History of Igneous

History


Igneous grew out of the collaboration, beginning in India in 1993, between Australian dancer-choreographer James Cunningham & Belgian-born director-choreographer-photographer-multimedia artist Suzon Fuks.

Their early works included videodance, documentary photography and, after a move to Sydney, short stage performances that combined dance with projected media. Body in Question (1999) was Igneous’ first evening-length show, which toured in Australia and Europe.

A relocation to regional NSW enabled them to develop community relationships, and with The Hands Project, branch into new processes of site-responsivity, audience participation, and age-, ability-, and cultural-diversity.

An Asialink residency in South India introduced James and Suzon to the grounding, rythmic and fluid traditional martial artform Kalarippayattu, the basic forms of which they adopted into their daily physical practise.

During a residency at Brisbane Powerhouse Centre for the Live Arts, they developed a serial installation performance that unfolded over seven nights in various locations throughout the historic site.

International residencies and tours enabled them to meet collaborating artists and form co-productions, including Liquid Skin with Figuren Theatre Tubingen for Theatre der Welt (Theatre of the World) Festival 2005.

Their interest in alternative use of spaces, the distribution of media and audience engagement led to them researching networked performance and developing their practice online.


Residencies

Residencies

Explore the global residencies of Igneous, where innovative projects and international collaborations have grown from Taipei to the USA.


2022: Uhan Shii Theatre, Taipei, Taiwan
2020–2021: Vulcana, Meanjin/Brisbane
2018: Mestiza Festival, Santiago, Chile
2018: Artephile, Avignon, France
2017: Villa Waldberta, Feldafing, Germany
2013: Earthdance, Plainfield, MA, USA
2012: Copeland Colloquium, Amherst College, MA, USA
2011: Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane
2010: Tamantirto, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2009: Villa Waldberta, Feldafing, Germany
2006: The Australia Choreographic Centre, Canberra
2003: Dance4 (Line of Enquiry program), Nottingham, UK
2002–2004: Brisbane Powerhouse Centre for the Live Arts, Brisbane
2001: Centre for Performance Studies, University of Sydney
2000: Centre for Performance Studies, University of Sydney
1999–2000: Asialink residency, South India


Festivals

Festivals


Festivals and venues that have presented Igneous’ work include:

Argentina: Festival Internacional VideoDanzaBA, Buenos Aires

Australia: Awakenings Festival, Horsham; High Beam Festival, Adelaide; ISEA 2012, Sydney; ISEA 2024, Meanjin/Brisbane; Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane; Latitude 27.5 Festival, Powerhouse, Brisbane; Metro Arts DeathFest; Mixed Metaphor, Dance House, Melbourne; One Minute Reels finalist, Newcastle; Powerhouse Centre for the Live Arts, Brisbane; ReelDance Festival; Rex Cramphorn Studio, Centre for Performance Studies, Sydney; Star Court Theatre, Lismore; The Australian Choreographic Centre, Canberra; The Edge Theatre, Sydney

Belgium: D’ici et d’Ailleurs Festival de Danse, Brussels; DANSCAMDANSE Festival, Gent; La Bellone, Brussels

Brazil: Danca Em Foco, Rio de Janeiro; São Carlos Videodance Festival

Canada: Asian Feedback Film Festival, Toronto; festival ROMP, Victoria; Scotiabank Nuit Blanche & Abilities Arts Festival, Toronto

Chile: Mestiza Festival, Santiago

Croatia: Xontakt, Split

France: Biennale Internationale des Arts de la Marionnette, Paris; François-Rabelais University, Tours; Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris; Giboulées de la Marionnette, Strasbourg; Magdalena Montpellier Festival; Mimos, Périgueux; International Video Dance Festival, Le Breuil

Germany: Blickwechsel International Figure Theatre Festival, Magdeburg; FITZ Festival, Stuttgart; Theater der Welt Festival, Stuttgart; One Minute Film Collection (OMFC), Cologne; ZKMax, Munich

Hungary: EDIT International Dance Film Festival, Budapest

Italy: Il Coreografo Elettronico, NapoliDanza

Latvia: Riga City Fest in Riga

Mexico: FOTOGRAFEST, Cuernavaca

Netherlands: Cinedans, Amsterdam; Balance/Unbalance, Rotterdam

Poland: Banialuka International Festival of Puppetry Art, Bielsko-Biała

Portugal: Quinzena de Dança de Almada – Contemporary Dance Festival

Spain: NU2’s VideoDansa, Barcelona

Switzerland: Blickfelder Festival, Zurich; International Day of Puppetry, Baden

United Kingdom: Asia South East Short Film Festival, London; Balance/Unbalance, Plymouth; Mediatised Sites Festival, Newcastle; NOW Festival, Nottingham; Visions2002 International Festival of Visual Performance, Brighton; MOVES, Manchester

