Announcing Katie Sfetkidis – our new Ambassador!

Katie Sfetkidis is a multi-talented contemporary artist and lighting
designer. Her art is politically charged and doesn’t simply imitate life
but makes it happen, as her run for Lord Mayor of Melbourne reveals. Katie
has also recently been appointed Ambassador for the Queen Victoria Women’s
Centre.

Katie Sfetkidis is a multi-talented contemporary artist and lighting designer. Her art is politically charged and doesn’t simply imitate life but makes it happen, as her run for Lord Mayor of Melbourne reveals. Katie has also recently been appointed Ambassador for the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, a role that will see her explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and gender diverse people from different backgrounds. I’m interested to hear more about how she balances all these creative demands, and her perspective on COVID-19’s massive impact on the arts sector at large. 

Interview by Maria O’Dwyer Photography by Mia Mala McDonald

Maria O’Dwyer: You’re a contemporary artist and a lighting designer. How do you balance two very demanding creative paths?  

Katie Sfetkidis: Well, it’s a tricky balance for me because they are very different practices, but I see these differences as a balancing act. I love working in theatre because it’s so collaborative and I get to work with amazing people to tell important stories but, as a lighting designer, I am not often the architect of the vision for the work – that’s why my own arts practice is so important to me, as it gives a real sense of autonomy and a place to work through my own ideas. I have always been interested in both visual art and theatre and this way I get to pursue both my interests.

How I get the balance right is still a work in progress. It’s tricky because it’s not always an even choice. I earn most of my income from my lighting design practice and sometimes this can take precedence. I think the balance between my practices is a constant process of refinement; of finding what works for me in the moment. For a long time, I used to try and split my time evenly over the course of a week between the two but this didn’t really work, and I found it difficult to focus on either one. What I have found to be most useful is to set aside blocks of time for each individually, or just go with the flow a bit. Luckily for me there can be a serendipitous crossover. For example, last year I went on a tour to Europe with two theatre shows but, whilst I was away, an opportunity came up for me to do a performance in Finland and I was able to do that as well as conduct some research for an artwork, so they are not always mutually exclusive.

The most difficult balance for me, is about making sure I find a balance between working and down time.  I have always been someone who like to be working on multiple things at the same time – even as a kid I was like that.  Yet, I have always had a tendency to overcommit to things and it’s something I don’t always get right.  As an artist, I think that downtime is really important, because it’s the space you need to dream – it’s something I have to constantly remind myself of.

In 2018, you ran for Lord Mayor of Melbourne. Why?

The decision to run for Lord Mayor came out of a series of artworks I had been making about women in politics. I had been thinking a lot about how public speech making can be a feminist act; how and where woman speak in public; and how speeches are or aren’t historically recorded. Through this research I discovered that, in the City of Melbourne, there had only been two female Lord Mayors in the entire history of the council. I am a resident of the CBD and this seemed really shocking to me, particularly for a city that saw itself as being progressive. I had been wanting to do a large public project involving women and speech-making for quite a while. So, when Robert Doyle resigned in February 2018, I decided to run. I thought it was a good way to bring my interests in feminism, public speech-making and politics together. So, gender was a big part of my decision, but the other big factor was about giving artists a public voice. I think, as artists, we do a lot of talking in our own circles about progressive approaches to institutions, but we are often left out the rooms or places of power where real change is made. So, a large part of my campaign was about giving artists a political voice, one that could question how institutions operate, who they include, who and how they exclude and how we can change this.

What did you learn about politics by being on the inside?

It’s nothing like what I expected it to be. I was very afraid that people wouldn’t take me seriously, because I was an artist.  But what I found was that people really respected my decision to put myself on the line and be actively involved in the public process, even if they didn’t agree with my politics. I think people really respect someone who acts like a genuine person, that isn’t afraid to be honest about what they think. Maybe it’s easier for me to say this because I was such a small fry in the big scheme of things. I think as an independent you have some freedom to be yourself in a way you can’t with a major party, but this also makes it difficult to get your message out there to people, because you have less resources. The reality is that most people who vote are not coming to the candidate debates or following a political campaign in every detail. The only interaction they will have with you as a candidate will probably be through a leaflet in the post, and this form of campaigning requires money and resources.  So, I think this makes it very tricky for small candidates with less money to break through. Having said this, I think the act of me being there did make a difference to the type of things being discussed; this includes gender and the arts. Furthermore, I think my campaign also encouraged a lot of the arts community to take notice of what was happening at a local government level, so it worked both ways.

How important is it for your art to grapple with political questions?

