Jo Randerson is the founder and artistic director of Barbarian Productions, a Wellington-based theatre production company. The Barbarians are driven by their belief in radical fun, courageous expression, fluidity, generosity and participation. They make works that are fun, interactive and often chaotic... but good, fun chaos. Jo also played an essential role in revitalising Vogelmorn Bowling Club into a community space with a bar, a café, a ginger beer brewery, and a toy library. In this episode, we deep dive into the state of the arts (literally) in Aotearoa and what we think the arts infrastructure needs to build up post covid. We also talk about the skills needed to make magic happen as socially engaged artists, often engaging different stakeholders in government, civil society, the arts, private sectors and more. https://www.barbarian.co.nz This podcast season is supported by Singapore National Art Council. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

In this episode, Su-Lin Ngiam, Executive Director of ArtsWok Collaborative shares her journey of setting up a socially engaged art intermediary in Singapore. Some of the topics we covered include: Starting a socially engaged art intermediary in Singapore Crossing sectors, building projects: Working with the healthcare sector and the importance of supportive funding Opening up taboo topics through the arts Finding the right partners and convincing stakeholders Building in research into your process and program proposal What are some of the challenges and what kinds of structural changes could make it easier to do community-engaged work? Changing social frameworks and making career opportunities in the social arts sector accessible for youths Setting up funding that celebrates and honours collaboration Cross sector collaboration creates innovation; how to go about it Impact of cross sector projects Website: https://artswok.org Support ArtsWok: https://www.giving.sg/artswok_collaborative_limited End-of-life in the Malay-Muslim Community Research Report: https://artswok.org/library/end-of-life-malay-muslim-community/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Samantha Scott is the founder of Massive Theatre Company based in New Zealand. Their work comes from real stories, reflecting the rich diversity of Aotearoa. Through access to free workshops and ongoing mentoring/training, emerging artists are able to become a part of the company from age fourteen and stay with them throughout their professional career. Massive is a pathway, a whānau and a way to create excellent theatre. In this episode, we talked about the recent flood in Auckland, the Massive Company’s Kaupapa (way of being) and finding yours, questioning our way of life in an environmental crisis, How to find sustenance? Where are you most effective and sustained? https://www.massivecompany.co.nz --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Leila Hoballah is an entrepreneur, a community builder, a facilitator, an activist and a coach. She co-founded makesense.org in 2010 (left the organisation in 2018), thence led a collaborative action-research program, Boundless Roots, that looked at the conditions needed for radically transforming ways of living. In this episode, we talked about approaching climate action from a holistic systems view. Leila shared the signals picked up in their Boundless Roots report - key points of actions they identified that could create systems change: Youths Trauma Power Capacity building and burnout Arts and narrative Links to check out: makesense.org Boundless root report: https://boundless-roots.springly.org/page/1401491-our-report Get in touch with Leila @[email protected] --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Chantal Stormsong Chagnon is an indigenous Cree Métis singer, drummer, artist, storyteller, actor, educator, workshop facilitator, social justice advocate and activist with roots in Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan (situated in Canada). She creates opportunities for cooperation, education, and empowerment everywhere she can. This episode dives deep into what it means to respect and care for nature and animals through the lens of indigenous culture. It explores how the arts could inspire mindset shift and behaviour change towards a more symbiotic relationship with our natural ecosystem. Listen to the full episode and be blown away by Chantal's incredible voice! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Ra’z Salvarita is a cross-disciplinary creative artivist who was born on the island province of Negros in the Philippines. His creative endeavors reflect the convergence of the three pillars he primarily works with: Creative Healing Expressions, Sustainable Sacred Ecology, and Practical, Mindful Spirit Vitality. Ra’z moved to his mother’s hometown during the pandemic and started working with the women farm workers on the island. Climate change is felt by the locals yearly as typhoons hit the island frequently. In this episode, he shares about his climate project with his local community and the impact that his art project has had on the community and the municipality. Find out more about R’az’s work: https://razsalvarita.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Lynn Yau is the CEO of The Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Connection, which also stands for also stands for Arts For Transformative Educational Change. She shares her decades of experience working at the intersection of art and education. Key points: Changing the education system of Hong Kong through the arts Against the modernist paradigm: mass manufacturing model in education Understanding the context well to find income Innovative impact metrics beyond numbers Changing the narrative from “funder” to “strategic partner” who is involved in building the project Learn more about AFTEC: https://www.aftec.hk --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Chetnaa Mehrotra is an applied arts practitioner and the founder of Rangbhumi. The company’s vision is to spread joyousness, power of expression, compassion & a sense of equivalence among people through Applied Theatre Based facilitation. The organisation works in the area of Applied Theatre with children, youth and adults. Chetnaa also uses arts-based learning to explore areas such as leadership, communication and conflict management with corporate clients. In this episode we address: Applying arts in corporate settings Theatre of the oppressed and playback theatre to address intergenerational and cultural gaps Forum theatre in addressing challenges of motherhood returning to corporate work Playback theatre with corporate lawyers addressing diversity and inclusion Pioneering applied arts in India Working with vulnerability We end off this episode with an 8 minute womb meditation. Listen to the end to experience it with us! https://www.rangbhumi.org. https://www.facebook.com/Rangbhumi-A-happy-playground-228754897494110/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

Raïsa Mirza is an interdisciplinary socially engaged practitioner with international work experience all over the world - including Bangladesh, Canada, Ethiopia, Japan, Malawi and the Philippines. She works and lives in emerging economies driving social innovation work in challenging contexts within a diversity of sectors. Raïsa has worked on many SDG goals including conservation, agriculture, water and sanitation. She is an expert facilitator in the human centered design process to lead strategic planning, change management and innovation cycles across organizations, including within remote teams and with national governments. In this episode, we chat about How socially engaged art can play an important role in driving SDG goals through creativity, storytelling and community engagement. Finding opportunities beyond the arts to collaborate with and how to build projects The power of trust, relationships and social capital. Competencies needed for building cross sector projects. Imagination as a currency. Check out Raïsa’s website: https://www.wabisabijetty.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support

This was a project between Seppure and artist Ng Sze Min. Seppure is a chemical filtration company whose technology allows industrial filtration processes to happen at room temperature, essentially cutting the energy traditionally required for such processes by up to 90%. Currently industrial filtration processes take up 15% of the world's energy consumption.  Tune in to understand the challenges in such cross sector projects.  Find out more at: https://www.insepconnect.com/sustenarts --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onionstalk/support