Challenging the invisible

Theatre director, performer and arts leader Belinda Locke’s latest work Under My Tongue focuses on the invisible aspects of people’s lives, with and without disability.

“I’ll be taking this work to Berlin as part of the Australia Berlin Arts Exchange. During our travels I’ll be hiding messages throughout the city, asking people who find them to respond about challenges in their lives that may be invisible to others. Responses will be collected and presented at the closing party and performance,” the 27-year-old, Melbourne-based, Belinda said.

The inspiration for the work is partly found in Belinda’s experience of Fibromyalgia. It’s a condition where people experience symptoms that can include widespread pain in the body which is often accompanied by fatigue and problems with memory and concentration. And it’s not always visible as a disability.

“Fibromyalgia has impacted on my life in different ways. I developed the illness around 8 years ago, which was actually brought on by my work in the arts. I was in a student theatre production where I had to get into an ice bath each performance. I developed pneumonia which later resulted in Fibromyalgia,” Belinda said.

“It has changed the way I work, and I pace out my projects more.”

Belinda is an accomplished performer and has worked as an artist on creative projects with Australian Theatre for Young People, Australian Theatre Company in Los Angeles, Sydney Theatre Company and numerous productions for major festivals such as the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

In 2014 she was selected for the Australia Council for the Arts’ Sync Leadership Program, and in 2016, awarded the Rose Byrne Scholarship for Emerging Female Leader in the Arts. She is currently completing her Ph.D. at Queensland University of Technology and serves as Chair of the Crack Theatre Festival, and as Deputy Chair of Arts Access Australia.

She’ll be co-delivering the keynote address at the Meeting Place event at the Australia Berlin Arts Exchange with Australian Circus/Physical Theatre Performer, Sarah Houbolt.

“I’ll be looking at disability-led arts practices and visible and invisible spaces within that. This will include performance practice and leadership by people with disability, also acknowledging that whether someone has access requirements is not always visible to others,” she said.

“There is often a lot of pressure on the person with disability to self-advocate. Building awareness can be exhausting, but the more widely this awareness is built within the general public and arts community, hopefully, the easier it will become,” Belinda said.

“Leadership can be from the center and is not necessarily through a hierarchy.”

Many arts leaders with disability in Australia are interested in alternative models of leadership, Belinda said.

The Australia Berlin Arts Exchange also offers the opportunity to learn from other artists with disability.

“Through sharing our stories, we can be learning more from each other,” Belinda said.

“The key thing for me to acknowledge was that I’m creating a new landscape for myself that works for me, and doesn’t have to meet other people’s expectations.”

Belinda is looking forward to the arts exchange in Germany, where 8 other Australian artists will be participating in performances and forums.

“I think it will be beneficial for us as artists in imagining new possibilities by learning about what’s happening elsewhere. We will bring those new learnings and possibilities back to Australia.”

You can follow Belinda Locke on Facebook here.

The Australia Berlin Arts Exchange is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications and the Arts’ Catalyst-Australian Arts and Culture Fund. AAA’s Meeting Place hosts in Berlin are Kulturprojekte Berlin – Diversity.Arts.Culture, Berliner Projektburo fur Diversitatsentwicklung. Berlinklusion – Network for Accessibility in Arts and Culture are AAA’s major project partners.