Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund helping to set the stage in 2020

Adelaide Fringe 2020 The Art of Being Human - photo by David BakerThe Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund has awarded more than $90,000 worth of grants to support artists, producers and venues to present work in next year’s festival. This year, the grants were separated into three categories – with a total of nine grants being awarded to two venues, two producers and five artists.

Adelaide Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall was thrilled with the calibre of applications this year from right across the country. “We were incredibly impressed by the quality of applications for these grants and we are pleased to be supporting such a talented group of artists, venues and producers to present work at next year’s Adelaide Fringe,” said Ms Croall.

“These grants help set the scene for the festival’s 60th anniversary year in which we look forward to providing an inspiring platform for creatives to express their artform at Adelaide Fringe 2020.”

Funding recipients this year include a South Australian regional workshop tour, a first-nations story staged on a moving bus, a Fringe hub in Murray Bridge, venue support to a multicultural art centre, a darkly comedic solo theatre piece, an unconventional music show, a concept that provides a platform for emerging artists who are experiencing homelessness or vulnerability, and a comedy-cabaret.

This year a new initiative between Adelaide Fringe, George Street Studios Artist and Director Tony Rosella will see three worthy applicants receive a residency at George Street Studios for 2020. The eight-month residency offers artists mentoring, access to specialised space, machinery and technical skills to culminate in a show for Adelaide Fringe 2020.

The latest Artist Fund grant recipients represent many facets of the Adelaide Fringe – including theatre, comedy, cabaret and interactive, production and venues. The grant recipients are as follows:

Artist Grants: 
Indelabilityarts Ltd (QLD): Wilbur the Optical Whale by Karen Lee Roberts (Premiere) is a fully immersive, interactive and accessible performance for children aged 3 – 8 years. Set in an exquisitely crafted underwater world, with themes of bullying and acceptance, this is an inclusive work designed to celebrate difference. Indelabilityarts is an artist led, disability Arts Company from Queensland. In this, our latest work, we are collaborating with Flipside Circus, Clint Bolster and Elise Greig to bring Wilbur to life. Incorporating stunning circus tricks, digital & visual imagery, tactile sensory play, integrated Auslan, music, and spoken word.

RAWcollective (VIC): Interactive Event No.33 – step inside and experience a journey of mystery and intrigue. You will be invited to dig around for historical treasures and discover the links between your guide and the people who once lived there. Witness the secrets that dance in the shadows, and immerse yourself in the curious worlds of the inhabitants. This is an innovative installation and performance experience, full of surprises.

Lana Schwarcz (VIC): Terminator (Premiere) – an extremely irreverent, darkly comic, solo theatre show that pierces the spin around the abortion debate. Weaving together personal stories, wild imaginings, games, quips, facts, animations and shadow puppetry, which ultimately culminate into one extremely large decision, this is the second in multi-award winning Lana Schwarcz’s Trilogy of Unsellable Shows.

The Ironing Maidens (QLD): The Soap Opera (Premiere) – an experimental electronic explosion of instruments unique to any show like it in Australia, evolving T.I.M.’s signature musical construction through activating inanimate objects to embody and operate music functionality. Incorporating electronic music, theatre, visuals, choreography and more, the new work draws inspiration from the life of the electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram; while the housewives of the 1950s were struggling with new-fangled washing machines and vacuum cleaners, Daphne was busy building and immersing herself in her own world of invention.

The Art of Being Human (SA): To support their Adelaide Fringe event The Art of Being Human which they first presented in 2019. The Art of Being Human is a platform to give artists and emerging artists who are experiencing homelessness, or vulnerability, an opportunity to display and perform their art in an environment where they are valued as artists.

George Street Residencies: 
Kate Bohunnis: screen prints and sculptural installations. A recent graduate from Flinders University, Bohunnis has been awarded the David Hayden Professional Development Award, Watson Award, and Arts Excellence in Printmaking Award.

Anna Gore: painting, sculpture and installation. She is a recent graduate of University of South Australia.

Sam Gold: ceramics and sculpture. Gold is a recent graduate of University of South Australia. She has been awarded the Australian Ceramic Award and the South Australian School of Art Prize.

Producer Grants: 
Victoria Lewis, Sanaa: Sanaa will replace its street festival with a South Australia regional tour during Adelaide Fringe to Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Pirie to run workshops and artist talks and aim to provide opportunity for regional students to interact with artists from cultures they would otherwise not have the opportunity to interact with. In Adelaide Sanaa will continue its mural, workshops, artist talks, fashion parade and poetry event.

Joanne Hartstone: Partnering with three production houses – as well as curating a full season at Noel Lothian Hall for 2020. Highlights include Talk Is Free Theatre – an immersive site-specific theatre company presenting a theatrical walking experience, The Curious Voyage, and a first-nations story staged on a moving bus Tales of an Urban Indian.

Venue Grants: 
Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre: The grant will be used to present South Australian artists from culturally diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists who have never presented in the Fringe previously and provide them with the support required to present shows and attract new audiences without the financial risk of venue hire and marketing.

The Hall, Murray Bridge: The grant will be used to ignite a hub for Fringe acts in Murray Bridge and surrounding rural centres. The Hall will expose Adelaide Fringe artists to a brand new rural audience who can experience the vibrancy of the Fringe without having to travel to Adelaide.


The 2020 Adelaide Fringe will run from 14 February to 15 March. For more information, visit: www.adelaidefringe.com.au for details.

Image: The Art of Being Human – photo by David Baker