This has become increasingly important for me in my creative practice. We live in a time of great crisis and turmoil and I think the arts has a very important place in questioning the current institutional structures that govern our lives, and to propose different ways of seeing the world. I take my social responsibility as an artist very seriously. I feel that being an artist is a real privilege and I want to use this privileged position to give back or make a difference to the community in some way. The biggest question for me is how does my art reflect an intersectional feminist agenda? How does it question institutional structures of power that make it difficult for working class people from diverse backgrounds to be heard? How can I use my privileged voice to dismantle power structures that are exclusionary?  I want to be able to do this as an artist, not only within the art world but also outside of it, and this is why my work often has an activist feel or is situated in the public. I see my art as a political act.

The arts has been one of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19. What are the impacts you’re seeing?

The arts was one of the first industries to be majorly effected by the COVID-19 lockdown. The biggest impact to artists, including myself, is massive job loss.  Most artists already live pretty hand-to-mouth and this massive shutdown of the industry was a major blow. I think it was particularly shocking for most people because we are a very social community and suddenly we couldn’t come together to share our work with an audience. I had people saying to me that because they couldn’t make theatre, they didn’t feel like they were an artist anymore, which was really worrying to me.  So, job loss was the first thing, and then on top of there has been a real lack of support from the Federal Government. Most artists are ineligible for the Jobkeeper package, which is a real slap in the face to the whole industry. The arts industry is highly casualised and the majority of artists and art sector workers work multiple short-term contracts in a year; this is particularly true for performers and crew. This ‘gig economy’ type-employment means that most arts sector workers are ineligible for government support. Other arts sector workers I know who might have casual positions with state government and local councils have also been left out of Jobkeeper

In the last month or so, there has been some support for artists from state and local government and philanthropic funding but it has been highly competitive and I think this is also hugely problematic, as it sets up a division in the sector between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. It also puts a lot of pressure on people to be productive and successful. It’s great for the people who have received the funding but an extra layer of trauma and disappointment for those who didn’t get it.  

Aside from these immediate effects, the arts is also grappling with a sense of uncertainty about its future, in the face of easing restrictions.  Even with things staring to open up, it’s unclear how live performance will operate under these restrictions or if people will want to attend large arts events.  Also, lots of arts organisations have taken a large finical hit and will have to seriously reduce their future programming or potentially even fold, and this will mean less paid opportunities for artists going forward. I think this is a real worry, particularly for diverse artists not represented institutionally and particularly for emerging artists who will find it more difficult to get a start in the industry.

How have you been managing during the COVID pandemic?

It’s been a very big change to my normal life. For starters, I was supposed to be in Europe on tour at the moment and now I am in Melbourne. I think the first few weeks were quite shocking; having a lot of things cancelled was quite difficult but I have been lucky enough get the Jobkeeper package and some extra funding, so that means I haven’t had to worry too much about money. I am so grateful to be in a very privileged position and it has meant that I have been able to stay at home.

The first eight weeks of the lockdown, I just stayed in my apartment and it really gave me some time to focus on myself and my art which is pretty rare. I normally tour quite a bit so being home was quite strange for me, but I was able to get into a pretty nice routine. For the first time in a long time, I was getting lots of sleep, exercising and eating well which was a nice change. The most difficult thing has been not being able to see my friends and my family. However, I have found a way to fill my new found free time, I started an online art group with some friends and have also been part of an online book club, as well as a weekly catch up with a designer group, so I have still been having quite a bit of social interaction. Once I was able to readjust, I think there has been something great about having the time to dream, and talk about art and to connect with people in the industry which has really fuelled my creative practice.  The trick now as things start to open up will be how to keep this balanced lifestyle going.

You’ve been appointed the QVWC Ambassador. Congratulations! What does this mean, and could you tell me a little about your project?

The role of the Ambassador is a very exciting one. It is an opportunity to investigate how I can use my privileged position as an artist to lead a conversation with women outside my own socio-economic sphere. I am very interested in the idea of a ‘women’s centre without walls’, and I think the role of the Ambassador is a way for the centre to reach out to communities of women beyond the physical building on Lonsdale Street.

I am very inspired by the rich feminist history of the centre and the role that the Queen Vic has played in the lives of women across Victoria; this history is definitely feeding into my project. The Centre was a place that Victorian women across different classes felt very connected to, and this is something I am very interested in exploring.

Due to COVID-19, my project has had to shift slightly – currently it is centred on the pandemic and its effects on women in our community. It looks to document different women’s experiences throughout the pandemic and imagine the role that the Women’s Centre can play in the lives of women today. The idea of the project is to acknowledge that not all women are experiencing the pandemic in the same way and I want to capture the stories of women from different parts of the community, particularly those who are being left out of the mainstream news coverage: women of colour, first nation women, refugees, women with disability and gender diverse people. I am interested in how the pandemic has brought to light the social inequalities that already existed in our society, particularly around gender, and want to use this period of reflection to imagine how we could reimagine a better future. I guess that’s where the Ambassador part comes into it. I see my role as a way not only to be able to meet with women and gender diverse people to collect their stories, but also to advocate for social change through a series of artworks. As for the exact artistic outcome – that’s yet to be worked out, but there are a few exciting possibilities on the horizon!