The July news from the BEMAC team

Jo Pratt - Director
There is so much going on at BEMAC at the moment, I had difficulty in deciding what I should include and what to leave out! Firstly let me share a little bit this month on the who's who of BEMAC and what we do. There are two of us who work Tuesday - Friday at the BEMAC office, myself and the most wonderful Sharmin Ferdous, who is our Administration/Finance guru, and without whom we would all be in a state of constant chaos (rather than just the periodic chaos we currently exist in!) In addition to Sharmin, we have the lovely Ema Filimoto three days a week, coordinating our project and event management. I have asked each of them to write a brief paragraph about themselves below.
June was a very busy month, including a trip to Melbourne for Kultour business. Kultour is the national touring company for multicultural arts in Australia. As BEMAC Director, I have the honour of representing and advocating for Queensland multicultural arts on the board of Kultour. It was exciting to learn more about this company and the opportunities is presents for Queensland artists to access supported national and international touring opportunities. I had the pleasure of meeting the Directors/CEO's from the other company member organisations from across Australia that were able to be there, including Multicultural Arts Victoria, Footscray Community Arts Centre and Nexus. I had the pleasure of visiting both MAV and Footscray. I must say though, I prefer the weather here!
My biggest highlight of the month though was, most definitely, the unveiling if the One 4 All art+place installation at South Bank Parklands on World Refugee Day. It was amazing to see the outcome of this year long visual arts project which was the brainchild of my predecessor, Bronte Morris. Artists Karen Shapcott, Catriona Holland, Candy Soller and Pete Mac Farline worked with young people from a range of Brisbane communities, exploring identity through visual art. Through this process 3 incredibly talented young people who have a passion to pursue visual art were identified; Amhad Shah Nazari ( Afghanistan), Samsun Joseph ( Sudan) and Amal Suleman ( Sudan). These three young people then continued to develop skills and created the pieces. The finished art represents ‘Memory Boxes’ that convey the stories, memories, hopes and dreams of these three young refugees, who have undertaken remarkable journeys to become valued members of our community. This installation is the first example of art representing multiculturalism in the South Bank Parklands, and the work not only provides a voice to the experiences of our refugee community members, but will also encourage deeper understanding and appreciation in the wider community. The installation acknowledges the contribution of refugee and migrant communities in Queensland and the vibrant diversity they bring to the social, cultural and artistic fabric of Queensland .
July is another big month, with the launch of our Planet Series at Brisbane Powerhouse on the 4th July at 5pm on the Turbine Platform. This is a free monthly show for those of us who wish we could travel the world, but don't have the time (or budget!). This month we are lucky to have Mars Melto in town from Vanuatu and A French Butler called Smith. If you are keen to continue the party after that, head across the bridge to BEMAC for the first in a series of "stringed instruments of the world" gigs, Acoustic Sessions, featuring Anthony Garcia, Mars Melto and also local emerging artists, Nes and Sammy J. Another highlight for July will be the Columbian Day Celebrations, a day of Columbian food, music and dancing on the 18th July at BEMAC. In other news, get ready for the BEMAC technological revolution - we are joining the 21st century and will be launching, over the next couple of weeks, our BlogSpot, Facebook and MySpace pages in the lead-up to the unveiling of the new BEMAC web-site. We may even go down the twitter road too, but that's enough technology for me in one sitting! If you would like to submit content to be considered for inclusion on any of these sites, please email info@bemac.org.au
Well that's it from me for now, get out there and check out some of the great stuff happening around our city, many cultures, one heART! Jo

Sharmin Ferdous - Admin/Finance

My name is Sharmin Ferdous and I am the Admin/Finance Officer of BEMAC. I am from Bangladesh and migrated to Australia in October 2006. Joining BEMAC was the first breakthrough of my professional career in Australia. I love being part of this very encouraging and welcoming organisation which values, promotes and celebrates multiculturalism through the arts.

Ema Filimoto – Projects/Events

Malo e lelei, Kia ora, Ni sa Bula vinaka, and greetings, my name is Ema Filimoto and I am the latest addition to this awesome team of 3! I have recently shifted to Australia from Auckland, New Zealand, and have been thrown in the deep end with BEMAC Woohoo!!! I have a background in Events Management , Television Production, Mentoring and Travel, which I hope will add to diverse role I am in. So far it has been awesome, crazy busy, but definitely worth getting lost at every bus way on the way to work. I look forward to getting to know every facet of Brisbane City, and all of you through BEMAC, whether it is through this Blog, or you receiving a call from myself for a particular event. Watch this space…