Yours & Owls Festival Meet Metropolis Locale

Yours and Owls was cultivated from the fertile soils of the local creative scene in and around Wollongong. Discovering, seeding, and nurturing local talent has always been a focus of each event.

Metropolis Locale is the exciting evolution of The Local, since 2017, a dedicated space purely for showcasing and celebrating local creative talent, social initiatives, ideas, and collectives. Featuring workshops, installations, performances, and various opportunities to engage with local innovators.

A space for festival patrons to chill out and explore the who’s-who of Wollongong’s artistic scene, Metropolis Locale encourages experimentation and collaboration amongst local creatives, leading to new and strengthened creative networks in the Illawarra. Drop-in and meet the class of 2022:

ANGELIC
Influenced by the environment and our everyday interaction with it, Angelic explores the vast oceans that line the Illawarra through textile and light display. The importance and beauty of the ocean is emphasised, with underlying concerns of pollution and the need for preservation. The sustainable work prompts the audience to think about their own recycling practices and seek to make a reconnection to nature.

ELLAWARRA, ROXEE HORROR & RUBY JUBILEE
The Illawarra’s Top Drag Queens, Ellawarra, Roxee Horror and Ruby Jubilee will be in attendance at the festival to host a very special stage where you can come and show off your festival looks and get amazing social content with the girls.

FABRIC & FLORA
Fabric & Flora is an artist collective focused on creating artworks with sustainability, flowers and textiles in mind. Emerging from the University of Wollongong, Miranda, Tania, Rachel and Bree crossed paths in their Visual Arts and Graphic Design classes throughout their Bachelor degrees more than three years ago. Practicing in areas of textile design, fabric dyeing, painting, collage art, photography and digital illustration they have been beyond excited to make their debut and work together as an artist collective. Each of them have a very unique style, which combined would create special artworks that could be distinguished from any other artists.

FLORABUNDA
At Florabunda we have a passion for growing, promoting and sharing knowledge about locally native plants and their benefits. We have been working in the conservation and natural areas restoration field for over 5 years and am keen to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of the natural world that surrounds us in the beautiful Illawarra.

HIDDEN HARVEST
Hidden Harvest is a Wollongong based initiative that gathers community around the table to talk & taste food waste. Through their community dinners, skill-building workshops & interactive installations they turn would-be wasted food into delicious conversations and share easy tips & tricks to fight food waste in your kitchen at home.

LIT GONG
Gong Lit/Enough Teeth City is a partnership of three Wollongong literary organisations; all not-for-profit and run almost entirely by creative volunteers living on Dharawal Land. Enough Said Poetry Slam runs live spoken word events and workshops, Baby Teeth Journal publishes art and writing online with a focus on local queer and emerging creators, and Society City is a collective-run second-hand bookshop, arts venue and co-working space. These three groups have come together before to run a Lit Stage at Viva La Gong in 2019 and will be combining again at Yours & Owls 2022 to bring the love of words to Wollongong’s favourite music festival.

OVUHM COLLECTIVE
Ovuhm have been practising and performing on Dhawaral country (Wollongong) since 2017. The collective contains four members: Amber Jones, Eliza Campbell, Jessica Melchert and Lucinda Thompson. The group have explored and generated content through modes of movement, performance, video and film. Ovuhm have presented work consistently across the Illawarra, Hunter Valley and Sydney regions, showcasing at Sydney Fringe Festival, Merrigong Theatre Company, Strawberry Visions, and Yours & Owls Festival.

SENOR FRIDAY
Señor friday is a creative media agency local to Wollongong that specialises in Photography, Videography & Design.  Adding extra spice to your next project.

TEEL STUDIOS
Teel Studios is a full-service creative agency and collaborative space based in the heart of Wollongong. We link good businesses to good people through great content. Our creative team strive to produce only the highest standard of content ready for you to show off to the world.

THE DIRTY MUGS
Just a bunch of hairdressers who love to turn people into dirty mugs with new do’s!

THE HAPPY PARADOX
An interactive musical comedy about how we are connected by what we hide and shines the light on the blissful paradox of being human.

TIM BAKER
Tim Baker is an analogue photographer based in Austinmer, NSW. After years as a music photographer, he is currently exploring the gap between who we are as a nation and who we think we are.

WOLLONGONG PRESS ASSOCIATION
Wollongong’s foremost exclusive contemporary journalism creative agency. Highlighting, interviewing, and showcasing artists, creatives and businesses within the local scene exposing them to the wider community.

YAKKA RECORDS
Yakka is a boutique bottle shop, deli and record store – focusing on products from the south coast.

ZEPHYR MAG
Zephyr Magazine is a 10-year-old, Illawarra-based zine and artistic platform that elevates local talent in visual art/design/creativity. Our mission is to inspire and legitimize creativity in areas where established platforms do not exist, with a heavy bias towards the lo-fi and DIY.

Who will join the already announced lineup of: