Big hART’s Blue Angel

In 2011, ICAF-5 opened with Ngapartji Ngapartji, a production by one of Australia’s leading arts and social change companies, Big hART. Big hART’s work seemed to extend far beyond the regular length and reach of community arts projects as we knew them, making the company unique in the international world of community art. It’s why at ICAF-6 we gladly created a platform to explore the possibilities for a new international co-production on the plight of invisible seafarers on giant container ships that transport goods around the world to satisfy consumer needs. Entitled Blue Angel, Big hART is journeying through this long-term community cultural engagement process with artists and the seafaring communities of major port cities around Australia and beyond. Recently, Big hART’s short film SEAFARERS was featured by the International Maritime Organization for the International Day of the Seafarer. We are as proud as they are about these voices being heard across the world, and we hope that Blue Angel will continue to re-invent itself with local input in other port cities before it will hopefully moor in the port of Rotterdam for our next festival in March 2017.