2021
Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far): A Conversation Series
Asialink Arts and Santy Saptari Art Consulting present Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far), a conversation series about Indonesia-Australia relations in visual arts. Through the lens of visual arts the program aimed to ask, ‘what can the arts do to build understanding and trust between nations?’
Leading artists, representatives from public and private Australian and Indonesian art institutions, art collectors and gallerists explored how deeper connections and opportunities might be fostered.
1. Artists Insights: Exhibit, Exchange, Co-Create
The first conversation brought together prominent Indonesian and Australian artists to share their respective experiences in Indonesia and Australia – exploring the professional, social and cultural contexts. The session touched on the value of artistic exchange and residency programs, as well as the experience as a member of a diaspora community, exploring notions of identity and using various cultural references as a form of expression.
Caitlin Hughes recaps the first session dedicated to artists’ insights – and reflects on the conversation’s key themes of accessibility, place, and opportunity. Read Here.
Peripheries, encounters, and entry points:
Artists share perspectives on cross-cultural experiences in Australia and Indonesia.
Speakers: Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Febie Babyrose (Tromarama), Jumaadi, and Tintin Wulia.
Moderated by Bala Starr – Director, La Trobe Art Institute.
2. Scaffolding the Indonesian and Australian Visual Arts Sectors: The Role of Institutions and The Structure of Advocacy
The second conversation invited speakers who are involved in advocacy, governance and delivery of institutional programs that support cross-cultural understanding. They discussed how, in their respective positions, they are advocating for increased support including policy change, development of strategic partnerships, the role of education and the importance of engaging the public.
Caitlin Hughes recaps the second session and asks how we can foster more inclusive and dynamic ways of working in the arts. Read Here.
Speakers: Kate Ryan, Marcus Schutenko, Sally Smart, and Farah Wardani.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.
3. Private Platforms and The Art Market: Collecting, Connecting and Commissioning
The third conversation explored the critical role of private collectors and commercial organisations in promoting exchange and collaboration between Indonesia and Australia. The discussion unpicked the motivations, incentives and experiences of operating in this commercial context including the value of relationships with artists and difference between making public and keeping private.
Caitlin Hughes recaps the third session and asks what are the motivations that underpin the private arts sectors in Australia and Indonesia, how are they similar and different, and how are key players using their platforms to promote advocacy, exchange, and connections? Read Here.
Speakers: Konfir Kabo, Margaret Moore, Erastus Radjimin, and Tom Tandio.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.
4. Relationship Building: New Ways Forward in The Visual Arts Sectors of Indonesia and Australia
The last conversation discussed the recent trajectory in the Indonesian and Australian arts and cultural relationship and imagined future strategies and actions to strengthen ties and enhance mutual understanding.
Caitlin Hughes recaps the final session and asks what role can the arts, the media, and education fields play in developing closer links between Indonesia and Australia? How can we find new ways to tell stories about each other? And what could the relationship look like as we find new ways forward? Read Here.
Speakers: Penny Burtt, Hikmat Darmawan, Elena Williams, Chloé Wolifson, and Taufiqurrahman.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.
Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far) has been supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
sonicbridge - Australia and China contemporary music connections
The Merindas, filmed during the writing process.
Through a series of virtual conversations and a process of short iterative film making, deeper understanding was fostered, lasting relationships were forged and a legacy for the whole music industry created, modelling new possibilities for creative exchanges and real life engagements in the sector.
Over 6 months, Melbourne based musical duo, The Merindas, and, Shii, an emerging electronic music artist based in Wuhan, generously and candidly shared experiences and stories, developing a dialogue around their creative lives. The artists explored and defined the key themes important to them, such as their mutual interest in collaborating with other creative women, and the challenges and opportunities of relocating to other cities in their home countries as well as travelling domestically and internationally for work. In their candid and globally resonant, locally idiosyncratic, conversations they discussed the tactics they use to promote their work, their studio craft, their networks and the pragmatics of performing. Through their encounters and filmic recordings the artists have sketched a professional blueprint for other emerging artists both in their home country and abroad.
View the films here at sonicbridge.net
知音 sonicbridge was led by industry experts Fred Leone (Melbourne and Brisbane) and Nevin Domer (Shanghai and Beijing), who collaborated with industry peers to select artists from both Australia and China for a unique opportunity to build peer to peer relationships. Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on international mobility the artists undertook a digital exchange with a series of real time meetings and film projects over a period of 6 months. The exchange and lasting films created insights, built new connections and developed capability for the artists and the broader sector through the sharing of personal narrative, inspirations, and challenges they face and overcome in their sector.
The program launched with an interview with Leone and Domer and then shortly after an introduction was made to the participating artists. In the curated interview with Leone and Domer, their process of selecting the musicians, their hopes for the program and their own experience of working as artists and creative facilitators in cross-cultural contexts was be explored.
Previous event information
Myf Warhurst is a TV presenter, broadcaster, journalist, and writer. She is currently hosting weekday lunch nationwide on ABC radio’s Double J, and is also a weekly columnist for The Guardian.
Myf is best known for her role as Team Captain on one of Australia’s most-loved television shows, Spicks & Specks which ran for seven seasons, as well as DJ and broadcaster for ABC radio’s triplej.
In her spare time Myf is also an Ambassador for Melbourne animal shelter Animal Aid and Wildlife Victoria. Myf regularly participates in industry talks, conferences and events. She is also an experienced MC for all types of organisations and a spokesperson for different initiatives.
Fred Leone is one of the three Butchulla Song men; the Butchulla tribe through his grandmother's line covers Kgari (Fraser Island), Hervey Bay, Maryborough and the surrounding areas of the Fraser Coast. He is also Garawa on his grandfather’s line, Garawa country running across the Queensland /Northern Territory border. He also has Tongan and South Sea Islander heritage.
Fred is committed to social change and social justice, particularly applying his skills and knowledge to support the strength, status and development of Indigenous culture. Through his music, language and dance, Fred is also focused on enriching the lives of young people in the areas of positive leadership, self-expression, self-confidence, self-pride and pride in communities and culture.
“To be able to give indigenous artists, grassroots artists but also emerging artists the skills and the industry contacts to navigate their path and their niche is really important so they won’t have to reinvent the wheel. The importance of this exchange goes far beyond one-off sort of workshop, it is creating international links by helping build the skills of the artists.”
— Fred Leone
Nevin Domer has been working in the Chinese music industry since 2005. He managed the bookings at legendary rock venue D-22 and helped found two of China's top indie labels, Maybe Mars and Genjing Records, where he oversaw promotion, production, and distribution. Through these two labels, he has worked as an executive producer on recordings with Wharton Tiers, Andy Gill, Martin Atkins, and Brian Hardgroove. Nevin has also tour managed several international bands in China, including Die! Die! Die! (NZ), Primitive Calculators (AUS), and Psychic Ills (US).
While organizing tours for Chinese acts in the US, Australia, and Europe. Nevin currently researches the history and development of Chinese punk while still managing to record and tour with his band, actively participating in a scene he loves.
“Building those cultural bridges and allowing artists from each country to interact with each other and connect with audiences in each country is important. This sort of exchange, allowing them to move not just vertically up in their own market but horizontally into other markets is important. Both will allow them to gain skills for their own music but also for inspirations in what’s happening in other communities.” — Nevin Domer
The Merindas are the collective force of Nyoongar Ballardong Whadjuk woman Kristel Kickett (from Tammin, WA) and Candice Lorrae of Jawoyn and Thursday Island heritage (born in Darwin, NT). Based in Melbourne, these soul sisters are set to trail-blaze their innovative style of Indigenous music. They describe their unique sound as “electronic pop with a dance-hall feel, alongside hip hop and R&B influences.”
With two singles under their belt (We Sing Until Sunrise and Before Daylight), their hotly anticipated debut album ‘We Sing Until Sunrise (“Ngangk Ngoorndiny Ngala Warangka – strongly reflects that we are forever singing, forever dancing and forever celebrating our culture”)’ and their new self-produced single ‘Déjà vu’ were released in 2020. This is the essence of who The Merindas are and the ethos they bring to each of their performances.
