Creative Exchanges: 2003

Aisyah Hilal (Indonesia) Artists-in-Schools & the National Gallery of Victoria

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Jakarta

Aisyah Hilal was the Program Coordinator at the Cemeti Art Foundation in Yogjakarta, Indonesia at the time of her residency. In Australia she worked with  Arts Victoria on the Artists-in-Schools program and with the Education Department of the National Gallery of Victoria. Her residency focussed on the management of arts and educational programs in schools; professional development for artists and teachers, and public programs in galleries. This was complimented by her research on artist run spaces/galleries.

Heru Hikayat (Indonesia) Arts Space

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Jakarta

As an independent curator and writer, Heru Hikayat, has been an active member of the arts community in Bandung, Indonesia. He was a lecturer at the Indonesian Visual Art and Design College (STISI) and has written a number of visual arts articles for several Indonesian newspapers/.  He has also curated a number of exhibitions. In Sydney, Hikayat worked with Arts Space for three months assisting in their exhibitions program. He researched comparative models of public programs with the aim of setting up more public and educational programs for artist run galleries in Indonesia.

Ricky Iskandar (Indonesia) Sydney Musica Viva in Schools Program

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Jakarta

Ricky Iskandar is the founder and managing director of Klasikindo Artists Management, which manages artists and organises classical music events in Indonesia.  Iskandar worked on the Sydney Musica Viva in Schools Program during his residency.  Of particular value was the experience of working on professional development courses for teachers and students, the development of teaching resource materials, and learning how to program a statewide tour of schools for music groups.  His understanding of strategic planning and arts funding were further enhanced through his participation at the Musica Viva National Conference and the Australian Business Arts Foundation training workshops in Brisbane.

Sardono Kusumo (Indonesia) Liminal Theatre

Supported by the Australia Indonesia Institute

Trained in classical Javanese dance, Sardono Kusumo is an internationally renowned Indonesian director, dancer, filmmaker and choreographer. In 2003 he was awarded the Distinguished Artist Award by ISPA, the International Society for the Performing Arts. While on his residency in Australia he worked closely with Robert Draft on Liminal Theatre’s Mishima Project. The company members were trained in Kusumo’s particular vocal and physical training methodology, as were postgraduate students from the Victoria College of the Arts who participated in workshops and a retreat conducted in the Otways in Victoria.

Sujud Dartanto (Indonesia) Fusions Gallery

Supported by the Australia Indonesia Institute

Indonesian ceramicist, curator and writer, A. Sudjud Dartanto, worked at the Institute of Modern Art and Fusions Gallery, Brisbane. Sujud is one of the founding directors of Galeri Benda in Yogyakarta and is a writer with an impressive list of published reviews, articles and catalogue essays. During his time in Brisbane Sujud made ceramics with members of the Australian Network of Clay & Glass Artists at Fusions Gallery and met and interviewed local artists as part of his research for a book that compares the practices of Australian artists with their counterparts in Indonesia. He also began to generate inter-cultural dialogue between artists from both countries.

Wayan Suarniti (Indonesia) Heide Museum of Modern Art

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Jakarta

At the time of her residency Wayan Suarniti was the Manager of the Seniwati Gallery in Ubud, Bali.  The gallery is recognised for its commitment to developing the skills of female artists through its exhibition and community programs.  Suarniti’s residency in Australia with the Heide Museum of Modern Art enabled her to work across the every aspect of the organisation from managing volunteers to public program and staff management.  Important outcomes from the residency were the programming of six Balinese artists in Crossing Boundaries exhibition in Australia and scheduling two disabled Balinese artists to participate and attend the Wataboshi Festival in Brisbane in 2003.

Wei-Li Yeh (Taiwan) The Gunnery

Supported by the Taipei Cultural Bureau

Yeh Wei-Li is a Taipei photographer, educated in the US at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Florida.  Since 1993 he has exhibited in 5 solo and more than 22 group exhibitions in Taipei, Tampa, New York, Providence and Atlanta.  His work has explored ideas about place, memory and the home. Yeh Wei-Li was resident at the NSW Ministry Studios at the Gunnery in Sydney, funded by the Taipei Cultural Bureau. During his residency Wei-Li made photographs and researched work for an exhibition of Taiwanese/Australian photography to show at the Taipei Artists Village upon his return.

Margaret Bradstock (NSW) Peking University

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and NSW Ministry for the Arts

Dr. Margaret Bradstock is a Sydney writer, reviewer, academic and critic whose work has been widely published and anthologised.  She has lectured in the School of English at the University of New South Wales for 25 years and is the author/co-editor of 13 books of fiction, biography and poetry. At Peking University, Dr Bradstock was able to contribute to the University’s understanding of Australian literature, especially poetry. The residency also provided her with experiences towards writing a collection of poetry about China and the Chinese people. Dr Bradstock has been invited to return as a lecturer at Beida (Peking University) and has been registered for lecturing and teaching at Beijing Normal University.

