RAV - Regional Arts Victoria - The peak body for regional arts activity in Victoria

Delegates applaud the Regional Arts Victoria 2009 Symposium in Geelong!

Almost 100 participants from across Australia joined Regional Arts Victoria at our biennial conference held from 2-3 October 2009 in Geelong to examine the role of the arts in dealing with adversity, responding to recovery and influencing change.

More than a dozen projects were presented by artists, arts groups and health organisations, with a range of performances, installations and discussions focusing on arts practice.

Highlights from the weekend included a panel session on disaster recovery with speakers including Todd Harper (VicHealth) and Bruce Esplin (Emergency Services Commissioner), an opening address from Jonathon Welch (Choir of Hope and Inspiration), an improvised closing address from Troupe du Jour, and the sell-out evening performances of Hubcap Productions' acclaimed theatre production, Dust.

Delegates completing our event evaluation survey rated the overall conference very highly and the program relevance and appropriateness of symposium topics was overwhelming positive. Here is what some of them had to say:

“Excellent conference. The Victorians do it so right! Learned so much…”

“Great program, stimulating and inspiring.”

“This was a great opportunity for networking and making connections for future work and other projects. I really appreciated the opportunity to be involved as a presenter and share some of my experiences as well as meet other like-minded people.”

The full evaluation report will be published online November 2009.

Download a copy of the symposim program (PDF 802k)

The 2009 Regional Arts Victoria Symposium was assisted by the local steering committee comprising the City of Greater Geelong, Courthouse Arts, Diversitat, Headspace and G21 Geelong Region Alliance. The event simply could not have happened without the generous support of these organisations, as well as the support of Regional Arts Australia and regional arts organisations from around Australia.

The 2009 RAV Symposium was funded by VicHealth and the Melbourne Community Foundation.

 

Image L-R: Jill Singer, Rick Connors, Tim Gooden and Rosalie Hastwell speaking at the 2009 RAV Symposium