OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

-focused arts festival in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, presented by the

Adelaide Festival Centre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...

for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

from across Asia as well as outdoor events and

food stall A food kiosk or food booth (also food stand, temporary food service facility) is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade ...

s. In some years it has focused on specific regions or countries in Asia. Since 2017, the festival has included the Lucky Dumpling Market, comprising numerous food stalls set up along the river bank. From 2018 to 2020, the event included JLF Adelaide, an offshoot of the

Jaipur Literary Festival The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each year in the month of January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival. The Diggi Palace ...

, and in 2021 OzAsia Festival presented In Other Words, a digital and in-person literature festival.

History

After the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

wiped a -million debt from Adelaide's Festival Centre in the 2005–2006 State Budget, the Festival Centre began a five-year financial rebuilding programme. OzAsia Festival resulted from the Government of South Australia and the Adelaide Festival Centre partnering in 2007 to create a new arts festival of national and cultural significance, and was one of several ideas to revive the Adelaide Festival Centre. The inaugural OzAsia Festival was held 21 September–7 October 2007, and stood on two key guiding principles: the contribution of Australian artists and performers who identify with an Asian cultural heritage and the constant stream of collaboration between Australia and its regional neighbours. Its program was built on four key pillars: performing arts, visual arts, cultural debate, and community involvement. The first OzAsia Festival program was produced by Executive Director, Nick Skibinski, who was succeeded by Jacinta Thompson as Festival Director the following year. From 2010 – 2015, the festival undertook a country of focus initiative, each year emphasising a particular country to grow stronger cultural ties between Australia and key countries in the region. 2010 it was Korea; 2011, Japan; 2012, India; 2013, Malaysia; and 2014, Thompson's last program, China. In 2015, Joseph Mitchell became the OzAsia Festival Artistic Director. He shifted the program rationale from focussing on a single country each year to instead showcase the best contemporary art and artists from across Asia, including the Middle East (Western Asia). Artists such as Akram Khan,

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (born 1976) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer and director. He has made over 50 choreographic pieces and received two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, three Ballet Tanz awards for best choreographer ...

Ryoji Ikeda Ryoji Ikeda (池田亮司 ''Ikeda Ryōji'', born 1966) is a Japanese visual and sound artist who currently lives and works in Paris, France. Ikeda's music is concerned primarily with sound in a variety of "raw" states, such as sine tones and noi ...

, Meng Jinghui,

Melati Suryodarmo Melati Suryodarmo (born 12 July 1969) is an Indonesian durational performance artist. Her physically demanding performances make use of repetitive motions and often last for many hours, sometimes reaching "a level of factual absurdity". Suryoda ...

and Teater Garasi have all presented Australian premieres at the OzAsia Festival. HKDragon2 2016

In May 2020

Annette Shun Wah Annette Shun Wah (born 26 March 1958) has an extensive career in the Australian screen and performance industries, particularly in television, film and theatre. She is a freelance writer, director, actress, and broadcaster, and since 2013, execut ...

was appointed director of the festival, taking over from Joseph Mitchell. The festival in November 2020 was cancelled owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Timeline 2020 On 11 March, the SA state go ...

. In 2021 it went ahead from 21 October to 7 November, though some shows were cancelled due to COVID-19. It was reported that festival organisers also cancelled the participation of the Hong Kong Cultural Association of South Australia due to its use of yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the 2014

Umbrella Movement The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...

Events

The Moon Lantern Parade is a free public event and an integral part of OzAsia Festival that celebrates the

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Eas ...

, which is an official harvest festival traditionally celebrated by the Chinese and Vietnamese. The Moon Lantern parade begins after sunset, and is followed by fireworks over the

River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...

. OzAsia films are shown at the

Mercury Cinema Mercury CX, formerly Media Resource Centre (MRC), is a not-for-profit film and television training organisation based in the Lion Arts Centre on the corner of Morphett Street, Adelaide, Morphett Street and North Terrace, Adelaide, South Austral ...

Morphett Street Morphett Street is a main street in the west of the Adelaide city centre, city centre of Adelaide, South Australia, parallel to King William Street, Adelaide, King William Street and numbered from north to south. At its northern end it is part ...

. In 2015, Adelaide's Riverbank Precinct was transformed for the first time into a hawker-style market with Asian food, themed bars, roving entertainers and free performances every night of the OzAsia Festival. The Adelaide Night Noodle Markets featured for the first time in 2015 at the Adelaide Festival Centre Precinct as part of OzAsia Festival. For eleven nights, patrons were able to sample Asian cuisine from the variety of Asian food stalls. It was the first time the Night Noodle Markets have run in

, following successes in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In 2016, OzAsia Festival presented a special outdoor live music concert series in the riverbank precinct's

Elder Park Elder Park is a public open space in the city of Adelaide, South Australia on the southern bank of the River Torrens and that is bordered by the Adelaide Festival Centre and North Terrace. The park is named after the Elder family who wer ...

to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. The free event ran for ten days and featured top international performers from across Asia. In 2017, the team behind

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

's "Gluttony" venue hub created and presented The Lucky Dumpling Market for the 2017 OzAsia Festival, which was located on the Adelaide Riverbank Lawns beside the Riverbank Footbridge. The Lucky Dumpling Market showcased authentic Asian cuisine, market stalls, premium wines and beers, and played host to local and international musicians. For the first time in 2018, OzAsia Festival hosted the South-Asian institution

Jaipur Literature Festival The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each year in the month of January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival. The Diggi Palace ...

, the world's largest free literary festival. In 2021, OzAsia Festival hosted "In Other Words", an in-person event that shifted to a predominantly digital focus due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2022 OzAsia Festival celebrated its 15th year with more than 175,000 attendances across ticketed and free events. This year’s program, under the artistic direction of

, featured more than 500 community, national and international artists from 8 countries, and included 10 world premieres, one Australian premiere and seven Adelaide premieres.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{Adelaide Festivals Arts festivals in Australia Festivals in Adelaide 2007 establishments in Australia Annual events in Australia Spring (season) events in Australia