After 2 years of pandemic affected festivals, 2022 was the first time NAFA was able to perform at full capacity since COVID-19. Whilst still having some restrictions in place, we were able to get back to a full program of events.
In 2022 NAFA welcomed 52,259 attendees over 32 days to a selection of 427 Shows, involving 1456 performers from all over the world, our biggest yet!
Tropic Sounds
NAFA 2022 kicked off with the inaugural Tropic Sounds event – initially postponed back in 2021. ARIA award winners Lime Cordiale were joined by Thelma Plum, Haiku Hands, Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum, plus ocal support acts and DJ’s at Reid Park.
Wayfinder
Physical exuberance, sonic resonance, and collective exhilaration explode onto stage in a kaleidoscopic fusion of dance, music, and visual art.
Dancenorth Australia joins forces with three-time Grammy nominated Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote and sound artist Byron J. Scullin to create a soaring composition evoking pleasure and possibility. An undulating sound sculpture condenses and expands this scintillating score, immersing audiences in a new sonic dimension. Japanese-Australian visual artist Hiromi Tango offers her joyful, heart expanding artwork to both the stage design and costumes for this sublime new performance, featuring lighting design by Niklas Pajanti.
Speaking to our sensorial nature, Wayfinder reminds us of a state of being that transcends the words that have come to define us. Navigating bigger and more ancient reference points, Wayfinder recognises connection as the central axis of the universe. By the stars, the waves, and the sun, we find our way.
Corroboree
Corroboree 2022, saw First Nations dance groups from across Townsville and surrounding regions invited to share their traditional culture, dance and stories as part of the inaugural Corrobboree hosted by First Nations led Townsville arts organisation Big Eye Theatre. NAFA was able to support Big Eye Theatre to present this event to help foster strong communities and connection to elders for their knowledge of song and dance. Corroboree hosted an array of First Nations market and food stalls, cultural workshops, music and of course dance - both traditional as well as improvised ‘show off’ dances. This event has the goal of becoming a First Nations dance competition similar to ‘Dance Rights’ in Sydney, both Big Eye Theatre and NAFA are committed to making this a feature in the artistic and cultural calendar of North Australia.
POSTWORLD and David Sequeira - Songs (Umbrella Studios)
POSTWORLD features artists and collectives who create parallel universes in their creative practice. Audiences will be invited into playful, sublime, poetic and cautionary explorations in contemporary works and installations by nationally significant artists including those based in North Queensland. Drawing on the detritus of the human epoch, these worlds have their own internal iconographies and languages existing in alternate time and space. The exhibition will engage with contemporary discourse in object-oriented ontology like vegetal thinking, and the post-Anthropocene. New fictions rendered in the past, present and future provide alternate perspectives on the environment, gender and capitalist hegemony.
David Sequeira’s works often refer to musical notation, however they do not seek to illustrate particular pieces of music. Instead, musical references are used to heighten the sensation of colour in his work. The visual resonance and vibration of each colour is articulated not only by its geometric shape, but also by its position within Sequeira’s overall compositions. Through the individual components of his works and their subsequent ‘orchestration’ as a single piece, Sequeira points to the infinite harmonic possibilities of colour.
POSTWORLD and Songs were presented by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and commissioned by NAFA.