Perth Voice Interactive

THE dark underworld of black market selling and “entrepreneurial” trading had audiences trawling Subiaco streets at night as part of Blackmarket, an edgy street performance, for the Perth International Arts Festival.

Based on the collapse of capitalism, in a world where money has no value, audience members traded possessions for survival skills and services, including dumpster diving.

It’s the sort of edgy street performance that saw Kellie McCluskey, founder of the PVI Collective, take out the prestigious Australia Council gong for emerging and experimental arts this week.

“We like to tackle big issues,” she told the Voice.

McCluskey and partner Steve Bull have been incubating emerging talent at the Northbridge-based PVI they founded 18 years ago.

The five original members are still involved: “We have grown up creatively together,” McCluskey says.

PVI (performance, video, installation) has produced artworks and guerilla-style public interventions across Australia and around the world, including Europe, Chile, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Australia Council head Tony Grybowski said the award was the highest honour the council could give in recognising the diverse work and achievement of McCluskey and PVI’s pioneering members: “These artists are widely respected by their peers and have each played an important role in the national development of their art form,” he said. “[They] are wonderful ambassadors for Australian arts.”