About The Centre
Where inspiration, ideas and invention come together.
Background
The J. M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice (JMCCCP) brings art forms together. Focusing particularly on music and text, the JMCCCP investigates the way art forms converge and how they can transform content when they are brought together. Whether it be in traditional art forms, such as opera, or more experimental art forms, such as spoken word, sound and video installations, the JMCCCP seeks to understand and foster artistic collaboration. By bringing together outstanding practitioners in the fields of music, writing, philosophy and art history, the JMCCCP provides a cultural hub that encourages innovative new forms of collaborative artistic production.
What we do
The JMCCCP focuses on practice-led research and examines how ideas are translated into artworks. Research on creativity and creative processes also form a central part of what we do. Work in the centre investigates how creativity can be shaped by collaborative processes and examines the impact of emotional states, such as inspiration or melancholy, on creativity. Emotional states are affected by broader social forces, so the centre also examines the way artists respond to the world around them.
The JMCCCP also demonstrates the possibilities that can occur when art forms are combined in innovative ways through world-class public performances of literary works, classical and experimental music, choral works, opera, film, as well as text and art installations. See our annual program for examples of the exciting events on offer at the JMCCCP. Our programs include masterclasses and workshops with eminent artistic practitioners that provide a stimulating environment for emerging and established writers, scholars and musicians, while our generous residencies can offer local practitioners the time and space to practice their craft and produce exceptional work. Find out more about who we are.
Our patron
The JMCCCP is named after the centre's patron, Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee, one of the most lauded of living writers. J. M. Coetzee's work is an inspiration for the centre's activities in terms of excellence and engagement with social and political issues. Coetzee's novels frequently refer to the work of J. S. Bach and his writing also reflects Bach's style formally through the use of polyphony in novels such as Diary of A Bad Year, demonstrating the kinds of influences and interactions between music and text that the centre examines and takes as a model.
The Pole and Other Stories was published in 2023, and the Centre celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to JM Coetzee.
Message from the Centre's Inaugural Director
Inaugural Director of the JMCCCP, Professor Brian Castro gives a detailed account of the Centre's mission, the kinds of research it engages in and much more.