Simon Patton (QLD) Peking University

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Queensland

Simon Patton is a Brisbane based freelance literary translator and part-time teacher of Chinese at the University of Queensland. Patton has been translating Chinese literature for over fifteen years, especially contemporary poetry. During his residency, Patton completed a substantial number of new translations of the poetry of Yu Jian, a well-known poet from Yunnan, and of contemporary Chinese poetry for a new Chinese poetry website launched by the Netherlands-based Poetry International Foundation.

Christina Soong (VIC) Hong Kong Fringe Club

Supported by Arts Victoria and the Australia Council for the Arts

Prior to her residency Christina Soong worked as the Marketing and Development Manager of Chunky Move Dance Company. Soong undertook her residency with the Hong Kong Fringe Club in the weeks leading up to and during its annual City Fringe Festival.  She programmed a series of contemporary dance films and was invited to Guangzhou by the City Contemporary Dance Company to take part in a regional contemporary dance forum.  Major outcomes from her residency include the promotion of Chunky Move to Hong Kong organisations and the extension of her marketing/fundraising skills into the new area of programming.

Stephen Noonan (SA) Hong Kong Art Centre

Supported by Arts South Australia and the Australia Council for the Arts

Stephen Noonan has worked in the area of physical theatre, as a performer and artistic director for over ten years and has performed throughout Australia and overseas. The Hong Kong Art Centre Art School hosted Noonan and gave him the opportunity to extended his work as an arts educator by working with local artists and companies to create performances and dance theatre for students and young people. Noonan ran workshops with over nine organisations.  He further joined the City Contemporary Dance Company on a short tour to Gungzhou. As a result of such extensive collaborations with companies Noonan has been asked to return to Hong Kong for further work.

Barry Scott (VIC) Katha

Supported by Funded by the Australia-India Council and the Australia Council for the Arts

At the time of his residency Barry Scott was responsible for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the Ross Trust Script Development Awards through the State Library of Victoria. In India Scott worked with Katha, an Indian literary organisation which provides educational services, publishing in translation and community programs. Among Scott's achievements was the delivery of an arts-based event for children, the provision of marketing advice and the management of events with international authors for Katha's major literary festival, Katha Utsav. Inspired by the residency he continues developing his own press, Transit Lounge Publishing.

Louisa Bufardeci (VIC) Khoj International

Supported by the Australia-India Council and the Australia Council for the Arts

Louisa Bufardeci completed her undergraduate degree in fine art, majoring in drawing at the Victorian College of the Arts and has frequently exhibited her work in group and solo exhibitions in Melbourne and overseas. During Bufardeci’s residency in India in 2003/4 she worked for six weeks in Delhi at the Khoj International Artists Residency. At Khoj Bufardeci re-mapped the constituency of Malviya Nagar an area in Delhi’s suburban south, focussing on mapping the shanties, commercial stalls, animals and people that are generally overlooked in mapping processes. Louisa also travelled to Mumbai, Hampi, Kochi, Madurai and Chennai where she gave lectures and informal talks on her practice and connected with local artists.

Racheal Cogan (VIC) Masterclasses with Karaikudi R Mani

Supported by the Australia-India Council and the Australia Council for the Arts

Racheal Cogan co-founded the ensemble the haBiBis in 1993 which performs music from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. She has also performed with many ensembles in Australia, Greece, Vietnam, and the United States. Cogan went to Chennai in India to study south Indian classical music with mridangam master musician Karaikudi R Mani. Her musical knowledge and skills was extended through lessons on the history, structure and composition of Karnatic music and through challenging rhythmic exercises and classes on improvisation and composition. She wrote several new pieces whilst in Chennai, and she collaborated with the musicians from Mr Mani’s percussion ensemble, the Sruthu-Laya Kendra.

Sudesh Mishra (VIC) Jawarharlal Nehur University

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia India Council

A fourth generation Fijian of Indian origin, Sudesh Mishra holds a Ph.D from Flinders University and has taught at universities in Australia, Fiji and Scotland.  He is the author of four books of poems, including Tandava and Diaspora and the Difficult Art of Dying, one critical monograph, Preparing Faces: Modernism and Indian Poetry in English, two full-length plays, Ferringhi and The International Dateline, and several short stories. Mishra participated in several conferences and literary events whilst in India as well as immersing himself in the landscape and people of India.

Tess De Quincey (NSW) Ranjit Karlekar & SHAPE

Supported by the NSW Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council for the Arts

Tess De Quincey has worked extensively in Europe, Japan and Australia as a performer, teacher and director. In collaboration with Ranjit Karlekar & SHAPE in Calcutta, De Quincey initiated Embrace an interdisciplinary performance. Her residency focussed on skills development through the investigation of parallel principles between Natyashastra, the main classical exposition and theory of Indian artistic practice and Body Weather, which is the underpinning practice of her company DQC which originated in Japan. DQC presented three workshops and two collaborative performances in India. The second stage of the performance which was presented in Sydney, including Indian performer Santanu Bose.

