Makeshift Workshop: From the Margins – Creative Survival within Marginalised Economies
Raju Rage and TextaQueen
Presented by Arts House
Thursday 13 August & Thursday 20 August 2026
12pm – 4pm
Call out opens: Wednesday 13 May 2026, 10am AEST
Call out closes: Wednesday 10 June 2026, 5pm AEST
Notification: Wednesday 01 July 2026
Warnings
This workshop contains discussions of marginalisation, including ableism, racism, and systemic inequality in the arts sector.
Access Notes
This workshop contains dialogue, movement, and writing/drawing activities. The oversized board game will be on the floor. There will be breaks and refreshments.
Masks will be provided and required to be worn. This workshop space has portable air purifiers and natural sunlight. A range of supportive seating is available.
Auslan interpreting is available on request.
An Access Guide will be available prior to the workshop.
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Wheelchair Accessible
Quiet Space Available
Assistance AnimalCo-create a Snakes and Ladders-inspired game mapping barriers, breakthroughs, and creative survival strategies.
From the Margins – Creative Survival within Marginalised Economies is an interactive, collaborative workshop that uses an oversized reimagining of Snakes and Ladders to explore the lived realities of vulnerable and underrepresented artists. Through gameplay, discussion and shared reflection, we will identify systemic barriers in the sector, such as limited access to funding, exclusionary networks, and structural inequality, alongside the strategies, small wins, and collective practices that enable creative survival and growth. Together, we will move through the game to map how challenges and opportunities intersect, share resources and tactics, and reflect on the broader impact of navigating marginalised economies.
Grounded in principles of diversity, equity, and accessibility, this workshop centres lived experience and creates a supportive, inclusive space where all contributions are valued. Access will be prioritised through flexible participation, inclusive facilitation, and sensitivity to diverse needs, ensuring meaningful engagement for all. Insights gathered will inform the development of a shared creative resource that will be circulated after the workshop.
Deadline for applications: Wednesday 10 June 2026, 5pm AEST
Who it is for?
This workshop focuses on lived experience and no specific technical skills are necessary.
What is a marginalised creative economy?
- Not having the cultural codes, “insider” language, or networks expected in arts space
- Being unable to physically access workplaces or venues due to inaccessible infrastructure
- Experiencing racial or gender discrimination that leads to being overlooked or dismissed
- Encountering funding systems with exclusionary criteria, such as age limits or requirements for university degrees that weren’t financially possible
- Navigating institutional jargon, gatekeeping, or decision making panels that don’t reflect your identity or experience
This workshop and resource will focus on sharing strategies for navigating these systems, retaining greater agency over creative work, and moving intentionally between visibility and autonomy.
How to apply?
You will be asked to respond to the following questions:
- Please share your interest and connection to marginalised creative economies and what perspectives you would like to bring to this workshop. (You can share as much or little as you like)
- How do you like to collaborate or participate in group settings?
- What do you hope to gain from, or contribute to, a shared creative resource developed after the workshop?
- Written
- Video
- Audio
- Auslan (we can arrange interpretation or captioning of your video if needed)
This Makeshift Workshop can support up to 12 participants in person at Arts House. All participants are provided with a $200 honorarium.
Deadline for applications: Wednesday 10 June 2026, 5pm AEST
Participant requirements
Additional resources and prompts will be shared in advance of the workshop.
About the facilitators
TextaQueen is a multi-genre artist of Goan descent living on Wurundjeri Country. Known for majestic portraiture using humble markers, their practice expands to drawing, painting, video, curating, writing and murals to envision an alternate universe of collective, transformative possibility. TextaQueen hosts TheySwarm, a peer-mentorship artist residency and intimate event space for diverse and disabled artists, in their Johnston Street, Collingwood shopfront studio. The inaugural residency in 2024 hosted disability justice worker and writer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.
Details
Presented by Arts House
Thursday 13 August & Thursday 20 August 2026
12pm – 4pm
Call out opens: Wednesday 13 May 2026, 10am AEST
Call out closes: Wednesday 10 June 2026, 5pm AEST
Notification: Wednesday 01 July 2026
Warnings
This workshop contains discussions of marginalisation, including ableism, racism, and systemic inequality in the arts sector.
Access Notes
This workshop contains dialogue, movement, and writing/drawing activities. The oversized board game will be on the floor. There will be breaks and refreshments.
Masks will be provided and required to be worn. This workshop space has portable air purifiers and natural sunlight. A range of supportive seating is available.
Auslan interpreting is available on request.
An Access Guide will be available prior to the workshop.
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Wheelchair Accessible Quiet Space Available Assistance AnimalImage Credit: TextaQueen (artist) ‘Daulet’ (Raju), Bollywouldn’t Series
Image Description: In the background: a reimagined game of Snakes and Ladders made using textas featuring red, blue, yellow and green squares and depicting snakes, ladders, and people doing various activities such as counting money and some text explaining them (for example, cruelty, kindness and forgiveness).
In the foreground: a portrait of a figure with light brown skin wearing a venetian style black and gold mask covering their eyes. The figure is wearing a black hoodie with its hood up. One prominent green and yellow two-headed snake is slithering around the figure’s shoulder and looking up with their slit tongues in a menacing way. The figure stares out to the catch the viewer’s gaze.
