The rumours are confirmed that Woodfordia will turn into a race track this year, if only for one day. One of the 16 masterclasses presented in the second year of Woodfordia’s Artisan Camp pays tribute to the age-old Australian tradition of go kart building. Over a weekend, families will work together with fourth generation maker Aaron Barton to build a dream machine go kart using found, scavenged and recycled material. A grand race will then be held at The Planting (4 – 6th May).
Leading up to the annual Planting festival, Woodfordia’s Artisan Camp is an organic gathering of artists, artisans and other creative folk hosting immersive masterclasses. Held from the 21st - 29th, courses range from two – six days and are all presented at beautiful Woodfordia, home of the acclaimed Woodford Folk Festival.The classes, diverse, light-hearted, skill-building intensives, offer participants the opportunity to learn or hone silversmithing, woodcarving, songwriting, sustainable gardening, oil painting, natural skincare, cheese making, traditional Maori basket weaving and even improvised comedy. A series of bamboo intensives, hosted by Cave Urban and Humanitarian Bamboo, teaches participants how to work, build and sculpt with one of the most sustainable and versatile materials on the planet.
Gospel and Groove, hosted by Yani ChoirMistress, is also open to families and groups and explores the joys of group harmony singing over three days. Yani has led choirs in India and studied African part-singing in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Hosts include Jenny Wynter, an award-winning comedian and cabaret artist who has performed and trained with Second City (USA), Loose Moose Theatre (Canada) and in 2016 was awarded Best Variety Show at United Solo Festival, NYC;
Pendragon, the designer shoe-making duo Jackie Orme Ward and Adrian Lockwood, have had shoes featured in Milan Fashion week, Design Festa Tokyo, photographed for Italian Vogue and made shoes for Jimmy Choo, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush and numerous films including Peter Pan;
Alice Spittle, a Maori contemporary artist, with past exhibitions at the Fish Hooks and Moving Trees Touring exhibition - Brisbane, Bundaberg, Mackay and Gladstone; Queensland BEMAC Gallery; The Queensland Multicultural Centre, Brisbane; Gold and Green Stone Exhibition, Arts Centre, Gold Coast; Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand; Te Toi Mana Gallery, Arts Centre, Christchurch;
Andrea Kirwin, an Australian-Fijian singer/songwriter who has released three albums under her own independent record label Peace Run Records and who performs at music festivals around Australia;
James Bellamy, a sustainable designer/builder based in New Zealand with many significant and award winning works, such as Pines Calyx in England, Mapungubwe National Park Interpretation Centre in South Africa and most recently Rwandan National Cricket Stadium;
Jed Long, co-founder of Sydney-based architecture collective Cave Urban, a current Churchill Fellow and an Associate of the University of Tasmania investigating the translation of traditional bamboo construction into contemporary building practice;
Fabian Prideaux, a project advisor for Humanitarian Benchmark Consulting (HBC), a small social enterprise with operational offices in Melbourne and Jogjakarta, Indonesia who has managed and delivered a range of consultancy projects for the United Nations, Red Cross national societies, the Shelter Cluster, and other lead humanitarian agencies / NGOs.
Each class culminates in the development of a creative product, artwork or performance on the last night of the camp. Participants and facilitators are invited to stay at Woodfordia for the duration of the masterclass series. Camping and catering packages are also available.
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Woodfordia, Inc. is a not-for-profit, community driven organisation with our 500-acre headquarters at Woodfordia, approximately five minutes drive from Woodford in SE Queensland, Australia. Our passionate pursuits include producing the Woodford Folk Festival, The Planting, Festival of Small Halls and Woodfordia’s Artisan Camp.