Shii is an electronic music project started in 2014 by Shiyi Xiang. Performing livesets with a combination of synthesizer, voice, and video projections her music is based on simple melodies and synthesized sound. With leaping drums and alluring voicals, she constructs a dreamy atmosphere integrating the genres of IDM, glitch, Dream Pop and Dark Wave. Her fantastical imagination, unique thoughts and sound lines will lead you into a new auditory domain.
Shii has recently released her first official album, Floating Signifiers on Merrie Records and completed a 10 stop tour of China, as well as a collaborative music and performance show with Chinese dancer Nee.
Artlands Panel: Cultural Heritage – Regional Identity and Collective Memory
As part of our Regional // Regional initiative, Asialink Arts has developed this panel session to present at Artlands, the Regional Arts Australia national conference. The intent of the discussion is to share insights and consider adapted approaches to the sharing of cultural heritage.
Cultural Heritage: Regional Identity and Collective Memory
The discussion will explore how artistic and cultural expressions enable the sharing, protection and cultivation of cultural heritage. Conversations surrounding cultural sensitivity, cultural ownership and social responsibilities will shed light on approaches to authentic connections to community, history and collective memories are fostered. Challenges and transformations inspired by such responsible and authentic connection will also be covered to understand the relationship between cultural heritage, identity and memory in practice.
The panel invites speakers Kim Hak (Cambodian photography artist), Pip Kelly (Australian filmmaker, curator and Asialink alumni) and Mikaela Jade (Caborgal woman, Founder and CEO of Indigital), moderated by Dr Pippa Dickson (Director of Asialink Arts).
The session wraps up by questioning tensions that arise if aspects of heritage and cultural expression only serve the interests of a particular segment of the community or when it is seen as exploitative and or at risk of being misappropriated.
Kim Hak, Portrait of Nov Oeub, "Alive" Chapter II, Australia, 2015
Artlands
As Australia’s largest regional arts gathering for over two decades, Artlands is a strategic exchange that responds to emerging trends, discovers new ideas, considers adapted approaches and showcases artists as well as highlighting the creative and cultural sector across regional, rural and remote Australia.
In 2021, Artlands focuses on ‘The Space Between’, sparking conversations about practice through the intersection of people and place. The program explores contextual links between people, place and practice and considers a narrative of art as social change and emphasises the importance of cultural identity.
More on the Artlands speakers
Mikaela Jade is a Cabrogal Woman from the Dharug-speaking Nations of Sydney. She started her technology journey in 2012 with an idea that would help shape our nation – augmented and mixed reality production, and later, digital skills programs to leapfrog First Peoples’ into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To drive this idea forward, Mikaela created Indigital in 2014.
On the journey so far she has partnered with several remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Microsoft Australia and Telstra Purple to scale Indigital’s work nationally. Indigital’s flagship program is Indigital Schools. Indigital Schools is an Indigenous designed digital skills training program for primary and high schools students. It enables Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids to connect with and learn from Elders about cultural knowledge, history and language, while learning digital skills in cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality, animation and coding.
As Australia’s first Indigenous edutech company Indigital’s mission is to close the digital divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, by providing a meaningful pathway for Indigenous people into the digital economy and the creation of future technologies. She achieves this by ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ have access to developing cutting edge, safe, ethical, affordable, quality digital engagement that is appropriate to their social, cultural, environmental and economic needs.
Pip Kelly is a Western Australian curator, filmmaker and creative producer. Her award-winning films and exhibitions focus on history, truth-telling, photography and transformation. Pip is an Asialink arts management residency alumni who initiated Jorng Jam (to remember), a collaborative contemporary art project and historical exhibition series which remembers, reclaims and reinterprets Cambodian social history from before, during and after the Khmer Rouge era. Jorng Jam features the work of four Cambodian artists: Neang Kavich, Neak Sophal, Kong Vollak and Kim Hak and the rare historical photographs and objects of Cambodian and Australian families who survived Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea.
www.jorngjam.com | www.pipkelly.com.au
Kim Hak was born two years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1981 and he grew up listening to his parent’s memories of that time. Now, he uses his art practice to raise awareness of this country’s past – to remember, reclaim and reinterpret Cambodian social history from before, during and after the Khmer Rouge era.
