Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Darwin Street Art Festival Director David Collins talks about the expansion of the event

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Darwin Street Art Festival Director David Collins talks about the expansion of the event · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Tell you what I think that a lot of people
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: love walking around the CBD and also the suburbs and
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: seeing the Darwin Street Art Festival. Now it is launching
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: again this August, and joining me in the studio to
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit more about it is the
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  Speaker 1: director of the Street Art Festival, David Collins. Good morning
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  Speaker 1: to you, good morning, thanks so much for joining us
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  Speaker 1: in the studio.
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  Speaker 2: David. The Street Art Festival.
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  Speaker 1: It's been a real hat, hasn't it since it first
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  Speaker 1: kicked off.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely well received, and yeah, I didn't think
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  Speaker 3: it would be too hard of a sell once people
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  Speaker 3: seeing the big murals up, but they're fantastic.
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, some of the murals that are around the place,
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  Speaker 1: I reckon are just unbelievable. And you see people around
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  Speaker 1: the city lining up getting selfies, taking photos, which is
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  Speaker 1: so nice to say.
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  Speaker 3: Constantly, constantly, I reckon you always. I can't walk down
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  Speaker 3: a lane without seeing at least one person they're taking photos.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's a really great thing about it.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know that anybody really anticipated that with these
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  Speaker 1: great murals up on the different walls throughout the city
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  Speaker 1: and also in the suburbs. How big an impact it
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  Speaker 1: would have sort of just in the way that it looks.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think it's And it also changes the
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  Speaker 3: way people move through the city. You see people jigzagging
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  Speaker 3: through lanes and then popping out in arcades that they
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  Speaker 3: probably wouldn't have found. So there's that impact and then
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  Speaker 3: kind of lanes that I don't know, we're a bit
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  Speaker 3: forgotten in areas that Once a murals up there, people
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  Speaker 3: look at it differently, and then little cafes want to
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  Speaker 3: pop up there. They don't want to be on the
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  Speaker 3: main road, they want to be in the back lane
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  Speaker 3: amongst the street.
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  Speaker 2: I reckonly.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's a great thing, you know that we've
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  Speaker 1: done around Darwin City, but it's also moved into the
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  Speaker 1: suburbs now as well.
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  Speaker 2: Whereabouts.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so last year was our first year to venture
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  Speaker 3: out of that city sort of zone and we hit Nightcliffe,
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  Speaker 3: Walagi or was it Unguri or was getting mixed up
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  Speaker 3: from Agament and I get other other w Yeah, so
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  Speaker 3: out that way, Nightcliffe was the main area we targeted.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we've got a few more this year at Nightcliffe And.
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  Speaker 1: So how many like how many pieces of beautiful artwork
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  Speaker 1: are we expecting to see the years I see.
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  Speaker 3: I always start with the number and I blow it
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  Speaker 3: out of the water because I'm hopeless, and I just yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I always doing more, Yeah, always more.
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  Speaker 2: That's good. I think that's what people want to hear.
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  Speaker 2: They want there to be more of it.
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  Speaker 4: My accountant, does one hear that? Because I fan paying
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  Speaker 4: for them?
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  Speaker 1: Now, mate, tell us who, like, is it just you
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  Speaker 1: or how many artists are involved in all of these murals?
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  Speaker 3: I guess I used to identify as an artist, but
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  Speaker 3: now I'm not chasing artists around, so it'll be careful
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  Speaker 3: what you wish for. And no, So there's probably in
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  Speaker 3: my team, there's there's about three of us, four of
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  Speaker 3: us core, and then we have artists from all around
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  Speaker 3: the country and the world come paint with local artists.
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  Speaker 3: So always a big, big focus on local. Maybe fifty
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  Speaker 3: percent local at least.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good, I think, and wonderful, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: see some of our indigenous artists as well.
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  Speaker 2: I'm assuming being able to be showcase.
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  Speaker 4: Very highly represented.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we have yeah, the team has indigenous people
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  Speaker 3: working with us, and we have a heap of local
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  Speaker 3: yeah artists.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I understand that the theme this year is looking forward,
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  Speaker 1: So what is that going to mean and how is
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  Speaker 1: that sort of going to translate through some of the
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  Speaker 1: art that we see.
