More exposure for artistic creators

VIDEOS by talented local artists have been unveiled as part of the City of Greater Bendigo’s Create Lab small grants program.

They were launched at the Emporium Creative Hub in Mitchell Street, followed by a premiere screening on the Hargreaves Mall large screen.

The films will continue to be screened in the mall for several months to promote creative digital works in the community.

In this grant round, contemporary musicians and music artists were encouraged to explore the themes of time, place, people and culture through digital storytelling.

The program aims to support artists in developing video content that can be used to form new collaborations, explore new ways of creating, and for promotional purposes.

Participating artists were selected through an expressions of interest process and received small grant subsidies of up to $4000 to create video works.

The works include a new collaboration between singer-songwriter Frankie Bell and digital artist Ivan Sun, an audio-visual artwork to help shine a light on the issue of gendered violence by Kylie Art and ReVerse Butcher, a music video to support the upcoming release of local indie rock band Broad Parade, and the Heisenberg Principle’s Greg Stehle collaborating on a music video for an original song written for his son.

City of Greater Bendigo creative industries officer Mandy Field said Create Lab was an important initiative to support local music and digital creators.

“It is very exciting seeing this next cohort of artists having an opportunity to develop video works that can support and promote them,” she said.

“This is a great way to be seen and heard more as practising contemporary musicians and creators.

“Creating music videos and digital assets is often beyond the scope of resources available to independent music artists, and these videos can be used to promote them for increased exposure of live performances.

“Video is versatile in this way.”

Create Lab is aligned with the council plan Mir wimbul 2021-2025 and its commitment to create a vibrant creative community, activate spaces, provide support for local talent and champion inclusion and access for creative people.