Hak’s work has explored a number of themes related to the cultural fabric of Cambodia, including survivor stories, the funeral of King Sihanouk, architectural documentation and also the wider changing landscape of his homeland. From January through March 2020 Hak spent time in Japan thanks to a Japan Foundation grant working on a new chapter. He collaborated with Cambodian immigrants, mainly residents of Kanagawa and Saitama, to create 40 new photographic works that form the fourth chapter of his ‘Alive’ series.
Hak has exhibited extensively throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe, Canada and the United States of America. His work has featured internationally at art and photography festivals and has been published in a number of prominent photography journals.
Tickets for both online and in-person sessions are available on: Artlands 2021
Asialink Arts × Cementa21 Virtual: Foreground // Foresight
On Friday October 15, Asialink Arts will present two events for Cementa’s Spirit of '21. Foreground // Foresight introduces key arts leaders from Japan to discuss arts and culture led community-engaged placemaking and regional renewal. The program aligns and reinforces Cementa’s commitment to promoting arts and cultural led regeneration in Kandos and the Mid-Western region of NSW. These sessions aim to explore future collaborations and possibilities in Kandos’s regional community, inspiring international conversations through a local lens and leading to an actionable future agenda.
Fram Kitagawa, founder of Art Front, and the world renowned Setouchi and Echigo Tsumari Triennials will open with a keynote presentation to introduce and inspire possibilities of arts led regional regeneration. Following this there will be a panel discussion with three esteemed speakers from Japan and Australia, Teiko Hinuma, Norikazu Sato and Andrew Burns who will explore from their persepctives the ingredients to successful community led activation and regeneration in regional locations.
Keynote Presentation – Fram Kitagawa: Vision and Arts Leadership in Regional Development
Date: Friday, 15 Oct 2021
Time: 12.00pm AEDT
Arts-led regional regeneration projects in Japan have a successful history in contributing to the region’s economic, social, and environmental renewal through art and cultural tourism. We have invited Fram Kitagawa, the esteemed director of influential projects responsible for large-scale rejuvenation in regional and rural Japan to share with us the rationale and impact of his work. The session will look both back and forward to assess the change that arts led regional development can manifest.
Register here.
Panel Discussion – From the Ground Up: Community Catalysts
Date: Friday, 15 Oct 2021
Time: 1.00pm AEDT
This panel moderated by Dr Pippa Dickson, Director of Asialink Arts, brings together leaders from Japanese arts-led regional regeneration projects to explore the trajectories and the social and cultural impacts of community-engaged placemaking. Teiko Hinuma, Norikazu Sato and Andrew Burns, will be invited to explore how the arts and architecture are crucial to expressing local identity. Through an exploration of their respective projects the panel will examine the importance of understanding communities and working with local identities in developing and maximising stakeholder engagement leading to long term activation of place and sustainability.
Register here.
Foreground // Foresight is presented by Asialink Arts and Cementa and supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation @ausjapanfoundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
More on the speakers:
Fram Kitagawa (北川フラム) is the Chairman of Art Front Gallery and Director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1946. Following his graduation from Tokyo University of the Arts, he organised various exhibitions that introduced to Japan works of art that at the time were not well known. He has been responsible for a wide range of art projects such as the Antoni Gaudi exhibition that traveled to 13 Japanese cities in 1978-1979 and the Apartheid Non! International Art Festival, originally organized as Art Against Apartheid by UNESCO, that was shown at 194 venues throughout Japan in 1988-1990.
Kitagawa has received high praise for his involvement in activities related to community development, such as his lead role in the planning of the Faret Tachikawa Art Project and the cultural activities he oversaw at the Daikanyama Hillside Terrace.
He has served as the general director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2000, and has made a major contribution to the development of the region through art. He has also served as the general director of the Setouchi Triennale the Northern Alps Art Festival, the Oku-Noto Triennale and Ichihara Art Mix, Boso Satoyama International Art Festival.
Teiko Hinuma (日沼禎子) is the Program Director of the Kesen Artist in Residence Program (formerly known as Rikuzentakata AIR), a Professor of Art Produce and Museum Studies at Joshibi University of Art and Design, and a board member of AIR Network Japan. Previously, she worked for gallery management planning companies and art magazines as an editor.