United States of America: Dance on Camera Festival, NY; Her Vision Film Festival, NY; Moondance International Film Festival, Boulder; Not Quite Normal Experimental Moving Image Festival, Hollywood; Women’s International Film Festival, Newark

Online: Along The Edge Festival, Hong Kong; Balance/Unbalance; BODIES:ON:LIVE Magdalena:on:line; DIAL (Day in a Life), Munich; Electrosmog, Amsterdam; International Festival Mujeres En Escena Por La Paz, Colombia; Mediatised Sites Festival, Newcastle; Mestiza Chile; Ninthletter.com; UpStage 070707, 080808, 090909, 101010 & 121212 Festivals


About Us

About Us


About Igneous

IGNEOUS, based in Brisbane and established in 1997, creates multimedia movement-based performances for the stage, screen and alternative spaces, documentary, photography, and conducts forums, workshops and master-classes nationally and internationally.
Igneous has had work presented in numerous international festivals across a broad spectrum, including dance, screendance, new media, art & disability, puppetry, live art & visual theatre. Igneous also publishes and produces in collaboration with partner artists and organisations.

Their interests lay in research, process, interaction and diversity. They utilise artistic skills, clumsiness, true stories, abstraction, details of daily life, the spectacular and the unspectacular. They explore ideas, issues, meanings, nuances and analogies.
Projects are driven primarily by the co-artistic directors Suzon Fuks and James Cunningham. Collaborating artists are sought for most projects, and some collaborators have worked on multiple projects. All Projects – Archive of Igneous former website.


Suzon Fuks
James Cunningham

About Suzon

SUZON FUKS is an artist bridging art, science and the environment, using body-based practices, the moving image, photography and interactive technologies.
Suzon was born in Brussels, where she trained in dance, theatre and music at Lilian Lambert Academy (69-76) and completed her Masters in Visual Arts at La Cambre (79-84), a school formed on the Bauhaus philosophy, examining how different artistic disciplines inform each other. She has lived in Australia since 1996.
Suzon has been Co-Artistic Director of the multi-arts organisation Igneous since its inception in 97 with James Cunningham, her long-term collaborator. Multi-award-winner, she also received the prestigious Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship and Copeland Fellowship.
She initiated and founded the online platform Waterwheel, dedicated to water issues. http://water-wheel.net 1,500 artists, scientists, activists, teachers & youth from 34 countries and 81 locations took part in the project, which is archived since mid-2016. In 2015, she was a facilitator of the 30,000+ visitors to Marina Abramovic’s installation “In Residence” in Sydney.  https://suzonfuks.net/


About James

JAMES CUNNINGHAM is a performance, movement, video and networked performance artist working in social, environmental and architectural surroundings, exploring the limits of bodily perception, performativity and the relationality of one’s self with others, objects,and environment. He graduated in Dance Performance from the Centre for the Performing Arts, Adelaide, in 1988.
Cunningham is Co-Artistic Director of Igneous since 1997. With Igneous, he has co-choreographed and performed in stage shows, performance-installations, video-dance works and networked/online performances in festivals and cities around the world, including Nuit Blanche Toronto (“Mirage”), BIAM Paris (“Body in Question”), and Theater Der Welt Stuttgart (“Liquid Skin”).
Since 2007, he engages in durational stillness and conscious walking, in built and unbuilt environments, with and without audience, and with and without the participation of others. He explores the performative possibilities of these elements in live art festivals, conferences and videos. https://cunninghamwalks.com/


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'Wetland Wander' slow walk - screen work
Redland Art Gallery
Cleveland 2019

'Wetland Wander' slow walk - screen work
Redland Art Gallery
Cleveland 2019

Creek Walkshop
Plymouth, UK, 2018

Creek Walkshop
Plymouth, UK, 2018

Igneous Projects

Explore Igneous' diverse range of projects. Partnering with artists from various disciplines, including graphic design, sound engineering, and performance, Igneous crafts unique, site-responsive works that engage audiences in new and exciting ways.

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Our History

Beginning with videodance and documentary photography, and evolving through groundbreaking performances in Sydney and beyond, Igneous has consistently pushed the boundaries of live performance and multimedia art. Their journey reflects a commitment to artistic innovation and community engagement, from early works like "Body in Question" to international residencies and site-specific installations.

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Browse Our Collaborative Projects