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  Speaker 3: We love to just have like a loose theme every year,
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  Speaker 3: and this one, I think is it was an obvious
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  Speaker 3: choice as far as like we don't want to look
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  Speaker 3: back at COVID and all that, so it's like, where
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  Speaker 3: are we going from here?
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  Speaker 4: What have we learned?
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, also like we've we've had a lot of
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  Speaker 3: territory stuff in the past. Yeah, like lots of birds
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  Speaker 3: and stuff, and we're kind of we're full there, so
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  Speaker 3: we're kind of I don't know, I'm kind of standing
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  Speaker 3: towards a little slightly more I don't know, abstract or
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: You want.
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  Speaker 2: Something, so what do you reckon? We are going to
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  Speaker 2: say you have.
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  Speaker 4: To come and check it out.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got I've got some exciting artists. I'm I'm
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  Speaker 3: still although I'm looking for it.
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  Speaker 4: I'm scared. I was like announcing people because so many things.
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  Speaker 2: Have changed over the last couple of years.
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  Speaker 3: I don't see anything game pair shape. But yeah, we've
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  Speaker 3: got some very very exciting walls and artists and even
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  Speaker 3: different surfaces.
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  Speaker 1: Right, So not just sort of the sides of buildings
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  Speaker 1: or some of those more conventional things.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we've got sides of buildings. We've also got flaws
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  Speaker 4: and ground. Yeah that sounds really good.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, how awesome.
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  Speaker 1: Now, tell us how long does it take for some
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  Speaker 1: of these artists to paint some of these massive murals
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  Speaker 1: that we say.
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  Speaker 4: You know, some of the real big ones.
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  Speaker 3: Two to three weeks? Yeah, yeah, some of the smiles.
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  Speaker 3: Every artist paints at different paces too.
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  Speaker 1: So just see how they go and how they track along.
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  Speaker 1: How many people do we have any idea? I guess
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  Speaker 1: it's hard to tell, isn't it. How many people sort
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  Speaker 1: of come to the Darwin Street Art Festival because it
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  Speaker 1: is such a moving beast in the sense that people
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  Speaker 1: can just sort of walk through it their own time,
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  Speaker 1: anytime of the year.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah exactly.
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  Speaker 3: That's a difference, you know, And I love the Fringe
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: Fest of all Love Darn Festival, but their audiences are
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  Speaker 3: just when it's on it's on. But we we're on
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  Speaker 3: twenty four hours, three hundred and sixty five days a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we're always there, you know, so nighttime, daytime, all throughout
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  Speaker 3: the year, when it's raining or dry season.
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  Speaker 4: It's it's there and people are still engaging with it.
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  Speaker 2: Good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Oh well, so it all kicks off August, So from
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  Speaker 1: what I can see, starts on August twelve in the suburbs,
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  Speaker 1: with the CBD area kicking off on the twenty sixth
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  Speaker 1: of August.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we've got a bunch of QR codes and
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  Speaker 3: information on all the older new murals now, so you
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  Speaker 3: want more info.
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  Speaker 2: You can jump on there.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you go check them out.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: And that is the Darwin Street Up Festival app. You
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  Speaker 1: can check that out and you'll be able to find
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  Speaker 1: some more involved. It looks like there'll be temporary walls
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  Speaker 1: obviously with pop up will pop up throughout the festival,
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  Speaker 1: along with some hidden artwork as well around the CB day.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you got to go looking for it, you got
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  Speaker 4: to go. Hi.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got we've got some exciting three D stuff,
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  Speaker 3: small stuff, these temporary walls, which is like, yeah, we're
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: just creating like these more outdoor galleries and spaces that
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  Speaker 3: you wouldn't normally see yep. So yeah, and it's also
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  Speaker 3: a stepping stone for emerging artist to jump on those,
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  Speaker 3: show us what they can do. And then yeah, they'll
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  Speaker 3: jump on the wall next to you.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely well, David Collins, the Street Art Festival director,
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  Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for coming
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  Speaker 1: in and I'm sure we'll chat to you again closer
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  Speaker 1: or once it sort of kicks off as well.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you,