In 1999, she was involved in the foundation of Aomori Contemporary Arts Centre. Until 2011, she served as a curator there, planning many exhibitions, projects, and residencies for artists. She has also served as the Program Director for the civilian artists support group ARTizan (Aomori), a project director of the Saitama Triennnale 2016 and art director of UBE Tokiwa Museum.
Norikazu Sato (佐東範一), Executive Director, NPO Japan Contemporary Dance Network, joined Butoh company Byakkosha in 1980 as both a dancer and company manager until it was dissolved in 1994. He studied arts management at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York in 1996. He then founded a non-profit organization, the Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) in Kyoto in 2001. JCDN organises Odori Ni Ikuze!! ("We are gonna go Dancing!!", a national tour project) affiliated with performance venues across Japan from 2000, including Asian tours.
JCDN has promoted Community Dance activities since 2008, and JCDN International Dance In Residence Exchange Project between Finland, Korea, U.S., Australia, Hong Kong since 2011. Sanriku-International Arts Festival is held annually by JCDN in Tohoku, a disaster area severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami since 2014. Now JCDN attempts to start New Dance Project in Japan and overseas, including exchange programs with international organisations. They have received the Japan Foundation's Prize for Global Citizenship in 2006 and Kyoto City Arts Promotion Prize in 2015.
Andrew Burns graduated from the University of Sydney in 2004. Since establishment in 2008, his practice has undertaken residential, cultural, community and public projects. The practice’s approach seeks to combine social engagement with design excellence, and is characterised by precise geometry and material exploration.
In 2011, the practice received first prize in the Australia House design competition for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan, selected by Tadao Ando from an international field of 154 entries.
In 2012, the practice was awarded first prize in an invited competition to transform a forgotten pocket at Gibbon's Rent into London's newest park and selected for the inaugural Fugitive Structures project at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, since installed permanently at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.
In 2013 Andrew was a finalist for the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and received the RAIA National Emerging Architect Prize. In 2014, the practice was shortlisted for the Green Square Aquatic Centre project and received the Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture for Australia House.
Recently, the practice has received the significant commissions of a new café in Hyde Park Sydney, Cranbrook School’s rural campus in the Wolgan Valley, a series of remote projects in National Parks throughout Australia and a number of large scale multi-residential, education and hotel projects.
Mutable Ecologies - online exhibition and public program
2021 marks 10 years since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. In this decade Australia and Japan have experienced an increase in extreme environmental events which have impacted on rural and urban ways of life. These events and their relationship to human activity are subject to increasing debate.
Mutable Ecologies considers how innovations in art, design and architecture can interrogate the effects of these changing environmental conditions to offer new insights and awareness of ecological futures. It comprises leading creative practitioners in Australia and Japan delivering a series of online exhibitions, workshops and discussions that explore emerging practices, technologies and interfaces between art, design and architecture to advance global responses to ecological transformations.
The project will connect practitioners, the public and organisations to build on and strengthen existing partnerships to reveal Australia’s strong cultural and economic relationship with Japan and shared values of community engagement, ecological resilience and sustainable futures.
View the exhibition here.
Artists include
Don’t Follow the Wind
Hikaru Fujii
Yoichi Kamimura
Yuko Mohri
Clinton Naina
Yhonnie Scarce
Polly Stanton
Mutable Ecologies Public Program
Join us for the final public forum for Mutable Ecologies.
Wednesday, 24 November – Commencing 2.30pm AEDT / 12.30pm Tokyo
Inhabiting Extremes explores ways artists, designers and scientists are registering and communicating anthropogenic impacts caused by climate change and nuclear testing. The forum includes discussions on the design of Antarctic research stations, rising sea levels, the impact of nuclear testing on traditional owners, science communication, and new ways of measuring urban microclimates. Inhabiting Extremes offers a rich and diverse transcultural insight into places seldom seen or heard, yet central to the health and wellbeing of our planet.
