What would happen if we gave the Forge Theatre to the community?

That’s the question that sparked IMMERSIVE, a month-long creative takeover of the Forge Theatre, and the

launch of East Gippsland’s first ever Creative Summit.

Throughout March, the Forge Theatre will be handed over to East Gippsland’s creative community to form a

collective. Artists, musicians, makers, performers and creatives of all kinds have been invited to use the

venue’s spaces to explore, experiment, develop and share their work. This includes testing new ideas,

running workshops, developing performances, holding rehearsals, exhibitions, gigs and collaborations.

IMMERSIVE is about making space – literally and figuratively – for creativity to happen.

But what if you don’t consider yourself a creative? That’s exactly why the doors will also be open to the

public all month, offering you a chance to step inside, see creativity in action, and discover something new.

IMMERSIVE flips the usual model on its head. Instead of programming for the community, the programming

is the community.

In the final week of March, the program expands beyond the Forge with Summit on Tour – a series of mini

forums held across East Gippsland. These sessions will connect directly with local communities to explore

what the future of creativity looks like in different parts of the region, and how those futures connect across

the shire.

All this momentum leads into the East Gippsland Creative Summit on Saturday 28 March, a milestone event

that invites the region’s creative community and anyone interested to come together in one place, at one

time, with a shared focus. The summit is about recognition and celebration of what already exists, learning

from each other, and taking a collective step towards the future.

It’s a first draft – not a perfect one, but a very important one.  

As part of the summit, creatives will be invited to present their work, ideas or collectives through fast-paced

three-minute showcase sessions. They can sing it, show it, mime it, or screen it; the aim is simple:

connection.

IMMERSIVE and the Creative Summit form part of a broader program designed to connect, share and look

to the future of creativity in East Gippsland. The initiative responds directly to the East Gippsland Shire

Council’s 10-year Culture and Creativity Strategy, shaped through extensive community consultation. But

rather than leaving that strategy on the page, this program brings it to life in real spaces, with real people,

doing real creative work.

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