For the past two weeks I've been volunteering at the Perth International Arts Festival. I'm only home in Perth for three and a half weeks, so you may well ask why the hell I'm spending my time working and not getting paid, when there's a million other things I could (and probably should) be doing.
Well first, as you may have gathered, I'm easily bored. I also have a tendency, when faced with a lot of free time and not a lot of structure, to be lazy as hell. Last summer I spent three months at home, unemployed and waiting for my contract to start, mostly spending my time playing Xbox and eating peanut butter with a spoon.
This is not how I wanted to spend my time on this occasion. Especially since it took a good few months to shed the kilos caused by stagnant peanut butter consumption.
So I got in contact with an old friend who works at the Festival and offered my services. So to speak.
I expected a few freebies and a nice reference for my resume in return, but I'm getting so much more. I hadn't realised, but I'd been suffering from Cultural Starvation. Not that there isn't any culture in China - far from it, but after ten months I'd pretty much had my fill, and I was sick of the false and cheesy environment in which I was working. I needed some real art, and to feel inspired again as an Artist.
Working at the Festival, amongst so many passionate people, people who are really excited about seeing some obscure act from Argentina, or an Iranian film, or in my case a beautiful piece of theatre by a company from Switzerland, has reinvigorated my creativity in ways I didn't expect. I'm learning so much, even as I sit there laminating posters or labelling stationary.
These guys love the Arts so much, you can't help but be inspired.
Not only do I get to see these amazing shows and acts from around the world, I get to sit amongst passionate and enthusiastic audiences who remind me of why I started performing in the first place. Just the fact that there are these people out there, who understand and appreciate good art or theatre or music, gives me hope that I can give something to someone out there in the big scary world.
Talking to one of my temporary colleagues the other day, we were discussing why supporting the Arts (yep, with a capital letter) is important, and we hit on the fact that unlike other not-for-profit organisations, the Arts benefits everybody in one way or another. It might highlight an important issue, change somebody's thinking, bring a new or different culture into someone's life, give someone a moment of pure delight - but above all, help spread these ideas around.
Yep, I'm all for spreading things around. Share the love, I say!
So as I climb down off my soapbox, I just want to say how grateful I am to be an Artist, and how grateful I am to have the opportunity to work with such wonderful and dedicated people.
Viva la Arte! Viva la Festival!
If you want to feel as awesome as I do, and you're in Perth, go see some of the shows. You won't regret it.
www.perthfestival.com.au
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