About us
What is wild tongues?
Wild Tongues is a Naarm/Melbourne based creative hub for developing artists, a melting pot and eclectic cross disciplinary collective including:
THEATRE, MOVEMENT, MUSIC, DANCE, POERTY, ILLUSTRATION, SCULPTURE, FINE ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, FASHION, MAKEUP/HAIR, PERFORMANCE ART, BURLESQUE, CABARET, COMEDY
We seek to encourage collaboration in the arts for all, with a specific focus on crossing mediums. Our roots are in theatre (Wild Tongues Theatre developed by director Samantha Hafey in 2017), however we are expanding constantly, with our latest venture featuring filmic and exhibitional poetry, illustration and dance set against a recorded soundscape.
We also seek to push boundaries for artists in relation to process. Crafting scores that vary and constantly learning methods of development from each other to add to our tool box as we navigate the world of creative arts!
We do not feel limited by style either, we love crossing genre and tastes to meet at new intersections. We live by the philosophy: The world is your oyster!
How did we begin?
Wild Tongues was created by artist Samantha Hafey when she realised how she was often limited by audition opportunities and casting. She felt her development as a performer was at the mercy of high powered individuals, major money making companies or simply bound by the demands of paying audiences. In a dramatic attempt to reclaim her creative exploration and to harness power as an artist in the industry she began learning the tricks of the trade- namely throwing herself in the mix and giving it all a go: writing, directing, producing, designing, managing, composing, choreographing, marketing and so on.
With this tenacity she managed to put on her first major feature performance in Melbourne Fringe, selling out instantly and then have a return show because of the popular demand. Not only this Samantha also secured a performance slot on Chanel 10’s studio 10 and then travelled to Adelaide fringe winning an award for Best Music.
This company, despite its size and coming from humble beginnings has developed a passionate aim: to be able to imbue all artists, irrespective of background, to be able to create and express and share their stories. Championing diversity, aiming for inclusivity Wild Tongues is always learning and expanding, welcoming feedback on how we can become a more supportive space and we LOVE COLLABORATING so we are eager to hear from YOU!
Our promise comes from Sam's tenacity in the business and hope to create possibility~
We want to back and support each-other as a creatives, to bring forward more performance and creative opportunities for artists that otherwise feel limited by the offers or lack of around them.
Our ETHOS~ Project focus
We have wide ranging projects, but have a particular love for the ‘feminine’ as well as the environment. In other words, we have an eco-feminist focus that manifests both in subject matter of work as well as artistic practise:
Ecofeminism, a branch of feminism that examines the connections between women and nature. Ecofeminism uses the basic feminist (1) tenets of equality between genders, a revaluing of non-patriarchal or nonlinear structures, and a view of the world that respects organic processes, holistic connections, and the merits of intuition and collaboration. To these notions ecofeminism adds both a commitment to the environment and an awareness of the associations made between women and nature. Specifically, this philosophy emphasizes the ways both nature and women are treated by patriarchal society. Ecofeminists examine the effect of gender categories in order to demonstrate the ways in which social norms exert unjust dominance over women and nature. The philosophy also contends that those norms lead to an incomplete view of the world, and its practitioners advocate an alternativeworldview that values the earth as sacred, recognizes humanity’s dependency on the natural world, and embraces all life as valuable.
~ Britannica
(1)
: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
~ Miriam Webster
We acknowledge that (at present) we have a strong team of predominately female identifying representation. And we aim for more visibility and opportunities for BIPOC, non-binary people, gender diverse identifying and transgender artists.
***PLEASE NOTE: The term ‘BIPOC’ is used in an Australian context to represent Indigenous / First Nations / Bla(c)k, Black / African Australian and People of Colour.
Our Director
"Sometimes my mouth is like a prickly cactus and my tongues as harsh as sandpaper.
And my words are often overgrown and in need of a trim.
But its better to speak my truth than to never say a thing."
Samantha Hafey~
Director, Creator, Writer, Performance Artist, anti-conformist, Non-Box Fitter
I was always outspoken and wild. If it wasn’t by lip it was in my unbrushed salt streaked sun-kissed hair, or my unapologetic bare feet reworking the beat, my home made altered outfit, my unshaven leg hairs, sometimes subtle in the everyday, or forced into a box on occasion, I was undeniably loud and proud the moment I performed. I realised the theatrical stage (or upon future realisation: wherever you made your stage, be it bedroom, schoolyard, gallery, or surfboard) was an acceptable place for a woman to voice her thoughts, feelings, emotions and her vulnerability was celebrated and considered FIERCE...
The stage gave me a platform, a place to share and story-tell.
My family taught me to stay true to myself and speak my mind.
In the ‘real world’ I was being taught otherwise: WOMXN HAVE TONGUES OF KNIVES.
I then heard the wolf packs call me late in the night, and in a fever I awoke. Suddenly I started scribbling furiously ‘Wild Tongues’.
This was bigger than me.
This isn’t just my struggle.
We are in this together.
Women have words that can move mountains and sometimes thats a scary thing to listen to. We share love, laughter, heartbreak, tears, pants and shouts of joy. We are all connected and tied to one another and our beautiful universe. I hope to nurture this sense of community and storytelling through WT’s. This is a hive of passion and purpose, to create together and to be our own teachers.
This isn’t a new generational thing, this is as old as time. But here we are to tell yet another story, to add to the lineage, to orate our ‘herstory ‘ and enlighten those who care to listen.
We are the COLLECTIVE.
Samantha Hafey
she/her
We are LGBTQI Allies
We acknowledge and pay respect to the people of the Kulin nations, as the original owners and ongoing custodians of the land upon which we create.