Video Game Opportunities, Fashion, Individual Talent, Indonesia, Better Housing Design, Altered State Art - Emergence Creative is BACK in Margs

By Perth Media Managing Director, Cate Rocchi

We are in Margaret River, at its flash new venue, HEART. Men are wearing black shirts and jeans with funky glasses. Women are casual but super stylish. Everyone is happy.

There are old friends, creatives, new friends, artists, musos, game designers, fashionistas, film makers, digital leaders, photographers, an inspiring architect, policy makers, festival organisers, producers, advertising gurus, heads of universities. Emergence Creative is back and so are we. And, if it wasn’t for the extraordinary Matty Lewis, none of us would be here.

Lewis is the director of the Creative Tech Village at the WA Creative Tech Innovation Hub and he has steered an amazing team – including Anita Pettit and Jon Ricciardone –  to put on a global-leading, cross-discipline creative conference in Western Australia.

The last Emergence Creative was in 2019. The 2020 event was, heartbreakingly, cancelled just days from its start date due to covid lockdowns.

Finally, the best event in WA is back. It’s thanks to Lewis – who if not a national treasure is surely a regional treasure – that the amazing talent, teaching and inspiring us, came back too.

Here’s what we loved.

Video Games

Teenagers and adults, who like gaming, right now can go on line and download engines that allow them to create, write and code their own games. It is a HUGE, and growing, global industry. There is no magic course in other countries that teach them skills. The only things limiting anyone interested, in creating their own games, is their own imagination and perseverance. It’s now not all about blowing people and things up, there are whole new genres. One is called ‘cosy’ games which could be described as interactive story books and apparently Australian game designers are producing quite a few. My advice to education decision makers is put ‘game creation’ on curriculums at all state high schools now. The Perth-based expert on this featured on colab panel, Living the New Screen Dream.  His name is Michal Napora (32-33). He has been living in Poland for years and has recently returned to WA.

Fashion Stylist

Grace Lam, at Grace Lam Style, now resides in Perth and has been a powerhouse in fashion magazines in Asia. She is formerly of Hong Kong and has worked for Vogue and others. She is forthright. Her advice to be successful is ‘don’t be a waXker’. She spoke on a. panel, Can I wing it (apparently you can!), Global Perspectives from the Creative Industry.

Individual Talent

Many highly talented created are working solo or in very small teams. Technology has enabled great things. Pete Wheeler, at White Spark Pictures, is using 360-degree cameras and producing outstanding quality documentaries. He has recently shot The Antarctica Experience which includes southern lights, and Beyond the Milky Way, in WA.

Indonesia and Western Australia

Well and truly time to collaborate with Indonesia. How can we work creatively with our neighbours? Film maker, animator and light installation specialist, Mahesa Desaga, who lives in Malang, Indonesia, spoke about his films and exquisite light effects applied to public buildings and forests. He came down to Margaret River to promote his work and make connections with arts leaders who maybe interested in collaborating on future WA and Indonesian joint projects. If anyone reading this column makes decisions on government-led arts projects, please take a look at Mahesa’s portfolio.

 Nic Brunsdon is a Legend

Speaking on Sustainable Spaces and Innovative Design, Nic inspired with practical ways to improve the homes of ordinary people in Western Australia. His approach and designs are good and what we need now, especially as the climate changes.

Technology, Art, Music and Altered States

Altered states’ impact on the brain was recorded and put to music and colour. The audience watched in the dark. It was art, it was technology, it was beautiful, it made my adult daughter, Alexandra, accompanying me weep with emotion. How? We can’t explain. The session was called Senscapes: Immersive Art from Neuroscience. It was created by Dr Joe Barnby, a computational neuroscientist and musician, at UK-based Senscapes.

Take home: Get down to Margs in 2025; take your digital native adolescent kids; take your employees; take your clients; bring your friends. Book for 2025. Go, enjoy, create, be inspired and come back refreshed, energised and happy. Use your new connections to collaborate on new projects with ambitious, innovative clients. If we are lucky Joel Pember (Juicebox) may also DJ on Prevelly Beach again too.