Country Arts SA recognises that we are living and creating on First Nations Lands and we are committed to working together to honour their living cultures.
Curtain raised on our 2025 season
As the curtain starts to fall on 2024, Country Arts SA now turns the spotlight to its new season of inspiring arts experiences and building on established programs to elevate and accelerate the careers of regional artists.
In 2025, Country Arts SA will continue to build on its great work in the regions by championing and showcasing art that is made with local communities, celebrating what’s great about South Australia.
Minister for the Arts Andrea Michaels launched the Country Arts SA 2025 program at the Middleback Arts Centre in Whyalla ahead of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s first performance of its regional South Australia tour on October 1.
A special highlight was the Minister’s announcement that the State Government is providing additional funding for circus company Gravity and Other Myths to bring its show Ten Thousand Hours to each of Country Arts SA’s art centres in Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark and Mount Gambier in March-April 2025.
“The arts are a vital part of our communities right across South Australia,” Minister Michaels said.
“No matter where we are, we all look to the arts for inspiration, connection and entertainment. The Malinauskas Government is committed to ensuring all South Australians can enjoy arts and cultural experiences and Country Arts’ annual program is key to ensuring access to the arts for regional South Australians.
“The 2025 program will bring exciting and thought-provoking performances, events and exhibitions to regional SA.
“It’s particularly exciting to be able to announce we are providing additional funding for Gravity and Other Myths to bring their new show Ten Thousand Hours to Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark and Mount Gambier in 2025.”
The SA-based company last toured to the regions in 2018, with the production only able to perform in Whyalla. Now audiences throughout the regions can enjoy the production that critics and audiences worldwide have been raving about.
Debuting at the Adelaide Fringe, and fresh from touring the world including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gravity and Other Myth’s latest work is a tribute to the dedication and countless hours needed to realise our physical ambitions. Eight world-class acrobats investigate physical skill – how we obtain it, how we perfect it, and how it can transform our lives. This is a love letter to our bodies and the amazing things they let us do every day.
Country Arts SA Chief Executive Anthony Peluso is also eagerly anticipating next year’s program.
“Country Arts SA’s priority is to champion South Australian artists and the work they make, to present it on our arts centres’ stages, and in small halls, galleries and exhibition spaces across the state,” he said.
“Our 2025 program celebrates the dynamic cultures of regional communities and shares world-class arts experiences and artists across the state. We could not be more excited for it.”
The 2025 program showcases the work of First Nations artists in music, children’s theatre, dance and visual arts, providing myriad opportunities for regional communities and audiences to be immersed in South Australian First Nations arts and culture. There are numerous opportunities for all artists, at various stages of their career to develop their practice and craft.
Blak Country is a showcase of First Nations country music artists curated by Barkindji Songwoman Nancy Bates. Drawing on her own experience, including four years on the road with Archie Roach, Bates describes the importance of the country music genre in the development and continuation of contemporary song practice. It will tour to all four arts centres in July – August.
Saltbush – by Insite Arts – centres on the journey of two friends and their spiritual guide on foot as they cross Australian landscapes – river country, an urban landscape, desert, and the sea. Through its use of sensor and infrared cameras, Saltbush allows young audiences to interact, play and perform in the show. Saltbush will be performed in Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Roxby Downs in April.
The free film program Nunga Screen – which shares and celebrates First Nations culture, stories and language – returns in May, spanning National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week. Nunga Screen will tour regional SA from big screen cinemas to remote communities.
Saltbush Country which celebrates great regional stories with fantastic female First Nations artists, Josephine Lennon, Marli Macumba, Juanella McKenzie, Deanna Newchurch, Lynette Newchurch, Sandra Saunders and Heather Shearer continues its journey around the state. Select works are currently on display at Middleback Arts Centre until November 24. The exhibition will then head to Goolwa, Murray Bridge, Bordertown and Mount Gambier.
The 2025 program also sees Country Arts SA again joining forces with other major South Australian arts organisations including the State Theatre Company South Australia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Gravity and Other Myths, Patch Theatre and Windmill Theatre through to individuals such as Charlee Watt from Port Lincoln, Lewis Major from Mount Gambier, and small and independent companies.
Looking for Alibrandi (Brink Productions)
Award-winning director Stephen Nicolazzo brought his stage adaptation of Melina Marchetta’s iconic novel and ground-breaking film about third generation Italian teenager Josie Alibrandi juggling grades, boys, and the claustrophobia of an overbearing Nonna and saintly mother in her last year of school to rave reviews in 2022. This hilarious, spirited, and heart-warming production returns next year for a national tour. With live passata making, traditional Italian music and a soundtrack of Australian pop classics, Looking for Alibrandi is a vibrant theatrical experience. Touring to all four arts centres in September.
Lien is a unique one-on-one performance from award-winning SA choreographer Lewis Major which encapsulates the beauty of human connection and the power of shared moments. In this intimate exchange, one audience member and one dancer come together on an empty stage for a very personal 10-minute encounter. The dancer crafts a spontaneous performance inspired by the pair’s conversation. Lienpromises to be an extraordinary performance that will leave a lasting impact on all those who experience it. Lien will tour to Coonawarra, Naracoorte, Mt Gambier and Pt Lincoln in April.
Beating up the Beatles sees powerhouse singer Charlee Watt, alongside her fab band, shining fresh light on iconic Beatles songs. Channeling Ella Fitzgerald and other legends of the jazz world, Charlee creates an evening of funky and fresh jazz arrangements in this toe-tapping cabaret show. Beating up the Beatles is touring Port Pirie and Whyalla in October.
Moss Piglet is an explosive portrait of the world’s most resilient and curious critters – tardigrades. This Windmill Theatre Company production will take young audiences from jelly-filled petri dishes to a volcano, Arctic glaciers, and even the moon. Playful and thrilling, Moss Piglet is an epic new work about how even the tiniest of things can be the strongest. Touring to all four arts centres in May – June.
Patch Theatre’s Wonderverse is an innovative, interactive journey through a universe of light. Young audiences will travel through a tunnel of mesmerising fireflies, create their own percussive masterpieces, consider the vastness of the universe, and control a magnificent sound and light wonderland. Wonderverse is touring to all four Country Arts SA arts centres in August.
HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe is continuing its journey across the state heading to Mount Gambier and Goolwa next year. The visual arts exhibition brings together five artists (Chris De Rosa, Lara Tilbrook, Ellen Trevorrow, Clancy Warner and Laura Wills) with strong connections to regional SA. Their art addresses issues of systemic (mis)management, rising sea levels, migration policies, catastrophic fire events and ongoing colonialism.
But wait there’s more. Other 2025 projects include:
Regional Arts Residency
Breaking Ground 2025 exhibition by Susie Althorp
Island Welcome
Nature Studio
French Film Festival
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Padam Padam – Southern Indian Film Festival
Garage Girls
Music in video: ‘I Belong’ by Nancy Bates