PAST PROJECTS
Tinsel
Tinsel is a jam-packed night of hilarious performances and a delicious Christmas-in-summer inspired feast!
Presented at the Mission to Seafarers amongst the beautiful historically-listed Spanish-style architecture, we put on a 3-course dinner & show every night in the lead up to Christmas. Our drag queens prepared brand new acts and our hosts were some of Australia's freshest comedic talents.
Artists involved: Uff, Vin Tagè, Miss Friby, Dazza and Kief, Lou Wall and Jack Hardmen.
Dec 2021.
Camp
Camp is a portrait exhibition and documentary series that celebrates and raises the profiles of 30 LGBTQIA+ artists who are living and working throughout regional Victoria.
The project depicts the lived experience of existing regionally as a queer person. By highlighting this experience, the project will contribute to the shifting mindsets of non-queer regional folk, young queer people growing up regionally and queer people living in metropolitan areas.
The portraits are taken by Timothy Christopher Ryan and the final product was presented at Melbourne Pride on the 13th of Feb 2022.
Scratch Warehouse
In 2015 Scratch Arts operated out of a large warehouse space in North Melbourne offering artist studios, a theatre, gallery, photography studio and a 300 capacity events space.
For two years Scratch Arts produced a diverse range of exhibitions, theatre shows, runway shows and events that drew staggering numbers. The space offered affordable opportunities for emerging and established Melbourne creatives whilst becoming a community hub for contemporary and queer cultural gatherings.
Scratch Arts Hub
Over 2 weeks at the Mission to Seafarers we had 48 theatre shows, 5 breathwork sessions, 5 light & sound shows, 2 life drawing sessions, a beautiful exhibition and an amazing Blankë Pop party to wrap it all up.
In the middle of a pandemic we were able to pull off a huge hub of visual and performing arts from some of Victoria's best contemporary and queer artists. It was an absolute delight to have just shy of 3000 people come through the space and experience some wonderful art from the 104 artists involved.
Many thanks to the support from City of Melbourne, State Government of Victoria, The Mission to Seafarers - Victoria and The Village Festival.
Burning Seed
Each year, since 2017, Scratch Arts has built, managed and presented a theatre and nightly cabarets at Australia's largest regional Burning Man event.
Working with a team of 30, each year we have created unique, contemporary and risque entertainment for a festival of over 5000 people. Our nightly cabarets have included performers from across Australia and the world - with some of the standouts being; NICA graduates with elaborate aerial performances, magicians sawing audience members in half, multiple burlesque dancers performing whilst washing a firetruck, a flame-throwing trumpeter and a piano built out of volunteer audience members' bodies connected to an elaborate system of wires.
Our purpose built space has also provided many workshops, life drawing sessions, late night dance parties and a huge interactive UV reactive black-light installation called The Night Garden. This installation provides an otherworldly experience to escape to; built from 90% recycled materials it is a labyrinth among the trees where guests are invited to play or relax within the many hammocks.
Explosive Self
Working with the City of Yarra, Melbourne’s top surrealist performance artists - The Mighty Caesar, Marija The Romantic, Louise Purcell and Timothy Christopher Ryan - present acts that transition from a realistic representation of the routine/ritual through to abstracted and satirical depictions.
These series of short films explore the wild places our mind takes us when we’re forced into an isolated introspection. Through physicality they explore the authentic self and the document the lived experiences in Australian Covid-19 lockdown.
Directed by Timothy Christopher Ryan.
Misfit Mansion
Over the 2018 - 2019 summer, Scratch Arts held 10 special events in conjunction with Rubix Warehouse in Brunswick.
These events had a specific focus on artists from the Brunswick community and the surrounding suburbs - featuring performers, musicians, DJs, visual artists and crafting artists.
Misfit Mansion brought together a diverse audience who came together to dance, create, relax and be entertained as they wind down, wire up and weird out on the dancefloor.
The Business
of Art
This free two-day workshop, supported by the Victorian Government, has been developed to improve the business practices of emerging and mid-career artists. Our 4 facilitators presented the workshop in 14 towns across regional Victoria over July, August and September 2021.
Over two days the workshop facilitators addressed a range of practical skills to assist artists in working towards generating a sustainable income from their practice.
Facilitators: Elizabeth Dawson-Smith, Timothy Christopher Ryan, Gerard Geer and Kathryn (Camila Cream)
Contemporary AF
Your everyday life has been abstracted, documented and celebrated through the works of these diverse artists.
They've delved deep into the spaces where we feel most comfortable to truly express our identities - The nightclubs, our bedrooms, our kitchens and our love-lives.
This group exhibition presented as a part of Midsumma 2021 showcases the artists making waves in the queer contemporary arts scene.
Step inside this delicious club kid fusion of art, burlesque and drag as our dear hostess, Pistolina, contorts all facets of her queer expression through non-stop performance art.
This is one epic world of weird that encompasses her unique painting abilities, athleticism on the pole, the beauty of her drag and the grace of her burlesque.
Created and Performed by Esther Yann.
Club Pistol
The butterflies and wide eyes of that first meeting... will this be the one? Are we compatible for long walks on the beach? All of the romantic fantasies explode in a comedic, theatrical event showcasing the real life drama that is dating. This is the first date where everything goes completely sideways and all we can do is embrace the weird.
Performed by Alex Rouse (male lead), Anna Burley (female lead) and Blake Aaron (waitress).
Written by Louise Purcell and directed by Timothy Ryan.
Date Night
A musical journey through conscious connected breath.
Passionate Alchemy of Breath facilitator, River Moore, will guide you through a transformative journey using music, conscious-connected breath and intuitive movement. This lively session, designed for all experience levels, will clear both physical tension and emotional blocks held in the subconscious - bringing you back home to yourself.
The Breathwork Sessions
