SUPPER SESSIONS Is Cooking Up A New Way To Fund The Arts

On the last Sunday of every month Supper Sessions is setting the table for a celebratory feast cooked by a renowned guest chef on the sunny rooftop of 107 Projects in Redfern. All profits are pooled into an independent $1000 grant, awarded to an artist on the night to kick-start a creative project.

Supper Sessions launches on Sunday the 28th of February from 6-10pm featuring a dreamy feast cooked by Anna Ugarte-Carral (Momofuku Seiōbo, Noma, Lyle's and winner of the 2020 Josephine Pignolet young chef award). Expect a candlelit dinner under the Sydney sunset with jewelled rice, abundant flowers, tunes by Side Hustle DJs, surprise performances and flowing drinks. This dinner will launch the project and applications for Supper Session grant #1 will open on the night.

Founded by Sydney curator, artist and creative producer Anna May Kirk, Supper Sessions aims to put arts funding back in the hands of the arts community. Kirk has said:

"Supper Sessions aims to create an un-bureaucratic community generated arts funding system, it's fun, delicious and a space where we can get together to not only celebrate great artistic ideas, but play a part in supporting them come to life!

Functionally these dinners are a way of generating independent funding for creative projects, and implicitly critical as a way of generating conversation about the availability and distribution of resources within the mainstream arts establishment. Government support for the arts is minimal at best, and over the past decade we have witnessed it systematically being reduced.

This event is also a chance, after the social isolation COVID-19 has caused, to get together, meet new people, chat, laugh and feel a sense of community once again."

How Supper Sessions works:

A ticket to a Supper Sessions dinner is $90, 40% of this is pooled into an independent $1000 grant awarded to an Australian artist to kickstart a creative project. The rest of the funds are used to cook you up a delicious dinner and drinks experience. Your ticket gets you a three course vegetarian meal, flowing drinks and an unforgettable dining experience.

Applications to apply for a Supper Sessions grant open one month before each dinner (with applications opening for grant #1 on the 28th February 2021) and remain open for a fortnight. The application process is super simple and applications are assessed by a panel of arts industry professionals. The awarded artist is announced a few days before the Supper Sessions dinner, where they will attend, chat about their idea and how the grant will help kick-start it. Any Australian artist can apply - if you've got an idea, Supper Sessions wants to hear it!

Supper Sessions founder, Anna May Kirk, is a Sydney based creative producer, curator and artist passionate about empowering the voices of artists. Currently the Executive Producer of Arts & Culture at FBi Radio and Executive Producer of arts program CANVAS: Unframing Art & Ideas, Kirk works across diverse formats, from exhibitions to radio, events to festivals to bring art and audiences together in unexpected and affecting ways. Anna has presented creative projects across Australia, including with Outer Space (QLD), Tributary Projects (ACT) and PACT Centre for Emerging Artists (NSW). These projects have taken the form of podcasts, experimental parties, marketplaces, exhibitions, festivals and digital experiences. Supper Sessions is Kirk's latest project, addressing recent arts funding cuts with a celebratory solution.

Supper Sessions will welcome Anna Ugarte-Carral as the first guest chef. Winner of the 2020 Josephine Pignolet Young Chef Award, and second-place holder in the 2020 Appetite for Excellence, Anna is about to take the reins as the new Head Chef of the Old Fitz, Australia's only operating pub theatre. Having previously plied her trade here in Sydney at Firedoor, Hubert, and Momofuku Seiōbo, as well as completing stages at Noma and Relae in Copenhagen, and Lyle's in London, she has most recently been a leading force of the monthly dining, art and music experience Ten Hats Bistro. Anna is a star within the Sydney dining scene, and her heartfelt yet pared-back cooking style - often attributed to her Basque heritage - will resonate through her Supper Sessions menu.

Learn more at suppersessions.com.au.

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