Alysha Herrmann lives, loves and creates from regional South Australia. She is an independent creative producer, writer, performance-maker and community organiser, and the founder of Part of Things. Alysha makes installations, experiences, presentations, poetry, digital exchanges, performances and other creative things in all kinds of strange places, including real-life loungerooms, train stations and backyards.
Her work in the arts and community has won multiple awards including the 2022 Arts South Australia Ruby Award for Outstanding Regional Event or Project (for No Limits at Writers SA), the 2017 Arts South Australia Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award and 2015 Australia Council Kirk Robson Award. She is also a Regional Arts Australia Fellow and an Australian Rural Leadership Foundation Fellow.
Recent creative projects that reflect Alysha’s practice include:
The Memory Shelf as part of FELTlive 2021 was a live-writing experiment exploring the frustration and gaps in Alysha’s family history and the responsibility she feels to create new histories for the future to inherit. Alysha invited the audience to interrupt, ask questions, make comments and (gently) handle items contributed to the performance by the three most significant women in her life: her nana, mother and daughter. Over the course of two hours Alysha wrote and rewrote a series of memories, fictional and factual, in response to the items. All of the writing created during the performance was hand-written in lead pencil and erased as the conclusion of the work.
2018 – 2020 project Art Squad was a two-year state-wide mentoring and development program for young creative practitioners aged 18-23. Building small business and freelance skills, project management skills, personal development and creative practice. Nine participants were selected through a competitive selection process and worked together through a combination of video-link, email, phone and online project management software. Squad members developed and drove creative outcomes in their own communities, including murals, exhibitions and festivals. Alysha was the Creative Producer and primary mentor of the Squad.
2017 project Losing Faith in Unicorns was a finalist for an Arts South Australia Ruby Award in the Community Impact category. Losing Faith in Unicorns was an immersive performance presented promenade style in a suburban house in southern Adelaide for 30 audience members at a time. Audience members could touch, listen, watch, open doors and explore the house in any order they chose. Losing Faith in Unicorns was an experience co-created by eleven teenagers and eight professional artists to spark dialogue and advocacy in relation to young people’s experiences of mental illness, grief, suicide, bullying and alcohol addiction. Alysha was the Creative Producer.
Another Elusive Maybe (2016) was a performance experiment presented as part of the Adelaide Fringe 2016. Each show was presented in a different (real life) lounge-room for a maximum of 8 people per show. The performance incorporated poetry & soundscape (via silent disco headsets), live text message conversations (with each individual audience member) and expressing breast milk (yes, really). Alysha wrote, directed, produced and performed Another Elusive Maybe.
“Amidst all the rabble about the true meaning of Fringe, I can tell you that this is it. Real art that pushes the boundaries – art that is completely different to anything you’ve experienced before. Another Elusive Maybe is truly special. It’s an intimate and absorbing experience that cuts you off but leaves you wanting more.”
Jen St Jack, Great Scott ★★★★½
Some of Alysha’s other work:
Clicking on images will take you to further information about each project.
Alysha Herrmann 