Support Shopfront's ArtsLab 2020 emerging artists as we invite you Behind Closed Doors to the celebration, trauma and triumph of these untold stories.

What is ArtsLab: Behind Closed Doors?

We are a collective of six emerging artists sharing stories of drag allyship, Chinese-Australian homes, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, toilets, crises, privacy, and the world of male stripping. Our ArtsLab 2020 festival season, 26 February - 1 March, will showcase five works from our six-month ArtsLab residencies with Shopfront Arts Co-Op.

These stories, through video art, installation, and performance, might make you laugh, cry, tap your feet or sigh pensively. But first, they have to be told. That’s where you come in! 

By supporting our Pozible campaign you will help us to tell our stories and champion the work of emerging artists.

Our ArtsLab Works

Bill Chau: PLASTIC SLIPPERS is an installation exploring the nuanced and overlooked beauty of Asian Australian culture and what it means to grow up in a Chinese, immigrant family.

Brendan Donnellan a.k.a Tall Jan: In AMPLIFIER, watch Tall Jan lip-sync to audio from self-conducted interviews. This video artwork challenges the viewer to recognise experiences often ignored, interrogates the politics of drag, and questions the ethics of allyship.

Charlotte Salusinszky: In a solo devised performance, LITTLE JOKES IN TIMES OF WAR, Charlotte reenacts her grandmother’s role in her family’s escape from Hungary in 1956, and the repercussions of this event on her grandmother and herself.

Luke Standish: Part theatre, part documentary, STRIPPED unveils lived experiences of male exotic dancers, unpeeling perceptions and exposing the lives behind these vulnerable, strong, and extraordinary men.

Lana Filies and Lily Hensby: STALLS, a storytelling performance, is a relieving experience, creating an un-constipated kaleidoscopic view of the private and not so private universe within public urinals.

How will the funds be used?

The money raised from this Pozible campaign will be used to cover the technical cost of presenting our five works, and ensure Shopfront doesn’t absorb the costs. Here’s a rundown of our funding goals, and what they will enable us to achieve.

Primary Goal: $3,000

Our first goal is to cover the fee for our ever-so-spunky production manager, who will creatively and technically support us in executing our work, and coordinate the smooth running of the season as a whole.

Stretch Goal: $4,500

With an extra $1,000 we can pay a lighting designer to make our work pop, and another $500 covers the costs of extra technical support of rigging.

Dream goal: $6,000

With your generosity, a further $1,500 will go towards all our materials - set, props, design, and additional technical gear. That’s just $300 per artist! These are the things that will allow us to showcase our work at a professional level.

If we don’t reach these goals, the expense of a Production Manager, the production materials and equipment will fall upon Shopfront. Running at a loss may compromise their ability to continue to ArtsLab in the future.

What do you get?

By purchasing a reward not only will you be pre-purchasing your tickets to our show, you will also ensure that there is a show to see! Alternatively, if rewards aren't your thing, you are welcome to simply make a tax-deductible donation of $2 or more!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!