The arts have long been employed in the service of social change, from politics to health care. Around Australia there are plenty of examples of isolated change-oriented arts initiatives, from DADAA in Western Australia, which works to enhance the social inclusion and well-being of people with disability or mental illness through participation in the arts, to Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, currently exhibiting artworks made from confiscated guns as part of this year’s Melbourne Festival.
But a new Sydney festival aims to take the integration of art and social change to a whole new level. Carnival of the Bold will hold its inaugural event as part of the Changemakers Festival in November this year at the New Theatre in Newtown.