‘We’re telling a story about black joy’
Dione Joseph talks to Mildred Armah about founding Black Creatives Aotearoa – a community arts organisation supporting the creative voices of people of African and Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Dione Joseph noticed a severe lack of black representation on stage when she entered the theatre industry in 2007.
‘‘I came to New Zealand in 2002 when I was 14,’’ she says. ‘‘I’m a mixed-race person of Caribbean, Anglo-Indian, French and Irish heritage. It took me a really long time to find and connect with my community – the West Indian and Caribbean society was instrumental in forging that connection.’’
Joseph says the lack of representation for black people in the arts sector in New Zealand when she arrived and her yearning for cultural connection, inspired her to create Black Creatives Aotearoa (BCA), dedicated to amplifying and supporting the creative voices of people of African and AfroCaribbean heritage in New Zealand.
‘‘I did not see a dedicated national organisational structure that inclusively supported all different aspects of being a black artist. I’ve been working in the theatre sector for at least 15 years, first as an actor, then as a director, also as an arts critic, and the opportunities to go and see a black show were absolutely minimal back then.’’
She says there was also no nuance to the roles available for African and Afro-Caribbean people wanting to enter the creative industries.
‘‘The audience have almost been conditioned to expect trauma from people of colour. You see a person of colour on stage, and you expect them to tell you a potentially heartbreaking migrant story. Where’s the journey of the economic migrant who came here and was incredibly well-educated, spoke fluently six languages, still might have had some challenges but worked really hard and became a CEO? Why were we not being cast in those roles?’’
Joseph says BCA initially had only 25 members, but now with more than 500 members across a variety of creative industries, and more than 2000 social media follows, the past three years have seen the organisation hold a range of creative initiatives.
These have included short story and poetry workshops, three successful playwright labs, a screenwriters’ lab, visual arts exhibition at Q Theatre, an online interview series, and the BLM (Black Lives Matter) digital archive.
Most recently, its members have been involved in the making of The Reading, a short AfroCaribbean horror film that premiered at last year’s African Film Festival.
‘‘The interest in film from our black creatives is growing, and representation in the past five years has changed,’’ Joseph says.
‘‘When we had our first playwrights’ lab three years ago, three playwrights participated. In 2021, we had eight, which is deeply thrilling.
‘‘However, our inaugural screenwriters’ lab welcomed 13 participants – so it goes to show
how our community is ready to share our stories, both on stage
and screen.’’
Joseph’s recent project has been directing an upcoming play titled Po’ Boys and Oysters, which explores what it means to be black, queer and an immigrant living in Ta¯ maki Makaurau.
‘‘The actors are phenomenal. We’ve got three black women leads. It’s a fantastic, possibly quite-unheard-of moment in New Zealand’s theatre history, especially as we’re not telling a migrant journey story.
‘‘We’re telling a story about black joy, adoption and family relationships. I feel confident to say it is the first black queer contemporary play in New Zealand.’’
The play was written by playwright Estelle Chout, an AfroCaribbean queer actress, and serves as BCA’s first theatre production, written and supported through the organisation’s playwriting lab.
It will premiere at Auckland’s Basement Theatre this month.
‘‘Our purpose is to go beyond, to be the future, to move into a space where we are not conditioned and determined by the traumas we’ve experienced,’’ Joseph says.
‘‘Whether you’re a drummer or a photographer, a creative entrepreneur or hair stylist, I’m adamant that our expressions of creativity are inclusive of all, and we’ve always maintained that. We’ve now got members who include children from 11 all the way up to people in their 70s and I love that.’’
Joseph says she wants BCA to become a ‘‘compelling player in Aotearoa’s art scene’’.
‘‘But perhaps more importantly, to evolve as a key driver in transforming the sociocultural political landscape of this place we all call home.’’