Breathe In shares everyday experiences of people with disability
- 29 Apr 2024
Crossroad Arts explores themes of isolation and connection in award-winning work.
What
Mackay’s Crossroad Arts developed the Matilda Award-winning immersive multimedia performance work Breathe In to explore themes of isolation, connection and survival as experienced by people with disability.
Crossroad Arts has established itself as a leader in inclusive arts practice in Queensland. The development of Breathe In aligns with the company’s mission to co-create new narratives with artists with disability that aim to change perceptions.
Deafblind artist Brenden Borellini was a key collaborator in the Breathe In creative development process alongside acclaimed poet, activist and performer Georgia Cranko and creative team Freddy Komp, Josh McIntosh, Josh Notting, Alison Richardson and Autumn Skuthorpe.
The creative process began in 2019 when Brenden and Georgia developed a 10-minute piece based on Georgia’s poem Breathe In written two years earlier. They then performed the work in Mackay City Property’s carport as part of Crossroad Arts’ touring production, An Unconventional Tour.
Following a positive audience response to the uniqueness of the storytelling, the artists decided to develop the work into a one-hour show with the potential to tour.
When the pandemic thwarted plans to get together in person, the artists stayed connected and created three collaborative videos. They held 25 sessions over Zoom to create the videos with each artist taking responsibility for one part of the process - i.e. writing, video, sound, editing, audio description and captioning.
As part of the development process, the co-creators collected personal stories reflecting the perspectives and insights of people with disability, while musicians Josh Notting and Autumn Skuthorpe collaborated to support the key storyline and capture the mood of the show with a mix of pre-recorded and live music.
When Breathe In premiered in Mackay in June 2023, audiences entered through Paxton’s Warehouse doors into a world filled with live music, poetry and projection as performers Georgia and Brenden gave insight to how they, as people who use alternate communication, survive in a world that can be at times frightening, unrelenting and inaccessible.
Breathe In was nominated for five 2023 Matilda Awards including Best Mainstage, Best Sound or Composition Design, Best Video Design, Best Direction and The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work, ultimately winning three when the awards were announced on 26 February 2024:
- Best Video Design: Freddy Komp
- The Lord Mayor's Award For Best New Australian Work: Co-creators Brenden Borellini, Georgia Cranko, Alison Richardson, Crossroad Arts
- Matilda Judges’ Award (For breaking new ground in integrating multiple communication modes within the artistic process): Breathe In.
When and where
Breathe In was developed from July 2019 to June 2023, which included the period of the pandemic. The team worked virtually and in-person to create the show.
Following two rehearsal periods, Breathe In was presented from 29 June to 1 July 2023 in Mackay as part of the 2023 Mackay Festival of the Arts.
Key stats
- 1 world premiere
- 3 performances
- 10 artists involved
- Attendees (in person): 263
- Attendees (online): 45
- Attendees - video on demand screenings: 135
Investment
The Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, supports Crossroad Arts with funding of $560,000 through the Organisations Fund 2022 – 2025.
Crossroad Arts is passionate about creating opportunities for people with disability who are serious about developing their skills in contemporary performance. Crossroad Arts offers artistic development programs designed to ensure people grow as artists by providing rigorous, skills-based training in collaboration with professional artists.
Outcomes
Share our stories and celebrate our storytellers
- A new work developed in Queensland and telling personal stories reflecting new perspectives
- Promoted artistic development and collaboration
Drive social change and strengthen communities
- The project respects and embraces difference.
- Created an artistic work that challenged assumptions through inclusive collaboration.
Learnings and reflections
“I had been working with my friend Georgia Cranko on the Breathe In story for many years. We both use different ways to communicate including using hand signing and AAC devices. I use a braille device. Georgia uses a text to speech device.
“We take our time, we slow down and we also need to feel the space and listen to each other. It was wonderful to finally be able to share with the world our show Breathe In - that was the biggest moment for me and I was really proud of our work.
“I found it a bit hard sometimes to tell people my story, because we have both had some difficult and dangerous times when people don’t listen to us.
“Breathe In was an important performance for me that was completely developed from my lived experience. It showed the way I can exist in this alien world without people understanding my communication and how I survive through the hardships of life with no sight or hearing.
“I had a frightening experience where I felt stranded and isolated after being left on the street when a taxi took me to the wrong destination. I could not find my way home, which was frustrating. Communicating is difficult with drivers using my deafblind language and I need support with direction and navigation.
“This was just one of the experiences and stories from my life I wanted to tell the audience and it also shaped the story of Breathe In.
“My favourite moment with Georgia was our way of finding each other in an unknown world by walking through the places and meeting up to get our bearings by signing to each other without any sound or vision such as touching each other and seeing where we are.
Breathe In co-creator Brenden Borellini
“Brenden and I share a particular type of social isolation and fear of the outside world because we get dismissed and not taken seriously, which comes with sort of a lifelong grief and a determination to survive.Breathe In co-creator Georgia Cranko
“Accompanying rather than translating Georgia and Brenden’s poetry into imagery and sound has been a special privilege and responsibility. I sincerely hope that our joint efforts allow a glimpse into a world that holds many visible, but so many more invisible challenges for a great, often silent portion of our population, and that it may inspire understanding and change in us all.”
Freddy Komp, multimedia designer
Feedback
“Being a disabled person who makes theatre and creative decisions is very important to me. We should be able to share our stories and create whatever kind of art we want.
I think artists with disability should have the right to make their own decisions about theatre. The future of artists with disability should be included in all parts of the arts including theatre. That way people can gain an understanding about us as human beings and understand what we have to say. This is important for the disabled community, but also for the wider community as well.”
Breathe In co-creator Brenden Borellini
Tips for others
The artists were keen to experiment with embedding access creatively into the videos made during the development period.
Individuals and arts companies interested in learning more about embedding access in the work they create can get in touch with Crossroad Arts.
What next?
Breathe In is available as a video on demand on the Crossroad Arts website.
A Breathe In highlights video is available on the Crossroad Arts Viemo channel.
Breathe In highlight video from Crossroad Arts Inc on Vimeo.