2011

The Calendar is filling up fast – whatever your interest check the website for full details of hiring options: www.brownsmart.com.au and contact the Venue Manager with your enquiry at  venue@brownsmart.com.au

New Year’s Resolution: Volunteers please e-mail now to help out at Brown’s Mart in 2011:  gm@brownsmart.com.au with your name, contacts and skills.

Those interested in signing onto our part time staff register, or if you know anybody suitable: email:  venue@brownsmart.com.au with name, contacts and skills.

There will be changes in the New Year, as Brown’s Mart continues to evolve, but the traditional welcome will remain for all those interested in, participating in and supporting the performing arts in the Top End.
 

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A Snippet of Interest

Our website www.brownsmart.com.au is used for the promotion of the performing arts both within and beyond this wonderful heritage Precinct – mark it now as one of your “Favourites” to keep up to date with what’s going on where.

But before websites, back in the early 1900s, Victor Voules Brown of “Brown’s Mart” fame registered his cable address as “VOULES Port Darwin”. It was used for his auction business that included an amazing diversity: a buckboard buggy, camels, canoes, false teeth from a recently deceased resident, fat bullocks, goats, a gramophone, mineral claims, mining equipment, ‘nic nacs of a dead sailor’ old swags, pianos, saddles, sago in square cakes with a reddish tinge, ships, Springvale Station, trepang boilers, windmills, wagons, watches and wine.

And we think eBay offers choice!!

Have a great festive season  
Barbara Vos and the Brown’s Mart team

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