Founded in 2004, Punctum is a practice led and artist centred live arts organisation on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Castlemaine, Australia.
We create productions and programs which give live arts and experimentation a central place in regional culture.
Our productions are grown regionally and are presented locally, nationally and internationally.
By live arts, we mean experimental and innovative approaches to performance making that propose new ways of working together and/or interacting with audiences and communities. We make the difference, by making differently.
Our year-round program of experiments tests ways of capturing collective concerns and activating change through live arts. We champion regionally grown productions and programs that are bold, participatory, unexpected, and compelling.
A common thread across our productions is the questioning of systems through shared cultural adventure. We see our productions as collective rehearsals of change. Audiences and communities connect with the new forms and languages we create welcoming each work as an expression of a possible future and an invitation to gather and think differently.
We work closely with professionals and knowledge holders across a wide range of disciplines and cultures to develop the practice and profile of regional live arts through our collaborations and partnerships.
Currently, two investigations most often inform our work and our connection to place and people – speculative futures in contexts of migration and displacement, and speculative futures in our climate change context.
Punctum’s in-house multi-year commissioned, curated and created works. We’ve created and produced seventy-one works since 2004.
Our residencies are renowned for the approach we take to hosting. We’ve hosted and mentored over four hundred artists since 2008.
2023 – 2025 (ongoing) – international multiyear project development with Asialink Regional//Regional
2022 – 2024 – multiyear partnership with Australian Art Orchestra for Expanding Fields of Practice mentored intensives
2022 – 2024 – multiyear partnership with Chamber Made and SAtheCollective for Hi-Viz Satellites
2021 – Kultur-All Makaan – Castlemaine State Festival over 10 days
2020 – Kultur-All Makaan – Melbourne Design Week – sole curated regional work in program
2020 – the Way~the Water~theWalk presented in the inaugural global Sustainability, Research and Innovation symposium
2019 – Public Cooling House – WOMAdelaide Greenroom award nomination for Curatorial Invention – Experimental and Contemporary Performance, programmed Castlemaine, Royal Botanic gardens Victoria
2018 – Public Cooling House – showcased regional arts installation and presentation – Artlands – Regional Arts Australia Conference
2017 – Live Art Auction – Winner of two Green Room Awards in Experimental and Contemporary Performance: Innovation in Participatory Performance, and Production Excellence
2017 – Big Walk to Golden Mountain – Sole regionally based arts organisation commissioned for Asia TOPA
2016 – Live Art Auction – Sole regional arts organisation commissioned for Festival of Live Art 2016 (FOLA) Arts House
2015 – Migratory Complex – Sole Australian organisation commissioned for the international program MONS 2015 – European Capital of Culture
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
Accordion Content
