Testimonials from artists

• Bria McCarthy
• Gemma Navarrette

Live projects

dyanmila Studio Space

Residency, throughout 2023
The dyanmila* Studio Space is a joint initiative of Utp and Outloud, offering residency opportunities to artists and creatives who reside in or have connections to the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA or greater Western Sydney area. With an offer of two months access to a rent-free space, the dyanmila Studio is ideal for someone (or a duo or small collective) that wants to develop a new project or body of work and would like a dedicated space in a supportive environment with feedback from leaders in the industry.

*A Darug word meaning play

Included artists:

• Tjoet Aishah, bookbinding artist
• Carubi Chips, composer
• Prema, sound designer/composer
• Mina Asfour, screenwriter
• Brian Obiri-Asare, poet and essayist

Supported by Create NSW

Muslim Peers Project

Supported by Youth Health Forum, Aurora Foundation, Doing It Differently (City of Canterbury Bankstown, Belmore Youth Resource Centre, South Western Sydney Local Health District)

Open Studio

Mentoring, 2021 to present
Born during lockdown, this initiative began as a touchpoint between artists and Outloud staff to regularly discuss and mentor on art and art making through weekly virtual meetings. Outloud now invites young people to book one-on-one sessions with its resident artists to discuss career and ambitions.

How participants rated Open Studio:

• It’s important that it’s happening here – scaled 80%
• I would come to something like this again – scaled 93%
• It helped me gain new insight or knowledge – scaled 80%
• I feel more able to express myself creatively – scaled 83%

Source: Culture Counts

Supported by Create NSW

RESPECT

School program, 2013 to present
The RESPECT Program is one of Outloud’s ongoing programs for boys under 12 in the Canterbury-Bankstown area. Based in local primary schools, RESPECT covers the complex issue of domestic violence through music education and collaborative discussions which highlight the nature and causes of violence. At the end of the two-term program, the boys embark on writing song lyrics that demonstrate their new understandings of how inequality can lead to violence and their role in creating a safer environment. The ultimate aim for this program is to educate boys early on in their lives about this issue so that they can become active agents in preventing domestic violence in the future.

The program transforms young men into active agents of social change and role models in their schools. This project has been assessed by Murdoch University as a model project that leads to long term change in the boys that are a part of it. It has been proven to increase awareness and understanding of Domestic Violence and healthy relationships in 98% of participants. Teachers tell us about the culture of the school shifting over the years that we return.

Outcomes

Based on interviews conducted with participants before and after the program, we have found:

• 98% of students demonstrated an increased understanding of the meaning of violence against women in all its forms.
• 92%students demonstrated an increased understanding of respectful relationships and equity toward girls and women.
• 85% of participants indicate a likelihood that they will engage in a dialogue with their peers.
• 81% of participants indicate a likelihood that they will be responders.

Source: The Respect Project: Final Evaluation Report, Centre for Family Research and Evaluation, November 2017

The Centre for Family Research and Evaluation found that in following the program:

• Around 50% of participants indicated that they speak about relationships either with peers or family, and that in these discussions they promote a respectful and non-violent ideal.
• Teacher and facilitator feedback noted improved respectful behaviours in interactions with females from program participants.
• Participants were able to identify diverse forms of emotional and financial abuse and violence that occurs in intimate and familial relationships.
• When asked what someone should do if they witness a domestic violence scenario in public, the majority of participants suggested telling a person in authority, including police and teachers.

Source: The Respect Project: Final Evaluation Report, Centre for Family Research and Evaluation, November 2017

Supported by Department of Social Services, The Smith Family

UNITY

School program, 2021 to present
UNITY is a new project from Outloud for girls and gender diverse young people aged 10-12. This 12-week music mentoring program teaches singing and songwriting through the lens of healthy relationships, consent, healthy boundaries and body neutrality. Participants will then write, rehearse and perform their own song about what they think about these topics and how they want the world to be in the future. This will be a weekly program over two terms per cohort. We will employ local female facilitators, musicians and counsellors that reflect the diversity of the communities reflected in our schools.

“The launch of the UNITY Program is a fantastic initiative for girls in our local schools. Programs like this allow for important and sensitive subjects to be discussed in a safe environment that engages young people. I’m excited to see what comes out of the program across different schools in the local area. Thank you to Outloud for continuing to work with schools in our community to run important projects like UNITY.”

Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, Member for Blaxland

Supported by The Smith Family

Recent projects

About Us

Live readings, April to June 2022
From April to June in 2022, Outloud held ‘About Us’, which was a series of intimate performances and conversations from artists that represented just some of the cultural communities in Western Sydney. Running on select Thursday & Friday evenings, 9 online performances of incredible stories, plays and books were co-curated & performed by the many cultural communities in Western Sydney. A rehearsed reading and facilitated conversation took place at every show in order for audience members to share their own stories, thoughts and ideas around what the texts said about who we are, what we care about, how COVID has affected our communities here and abroad, and how we could support each other from here on.

