Geskeva Komba is a Naarm-based trans-disciplinary creative producer and performer of Comorian and Tanzanian Heritage. With work spanning across theatre, film and music to community development and arts facilitation, Geskeva’s work focuses on curiosity, culture and people. As a recent graduate of the Master of Producing program at the VCA, her short film “BLVCK GOLD” recently premiered at the St.Kilda Film Festival and premiered internationally at the 30th Pan African Film Festival. She has performed with numerous community organisations and further afield at the Falls Music & Arts Festival, with the likes of Blue King Brown and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In this interview Geskeva discusses the importance of telling stories from her community, uplifting marginalised voices and her upcoming six-part drama “Common Ground.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
I am a trans-disciplinary creative practitioner with experience mainly in community development, theatre, film, spoken word and music. I also co-produce exhibitions, performances, workshops and screen content as part of a collective of African creative practitioners called Next In Colour.
How did you start your creative practice and why?
I started participating with Western Edge Youth Arts (WEYA) in an after school program at my high school in 2002 and from there became connected with other organisations like Melbourne City Mission and participated in a number of community projects in my local area. However, my first proper paid gig in terms of my creative practice was in 2009 through WEYA, I was trained alongside other actors in playback theatre, and from there I continued working as a performing artist and facilitator in schools for the organisation. At that time, being fresh out of high school I was just interested in seeking opportunities that really created strong social connections and a sense of belonging for myself and the work I was doing with WEYA was fulfilling and helped build my confidence.
Where did you grow up and how has it influenced your practice?
I grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Footscray and Braybrook to be exact and I feel like growing up in an area so rich and full of diverse people has influenced me in a way where I am invested in learning and respecting other people’s culture and way of life. It has also made me open to other people’s lived experiences, as well as being proud and grounded with my identity in a way that I just want to be able to champion stories and experiences from such a beautiful place like that.
Tell us about your past creative projects. What has been your most treasured a highlight so far?
That’s a tough one. I have done way too many to even know where to start to think about or talk about them all. I guess, in terms of from when I started until now most of my creative projects have either been in theatre or music and as a performer or artist facilitator, and I’ve been really proud to have been part of all of them. But stand outs would be through WEYA, performing alongside an ensemble of African artists and when we formed the Flemington Theatre Group and we co-created and performed original theatre shows like Black Face White Mask and Zamunda. We got to perform and sell out shows at venues like the Arts Incinerator, Malthouse Theatre and the Metanoia Theatre at the Mechanics Institute in Melbourne.
And the other one would be from 2010 to 2015, performing as a vocalist and emcee with MASSIVE, Australia’s first Hip Hop Choir. We created and performed our own music that brought together rap, harmonies and body percussion and we got to perform at various festivals like the Falls Music & Arts Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, Light in Winter Festival and Viva Festival to name a few. I also really enjoyed performing with the group when we got to work with the likes of Jimblah, Emmanuel Jal, Horrorshow, Diafrix, Blue King Brown, Mantra, Outer Urban Projects, Deaf Arts Network and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
For me, I would not point out one aspect or project as a highlight because I feel like I had long phases of significant moments in my life that have been highlights. That’s also because those were the moments where everything felt the most organic and fulfilling in the same way I felt and still feel about living in the Western suburbs of Melbourne.
Tell us about your current project?
I recently produced a short film, which was also my graduate film for the Master of Producing course at the VCA titled ‘BLVCK GOLD’, directed by Ez Eldin Deng and written by Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi. It’s currently had its International Premiere at the 30th Pan African Film Festival and its Australian Premiere at the St Kilda Film Festival for which Ras-Samuel was nominated for Best Actor with his performance in the film. I’m also collaborating on a six-part drama titled ‘Common Ground’ produced by Cathartic Pictures as a writer and producer, and the project is currently being supported by ABC and VicScreen. Through Next In Colour, we are working towards developing a feature length documentary, an exhibition and a 3rd edition of our online zine.
Who or what was inspires your practice?
The thing that inspires my practice the most is curiosity, culture and people. Learning, as well as being reflective and reflexive with my thinking about those aspects in life and how I relate to them and vice versa and using that to fuel my creativity.
Where do you feel most creative and why?
It’s random for me, but a lot of the time it’s when I’m working as part of a team and ideas are being workshopped or even when I’m by myself in quiet spaces. It just depends because it really is about what sparks my creativity and at a specific moment in time. It could be anything from a pen to watching a film or listening to music or looking out my window.
What do you hope audiences take from your work?
I hope audiences take away something that helps them feel inspired or uplifted as well as how they think about and be proactive with how they relate to the world and people around them.
What has been your biggest learning so far in terms of working in the Australian film industry?
I have learnt that there is so much more for me to learn even still after doing my Masters in Producing. However, I want to take my time with understanding the field and take what I learn try to reach my full potential in whatever capacity so that I can really support underrepresented stories and voices that need to be heard.
What future projects are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to everything! I mean, I don’t really try to put myself in a position where I don’t like or I am not passionate about a project that I’m working on. I can’t and would never do that to myself because it’s not fair to the people I’d be working with because I don’t know if I’d give it 100% and it wouldn’t be fair to myself because it’s a lot of labour. But if I had to choose I’d say working on the TV drama series ‘Common Ground’ which follows three African families that move to rural Victoria to start a Teff farm. The reason being is because I am excited on the potential it has with bringing together such a diverse cast and crew as well as telling stories from the communities I come from and serve.
Whose work are you digging at the moment?
So many creatives are doing such amazing work at the moment and I just really love seeing how they are flourishing. I am however, really digging the work Lilah Benetti is doing from film to visual arts showcasing black identity and the varied degrees of intersection and otherness with such quality and thought behind how the work is curated. People need to really check them out.
Where can we find and follow you online?
I have my own website that you can check out www.geskeva.com.You can also check out the work I am doing with Next In Colour at www.nextincolour.com and you can find me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.
All images courtesy of the artist.
If you’re into filmmaking, Colour Box Studio is developing filmmaking workshops. See our expression of interest form here.