Joy as Resistance

Join playwriter and theatre maker Barbara Hostalek, Photographer Cole Baxter, Festival Director of Singapore International Festival of Arts Natalie Hennedige. Facilitated by producer and curator Michelle Broun.  

Barbara Hostalek 
Barbara is a playwright and creative who has worked with Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Barbara will be performing poetry at  A Night Out West – a celebratory ode to the Coolbaroo club.  

Cole Baxter 
Cole Baxter is a Noongar man, born and raised on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar. Cole is particularly drawn to observational photography and is actively engaged in community events. He is regularly seen documenting rallies, protests and other political demonstrations in Boorloo/Perth.

Crispian Chan
Crispian is an Australian-Chinese actor and photographer with over 20 years of experience in the performing arts industry. Currently based in Singapore, Crispian has worked extensively across theatre, film, and various arts organisations. His practice spans multiple roles, including acting, photography, and creative communications, with a particular focus on portraiture and performance photography. 

Most recently, Crispian ventured into podcasting as the co-host of Firebomb, an award-nominated series produced as part of the ABC’s Unravel podcast. The series delves into the turbulent period of the 1980s when neo-Nazis terrorised Asian and minority communities in Perth. This project has sparked Crispian’s interest about the ways storytelling and documentation can preserve and reflect shared histories and experiences.

Natalie Hennedige  
Natalie Hennedige is Festival Director of SIFA, Singapore International Festival of Arts (2022 – 25) Singapore’s pinnacle performing arts festival, and founder and Artistic Director of CAKE (since 2005), a contemporary performance company based in Singapore. Natalie is the 2025 Festival Lab Navigator.  

Moderator, Michelle Broun  
A proud Yindjibarndi woman living and working on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja, Michelle  works at many levels and across platforms to produce, promote and present Australian First People’s arts and culture. She is a curator, cultural planner and creative producer-engaging with community and collaborating with artists to engage with audiences - building bridges between cultures and seeking common ground on which to build futures based on truth, justice and equity.  In 2024 she completed a Trauma-informed Yoga Teacher-training Certificate with Yoga for Humankind.   
Michelle was lead curator of Ngalang Koort Boodja Wirn, (Our Heart, Country, Spirit) at WA Museum Boola Bardip from 2017-2020.  And the inaugural Australian First Nations Curator at John Curtin Gallery from 2021-2023 curating several exhibitions including Tracing the Art of a Stolen Generation- the child artists of Carrolup, which toured to Manchester and Glasgow in 2022.  As an independent curator in 2024, she  developed Wadjemup Wirin Bidi (Rottnest Island Spiritual Journey) Exhibition at the Wadjemup Museum (til June 2025).  She will graduate in February 2025 with a Masters of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University.  Michelle is currently a board member of Disability and the Arts (DADAA) based in Fremantle and a member of the Indigenous Reference Group at the National Museum of Australia.     

You can order delicious sandwiches, rolls and salads from Little Loaf Bakery. Vegetarian, and gluten free options available. 

At our bar you can also find a selection drinks.