11th November, 2005
Pride WA and ARTRAGE have begun discussions aimed at developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will assist better collaboration and cooperation between the two groups for the future.Both Pride WA and ARTRAGE stage Arts & Culture Festivals within Northbridge during the October/ November season each year, with ARTRAGE partnering the City of Perth to stage the Northbridge Festival this year.
ARTRAGE Director Marcus Canning said that ARTRAGE planning for 2006 involves more partnerships with Northbridge groups, organisations and stakeholders.
"The potential to work in partnership with Pride on some projects will be a valuable addition to both our programs, and getting this formalised in an agreement will assist our organisations to collaborate, especially when committees and personnel change over the years."
Pride Co-President Daniel Smith said the formation of partnership projects with ARTRAGE had the potential to support the future of both the Pride Festival and its flagship event, the Pride Parade.
"While we have come a long way in recent years, there is still a vital role for the Pride Festival and Pride Parade to further the rights of gay and lesbian Western Australians and defend the rights we have already won," he said.
"However, we recognise that the long term success of these events are dependent on our ability to fill them with high quality content.
"Our partnership with Artrage has the potential to bring new content to the Pride Festival."
Mr Smith said any partnership entered into with ARTRAGE would occur within the context of both the Pride Festival and Pride Parade retaining their focus on promoting the visibility of gay and lesbian Western Australians.