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Brisbane Writers Festival: UPLIT 2017

By ssummers | 21 September 2017

kuril dhagun was once again fortunate enough to partner with Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) 2017 on a number of events during the course of the festival week. Two notable events included the Night by the Fire talk with black&write! fellowship-winning author Claire Coleman and a private screening session of the critically acclaimed film Zach’s Ceremony with creator Alec Doomadgee.

BWF always proves to be a busy time around SLQ, and 2017 was no exception. One of the main attractions for this years festival was the construction of Angels Palace on Maiwar Green. This immersive artwork was inspired by the 10th anniversary of Alexis Wright's critically acclaimed novel Carpentaria, and the character of Angel Day. Helping bring the installation to life was artist Gordon Hookey, creating a place of live performance and story telling. To find out more on how Angel's Palace came to life, click through to the link here.

Angel's Palace with Gordon Hookey artwork. Image by Mick Richards 

Angel's Palace with Gordon Hookey artwork. Image by Mick Richards 

(L to R) Amanda Hayman, Claire Coleman, and Grace Lucas-Pennington in the Talking Circle at the BWF 2017 Night by the Fire. Photo by kuril dhagun.

(L to R) Amanda Hayman, Claire Coleman, and Grace Lucas-Pennington in the Talking Circle at the BWF 2017 Night by the Fire. Photo by kuril dhagun.

Audience members in the Talking Circle for Claire Coleman's Night by the Fire talk. Photo by kuril dhagun.

Audience members in the Talking Circle for Claire Coleman's Night by the Fire talk. Photo by kuril dhagun.

On Saturday 9th October, the latest installment to kuril dhagun's Night by the Fire talks, with black&write! fellowship-winning Noongar author Claire Coleman as our guest speaker. In a casual Q&A setting following the launch of her debut award-winning novel Terra Nullius, Claire treated the audience to some tales of her life growing up in Western Australia, her journey to becoming an author and writing her debut novel whilst travelling around Australia in her caravan.

On Sunday 10th October, we were extremely fortunate to be able to host a private screening of Alec Doomadgee's award-winning documentary Zach's Ceremony. Alec and Zach were both kind enough to offer up their time to yarn with men from the local community in what was a packed BWF schedule for him. It was the first time seeing the film for many of the mob who came along, which fostered some really good discussions. A big thank you goes out to all of the Uncles and men who attended and Alec and Zach for yarning with the group and creating a beautiful story. To buy your own copy of the documentary, to stream it or to watch the trailer, click on the link here for more information.

Alec Doomadgee interviewing for BWF 2017 in the Talking Circle. Photo by kuril dhagun.

Alec Doomadgee interviewing for BWF 2017 in the Talking Circle. Photo by kuril dhagun.

A huge thank you goes out to BWF and UPLIT for partnering with kuril dhagun once again this year to help bring some incredible discussions into our venues.

To see what else took place during the festival at kuril dhagun and SLQ, click here for the full program.

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