MEDIA RELEASE • 03 AUGUST 2022
Committed to providing creative and engaging activities for young First Nations people, Geelong Arts Centre’s Parrwang Community Arts program will present This Is Me; a free three-day animation workshop with Pillowfort Creative and Kiri Tawhai in the upcoming September school holidays.
From 27-29 September This Is Me invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people from across the region to engage in three amazing days of workshops focussed on storytelling, scriptwriting, character creation and performance under the guidance of Creative Directors from Geelong’s only animation studio, Pillowfort Creative.
Pillowfort Creative specialises in storytelling, artfully told and beautifully executed through the greatest of visual mediums – animation.
Running from 11:00am to 3:00pm each day at Geelong Arts Centre’s Studio 4, the three-day This Is Me workshop will explore animation, from storytelling and construction of characters to the process of stop motion animation, culminating in the completion of participants’ very own short animation.
Two age-based sessions are available: one for Young Animators (children aged 7-12) and one for Teen Animators (children aged 13-17).
Young Animators will explore the traits that make up their identity and which animals share those traits in order to create larger than life animals for use inanimation.
Choosing from a range of different stop motion animation mediums, Teen Animators will choose a moment in time, from laughing with friends to learning a new skatepark trick, that will share who they are through a short animation.
Stop motion animation is animation that is captured one frame at a time, with physical objects that are moved between frames so that when played back rapidly, the sequence of images creates the illusion of movement.
No previous animation experience is required, and lunch will be provided for participants each day.
Tickets are available exclusively to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people by emailing parrwang@geelongartscentre.org.au.
Capacity in Studio 4 is limited – get in quick!
These workshops are made possible by the Give Where You Live Foundation.
ABOUT GEELONG ARTS CENTRE’S PARRWANG COMMUNITY ARTS PROGRAM
Geelong Arts Centre’s Parrwang Community Arts program invites Geelong's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of all ages to engage in fun, interactive and meaningful multi-arts experiences that nurture creativity and encourage connection to culture, Country and community.
To learn more, visit geelongartscentre.org.au/parrwangcommunityarts
Geelong Arts Centre scrupulously adheres to COVID Safe principles. Information on what to expect on site, including helpful FAQs, can be found on our website.
QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE
“Geelong Arts Centre’s Parrwang Community Arts program is committed to providing young First Nations people with dynamic and engaging ways to make the arts, in all its forms, an accessible part of life.
Through these workshops, we’re so stoked for young mob to engage with the animation process, to tell their own stories, and to do it in such a cool and exciting environment.”
Kiri Tawhai
Geelong Arts Centre Parrwang Program Support Officer
ABOUT PILLOWFORT CREATIVE
Pillowfort Creative is Geelong’s only animation studio. A specialist animation studio led by joint Creative Directors, Leigh Ryan and Stuart Murray, who love all things animation and together have more than 30 years collective experience in the creative industries, offering 2D and 3D animation and illustration services for local, national, and international clients.
ABOUT KIRI TAWHAI
Kiri is a proud Noongar and Tuwharetoa woman who grew up on Jaburara Country amongst the red dirt and the spinifex and the beautiful islands of the Dampier Archipelago.
A mother of three, an Aunty, a sister, a daughter, a cousin and a niece, Kiri has had a lifelong love of art in all forms and graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2018. She is an Artist, Curator, Collaborator and Mentor who has exhibited collaborative artwork in Tokyo, curated multiple exhibitions and held a solo show locally in Geelong.
With 17 years of facilitating art and play workshops for people aged 0 to 100, Kiri has worked as a youth activities officer for the City of Greater Geelong and as a multimedia artist.
Kiri is a storyteller with a passion for learning, sharing Knowledge and respecting old ways of knowing and doing within a contemporary world.