"... INCREDIBLY PRECISE, PAINSTAKINGLY CRAFTED IN TERMS OF THE MINUTIA OF BODILY MOVEMENT AND VISUAL STIMULATION, METICULOUSLY SCRIPTED..."

Talya Chalef is a Brooklyn based South African/Australian interdisciplinary theatre-maker and creative producer who has developed and presented original projects since 2004. 
As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors and a teenager during South Africa’s transition from apartheid, Talya is drawn to themes of intergenerational memory, history, cultural identity with a focus on social justice. However, a good story and a talented collaborative team of passionate and fantastic humans, can sway her just the same. 

She is the co­ artistic director and producer of TPWD Inc with Jess Kaufman, and a member of Mapping Spectral Traces - a global group of artists, scholars and academics concerned with cultural geography. 

Talya’s work is often borne out of a devised collaborative process.  Designers and actors collaborate on new works together often in site responsive or un traditional spaces, with an emphasis on creating an immersive experience.  

Talya has participated in numerous artist residencies in Melbourne, NYC, Hamburg, Dublin, Virginia and Rochester NY including: ArtsHouse North Melbourne Meat Market, Abbotsford Convent Melbourne, Watermill Centre NY, Space on Ryder Farm, Mount Tremper Arts, Centre for Advanced Study University of Minnesota and was an invited guest artist in Maynooth Dublin & as an ITI fellow at Theatre De Welt 2017. 

She is the recipient of multiple awards including the Columbia Dean's Fellowship, the prestigious Elizabeth Murdoch Travel Fellowship, multiple Besen Family Foundation Awards and The Australian Council of the Arts ArtStart Grant. 

Talya holds a graduate diploma in Animateuring (Theatremaking/Devising) from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (2004) & completed an MFA in playwriting at Columbia University (2013).  

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