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How funding woes inspired a new home for live art

Launceston’s Assembly 197 is a new approach to art-making that celebrates the spirit of community and collaboration.

21 Feb 2023 10:45

Richard Watts

Performing Arts

‘After Erika Eiffel’ by Loren Kronemyer was the first collaboration between Tasdance and SITUATE. Photo: Julian Frichot.

The loss of operational funding can be a fatal blow for some arts organisations, but it can also be a catalyst for new beginnings.

Launched in 2022, Assembly 197 is a recent addition to the arts landscape of lutruwita/Tasmania. The Launceston-based home for live performance was formed in the wake of professional dance company Tasdance and Hobart’s Salamanca Arts Centre both losing their four-year Australia Council funding in 2020.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts