ICYMI: The week’s top news in the arts

This symposium is part of Wansolwara: One Salt Water, a series of exhibitions, performances and events from across the Pacific and throughout the Great Ocean.

Super curator Hans Ulrich Obrist to come to MPavilion

MPavilion’s February program revolves around the timely topic of ‘Earth: A Place of Reconciliation, A Reconciliation of Place’. Guided by architect Glenn Murcutt’s philosophy to ‘touch the earth lightly’ – who has designed this year’s Pavilion – the February program offers more than 40 talks, workshops and experiences centred on sustainability, designing for the future, food resources, and place making. 

February 2020 starts with internationally renowned curator and artistic director of London’s Serpentine Galleries, Hans Ulrich Obrist in conversation with Tarrawarra Museum’s Victoria Lynn. A six-day symposium with London’s Royal College of Art. MPavilion Book Club, Eco-centric events specially curated by Green Magazine, Performances by Chunky Move, Music in Exile and Iceclaw and a swag of other talks.

Then there’s MRelay – Climate Crisis -a talk-marathon for our times, powered by local thinkers from a broad range of generations, backgrounds and life experiences, and MPavilion’s MKids Summer Program.  . 

MPavilion is free to the public in the Queen Victoria Gardens until Sunday 22 March 2020. For MPavilion’s Top 10 Summer Events.

AROUND THE GALLERIES

Major photography gift to Rockhampton Art Gallery

Rockhampton Art Gallery has become home to the collection of the Queensland Centre for Photography, thanks to a gift of 108 photographs, spanning ten years of contemporary photography in Queensland.

Regarded as one of the leading photography institutions in Australia, The Queensland Centre for Photography operated in Brisbane for ten years from 2004.

In its lifetime the centre’s program included exhibitions, publications, international projects and the Queensland Festival of Photography. More than 700 artists displayed works at the venue over ten years.

However, with the withdrawal of core funding, the Centre’s board decided to close its doors in 2014 and donate the collection.

The decision was made to donate the works to Rockhampton Art Gallery upon the confirmation of the Rockhampton Museum of Art. The new cultural institution is putting a spotlight on the role of Central Queensland as a leader in regional arts.

The collection will be exhibited at Rockhampton Art Gallery in the ‘open collection’ style, giving members of the public a behind-the-scenes view of what gallery staff do on a daily basis as they process the collection, in preparation for relocation to the Rockhampton Museum of Art in 2021.

Jonathan Jones at Hyde Park Barracks. Photo James Horan

Major new commission for re-opening of Hyde Park Barracks

As part of City of Sydney’s now year-round Art + About program and to coincide with the official re-opening of Hyde Park Barracks, Wiradjuri / Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones has been commissioned to create a major installation taking over the full 2500m2 of the Barracks’ courtyard. 

Titled ‘untitled (maraong manouwi)’ – which means Emu’s footprint in Gadigal language – the work uses 2000 versions of two remarkable similar symbols, the maraong manaouwi, and the English Broad Arrow design emblazoned into convict’s tools, to juxtapose and illustrate the two vastly different stories and experiences during the period of First Contact.  

The installation is comprised of tens of thousands of pieces of gravel from Wiradjuri Country (white and red) that outline these extraordinarily similar shapes. For the installation’s three-week duration – 21 February – 15 March – as part of the official reopening of the Hyde Park Barracks, visitors are invited to walk on top of the artwork, playing a part in its slow disintegration as the bichromatic gravel mixes together the emu tracks and broad arrows and bringing into focus the importance of protecting and preserving cultural sites.

First major Australian exhibition at the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC (USA) will presented Beauty Rich and Rare from 9 January – 5 July 2020.

Beauty Rich and Rare was commissioned by the National Library of Australia in 2018 and created and produced by AGB Events and has been bought to the US by the Embassy of Australia. It recreates the wonder experienced by Sir Joseph Banks and the botanists, scientists, and illustrators who travelled on the historic HMB Endeavour voyage from England to Australia in 1770.

Kate Mitchell, All Auras Touch, 2020, Carriageworks. Image Zan Wimberley. 

Four new works for Carriageworks

This week Carriageworks unveiled four major new artworks commissioned from leading Australian contemporary artists. A time slot usually reserved for International art stars to coincide with Sydney Festival.Instead this year, the multi-arts precinct invited-scale art installations by Rebecca Baumann, Daniel Boyd, Kate Mitchell, open from 8 January, and by Reko Rennie, whose illuminated text work REMEMBER ME will launch in late January.

Carriageworks Director and CEO Blair French said, ‘We begin 2020 with major site-specific artworks that both illuminate the history and architecture of this site and demonstrate Carriageworks’ commitment to social and cultural diversity. Two of these artworks are by Aboriginal artists, reflecting the importance of Carriageworks Aboriginal Arts Strategy to our overall Artistic Program.’

Rennie’s REMEMBER ME at the entrance to Carriageworks will remain for the entire year as a constant reminder of the continuing impact of invasion, said French. www.carriageworks.com.au

Adelaide artist profiled in Melbourne

Linden New Art’s Projects Space will feature Adelaide-based artist Jonathan Kim profile from 23 January – 23 February. Kim was born and raised in South Korea and spent his 20s studying and working in International Trade and Economics in China. Kim changed careers after migrating to Australia.

Linden New Art Director Melinda Martin said: ‘Jonathan is an exciting artist to watch and develop.’

Kim’s exhibition will feature works created during three recent residencies including: the University of South Australia’s Vacation Research program; the British School at Rome Residency and the Sauerbier House Culture Exchange Artist in Residence program.

Kim’s artwork was selected by PICA for the esteemed national graduate exhibition Hatched in 2018; featured in the prestigious Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition in 2019, where he was awarded the prestigious British School in Rome residency, as well as the Linden New Art Award, which includes this opportunity to present a solo show in the Linden Projects Space.

Standing in the Shadows of Mona, 2016, Mona Lawns during concert – outdoor stage. Photo: Mona/Rémi Chauvin. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT FESTIVALS

Mona’s Music Marathon

Mona is in the thick of hosting a marathon of sorts. Forty-two days of free live music on the lawns at the museum, from 20 December 2019 to 31 January 2020. Musicians have been plucked from a broad spectrum of genres, from Sinhalese pop to Japanese jazz, cigar-box blues to cassette tape DJs. With multiple acts lined up for each day.

Mona music curator, Brian Ritchie, said: ‘This means an emphasis on female talent, immigrant musicians, people living with disability and even a special Kwanzaa stream celebrating the musical achievements of the African diaspora. It’s serious music and serious fun, with relaxation, food and drinks on the lawn and occasional forays into the gallery spaces.’

Visitors to Mona can pull up a bean-bag, sip on a Moorilla sparkling wine or Moo Brew beer and enjoy live music. Check out Mona’s website for the full music lineup.

Sydney Festival kicks off amidst bushfire tragedy

Sydney Festival has embarked on three weeks of theatre, music, dance, family-friendly and free events.

Festival Director, Wesley Enoch: ‘We are seeing unprecedented fires and loss. This is a terrible time in the history of our Land. At times like this, the importance of gathering as a community is self-evident, and I firmly believe that artists, and the arts, play a vital role in giving us strength and supporting resilience  – stepping up to help tell our stories, to make sense of our collective experiences, and to lift our spirits when we so desperately need it.’

The festival signals its commencement with Proclamation, a large-scale art installation conceived by Aboriginal artist Jacob Nash. 250 flags fly at Barangaroo Reserve from January 8 to 26, created from designs submitted by participants across Australia. The flag designs explore Australians’ diverse ideas about land and our sense of belonging to land and country.

Read ArtsHub’s Richard Watts’: Ten shows not to miss at Sydney Festival

 A special bushfire appeal concert, featuring a mix of Sydney Festival 2020 artists and their friends – including Regurgitator, Custard, Dan Sultan, Polish Club and Art vs. Science – takes place this Saturday 11 January at the Metro Theatre, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal and WIRES – Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation. For full program details visit: www.sydneyfestival.org.au

St Kilda Festival announces line up for 40th anniversary

St Kilda Festival has announced an incredible line-up for its 40th anniversary, with the Main Stage showcasing Melbourne favourites Cash Savage and the Last Drinks; the high priestess of Soul Kylie Auldist; stack-blowing rockers Stonefield; electro-pop ensemble The Kite String Tangle; infectious four-piece rock band Port Royal and blues-inspired melodic pop duo Busby Marou.