Opening reading and presentation by award-winning Indigenous author and climate activist Tony Birch followed by a conversation with speakers: Miranda Nieboer, Affiliated researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) – University of Tasmania (UTAS); Fumitaka Nishino, Technical Advisor at Morino Project and Vegetation Engineer at Green Elm; Motoko Okumoko, Hokkaido University Communicators in Science and Technology Education Program (CoSTEP); Yoshihiro Nakayama, Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University; and Malte Wagenfeld, School of Design, RMIT University.
Register here.
The tactile and immaterial qualities of woodland habitats: Polly Stanton's Presentation and Discussion with Kohei Fujito and Ruth Langford
Wednesday, 3 November – 1pm-2pm AEDT / 11am-12pm Tokyo
Filmmaker and artist Polly Stanton presents 'Elegy for an Occupied Forest’ discussing how pine plantations present eerie life worlds profoundly shaped and recomposed by the productions of capital. They are vibrant sites that remake the forest into a strange and occupied landscape of human-made modification and disturbance. Following her short talk is a discussion with Ainu artist Kohei Fujito and Song Woman and Story Teller, Yorta Yorta woman Ruth Langford.
Polly Stanton explores these complex forest assemblages through the moving image work Indefinite Terrains (2019), which traces the delicate ecologies and entanglements of the Moonlight Flat Pine Plantation in Dja Dja Wurrung country (Central Victoria, Australia). By recounting the process of working with these spaces, as well as thinking alongside a number of writers and theorists, Polly considers the plantation as an ecotone of submerged histories and indeterminate futures.
Register here.
The tactile and immaterial qualities of woodland habitats: Sarah Teasley's Presentation and Discussion with Rodney Keenan and Kikuko Shoyama
Monday, 25 October – 1pm-2pm AEDT / 11am-12pm Tokyo
Design luminary and social historian, Sarah Teasley on 'Experiencing Woodlands through Science in 1913' followed by a discussion with forest ecologist Rodney Keenan and earth science and disaster resilience researcher Kikuko Shoyama.
In this talk, Sarah Teasley will explore what happened when one local forest in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan – with its particular and unique climate, species populations, soil, orientation and location, all with their own material affordances – encountered ideas, technologies and materials from further afield. Working from period experimental reports, contemporary plant biology research and fieldwork, Sarah will suggest that attending to the micro-interactions of wood, water and microbes can illuminate both human power relations and – perhaps as importantly – suggest more ethical and accurate ways to live in the world.
Register here.
The tactile and immaterial qualities of woodland habitats: Takashi Kuribayashi in conversation with Bob Brown
Wednesday, 20 October – 1pm-2.30pm AEDT / 11am-12.30pm Tokyo
Join us in conversation with an esteemed Japanese artist Takashi Kuribayashi and renowned environmentalist Bob Brown. The program will commence with a 30-minute artistic presentation for Kuribayashi and an introduction from Brown followed by a reflection and joint discussion on concepts related to thresholds Kuribayashi's statement:
"The truth resides in places that are invisible. Once you are aware that there is a different world out of sight, you will be living in a different way."
Dr Yuki Matsuoka, Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Office in Japan, will provide introductory remarks, "Interconnections and the all-of-society engagement enshrined by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction". October 13 is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and marks the start of a series of activities and global events over the remainder of 2021.
Register here.
Afternoon Tea with suzueri – live performance and Q & A
Thursday, 23 September – 4pm-5pm AEST / 2pm Tokyo
suzueri will prepare a delicious audio-visual recipe and live-tea party with electronic sweets for 'Mutable Ecologies'. suzueri (Elico Suzuki) is a Tokyo based sound artist and improviser. She presents circuitous and restless performances using pianos and found objects combined with self-made instruments. Her recent interests have centred on exploring the gaps and narrative trajectories between the interaction of instruments and their embodiment.
‘BreadBoard Baking’ is an edible electronic circuit cooking and instrument project run by Tokyo based sound artist Elico Suzuki (suzueri), Emiko Kashiwagi (Emirie) and Naomi Kakuda.
Register here.
Mutable Ecologies is presented by RMIT University and supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Woodland Habitats series is presented by Asialink Arts and RMIT University, supported by CAST Research Group, RMIT University and the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Project Partners: Asialink Arts, Musashino Art University, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC].
