The Art of Work is a Work of Art

Kim Munro and Collaborators

Incubator residency / Bodies of Work commission

The Art of Work is a Work of Art is a documentary theatre project that explores the groundbreaking activist theatre work and legacy of the co-founders of Vitalstatistix in Yerta Bulti, Port Adelaide. It is in development in 2023, for its premiere in 2024 as part our 40th birthday celebrations. 

The project will weave together documentary footage, interviews, archival material, and reinterpretations of key plays from the early years of Vitalstatistix. Both an experimental film and a live art event, this work will examine the evolution of feminist theatre and performance art over forty years.

The Art of Work is a Work of Art sits at the intersection between documentary and live performance. It asks what each discipline might have to offer the other through feminist, multidisciplinary and collective ways of writing history. 

In revisiting the influential and largely untold history of this theatre, the project brings the past into conversation with the present and future of performing arts both locally and nationally. The Art of Work is a Work of Art has its roots in feminist practices of collaboration, consciousness-raising and social justice activism.  

Creative team: Kim Munro, with Ollie Black, Roxxy Bent, Margie Fischer

Collaborators: Emma Beech, Sasha Grbich, Mish Grigor, Jennifer Mills

About the artists

Kim Munro is a documentary maker living on Kaurna land. Her practice includes film, sound and installation. Her films have been screened on television and film festivals, as well as galleries. She is currently working on a video projection commission in regional Victoria. Kim is also a lecturer at the university of South Australia. 

Image courtesy of the artist