BY MIRANDA ILCHEF, LEAD WRITER (NSW)
The newly formed Dreambox Collective opens its 2021 season with A Space of One’s Own; a musical exploration of home and belonging. The artists have partnered up with the Lillian Howell Project — a portion of ticket proceeds will go towards this refuge, providing medium-term housing for girls aged 13-17.
Though the event advocates for safety and housing in the lives of women, it also has a flow-on effect in the music industry: fostering opportunities for women in live performance. The all-female ensemble performs all-female compositions. We chat with artistic director Chloe Chung about the concert and its powerful social impact.
Chloe, tell us a little bit about Dreambox Collective and what inspired you to start it.
There is a huge power in music to connect. I have always loved how the process of being a musician deepens my journey of learning not just about music itself, but about all aspects of life.
My creative curiosities led me to be a part of various musical cultures and contexts, and I’m often shapeshifting between these worlds during the week, whether it’s playing or teaching classical flute, dizi (traditional Chinese flute), or improvising.
Starting Dreambox Collective was a way to bridge these worlds and create anew. The artists in the collective are predominantly in similar early career situations to myself.
Each of the projects we have completed, since our formation in 2020, partners with an NGO or charity organisation and explores a particular social justice dimension. Each one is a unique learning journey and has culminated in very different final forms!
The upcoming concert A Space Of One’s Own speaks to the extremely topical issue of women’s safety in Australia. Is it our responsibility as artists to use our creative skills to raise awareness and instigate change? To what extent do you see art as activism?
To me, activism can take many different forms, and we need them all. Aside from public types of activism like protest, speaking out online, or volunteering at a local organisation, there are also many private ways to be an activist, such as extending your support to your own friends that are facing adversity or challenges.
At its core, this is what activism is to me: having the self-care to acknowledge, love and trust your individual voice. So yes, I do believe my art can be activism, as I am interested in using my creative skills to raise awareness of issues that I care about.
The artist team for this concert – Alice Chance, Deepka Ratra, Katarina Grobler, Sandra Brand and myself – didn’t set out to directly address the specific issue of women’s safety. Rather, our intention was to broadly amplify the wonderful community-care work being done for women by the Lillian Howell Project, a specialist women’s refuge. In the process, women’s safety emerges as a theme, as well as other pieces of the puzzle, such as trauma-informed care and the social workers involved.
So how did you first hear about the Lillian Howell Project, and what made you decide to donate the concert’s earnings to its work?
One of our collective used to live at Lillian’s during their high school years, and it was a crucial part of their lives at that point. They recommended that I check out Lillian Howell Project’s work, and I was immediately taken by it as it is the only organisation of its kind in Sydney, supporting girls between the ages of 13-17. It was so close to home – both metaphorically and literally, being located in the Inner West.
For this particular concert, there is a special goal to help raise money for the girls to go on a weekend excursion. And as we are artists and musicians, we have plans for it to be a fun arts-related excursion!
How do you go about sensitively taking influence from such a heavy issue? And how do you explore this topic musically?
Humans have been making music and art about heartache, loss, grief, trauma, and love, in myriad ways over millennia. This is no different for us. Our observations, feelings, and reflections upon meeting everyone at Lillian’s was a really important starting point.
Conversations with the girls, the caretakers and the manager informed the ways we sensitively designed our program. While we did hear some distressing stories about the girls’ histories, it only highlighted the value of the care and support work that Lillian’s provide: it has created an oasis for the young women, away from their trauma, which supports their healing and growth.
We will be musicking on this hope and resilience while acknowledging the journey they have been through. We are also going to be joined at our concert by the manager of Lillian’s, Vivian Stavis, who will share her insights and experience in a guest presentation.
Let’s touch back on the project title: A Space of One’s Own. It references the famous Virginia Woolf essay, which argues that women require supportive environments and access to adequate resources in order to produce literature: essentially, that the lack of female representation amongst authors is due predominantly to this. Musically, what does it look like to depict fairly abstract concepts like home, support, and community? How do you feel Woolf’s arguments translate to women in creative industries today?
Coincidentally, Dreambox artist Alice Chance wrote music to accompany Belvoir Theatre’s A Room of One’s Own production last year, which was essentially a brilliant two-woman show. When the lead actor Anita Hegh spoke my favourite line, it gave me goosebumps: ‘Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.’
There are still women who aren’t able to fulfil their artistic potential because they do not have access to education or the right resources. So Woolf’s arguments absolutely resonate today, and now we have a better understanding of the barriers that exist between not only women and men, but also the additional barriers faced by Indigenous communities and women of colour.
In our concert, there are a variety of ways we have explored concepts of home, support, and community – and not just musically. There are visual illustrations by Sandra Brand, depicting different spaces at Lillian’s, such as the girls’ bedrooms and the dining room. Deepka Ratra has composed a beautiful vocal quartet, A Space of My Own, which is a reflection on light and darkness. I have written a part-theatrical, part-musical work, entitled Pillars of Resilience, inspired by the trauma-informed care at Lillian’s. I created a series of games which draw upon skills such as self-regulation, respect, and listening to others, which we will play in real time in front of the audience.
A Friend of Mine is the title of your 2021 concert season. The theme of social connection seems particularly poignant given the recent upending of society as we know it. What else can we expect to see from Dreambox Collective in the rest of the year?
I’ve personally been deeply appreciative of my friendships over the past year – the separation caused by the pandemic has only helped us to become more creative in the ways we get to connect with our friends now.
There are two more projects in A Friend of Mine, in August and December. We will reveal further details over time, but I can say that we have more multimedia collaborations up our sleeve, and we’ll be exploring the worlds of neurodiversity and access to education.
We’re also looking forward to showcasing the work of the rest of our fabulous Dreambox artists: Brad Gill, Carlo Antonioli, Liz Cheung, Edward Essing, Jolin Jiang, Pavle Cajic, and Shaun Premnath.
See the Dreambox Collective present A Space of One’s Own at Sydney Presbytery, 3pm or 7pm April 10.
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Images supplied. Chloe captured by Gerrie Misfud.
