Local artists revealed in a sneak peek of Horizon Festival 2022

Horizon Festival, one of the most anticipated events on the Sunshine Coast calendar, is back in 2022 and presenting in person for the first time since 2019.

The 10-day multi-arts festival will be held across the Sunshine Coast from August 26 to September 4.

Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson said the 10-day festival was a highlight of Council’s cultural, arts and events calendar and a key Council deliverable to achieve the vision of the Sunshine Coast Arts Plan 2018 – 2038.

“For 10 days and nights, the rich and diverse program will provide hundreds of unique arts experiences,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“Festival-goers can look forward to visual art, cultural connection, theatre, dance, words and ideas alongside a variety of performing arts right across the Sunshine Coast.

“Horizon Festival celebrates local artists, alongside global artists, to bring us creative experiences that showcase the stories and beauty of our region.”

While the full festival program is under wraps until June 16, Sunshine Coast Council’s Horizon Festival Director Hannah Clissold said she was excited to announce the ‘Homegrown’ artists a little earlier this year.

“’Homegrown’ is an initiative we present in partnership with the Regional Arts Development Fund and has grown since its first iteration in 2020,” Ms Clissold said.

“The program is a platform for local artists to extend and develop their practice, ultimately presenting the work in the festival.

“The quality of applications this year was stronger than ever before, which is so exciting as it speaks volumes to the talent here in the region.

“We are thrilled to formally announce the following three successful artists, with their work featured as part of the official festival program:

• Dr Hope O’Chin (Aunty Hope) will present ‘Guyu and My friend Mr Pelican’. Aunty Hope will read her beautiful story ‘Guyu and friend Mr Pelican’ to students followed by a participatory workshop, exploring Kabi-Kabi language.
• Courtney Scheu and Itamar Freed  will present the premier performance of ‘Sand’. Sand is a study of the relationship between body and landscape and the impacts each has on the other.
• Kerbside Collective present ‘Eddie Ray - Silence of the Jams’, an epic independent comic film accompanied by live band exploring a visual manifestation of the artist's journey when all is lost. 

“These three works are not to be missed, and we encourage people to save the festival dates in their calendars now – and keep an eye out for the full program launch next month.”

Homegrown is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Open Air program, Queensland Arts Showcase Program, and the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Sunshine Coast Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

To get all the latest Horizon Festival news, events and announcements, sign up to the newsletter at https://www.horizonfestival.com.au/

Meet this year’s Horizon Festival Homegrown Artists

AUNTY HOPE

Aunty hope is a Kabi-Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) Wakka-Wakka, Koa. Gugu-Yalanji educator and artist, who has worked in education from the early 1980’s and as a professional artist from 1993. In 2019 she was awarded a Doctor of Education, Indigenous Knowledge, World Indigenous Nations University and Doctor of Philosophy USC 2021. She has exhibited in over forty-five exhibitions and has been commissioned as an individual artist and involved in group commissions across local, national and international venues and forums. Born into the dormitory systems on the Aboriginal Settlement of Cherbourg, her dedication to education and art, and all of its forms, evolved out of the intensities of attitudes and values that prevailed in the historic treatment of Cherbourg residents, and other Indigenous Australians.  She has also contributed to the International Wildlife Exhibition 1999 Waterfront Place, Brisbane and has been a keynote speaker and artist Egypt, Arizona and New Mexico USC.

KERBSIDE COLLECTIVE

Kerbside Collective has been creating new theatre works and outdoor interactive instalments since their inception in 2017. Their travelling show ‘Life on the Line’ presented on their giant circus grade Hills Hoist clothesline toured nationally and performed at Woodford Folk Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival to name a few. With a strong commitment to upcycling, zero waste and creating fun this multi-disciplinary arts company has won awards for its stop motion film clip using old children’s books, and is always looking for new exciting ways of creating art. In 2019 Their show ‘Eddie Ray – Leader of the Resistance’, a one-man comedy musical, toured nationally and received a 5-star review at Adelaide Fringe Festival and was nominated for Best Cabaret at Tasmania’s Fringe at the Edge of the World Festival. Since the great silence of 2020 Kerbsides creatives Aimee and Mark Gray have been seeking new ways to reach audiences and create works that reflect being an artist in this ever-changing landscape. ‘Eddie Ray -Silence of the Jams’ is the product of working hard to keep art alive in a world where it’s illegal to dance.  

COURTNEY SCHEU & ITIMAR FREED

Itamar Freed and Courtney Scheu are a visual artist and dance artist who collaborate and create work that exists between waking and dreaming worlds, the real and unreal. In 2019, Scheu and Freed were artists in residence through AIRIE - Artist in Residence in Everglades within the UNESCO World Heritage Everglades National Park Florida USA. Their work was recently exhibited in UNTITLED Art Miami and Horizon Art Festival 2021– Final Call Exhibition.

Freed showcased at BEERS London Gallery 2020 (solo show), Museum of London, Christie's Auction House & Grosvenor House, Pulse Miami, Volta New York, Nordart 2021 and Haifa Museum for Art. Winner of the EPSON Award for Excellence in Photography 2012. His work resides in private & public collections worldwide such as JP Morgan Chase, Clore Duffield Foundation, Estee Lauder Collection, Lauren and Mitchell Presser Collection and American Embassies Collection. His ongoing body of work features habitats from across the globe, questioning the distinctions between the natural and artificial, real and manufactured.

Scheu is an independent dance artist and Certified Gaga Teacher, Gaga: Ohad Naharin’s Movement language, who has experience creating and presenting internationally. Scheu and Freed presented dance work Plastic Belly in 2020 - 2021 Supercell Dance Festival, Horizon Festival Homegrown, Tempo Dance Festival and Modes of Capture Symposium, Dublin Festival 2021. Scheu was a collaborator in a development of The Raft, co-directed by Joshua Thomson and Gavin Webber for Legs on the Wall 2018. In London, Scheu presented work in Emerge Festival 2017 by C-12 Dance Theatre and Resolution 2018 at The Place. Scheu is committed to contributing to conversations of dance, education and environmental advocacy in Queensland and nationally.