Foundations of Gold celebrated the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Victoria. A cross-cultural collaborative project, it presented 10 artists from Australia and Asia with an opportunity to share the beauty, meaning and dreams associated with gold.
Artists from five Asian countries were invited to Australia and ‘twinned’ to collaborate with a Melbourne artist working in a similar field. Artists represented various disciplines – painters, glass artists and textile artists as well as gold and silversmiths. The pairs were provided with gold, donated by the Australian Gold Council, and encouraged to create new work exploring the idea of gold in any of its manifestations – physical, aesthetic and cultural.
Artists Georgia Chapman and Monika Correa delivered a lecture in Mumbai to 250 guests at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Correa was quoted in The Indian Express (15 September 2001) as saying: ‘It was really interesting and challenging collaborating with Georgia Chapman. Challenging because one had to make it work…like an arranged marriage! We both worked quite closely and yet I feel the works reflect our backgrounds well.’
Curators: Alison Carroll, Suzanne Davies, Beatrice Schlabowsky
Artists: Georgia Chapman, Eugene Chua Gin-Minn, Monika Correa, Simon Cottrell, Brenda V. Fajardo, Kim Ki-Ra, Makiko Mitsunari, Pamela Stadus, Blanche Tilden, Caroline Williams
Partners: City of Melbourne, Melbourne / RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
Tour: Melbourne, Mumbai, Manila, Seoul, Osaka, Singapore (2001-2003)