Shows
With at least two members of the band having a background in theatre, and all having a passion for visual, as well as musical interpretation, Silkweed have developed a niche in multimedia presentations. The first of such performances with the current lineup was at the 2002 Cygnet Folk Festival with "From the Diaspora to a Place in the Heart" A plea for understanding of the refugee experience.
Silkweed is known and loved for historically themed, hauntingly insightful performances.
Using original compositions, rare archival images, poetry and narrative, the ensemble takes its audiences back to important and fascinating events in Tasmania’s past.
FIRE recalls the catastrophic fires of 1967, moving smoothly and soulfully through to the present day and the impact of climate change.
The music encompasses violin, cello, keyboard, flute, banjo, accordion and voice. It is lovingly shaped into electronic soundscapes, soaring improvisations and gentle acoustic songs to tell a deeply intimate tale of loss in a world drained of colour.
An immersive, dramatic and moving narrative brought to life through historical records, memory and anecdote.
“I was eleven. I knew everything. But nature lifted me up to heaven, filled me with the shining beauty of the natural world and then let me fall down hard to the ash-filled earth. A thick black line was drawn under childhood.”
Writers: Marjorie Gadd and Erin Collins
Composers: Marjorie Gadd, Erin Collins and Susan McGowan
Performers and Visuals: Anna Spinaze, Steve Gadd, Dave McNamara and Michael Thomsen
Contemporary photographs: Rob Blakers
Background image: Rob Blakers
Subcategories
Maria - Island of Dreams

Diaspora

Moon Muse

Dance Collaboration

Letters from a distant heart
Silkweed have been funded by Tas Regional Arts to write and develop "Letters from a Distant Heart".
This piece is based on letters written by my (Erin's) father during WW11 as a young soldier and Japanese prisoner of war.
It also reflects through dramatic means and letters the plight of asylum seekers similarly separated from loved ones.
Overture from "Letters from a Distant Heart" by Silkweed. This show features a story told through letters, music and slides, of an Australian soldier in Japanese POW camps and an Afghani asylum seeker in an Australian detention Centre.
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