27/07/26

To bring together four musicians with exceptional technical skill across different genres, deep ensemble connection and the ability to create entirely in the moment is a rare artistic collaboration.

The connection between Collectif: Arc en Ciel members – oboist Celia Craig, guitarist Caspar Hawksley, flugelhornist Harrison Smith and cellist Thomas Marlin – is built around improvisation, with each performance created through close listening, trust and connection.

With support from a Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grant for Projects – Organisations and Groups, Collectif: Arc en Ciel’s new project, The Violet Ray, will translate Celia’s lived experience of synaesthesia into an immersive, multi-sensory environment featuring gentle, evolving improvised music.

Inspired by Arthur Rimbaud’s Voyelles, a famous poem exploring the relationship between letters and colours, the project draws on the idea that people can experience and interpret the world differently.

The first stage of the project will see the quartet record a series of improvised performances inside Adelaide’s historic Z Ward at Glenside, using the building’s distinctive acoustics and history as part of the creative process.

These recordings will become the foundation for a future immersive experience at Immersive Light and Art (ILA), where Celia’s synaesthetic perception will be explored through reactive light, spatial audio and a sensory-friendly environment. The experience will invite neurodiverse and neurotypical audiences to connect through sound, light and shared creative experiences.

For Collectif: Arc en Ciel, neurodiversity is central to the artistic vision. The project recognises different ways of perceiving, creating and connecting as a source of creativity and artistic possibility.

Collectif: Arc en Ciel’s The Violet Ray is a testament to the creativity and ambition of South Australian artists. Through support from the Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grant, the project will explore new ways of experiencing music, while highlighting the value of diverse perspectives in shaping the future of our creative sector.

Photography credit: JLM Studios