Unique artforms underpin what it is about On Edge Contemporary Media Performance that makes it unique.

Launching this week, a festival of media and performance from a range of artists will take place at the Centre of Contemporary Arts (CoCA).

The fourth annual On Edge Contemporary Media + Performance will feature a diverse range of exhibitions, installations, interactive/media artwork and live performances as well as laser shows, sound artistry and a series of performances at outdoor venues across the city.

The festival’s producers Rebecca Youdell, Russell Milledge and Nicholas Mills were given a financial boost when their project received a $35,000 grant from the State Government. Nicholas says the funding is crucial to enable local artists to link with national arts practices to create a highlevel program.

“The Far North is a diverse and sometimes difficult landscape in which to present, practice and produce contemporary media and performance,” he says.

“However, On Edge continues to facilitate the development of new work, encourage new audiences and build regional cutting-edge practice into national contexts.”

The producers reached out to artists from as far as Sydney and Melbourne as well as retaining their focus on promoting local artists with a view to combining all ideas to produce a festival of art that will challenge and provoke thought and conversation. Rebecca says it was good to engage with the many contributors in one framework.

“The festival is unique because it is about the meeting of certain individuals, about long-standing relationships with local and national independent artists and providing an outlet for media and performance,” she says.

Rebecca’s wealth of arts experience stems from her early career as a classical ballerina.

Born in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, she spent her formative years in Adelaide before moving with her parents to the US to finish her schooling in Los Angeles, Florida and Indiana.

At the age of 16, Rebecca moved again, this time to join the Royal Ballet School at Baron’s Court in London. After two years she joined the Royal Swedish Ballet before moving back to the US to complete her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in fine arts in Indiana.

With her qualification and experience at some of the world’s most esteemed ballet schools under her belt, Rebecca returned to Australia to be with her mother who had moved to Cairns after living in Saudi Arabia.

“When I came home I did a lot of contemporary dance and ballet,” Rebecca says.

Her performances brought her into contact with Russell, who worked at Kick Arts and has a visual arts background, and Nicholas, who worked at local community radio station 4CCR and also has a visual arts background. Having worked cross culturally there was a natural understanding of how they operated and their history of promoting major events such as concerts, stage shows and installations. In 2005 the inevitable happened when the three decided to combine their talents and passion for promoting avant-garde art and artists.

“We came up with the name On Edge because it encapsulated where we are geographically and working on the fringe of contemporary art forms,” Rebecca says.

Indeed, the works in this year’s festival are engaging, with some using soundscapes to appeal to the aural senses.

“The Live Arts in Public Spaces (LAPS) encourages the public to engage in the work and challenges the artist to work
spontaneously in response to engagement with public space,” she says.

LAPS performances will take place at the mouth of the Barron River at Machans Beach, The City Place, the Esplanade and Cairns City Library. Rebecca says the Far North is well endowed with artistic talent.

“You can tell the health of a community through its arts,” she says. “We have a strong and very diverse arts community up here in Cairns.”

Through Bonemap, her company with Russell, she strives to harness the enormous pool of local skills and creativity to work alongside international artists with the aim of producing highly exciting, colourful, dynamic and interactive works. “We are in a great location,” Rebecca says. “We have a wonderful environment with the tropical savanna, the rainforest and Reef all on our doorstep and these elements are important for promoting the creativity which results in the works the artists produce.

“When bringing artists together for festivals such as On Edge we look for qualitative ideas from people who have a history of creative expression because that’s what we want to promote; expression, creativity, innovation and collaboration,” Rebecca says.

An example of the type of collaborative spirit Bonemap promotes can be seen in the On Edge Cabaret.

It will feature a quirky night of diverse and strange performance from freaky local characters, ‘weirdos’ and eccentric artists.

The audience will be taken on a journey of the bizarre in a thought-provoking eclectic wonderland.

“The cabaret shows how well artists from different backgrounds can work together and will be an enjoyable show,” Rebecca says.

“I hope the community shows its support for this unique festival of contemporary art.”

On Edge is on from July 22 to August 2 at various Cairns venues. Ph: 4031 9555 or visit: www.onedgeart.com for more information.

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