about magdalena australia

Magdalena Australia is a dynamic coalition of women working in Australian contemporary performing arts. An autonomous chapter of the international Magdalena Project, we are committed to raising awareness of the unique contributions women are making to the Australian cultural landscape.

Existing since 2000, the aims of the Magdalena Project in Australia are to:

  • increase the awareness of women's contribution to theatre and contemporary performance;
  • enable women to explore new approaches to performance making that more profoundly reflect their own experience rather than that of men;
  • create the fora that can give voice to the concerns of women working in theatre and contemporary performance;
  • encourage women to examine their role in the future of theatre and contemporary performance and to question existing structures.

Those involved in the Project seek to achieve these aims by:

  • providing opportunities for women to work together;
  • providing opportunities for women to share, develop and pass on their work through performance platforms, festivals, pedagogical activities, workshops, collaborations, publications and conferences;
  • adopting a rational approach to documentation and disseminating information;
  • maintaining the flexibility of an organic structure which will serve the expansion of the growing network.


If there is an overall objective it is to create the artistic and economic structures and support networks to enable women to work.