Included works:

• TRANSFORMING SILENCE – In collaboration with WestWords. Writers and performers featured were Mimosa Rose, Wilfred Roach, Talisha Ingram, Yasmin Archibald, Vera Enterna, C.C. Tanton-Wright, Brahmi Kumarasamy, Gum Guo, Rey Vargas, Andrew Undi Lee, Gum Guo, Rey Vargas. Performed Thu 23rd Jun 2022
• FRIENDS AND DARK SHAPES – Written and directed by Kavita Bedford. Performed by Marie-Jo Orbase and Ayah Darwich. Performed Fri 17th Jun 2022
• HE’S NOT HERE – Written by Marcus Khoudair; Directed by Chloe De Brito. Performed by Emma Elias, Jacob Rahme, Julian Maroun, Isabelle Nader, Andrew Attieh, Danielle Stamolous, Nicole Chamoun, Salim Fayad, Mary Nigem, Joseph Khoudair and Marcus Khoudair. Performed Thu 9th Jun 2022
• MAWINGU ZINGINE (OTHER CLOUDS) – Written and directed by Mararo Wangai. Performed by Malek Domkoc, Phoebe Sullivan and Nicola Bartlett. Performed Thu 2nd Jun 2022
• THE HISTORY OF BIAFRA; THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN – Written and directed by Perpetua Ekechukwu. Performed by Perpetua Ekechukwu, Jonathan Nnamocha, Marcia Ekechukwu, Destiny Ekechukwu and Prudentia Ekechukwu. Performed Fri 3rd Jun 2022
• TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER – A collaboration with WestWords, developer and publisher of the book. Facilitated by Michael Campbell. Performed by Pan Sandar Myint, Abdullah, Yasor Arfat and AS Junike. Performed Fri 17th Jun 2022
• TROJAN WOMEN – Directed by James Hartley. An adaptation based on the play by Euripides, retold by Dena Razaghi, translated by Gholam Reza Shahbazi. Performed Thu 28th Apr 2022
• KALAGA ATU – Written and directed by Emele Ugavule. Facilitated by Xavier Breed. Performed by Luke Currie-Richardson, Jessica Paraha, Malia Letoafa, Tommy Misa, Sereima Adimate and Te Kaiga WA Akoga Tokelau children’s choir. Performed Fri 6th May 2022
• THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA BUDDHA, AND THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE MONKEY KING – GREAT SAGE, EQUAL OF HEAVEN – Written and directed by Joe Lui. Performed by Sebastian Critti Shnaars, Sean Gustaviano, Olivia Hendrey, Lucy Wong and Donita Cruz. Performed Fri 15th Apr 2022

Supported by Multicultural NSW

Matariki

Live performance, July 2022
A group of 30 community members, artists & elders gathered at the Bankstown Art Centre to welcome in the Māori New Year, Matariki. The night began with local Darug elder, Aunty Lyn Martin who led the Welcome to Country. Sam Rerekura opened the space with a Karakia. Gerome Te Peeti journeyed the audience through the Star Lore of Matariki. Performances from local artists, a visual soundscape from lyrical poet, Lay The Mystic and short film by puppeteer, Bria McCarthy. A delicious meal of traditional Fijian food was served by Lewa’s Kitchen.

View the Matariki project website

Supported by City of Canterbury Bankstown

Safe Pride Picnic

Social support, October 2022
Outloud hosted a catered, alcohol-and-drug free picnic to celebrate Wear it Purple Day. This was a closed, secure event for LGBTQIA++ youth who may be generally concerned for their safety. Attendees were also offered safe transport options. The event included DJs, musicians and performances. Support services were offered by Outloud’s partners, Headspace and ACON.

Supported by Belmore Youth Resource Centre, Pride Foundation Australia, Inclusive Community Network, ACON

From My Window

Poetry in collaboration with Story Factory, 2020
From My Window is a collaboration between Story Factory, Outloud and 3 local Bankstown High Schools; Wiley Park Girls High School, Punchbowl Boys High School and Birrong Girls High School. Students were encouraged to express positive moments they experienced throughout Covid-19 through performance poetry pieces. These pieces were videoed and strung together to create a short film acknowledging the ups and downs of an unprecedented event in these school students lives. The aim of this project is to foster the reflections and evaluations of self and place in young people in a creative manner.

Further past works

Stories of Strength

Written work, 2016
Stories of Strength is an Outloud project developed and delivered in Bankstown local high schools from 2016. The project shows that storytelling as a from of communication connects us with our humanity, is a tool to celebrate culture and language, and share knowledge across generations. In 2019 Stories of Strength released an anthology publication, commissioning contributions from 10 local writers including Nardi Simpson who’s work is featured in the following pages.

Download PDF

The images below were commissioned by local visual artists, responding to interviews by local teenagers with people in their community. We taught interviewing skills using narrative therapy techniques, helping them to talk to people in their lives, to reframe tales of hardship into stories of strength. local writers responded to the themes within the interviews with essays that introduced each chapter of the book.

Mural commissioned by Lotte Smith

Commissioned visual response by Michael Sun

Imagine Wall

Commissioned mural by Lotte Smith
Download more visual works