A national symposium exploring the connections between arts, culture, and the creative lives of children and young people.

The three day symposium will feature prominent national and international industry leaders and provide a voice for people working in Australia’s youth arts sector.

Be engaged in nationally significant conversations with international and national guest speakers in forums, workshops, performances, networking events, skill sharing and more. Changing Habitats will provide a platform for artists, cultural practitioners, arts managers, educators, producers, youth workers, government, academics, parents and young people to share with each other learning, sharing and discovering how we can support Australia’s next generation of ‘cultural inhabitants’.
How do arts and culture change if led by notions of engagement, accessibility and democracy?
Could children and young people, their families and communities shape these changes?
How will artists and cultural workers respond or revision their work and impact their surroundings?
 

More information can be found at our program here: http://www.ypaa.net/nationalsymposium.html

The three day program consists of:
* 2 international keynote speakers (Brussels & New York)
* 10 leading national thinkers
* 15 national arts industry presenters
* 1 program specifically designed for young arts leaders u/26 years
* 2 Out of the Box festival shows
* 1 closing night street party
* 4 industry events and networking opportunities
* 3 national meetings
* 1 ASSITEJ international update

+ * 1 masterclass, (6-8 June, tickets sold separately for this)

International keynote speakers include:
• Alexander Devriendt, Ontroerend Goed, Belgium
• Lenore Skenazy, Free Range Kids, New York
Speakers will also include a huge range of leading national practitioners who will lead panel discussions, responses, and workshops.

Lenore Skenazy
Lenore Skenazy is a journalist who started the 'Free Range Kids' movement, which she started in 2008 when Skenazy wrote a column in The New York Sun which described her making the controversial decision to let her 9-year-old son take the New York City subway home alone. It unleashed a flood of reactions ranging from accusations of child abuse to fond memories of first-time subway trips and childhood freedom. It led to the creation of the Free-Range Kids blog and the book, Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry (John Wiley & Sons, April 2009).

Lenore's Free Range Kids movement encourages children to have 'breathing room', and within limits, the opportunities to explore and experiment on their own. Her arguments consist of the themes that parents who constantly fear for their children's safety and interfere with their children's perception of the real world can cause adverse effects on their children's confidence and self-esteem.

Symposium ticket includes performances to two Out of the Box shows: Pirates, A Flying Fruit Fly Circus production presented by QPAC, and Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead, presented by QPAC and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Some sector support:

“The days will be framed by provocations from presenters who are radicalising arts practice on the international stage. Prepare to get charged up, be challenged and leave inspired,”
Rose Myers, Out of the Box festival Artistic Director

“In just about one generation, childhood has gone from a land of its own to one that is fiercely overseen by an army of terrified parents and a whole lot of professionals -- from baseball coaches to Mandarin teachers -- all worried that our children are in great peril, be it from injury, paedophiles, death or (gasp!) not developing to their very highest potential. And what these adults have lost is the notion that our kids need space, time, freedom and responsibility to actually discover their interests -- including the arts! -- and to develop their confidence and to grow up”.
Lenore Skenazy, Free Range Kids

"The YPAA Symposium is an important event that recognises children are not recipients but drivers of the arts"
Dr Katya Johanson & Dr Hilary Glow, Deakin University

“There are some industry events that can’t be missed. The National Theatre Forum was one, the YPAA Symposium is another.”
Fraser Corfield, Australian Theatre for Young People Artistic Director

MASTERCLASS
Facilitated by Alexander Devriendt, Artistic Director from Belgian theatre performance group Ontroerend Goed.

In this Masterclass Alexander will provide insights on how contemporary companies can have unprecedented success by engaging young people as collaborators. For example, one of the company's most recent productions, Once and for all we're gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen is suitably performed by thirteen teenagers, who have travelled around the globe as a result of the performance's international acclaim.

Alexander's past work for the company includes the creation and performance in The Smile Off Your Face and Internal. His other direction for the company includes Under the Influence. His productions have played in the United Kingdom and across Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. His past productions have been awarded the Scotsman Fringe First, the Herald Angel Award, the Adelaide Fringe Award, and the Total Theatre Award.

The Master class includes a ticket to Mr McGee and the Biting Flee, A Patch Theatre Production presented by QPAC.

Master class tickets limited! Don't delay

Held as part of QPAC's Out of the Box festival at the State Library of Queensland's new digital culture centre, The Edge.
Recommended for artists, cultural practitioners, arts managers, educators, producers, youth workers, government employees, academics, parents and young people.

Tickets can be purchased from QTIX at www.qtix.com.au (search for ypaa), or call 136246. For further information, please feel free to contact YPAA.

For more info, please contact YPAA at info@ypaa.net phone (07) 3254 0553 or visit www.ypaa.net

Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA) is the national peak body for practitioners and arts organisations engaging children and young people in the arts.