On November 20th, CuriousWorks artists, supporters, partners and friends, once again gathered for our annual Urban Stories showcase. As with the many things this year, however, this year’s Urban Stories took a different, digital turn. In light of COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions, CuriousWorks launched Urban Stories: WFH, an online, live-streamed experienced broadcast across Zoom and Facebook.
Urban Stories: WFH was born from the on-going conversation CuriousWorks has been having across the year around the radical possibilities of change. 2020 has exposed global inequity that has always lain beneath the surface. While our current systems ask us to pivot – pivot to online, pivot to “diversity,” pivot to “a new normal”— we know that pivoting is simply rotating in place. So, we ask: what’s next?
The hour-long event was a technical juggernaut, featuring everything from live interviews, pre-recorded video and animation, digital tours, Zoom guests, and even a few games and surprises.
It included: special guests J.K Anicoche from Sipat Lawin/Komunidad X and seasoned theatre-maker and emerging director Valerie Berry; a glimpse at future Mt. Druitt Conference conversations in a live conversation between FUNPARK curator Daisy Montalvo and PLAYLIST performer Neda Taha; and the introduction of the CuriousWorks Artistic Directorate, a pilot program launching next year that brings together socially engaged young artists with experienced mentors in paired leadership positions.
Thank you to everyone who tuned in, whether from your home, your office, your home office, or wherever you were able to log on. We know that as the end of the year approaches, everyone is a little ‘Zoomed out,’ so everyone worked incredibly hard to make sure it was as engaging, innovative, and jam-packed as possible. We are so proud of the efforts put in by the CuriousCreators to end this decade-long year with a bang.
If you missed the event, never fear! You can still watch some of our highlights below – or even watch the entire live-stream. Get comfy, grab a hot drink, get some paper and textas; it may be too late to join the live-stream, but you can still make a wish for 2021 with the rest of us.
And as with every Urban Stories event, if you still have feedback, don’t hesitate to share! Fill out our feedback form here.
If you’re interested in the powerhouse live-streaming broadcast and digital recording services our Curious Creators are capable of, we can help! You can get in contact about our Live Broadcast and Digital Recording services here.
If you want to learn more about how our Artistic Directorate you can see how it fits into our CuriousWorks model.
Behind the scenes photos from the Urban Stories: WFH rehearsal were taken by Sandra May, while the event photos were taken by Huy Nguyen.
Urban Stories: WFH was produced by Samantha Barahona, with community support from Caitlin Newton-Broad. The livestream team was entirely made up of Curious Creators, including:
Diego Murillo as the Technical Director; Shawn Spina as the Live-stream Lead; Huy Nguyen as the Art Direction and Design Lead; Sivani Yaddanapudi as Sound; Tracy Guo as Second Camera and highlight editor; and Sandra May, who stepped up last minute as live-stream stage management support!
Thank you to Zeadala for the use of her beautiful music; to the presenters, Miranda Aguilar, Daisy Montalvo, Vanessa Hyde and Elias Nohra; to our guest artists, J.K. Anicoche, Valerie Berry, Neda Taha and the Makers Space artists; to Aunty Lynn for the beautiful digital welcome to Dharug country; and to all the artists, community members, friends and supporters who made our work possible.