Melbourne’s fringe suburbs are becoming increasingly culturally isolated as the city expands, according to the head of a not-for-profit performing arts group.
Outer Urban Projects (OUP) chief executive Kate Gillick is calling for investment into the arts in Melbourne’s fringe suburbs, which, she says, lack basic services.
Ms Gillick said Melbourne was fast becoming two cities: “the gentrified areas of the inner city and the vastly undervalued cultural enclaves of the outer urban fringes”.
OUP works to engage young people in the outer northern suburbs in music and performing arts. The group also provides mentoring and education opportunities.
Ms Gillick said arts projects often bypassed the outer north, limiting opportunities for young people and creating“ghettoized” areas.
This month, the group is collaborating with MASSIVE Hip-Hop Choir and the Newsboys Foundation for disadvantaged youth to present Urban Chamber – Beyond as part of this year’s Melbourne Festival.
The show will combine hip-hop with chamber music and urban dance to present “a multicultural ode to Melbourne”.
The performance will give youth from Hume, Moreland, Whittlesea, Banyule and Darebin the chance to engage in a full-scale performance.
Among the performers will be Hume Central Secondary College student Foxy Tupou, 17, and her sister Ta, 16.
Foxy lives in Broadmeadows and has been working with OUP since 2009. She said the group’s support had helped her develop her performance. “There’s a lot of talented youth around my area and they don’t get much opportunity.”
Urban Chamber – Beyond will be performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre on October 25-26.
» For tickets, visit melbournerecital.com.au or call 9699 3333.
