Brisbane International Arts Festival – Performance and Workshops

The College participated in the 2018 Brisbane International Arts Festival as a celebration of Harmony Week – an Australian federal government initiative that aims to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity and engender belonging and community regardless of race, religion, or culture. The Festival aims to share cultural experience from around the world with Queensland community. It will be presenting exceptional artists from local and overseas, include folkloric and ethical dances, arts exhibitions, painting competition, documentaries, cultural workshops, orchestral concerts and theatre performances.

On 10 March, Calamvale hosted the Taipei Puppet Theater Performance, which captivated audiences with traditional puppet performing techniques showcased on an innovative and sophisticated stage. Puppet theatre is a traditional performing arts which is associated with cultural, recreational and economic activities in Taiwan. The tradition has been passed down for hundreds of years, with old folk stories that are still relevant to our young audience.

The theatre performers also held an engaging and immersive workshop for our Year 6 students. The participants gained an understanding of the history of puppet performance and experienced the beauty of this form of art. They students learnt to control and manipulate the puppets’ motion, and drew links between hand movements and the how characters express their feelings and emotions. The hands-on learning experience was enjoyable for all involved.

The College was also one of only three schools in Queensland to participate in the Lantern Festival, a stunning visual spectacular hosted by the World Arts & Multi-Culture Inc. Our students also entered into the Lantern Painting competition; several winners received awards and had their lanterns exhibited at the Queensland Taiwan Centre in Sunnybank.