Artists of Change

Kat Jones, a singer-songwriter and interdisciplinary collaboration facilitator, is powerful Voice of change. Despite having survived almost innumerable 'apocalyptic' experiences, she has never fallen into victimhood, instead making the powerful, fully conscious choice to write her own inner narrative about her life and experiences - one of "I have survived, I am an embodiment of hope".

In this Episode she discusses with Chanah the themes of trauma and survival that fuel her work, amd her intention to give Voice to the deeper, sometimes dark, silent things that we carry; to offer a cathartic mirror of sound through which anyone can feel seen, and heard.

Aside from touring as a solo artist, with her band (Kat Jones and The Prophets) as well as collaborator and cellist, Joshua Dent, her most recent project is a theatrical work called Dear Apocalypse which explores themes of trauma and what it looks like to overcome and survive them. She collaborated with Rebekah Hampton Barger of FALL to develop this work with production support from abrasiveMedia, and is looking forward to turning it into a touring production.

In 2014 she was invited by abrasiveMedia to become a resident artist and Director of Community Development in Experimental Music. She spends much of her time connecting artists on the fringes of the Nashville artistic community together for purposes of communication and collaboration.

In this Episode, Chanah and Alex dive into many of the lingering questions that opened up for them during their conversation in Episode 2.

This is an 'unpolished interview'; a deeper, gloriously faltering reckoning with their own ideas and those they offered each other, as they discuss in greater depth the notion what is authentic and what is real, what it actually means to YES! to oneself, and how, as artists, we give form to the abstract concepts that inspire our art.

Alex Torney is a multi-disciplinary queer artist based in Sydney. They attained a Bachelor of Creative Arts: Performance from the University of Wollongong and currently work primarily as a lighting designer, sound engineer, AV technician, production manager and installation artist. Their work seeks interactivity and playfulness as a tool to provoke critical thought. They are best described by long-time collaborator Betty Grumble: "hunk, punk, skater, maker, tech sensation".

In this conversation Alex Torney spoke with Chanah about the underlyinginspiration, experience and themes of their immersive performance experience (dis)connect, which Chanah attended in 2019. The conversation opened up many lingering issues, and questions, of what is real and authentic, in both our online and offline interactions, and the deeper human need for comfort that drives many to 'disconnect' from either of these spaces.

Alex Torney is a multi-disciplinary queer artist based in Sydney. They attained a Bachelor of Creative Arts: Performance from the University of Wollongong and currently work primarily as a lighting designer, sound engineer, AV technician, production manager and installation artist. Their work seeks interactivity and playfulness as a tool to provoke critical thought. They are best described by long-time collaborator Betty Grumble: "hunk, punk, skater, maker, tech sensation".

Cynthia Sciberras is a passionate and vivacious creative, and a mother of creative spirit. She spoke with Chanah about her views on turning inwards, to listen deeply and harken to the call of Time, and what it means to show up to our own creations in the work of social change.

Cynthia is a Sydney-based creative, passionate storyteller, photographer, as well as the founding editor-in-chief of YOKE® magazine, a refreshingly independent print magazine, exploring creativity and consciousness with the aim to ignite social change.

In this pilot episode I sat in conversation with Erfan Daliri, an internationally toured spoken word artists and activist, with over 15 years experience working in community development, about the deeper drivers of social change.

Erfan Daliri is an author, poet, social change trainer and consultant with a Masters in Communication for Social Change. He has over15 years of experience working with NGOs, community groups and government agencies in a diverse range of areas, including participatory development, cross-cultural communication, youth empowerment, education, mental health, settlement services, and social justice advocacy.

He is the founding director of Newkind Social Justice Conference, programme coordinator of the National Unity in Diversity Conference, and also consults and advises on communication and project design for organisations such as Amnesty International and the Australian Red Cross.