Work in Development — Research & Creation

Holding the Line

Frontline workers are holding the line within systems under increasing pressure.

Holding the Line is a micro-opera that makes this labour visible, audible and tangible. Combining elements of sound art, movement and installation, the work explores the hidden emotional labour of frontline workers supporting women affected by sexual and gendered violence across homelessness, justice and crisis-response systems.

Developed by a team of artists, the work uses sound, movement, repetition, and durational form to translate trauma exposure into embodied experience. Working metaphorically rather than representationally, the project examines cycles of crisis, emotional saturation, and fragile resilience within structurally strained systems.

Testimony, where included, is de‑identified, ethically sourced, and shaped collaboratively with sector participants. The work invites audiences to recognise unseen care labour and to understand that resilience requires structural support, not individual endurance.

Lead Artists: Michelle St Anne
Sector Advisors: Vanessa Dumbrell & Camille Kersley