Karen acted as Artistic Director
for the 2002 Guringai Festival Committee & Manly Council


Press

The stiff Gins
The 'stiff Gins', are an inspiring young trio who in this performance comprised
Nardi Simpson, Kaleena Briggs and Mags Raw.
They are an acoustic group with stunning vocal harmonies and accompanied with simple but powerful guitar.
Together the girls represent a myriad of Aboriginal experiences and demonstrate
the vitality of contemporary indigenous life and music.
By using the name 'stiff Gins', the group is reclaiming a derogatory term for Aboriginal woman,
whilst declaring they are talented, passionate and proud to be Aboriginal.
The 'stiff Gins' were finalists in 'Best Female Artist' at the 2001 Australian World Music Awards
and headlined at the Amsterdam Roots Festival,
represented Australia at cultural institutes in Vietnam and Spain,
performed in shows and festivals throughout Canada, the US, Ireland
and the UK culminating in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.



Leah Purcell
Television star Leah Purcell comes from a long line of vaudevillians
and learnt her trade at family gatherings and sing-a-longs and the high school musical.
Her first professional break came in 1993 when she was cast in Bran Nue Dae, which toured Australia.

In 1995 Purcell moved to Sydney to become the first presenter of the RED Music Channel on Galaxy Pay TV.
A role in the main cast of the ABC's Police Rescue followed her television presenting work and
in 1997 Purcell was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award
for Best Actress in a TV Drama for her performance in Fallen Angels.
Purcell then moved on to the most ambitious project of her career, Box The Pony,
a semi factual account of her life.

Purcell conceived and co-wrote Box The Pony which was the smash hit of the 1997 Festival of the Dreaming
and has since played to sellout seasons at the Belvoir St. Theatre,
the Sydney Opera House, the 1999 Edinburgh Festival and a season at the Barbican Theatre in London
for Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001.
Her latest book Black Chicks Talkin' has been launched as a documentary on ABC TV.