Regional Arts Australia's Artlands '23 gathering embodied a profound systems change and flipped the script on how to bring people together for hard and important conversations. The experience was captured in the newly released C R E A T I N G S P A C E documentary, exploring what is possible when a conference is curated around care and wellbeing. This new five-part podcast series continues the conversation, sharing some of the fuller interviews and diving deeper into the idea that “The future is regional. The future is creative.” 

MEET: KIARNNA LEHMAN

This conversation takes place at Meander, Tasmania, with Kiarnna Lehman. Kiarnna is a young singer/songwriter from Meander, Tasmania, who has been working as a sole trading musician since the beginning of 2022. From early primary school onwards, music has lit her soul alight; it’s what makes her feel the most sparkly. She hopes to bring more authenticity and depth to her music after learning of her Neurodivergence in recent years. Outside of music Kiarnna is wholeheartedly a multipotentialite; some other sparkle-inducing passions include bushwalking, content creating, reading, playing football, and cuddling her enormous dog, Kujo. Always looking for ways to grow, Kiarnna is a life-long learner, and a great-big dreamer. 

Kiarnna shares what her group spoke about in Act 5 of Artlands 2023, and some of the questions they put to our key note listeners, and about the feeling of being heard and seen by these arts leaders, that her contribution might actually make an impact. 

Kiarnna Lehman: I don't think I've met a single artist that has been like gatekeeping information or knowledge. Everyone just wants to help each other and is unrealistic. As it sounds, there really is space for every single artist in regional arts in Australia. There's space for everyone. 

Artlands ‘23 brought 80 purposefully selected participants together at the National Gallery Australia on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country (in Canberra), for three days, five acts, tackling the challenges and opportunities presented by the provocation: The Future of Regional Australia is Fundamentally Creative. 

Artlands ‘23 is supported by the Regional Arts Fund and delivered by Regional Arts Australia. The Regional Arts Fund is an Australian Government program that supports sustainable cultural development in regional and remote communities in Australia. 

'The future is regional. The future is creative' is a registered trademark of Regional Arts Australia.  

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Regional Arts Australia.