According to Michael Turkic, university is a gladiatorial environment. It will break you down and build you up anew \u2013 and it may even change the course of your life.<\/p>\n
The accomplished actor and director studied theatre arts at Curtin in the 1980s when it was named WAIT. It was here he developed a passion for \u2018rattling the cages\u2019 that helped spur him on to become a mentor, educator and advocate for marginalised groups in film, music and theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cUniversities are tough places. They are places to test your ideas about life, your profession and your identity. You find oppositional views and learn to question everything,\u201d Turkic says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to be a performing artist, you need to get rid of those assumptions and affectations, get right down to your core as an artist and build yourself up from ground zero.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Perth in the \u201880s enjoyed a \u201crelatively relaxed political environment,\u201d Turkic remembers a number of teachers who challenged the status quo and influenced him as a student.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of my tutors came from the \u201860s and \u201870s. They had protested about the Vietnam War and were incredibly radical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were encouraged to go out into the world and make a difference. I thought: If I\u2019m not radical about my politics, I can be radical about my field of expertise \u2013 the theatre. I wanted to tell stories that are uncomfortable for the audience to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating, Turkic performed in a number of theatre productions that pushed the envelope, including Corrugation Road<\/em>, a play about an Aboriginal man living with mental illness.<\/p>\n One of Turkic\u2019s proudest achievements is co-founding the Australian Musical Foundation at NIDA, which gave awards scholarships and performance opportunities to young musicians until 1994.<\/p>\n Turkic has taught at various institutions, including the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and currently lectures at Federation University Australia. The ability to pass on his knowledge to up-and-coming actors, musicians and filmmakers is particularly rewarding for the industry veteran.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowledge is a gift. You have to get out there and pass it on because it’s useless knowledge when you go,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n