What a pARTy!
Zine-makers, hip-hop artists, Parkour traceurs and filmmakers defied the rain on Saturday to make The pARTy ‘07 a spectacular success.
Western Sydney’s youth arts festival, held on 24 November at Holroyd Youth Services in Merrylands, was a demonstration of the diversity and energy of youth culture in the West. It brought over 150 people together to listen to music, play basketball, write songs and create a live art mural. Tarps were set up to hold off the rain and the show was headlined by ARIA-nominated hip-hop act Foreign Heights and Australian Idol finalist Joseph Gatehau.
The positive atmosphere was welcomed by MC Trey of Foreign Heights. ‘The pARTy went off!,’ she said. ‘The Highlight for me was seeing the young local artists perform.’
Ben Nitiva, another performer, agreed. ‘It was a really good event. A definite highlight was when Foreign Heights got the audience to participate. It was great for the community and I really liked the basketball competition and workshops. It was excellent for young people.’
The event was hosted by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE), the Granville-based community arts and technology organisation, who also used the event to showcase film, visual art and music from their Youth Digital Cultures Project. The project ran digital art workshops across Western Sydney, training and supporting young and emerging digital artists, and providing them with an opportunity to break into the industry.
‘These workshops were incredibly successful because they’re relevant,’ said Lena Nahlous, Director of ICE. ‘As youth culture moves toward a more digital focus, young people are more interested in learning the creative and technical skills required to make art that really speaks to them. And the results are very exciting.’
Fans of parkour, the French art of urban body movement, were treated to a demonstration while renowned hip-hop artist Brass took the stage to perform an unplanned half-hour set.
Local songwriters also shone at the open mic, according to The pARTy organiser Anique Vered. ‘There were moments of intimacy with acoustic guitars and new sounds that came out of the lyric writing workshop,’ she said. ‘The DIY zine workshop produced a new zine, and the video workshop gave some of the young people a chance to document The pARTy ’07, through their own eyes.
The pARTy ’07 was supported by
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