Artist Interviews

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Colour Box Studio

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My Voice is My Superpower with Adongwot Manyoul

Adongwot Manyoul is a South Sudanese multi-disciplinary creative, community arts practitioner and thought leader whose work strives to create safe spaces for impactful discussion. Whether podcasting, MCing, filmmaking or facilitating workshops, Manyoul uses her voice as a way to engage and connect with audiences and communities. As a consultant to organisations, her workshops bring education and creativity together, combining topics such as cultural safety and anti-racism strategies with poetry, music and performance. Across the board, her practice aims to break down the impact of systemic injustice and challenge cultural stereotypes. Click through to read the full interview.

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Music as a Call to Action with DOBBY

Rhyan Clapham, aka DOBBY, is a Filipino and Murrawarri HipHop drummer and rapper (Drapper), composer and producer. With roots in the Aboriginal lands from Brewarrina and Weilmoringle in New South Wales, his signature style of “drapping” has taken him to festivals around the country and stages around the globe. Listen to his songs and you’ll hear dynamic beats and powerful lyrics from a compassionate artist grounded in bringing important issues of country and culture into the spotlight through Hip Hop music.

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Laundromat Business

Torres Strait Islander

Flipping the Colonial Lens with The Blak Laundry

Dominique Chen (Gamilaroi) and Libby Harward (Ngugi Quandamooka) are two First Nations women, mothers, artists and the creative minds behind The Blak Laundry - a pop-up, functional laundromat and living artwork. The laundromat is run by and for First Nations people, a safe space to pop a load on and delve into the social and political landscape, to agitate and connect with community.

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Studio Interview

Phd Research

City Of Melbourne

Supernatural Aesthetic

Art Organization

Australian Art

Industrial Art

Becoming Dr.Diversity with Diego Ramírez

Diego Ramirez is an artist, writer and facilitator based in Naarm, Australia. His work embodies a sinister supernatural aesthetic combining humour in cynicism. Ramirez works in a multitude of mediums including resin, neon, performance, text and murals. The former director of Seventh Gallery was also a peer assessor at Australia Council and has appeared on panels for Creative Victoria and City of Melbourne. In this Colour Box Studio interview, ten years after his first interview with us, Ramirez discusses the sequel to The Perfect Ever (or how oil discovered humans) for an upcoming show at RMIT Gallery, portraying a ‘Goth Softboi’ and his PhD research exploring the term “Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)” in the social sphere of the Australian Arts industry.

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Making Space for Meaningful Dialogue with Kudzai Dune

Kudzai Dune is a freelance creative director and the host of Undone The Podcast. Originally hailing from Zimbabwe, Dune spent her childhood and formative years in England and Australia. Her work is fundamentally influenced by her Zimbabwean background, where storytelling is ingrained in the culture and language. Undone The Podcast explores what mental health looks like in the context of African culture, exploring feelings of displacement and the intricacies of belonging. In this Colour Box Studio interview, Dune discusses her collaborations with African artists, what it was like to interview Sampa The Great and her upcoming live podcast event.

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Writing for My Younger Self with Amarachi Logo

Amarachi Logo is an Igbo Nigerian-born actor, writer and spoken word artist based in Naarm. After joining Western Edge in 2017 and performing as a key player in their theatre productions, she is currently an Artistic Associate with the organisation. Amarachi’s distinct voice and passion for storytelling shines through in all of her creative work. In this Colour Box Studio interview, Amarachi talks about growing up in Aotearoa (New Zealand) where she developed a love for stories; memorable moments working with kids as part of Great Acts from Small Humans at La Mama Theatre; and the deep personal significance of her latest endeavour, Akaraka.

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Exaggerated Expressions

Advocating for Deaf Perspectives with Gonketa

Gonketa is a visual artist and illustrator based in Melbourne/Naarm. Born profoundly Deaf, Gonketa works primarily in his first language, Auslan. His work focuses on hands, painted in bold lines and colours, focusing on exaggerated expressions, all fundamental in non-verbal communication. In this Colour Box Studio interview, Gonketa discusses accessibility to education in Auslan, transitioning into the street art genre and how he pushes his artistic boundaries.