Banner image credit: Yoichi Kamimura, “Internal Weather" (210217_12:23_UTORO), 2021.
UNEARTHED by PluginHUMAN, Lorraine Brigdale and Akshat Nauriyal
UNEARTHED opening in St Kilda, Victoria 3182. Courtesy of PluginHUMAN, photo by Ernest Lew.
Inspired by the wild spaces that exist within and around us, PluginHUMAN, Lorraine Brigdale and Akshat Nauriyal bring you UNEARTHED, a projection mapped mural and microverse.
UNEARTHED engages both physical and digital landscapes. The artwork features a mural that spans the exterior of PluginHUMAN studios, 6/63 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, VIC 3182, Australia until 19 December 2021. Audiences can scan a code within the artwork to access a microverse – an online audio-visual landscape. At night this artwork is transformed into a projection mapped light experience.
The UNEARTHED mural features contemporary re-workings of traditional Yorta Yorta shields by Lorraine Brigdale and enlarged micrographs by Betty Sargeant.
The mural also features an icon that connects audiences with a microverse. When audiences hold their phones to the icon, they see an abstract audio-visual digital landscape created by Akshat Nauriyal. UNEARTHED comes alive at night with projection mapping by Justin Dwyer.
“In this project is an opportunity to unite a First Nation woman’s contemporary view of traditional Aboriginal war shields (men’s business) together with contemporary ideas in scientific imagery, illumination and video art. The collaboration prioritises Aboriginal art as an integral part of the visual imagery, encouraging a conversation around cultural awareness which is always this artist's intention.”
– Lorraine Brigdale
UNEARTHED was presented at Shepparton Festival, March 2021. The mural and microverse was part of a public installation, on view 24 hours a day over the festival’s opening weekend (18-20 March) and transformed at night into the projection mapped light experience. The mural includes a permanent installation located at GOTAFE North Street, Shepparton.
PluginHUMAN (Betty Sargeant and Justin Dwyer), Lorraine Brigdale and Akshat Nauriyal discussed UNEARTHED as part of the 2022 EyeMyth Media Arts Festival, touching on engaging both physical and digital landscapes, and the microverse.
CREDITS:
Betty Sargeant: Artist (micrographs), creative director, producer.
Justin Dwyer: Artist (projection mapping), technical director, programmer.
Lorraine Brigdale: Artist (shields), cultural leader.
Akshat Nauriyal: Microverse developer, audio composer.
This project is supported by Asialink Arts, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and The Australian High Commission in New Dehli, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Dogmilk’s new cross-cultural exchange project, Sipakatuo (Glorify One Another)
Asialink Arts is proud to have supported the creative collaboration, documentary and immersive installation by Dogmilk (Sam Hewison and Chris Cochrane-Friedrich) with partners in Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia (Wahyu Al Mardhani, Viktor Konda and Josh Peters)
all circles the moon and dirt shines in the sun is a collision of form and substance – an emotional topography of life in Toraja, made up of over 4000 separate clips from archival material captured by DSTV founder Victor Konda in Toraja over the past 15 years. The materials are re-arranged providing a visceral, living and growing archive of Torajan life, individual and communal. The film is accompanied by text from interviews conducted over the last four years and sound recordings collected by sound artist Josh Peters in Toraja.
Join us for the presentation of this epic new work – 4 video channels on 4 screens, each a different perspective and temporality of the same event, of adjacent action, each contributing to the construction of a shared collective memory.
Duration: 91 mins
Date: Saturday, 11 December 2021 & Sunday, 12 December 2021
Time: 2.30pm AEDT (Sunday only), 5.00pm AEDT, 8.00pm AEDT
Location: North Magdalen Laundry, Abbotsford Convent (1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford, Wurundjeri Country, VIC 3067)
Ticket prices: $15 full price, $10 concession
Disclaimer:
This work includes images of a person who has passed away and their body’s preparation for a funeral ceremony. Some viewers may find this footage distressing.
This project is presented and supported by Asialink Arts with generous funding assistance from the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, we gratefully acknowledge additional event support from Project Eleven.