With some artists, collaborations across state lines just aren’t enough. For the likes of Sydney-based composer Ben Walsh, and Melbourne performance company Snuff Puppets, it’s international collaboration that really gets their creative juices flowing; a challenging but rewarding process which results in outcomes that enrich the cultures of multiple countries simultaneously.
Based in the western Melbourne suburb of Footscray, Snuff Puppets are no strangers to cross-cultural exchange. Over the company’s 21 years, their giant, often grotesque puppets have visited Denmark, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea and India, working with local artists in most such locations. Their latest production, Wedhus Gembel, was created in collaboration with artists from Java and explores the tensions between traditional and contemporary Indonesian life and mythology.
