Annual Report - QPAC

Industry partners
Based on common goals and philosophies, QPAC has formed
a range of performing arts industry partnerships to support
industry development. Current industry partnerships that are
already producing mutual benefits and supporting productive
working relationships include affiliations with Harvest
Rain Theatre Company, Southern Cross Soloists, Aboriginal
Centre for the Performing Arts, State Library of Queensland,
Brisbane Writers Festival and Queensland Conservatorium of
Music.
In 2009, QPAC became the primary performance venue for
the popular Harvest Rain Theatre Company, one of Australia’s
largest independent theatre companies. The relationship
delivers a range of artistic and ancillary benefits for both
organisations. For Harvest Rain, it provides the opportunity
to expand their audience and gain skills through working in a
larger venue alongside experienced Programming, Production
and Marketing teams. For QPAC, the partnership provides
access to a loyal, family audience, as well as providing
additional musical product for our two smaller venues.
Harvest Rain’s presentation of The Awfully Big Adventures
of Peter Pan in January was one of the most successful
productions in the company’s history, while their production
of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in March
was so successful that a repeat season is scheduled for later
in 2009.
Creative development was high on the list of QPAC’s
priorities this year. Potential new musicals, Isn’t it Romantic?
The Songs of Rodgers and Hart and Suddenly Single had indevelopment
showings in the Cremorne Theatre, while QPAC
also provided support for the creative development of Up
Jumped the Devil, a music-theatre collaboration based on
the songs of Nick Cave, interpreted and performed by Frank
Theatre to be performed at QPAC in October 2009.
Another example of industry support is the letter of
agreement signed this year between the Aboriginal Centre
for the Performing Arts (ACPA) and QPAC, which outlines
areas of cooperation and joint interest. The agreement
sets out commitments over a three-year period including
opportunities for ACPA students to perform or undertake
casual employment in the technical and service areas at QPAC
and to attend a wide range of professional performances and
technical rehearsals.
QPAC participates in major networks of performing arts
centres throughout the region including the Australian
Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA), Northern
Australia Regional Performing Arts Association (NARPACA)
and Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres
(AAPAC). QPAC is also an active member of the industry
group, OZPAC, which includes representatives from the
Sydney Opera House, The Arts Centre Melbourne, Adelaide
Festival Centre, Perth Theatre Trust and The Edge, Auckland.
Networking with other performing arts centres provides
a valuable forum to discuss issues of common interest
including infrastructure assurance, research projects,
enterprise bargaining agreements and the impacts of the
economic downturn.
International partnerships
Attracting some 280 delegates from 25 countries, the 2008
World Dance Alliance Global Summit was held in Brisbane
in July, with QPAC contributing as a presentation partner of
some of the events. The opening of the Summit was held in
QPAC’s Cascade Court and featured inspiring performances
by virtuosic didgeridoo musician and composer, William
Barton, traditional and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Island dancers from Treading the Pathways national
Indigenous program and traditional dance from Pacific Island
Vou dancers.
Delegates and audience members had the opportunity to
participate in lively debate and exchange with key cultural
thinkers and artists over four nights of the Summit’s Dance
Dialogues: Conversations across cultures, artforms and
practices in the Cremorne Theatre.
Research
QPAC takes a leading role in the advancement of research
and debate that articulates the value of creative industries as
fundamental drivers of economic growth.
Sustaining Culture: The Role of Performing Arts Centres is
a research project which focuses on the social, cultural and
economic impacts of performing arts centres and their role
in creating vibrant public spaces. Funded by an Australian
Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant, Sustaining Culture
brings together industry partners through the OZPAC network
including QPAC, Sydney Opera House, The Arts Centre
Melbourne and the Adelaide Festival Centre and researchers
from Brisbane’s Griffith University.
The project, which began in 2004, focuses on the impact of
performing arts centres in the key areas of:
• Participation – factors motivating audience participation
and consumption
• Performance – contribution to development of artists and
companies
• Partnership – engagement with arts organisations, other
industries and government.
The research findings, data and philosophies will provide
enormous value to the centres in terms of operational
delivery, communicating with government and reframing
some of the thinking about the role and value of performing
arts centres. The other significant outcome is the innovative
use of research methodologies by the Griffith team and
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