ART. SOUND. MOVEMENT. FASHION. COMMUNITY.
OUR PURPOSE
Spinning Wildfire was created to spotlight the talent of Meanjin/Brisbane’s BIPOC art community, and is proudly run by a team of BIPOC and queer individuals.
Spinning Wildfire was born after our director identified a lack of diversity in Meanjin/Brisbane’s artistic scene. This event is Brisbane’s answer to a need for a safe, fun and diverse space which is welcoming for BIPOC, queer folk and allies.
Our mission is to inspire emerging and present BIPOC artists, our allies and this industry to recognise the power of our art space.
MEET OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM
Spinning Wildfire is created and run by BIPOC and Queer individuals, who recognise the potential of Meanjin/Brisbane’s growing creative community. We want to assist in empowering our city, to advance and enrich a stronger art scene and nightlife identity in Australia. We are ambitious to cultivate an event that is accessible for direct community empowerment.
OUR VALUES
Community-driven: A multicultural community-driven event which was formed to put a spotlight on upcoming bipoc multi-disciplinary creatives who normally aren’t shown front and centre at Brisbane art shows.
Inclusivity: Created and run by women and queer bipoc, who recognise the potential of Brisbane’s growing creative community.
Accessibility: Ticket prices are accessible and start from $10. First nations and BIPOC trans people are also provided free entry. The venue, VENTSpace, is located in the inner-city and is accessible by public transport.
Giving back: A segment of the profits are donated to partner charity Sisters Inside, a Brisbane-based not-for-profit organisation which provides support for women and children who have been put into prison due to difficult circumstances.
WHAT IS BIPOC?
We ulitise the term "BIPOC" - Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, as we feel it best aligns with the representation of our artist collective.
The term aims to reinforce the fact that not all People of Color have the same experience and cultural identities.
BIPOC is pronounced “buy pock” (“pock” as in “pocket”). You don’t pronounce each letter separately, so you wouldn’t say “B-I-P-O-C.”
OUR TRIBUTE
What does 'Spinning Wildfire' come from?
While we recognise there were many creatives and multidisciplinary artists that have remained unrecorded, unrecognised and unacknowledged. Spinning Wildfire is named after the first historically-recorded male and female black artists.
‘Spinning’ comes from African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner’s acclaimed art piece ‘Spinning by Firelight’, and ‘Wildfire’ was the name given to African-American sculptor Mary Edmonia Lewis. Both artists reached international success within the 19th century, despite living in a timeframe where blackness could not be expressed safely.
We pay tribute to our ancestors who risked their lives before us, so that today, we can come together to celebrate our culture, our art, our expression, us.