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'Caught In Between' with Danielle Lim

Danielle Lim is a Malaysian-Australian, Kaurna Country/South Australia based, actor, writer and theatre maker. Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur until she was 13 years old, Lim’s work is heavily influenced by her migratory upbringing and search for community In this Colour Box Studio interview, Lim discusses her first mainstage role, the empowering experience of finding connection to community within the arts and her upcoming Adelaide Fringe Festival debut.

a woman wearing glasses standing in front of plants

Put Things Into Perspective

Cultivating Conscious Creative Practice with Jo ChunYan

Jo ChunYan is a designer, coach, podcaster and founder of her own design studio. ChunYan’s practice is inspired by the world around her, bringing together colour, form, emotion and visual landscapes to create innovative brand and packaging designs that embody the mission-driven businesses she works with. Her intuitive concepts can be seen across wellness, lifestyle and food industry brands locally and globally.

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Capacity Building

Curriculum Development

Art Education Resources

Samoa

Art Festival

Reimagining Ancestral Practices

Lia Pa’apa’a is an interdisciplinary artist and creative producer specialising in community arts and cultural development. Her creative practice is grounded by her cultural connections to Samoa and the Luiseño nation of Southern California, and through respectful community engagement, her work creates culturally safe spaces for capacity building, collaboration and intergenerational exchange across multi-artforms.

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Complicated Relationship

Art Workshop

Sign Language

Making Art That Transcends Boundaries with Sue Jo Wright

Sue Jo Wright is a Deaf artist whose creative practice spans various mediums including photography, video and textiles. Her work often explores the relationship between communication and identity, highlighting the complex dynamics of navigating social and cultural contexts. Drawing from lived experience, Wright’s work investigates “how we perceive each other and how others perceive the world”, encouraging empathy as a way to transcend boundaries.

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Honouring Cultural Legacy with Ravi Chand

Ravi Chand is a screen producer, writer and director. Born in Fiji, of Indian heritage, Chand was raised in Melbourne, Australia. His work explores a personal quest to reconnect with cultural heritage, deconstructing the affects of assimilation and colonialism. Read the full interview.

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Crafting Our Narrative, Our Way with Pauline Clague

Pauline Clague is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Winda Film Festival which has partnered with SXSW Sydney this year. The WINDA programme at SXSW will showcase both Australian and International First Nations storytelling, 17th-20th October 2023. In this Colour Box Studio Interview, Clague discusses her current project; the Coota Survivor Stories, her first foray into feature length drama and the emergence of the “Chiller” genre.

Jocelyn Flynn is an arts worker, writer and emerging curator. Recently, Flynn co-curated Mare Amoris | Sea of Love, a group exhibition that seeks to challenge the colonial boundaries of oceans and their connected waters. The exhibition is part of the UN Ocean Decade program, a global framework dedicated to education and research on ocean health and sustainability. Read the full interview: University Of Queensland, Ferdinand Magellan, Sea Of Love, Forever Grateful, Ocean Art, The Exhibition

University Of Queensland

Curating Great Ocean Art with Jocelyn Flynn

Jocelyn Flynn is an arts worker, writer and emerging curator. Recently, Flynn co-curated Mare Amoris | Sea of Love, a group exhibition that seeks to challenge the colonial boundaries of oceans and their connected waters. The exhibition is part of the UN Ocean Decade program, a global framework dedicated to education and research on ocean health and sustainability. Read the full interview:

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Shifting Perceptions with Buzz Gardiner

Buzz Gardiner is an Australian-Solomon Islander photographer whose work encompasses portraiture, still life, interior/food and fashion. Born and raised in Vanuatu, Gardiner relocated to the Gold Coast, Australia at sixteen to complete his education. This amalgamation of cultural influences is strikingly clear in Gardiner’s work, which focuses on the balance between assimilation and holding onto cultural identity. Read about his work in this Colour Box Studio interview.