In total, over 50 acts will take to multiple stages for the 40th anniversary of Australia’s biggest free music festival. The full Anniversary program is available on stkildafestival.com.au.

St Kilda Festival is held on the second Sunday in February each year, this year the 9th.

Queer Screen’s 27th Mardi Gras Film Festival

Queer Screen’s 27th Mardi Gras Film Festival will be held from 13 – 27 February 2020, returning to Sydney’s Inner West with over 20 screenings at Dendy Newtown, in addition to Hayden Orpheum and principal venue partner Event Cinemas George Street, before touring to Canberra, Parramatta, Lismore, Newcastle and the Blue Mountains in March.

‘Our 2020 theme ‘Evolve, Emerge, Fly’ reflects both the continually improving quality of the local and international films on offer as well as the diversity of emerging Australian talent,’ explains Queer Screen Festival Director Lisa Rose. ‘It also represents the broader evolution of queer film, as we move beyond ‘coming out’ stories to tell all sorts of stories, through all sorts of characters, in all genres.’

‘In addition, several films examine how LGBTIQ+ people seek to belong from a global perspective. When we look at the movement of people around the world, whether forced or voluntary, we see that ultimately, we all just want to belong somewhere and the truth is, we belong everywhere,’ she added.

Some of the Festival’s most powerful films directly address the persecution and displacement of LGBTIQ+ people including the meditative Fireflies from Iran; Label Me which follows a Syrian refugee in Germany and Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America, an insightful documentary about asylum seekers in the USA.

For the first time in its 27 year history, the Festival opens with an Australian feature film, Ellie & Abbie (And Ellie’s  Dead Aunt). A heartfelt rom com, the film was shot in Sydney and shines a light on our own civil rights movement through a teenage lesbian love story

This year’s festival boasts 6 world premieres, 93 Australian premieres and 12 Sydney premieres across 57 feature-length films, 2 episodics and 75 short films told through 15 different genres. Tickets are now on sale at queerscreen.org.au.

ON STAGE

Sydney Festival cancels Theatre Production Opening Night

This week, Sydney Festival announced the cancellation of its theatre production Opening Night, starring French actress Isabelle Adjani.

Due to health concerns related to fire-affected air quality in Sydney, the company behind the production has chosen to cancel its appearance at the festival.

Sydney Festival Director Wesley Enoch said: ‘We have been in constant communication with all international and Australian based companies in relation to any concerns arising from the current fire situation in NSW … Unfortunately, despite our best efforts and assurances, the Opening Night team has chosen not to come.’

 

All ticket holders for Opening Night will be refunded in full. 

Enoch added: ‘The arts community understands the importance of carrying on and also acknowledges the powerful role that art, culture and the act of coming together can play at a time like this.’

Sydney Festival opens this Wednesday 8 January. A special bushfire appeal concert, featuring a mix of Sydney Festival 2020 artists and their friends, will be held on Saturday 11 January at the Metro Theatre, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal and WIRES – Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation.

A legacy in music against anti-gay hate crimes

One of the most notorious anti-gay hate crimes in American history, the ruthless attack on Matthew Shepard  – a 21 year old student at the University of Wyoming who was bludgeoned to death in 1998 – shocked a public into action, spawning a fortified activist movement that, more than a decade later, would result in the passage of a federal US Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

American composer Craig Hella Johnson created the Grammy-nominated work Considering Matthew Shepard to commemorate his life. The work will have its Sydney premiere on Thursday 21 February 2020, performed by Sydney Philharmonia’s acclaimed VOX Young Adult Choir, aged 18 to 30, making it an especially poignant concert for both singers and audience.

Presented in partnership with City Recital Hall, as a 2020 Mardi Gras Festival premier event, this is a one-off performance, so book early.  

Dame Edna makes her first appearance at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl

On Saturday 1 February 2020, Opera Australia and Anthony Pratt present Opera for the People, a free performance at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Hosting the evening will be the inimitable Dame Edna – her first appearance at the Bowl.

The evening will be filled with exhilarating performances of opera’s best known arias and overtures including the Habanera from Carmen, Nessun Dorma from Turandot, and musical classics to sing along to from My Fair Lady and Annie Get your Gun. Gates open 4pm for an 8pm performance.

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