23 – 27 November

For the first time, Shopfront is expanding the ArtsLab program with a second residency for creatives and emerging artists from the North West and Western Sydney areas.  

ArtsLab: Here we are again! Will celebrate this year’s second cohort of emerging artists as part of our flagship artist residency program with a week-long festival of three new works by four emerging artists.

Image by Joshua Morris

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About the works

Saarah Hanif & Sivani Yaddanapudi: Of Whispers and Tea

Navigating the world with two contrasting identities that both cultivate differing emotions can be quite lonely if not shared with others. Many have not delved into this world through such an intimate lens, these stories have not been shared, leading to the gap growing bigger and bigger. The lack of narrative surrounding South Asian Queers has time and time again left many of us feeling alone and isolated - now is the time to start. Whispers and Tea captures the essence of those balancing these two worlds of South Asian culture and the LGBTQ+ community, it highlights their words and thoughts on their identities. The work collaborates two art forms in order to depict the stories behind these individuals and provide a sense of shared space for those who seek it.

Presented in the Gallery at 107 Projects

Varuna Naicker - Dalo Chips and Imli Chutney

“What do you want from me!”…a question Kavita, Piyal and Amma, three generations of a Fijian-Indian family living in Australia ask themselves daily. Kavita didn’t think her husband would ask for a divorce at 50. Piyal couldn’t have known the love of her life would be married to someone else when they fell in love. And Amma never even entertained the idea that her daughter and the granddaughter she helped raise would bring shame on the family. And yet... here we are. The 1 hour play, Dalo Chips and Imli Chutney, scrapes off the gilding on the classic immigrant story and examines the cost of living up to the model minority myth in a way that makes you chuckle, while reminding of the worst and best of your family.

Duration: 60 minutes

Sarah Carroll - Unkissed

Your first kiss is weird. Awkward eye contact, the lean-in, do you close your eyes? Tongue? It's not like the movies. Sam wouldn’t know. She has never been kissed and is not even sure she ever wants to be. Unkissed is part theatre, comedy and cabaret that explores everything about first kisses and not having your first kiss in a world that shames you for being Unkissed. Come and share your deepest darkest secrets.

Duration: 60 minutes