Jacob Boehme: Artist, Director, and the Australia Council’s New Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Fellow

Jacob Boehme is a Melbourne born artist, director and producer of Narangga (Yorke Peninsula) and Kaurna (Adelaide Plains) heritage.

Currently the Creative Director of Melbourne’s YIRRAMBOI First Nations Arts Festival, Jacob has a 20 year history working in contemporary and cultural Indigenous Arts sectors as a director, producer and theatre maker. Jacob has created multi-disciplinary theatre, dance and ceremony for stage, screen, large-scale public events and festivals.

“This Fellowship helps me to work more deeply with Elders and thought leaders locally and internationally about how we can build future culture based economies led by First Peoples, that has the potential to influence how we practice the ‘business’ of the arts. Receiving the Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship is an extremely humbling acknowledgement of my work to date, particularly of my work in founding the Yirramboi Festival – building best practice models of presenting First Nations arts led by First Peoples.”

As part of his Fellowship, Jacob will undertake a program of strategic international residencies where he will partner with international First Nations and non-Indigenous host organisations such as Ontario Presents (CAN), Pulima Festival (Taiwan), and the Manchester International Festival – MIF (UK). Here, he will develop strategic international co-commissioning partnerships for the development & presentation of First Nations contemporary arts.

Jacob will also deepen connections between Australian First Peoples & international First Nations artists and organisations by establishing a First Peoples Advisory. This is integral to his longer term aim to develop a blue print plan for a First Nations commissioning festival model.

Jacob’s Fellowship is a focused plan of industry connection, strategic discussions, consultation and deep listening.  He aims to increase local and international platforms for experimental and cross-disciplinary First Nations work as well as provide artists with greater resources to produce ambitious works of scale.

“Receiving the Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship is an extremely humbling acknowledgement of my work to date, particularly of my work in founding the Yirramboi Festival – building best practice models of presenting First Nations arts led by First Peoples.”

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