The first Caravan Slam took place in three different artist run initiatives in the Newtown/ St. Peters area. The audience roamed from venue to venue, playing games and dancing to a wheelie bin sound system.
The first heat took place @ At the Vanishing Point. A contemporary art gallery situated on South King Street. http://www.atthevanishingpoint.com.au
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
As we rolled into each new venue, Shani Moffatt invited the audience to create their own Dada inspired poem. People were asked to choose from a hat, cut outs of words and phrases. She then put these chosen words together to form a poem... and a very good poem at that!
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
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| Photo: Jon Mann We heard original 3 minute poems by:
The finalists from the ATVP heat were: Sophie Trevitt  and Scott Sandwich  |
After our 1st heat @ ATVP the caravan then headed down King Street en route to Index gallery in St.Peters.
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
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| Photo: Jon Mann A Caravan Slam pilgrimage down King St, just isn’t complete without a few games of tug a war and limbo, initiated by the lovely sisters, with the bag of tricks, Saha and Jola Jones. |
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
Photo: Jon Mann
The following poets performed for the 2nd heat at Index gallery:
Soul Beats
(finalist)
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
L- Fresh the Lion
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| Photo: Jon Mann New Age Poet |
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
Lachlan Williams
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| Photo: Jon Mann Caitlin Elisabeth- Still (finalist) |
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| Photo: Jon Mann The caravan then moved to it's final destination The Hutch. Where we all settled in for the third heat and the final. |
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
The following poets performed in the third heat:
Lou Steer
(finalist)
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| Photo: Jon Mann Mister Mally |
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| Photo: Jon Mann A special mention to poet/ judge Kelvin |
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| Photo: Jon Mann |
2eyeC
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| Photo: Jon Mann Farid Farid (finalist) |
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| Photo: Jon Mann Jess Cook  After out Hutch heat, we then had our Hutch final. The two highest scoring poets from each round performed another 3 minute poem. Scott Sandwich took home the Caravan Slam title. Scott Sandwich  photo: Jon Mann   Sydney: Mostly Cloudy 17ºC | 12ºC       Caravan Slam Similar eventsOther events this day
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  The 'Slam pops up at Red Room Company's temporary club house this month  published on The slam is back. Live poetry shindigs are happening under your nose at secret underground venues across Sydney's inner west. On the last Wednesday of every month, you can catch established and emerging poets performing original material to an intimate audience of friends, family, and welcome strays. "It's about poetry and performance stripped back to its absolute grass roots," explains creative director Jade Oldfield. "It's about connecting people from a wide demographic through an accessible and expressive art form." Inspired slams across London and New York that she participated in, Oldfield's events have a twofold goal: to provide a platform for rookie poets and to support the many artist-run initiatives running throughout the city. There are three heats, judged by random onlookers who are chosen on the night, and two of the five entrants will make it to the final. The winner is crowned on a basis of originality, audience engagement and the x-factor. Cheap drinks, hot soup and live music are often thrown in to sweeten the deal. But the real drawcard is that the event is open to absolutely anyone. "Caravan Slam inspires us to start writing and performing without inhibition," says Oldfield. Whether you're keen to be a poet, a judge, or an audience member, it's definitely worth watching this space. The Club House mapMap data ©2011 Google, Whereis(R), Sensis Pty Ltd - If this map or venue details are incorrect then please Contact Us Restaurants near The Club House
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Slam poets make pilgrimage to St Peters
She pours the red wine on the white carpet
and the white wine on the red walls
and sparkling in the fish tank
and the lemonade on the candy bank,
she left the water alone, but considered taking a sip
because she was running out of breath
and needed all she could before she really ran amok.
For she was now a Mack truck,
and she blew through the walls,
a trail of falling debris in her wake,
I keep my eyes on my sticky date cake.
This is Slam Poetry – original poetry performed live, and adjudicated by random spectators. Points are scored by well-crafted lyrics and an engaging performance.
The words above came from the winning poem by Scott Sandwich (aka Tom Hogan), who performed with a manic look in his eyes and a tweak in his actions.
Caravan Slam was a free pilgrimage across three venues, from Newtown to neighbouring St Peters, with a wheelie-bin sound system in tow, as well as roving street performances and games.
The crowd was Western Suburbs meets Inner-west, with a collective of poets of middle-eastern background travelling in to perform alongside grungy white locals.
Finalist Rima Najm, whose stage name is Soul Beats, spoke a defiant piece about Woomera detention centre to about 60 people at art space Hutch.
“I’ve actually never performed in a slam poetry event – I’ve performed poetry and spoken word at different events and venues and done some hip-hop theatre,” she said. “I write about themes that are political, social and spiritual.”
Event organiser Jade Oldfield was inspired by participating in slams in London and New York.
“You meet people, you get to know their poems really well and it’s a really strong community that evolved around that. I came back to Sydney as a slam poet, and I couldn’t really find that platform, and I was like: ‘fuck it, I’m going to make my own’.”
The roving nature of the event was inspired by Marrickville’s ARTcycle, a free guided art tour by bicycle.
Caravan Slam will take place at 7pm on the last Wednesday of each month. This month’s event will start at Dirty Shirlows in Sydenham.
By Lawrence Bull
Slam winner 'Scott Sandwich', Photo: Jon Mann
Finalist 'Soul Beats', Photo: Jon Mann
St Peters arts venue Hutch, Photo: Jon Mann