Fiona Carter (NT) Yayasan Kelola

Supported by the Australia Indonesia Institute and the Australia Council for the Arts

Fiona Carter was the Marketing Manager for artsMARK in Darwin when selected for a residency. In Indonesia Carter was based with Kelola, a non-government arts organisation in Solo, which provides nation-wide expertise and services to the arts sector in Indonesia. During her residency she provided marketing assistance to Kelola’s operations, focussed on sponsorship and marketing with Gedung Kesenian (Jakarta Arts Centre) and developing contacts and future links between Indonesian and the Northern Territory arts organisations.

Lindy Allen (VIC)

Supported by the Australia Indonesia Institute and the Australia Council for the Arts

Initially a performing artist, Lindy Allen has worked her way through a variety of positions including Festival Director and General Manager, Mallacoota Festival, Artistic Director, Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival and Sponsorship Manager, Melbourne Theatre Company. Allen’s belief in the importance of the expression of local cultural identity to the maintenance of vibrant communities took her to Indonesia for two months to study community art practice in a non-funded environment. She used this experience to develop Common Ground, a major international regional arts residency program for regional Victorian festivals, which took place between 2006-2007. Lindy Allen went on to a position as Director of Regional Arts Victoria following her residency.

William Lines (ACT) Petra University

Supported Arts ACT and the Australia Indonesia Institute

Bill Lines graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1973 then spent several years backpacking around the world. His first book, Taming the Great South Land, was published in Australia and in the United States in 1991. Lines' most recent book, Open Air: Essays, was released in September 2001. Lines currently lives in Canberra where he is researching the history of the modern conservation movement in Australia. Lines will spend time at Petra University whilst researching two new books. A non-fiction book, Nature Fear, investigates attitudes and practices towards nature and conservation in Australia and Indonesia. The second is a novel, Loose Stones which explores issues of connectedness between people and looks at this through the prism of Indonesian culture.

Kate Denborough (VIC) Dance Box

Supported by Arts Victoria and the Australia Council for the Arts

Kate Denborough is a dancer and choreographer who co founded Kage Physical Theatre in 1997 with Gerard Van Dyck. In Japan, Denborough was choreographer in residence at Dance Box, Osaka.  Denborough taught a series of workshops, spoke at the Asian Contemporary Dance Festival and was a guest at the Performing Arts Market. A major outcome of the residency was the creation of a new work Ink, developed in collaboration with a Japanese artists, including tattoo specialists. Ink was presented as part of Ancient Futures, the major Australian arts festival in Japan and then reworked and presented through Dancebox in 2006. Following her residency she worked as Director of the Australian Pavillion Resident Company for the World expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.

Noreen Jones (WA)

Supported by Arts WA

Noreen Jones lives in the south west of Western Australia and writes social history. Fremantle Arts Centre Press published Jones’ book, Number 2 Home-A Story of Japanese Pioneers to Australia, in 2002. The residency enabled Jones to research Japanese historical, local, geographical and literary sources for North to Matsumae: Australian Whalers to Japan (University of Western Australia Press, 2008), about the first known contacts between Australians and Japanese when two whaling ships from Australia went to Hokkaido in 1831 and 1850.

Eva Wanganeen (QLD) Society Atelier Sarawak

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts South Australia and the Australian High Commission, Kuala Lumpur

Eva Wanganeen was born in Wallaroo, SA and began silk painting in 1997 while part of Mara Dreaming, a women's group in Salisbury. Since then she has shown in several group exhibitions including Between Remote Regions (touring to Malaysia) and has held two solo exhibitions. During her residency at the Society Atelier Sarawak Wanganeen worked with indigenous Malaysian batik and textile artists to create work which she exhibited at the World Eco-Fibre and Textile Network Forum in September in 2003. Wanganeen also presented a keynote paper to 200 people at this international conference and received invitations to work with Indian, West Malaysian and American artists in the future.

Cath Bowdler (NT) Green Papaya Art Projects & Big Sky Mind

Supported by Arts NT and the Australia Council for the Arts

Artist, writer and curator Cath Bowdler was formerly the Director of the 24HR Art Space in Darwin. There she developed very strong links with the Philippines, hosting curatorial workshops and curating Kawing, a partnership between Asialink and 24HR Art. Bowdler has exhibited widely in the NT and elsewhere in Australia and has been a contributor to art journals such as Realtime, Artlink and Art Monthly. During her residency Bowdler, worked between Green Papaya Art Projects and Big Sky Mind in Manila. At Green Papaya she exhibited transit, and a video installation drowning, produced in Australia.

Louise Paramor (VIC) La Salle

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts

Since 1988 Louise Paramor has exhibited extensively throughtout Australia and overseas. She has held twenty-six solo exhibitions, including The Love Artist at Breitengraser - room for contemporary sculpture, Berlin, and Outback Heat at the Kunstverein Langenhagen, Hannover. Her work was included in the group shows Oblique Shadows in Sculpture Square, Singapore, 2000; Satellit (2000) at Berliner Pavilion, Berlin, 2000; and National Sculpture Prize & Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, in 2001. During her residency Paramor worked at La Salle SIA in Singapore for three months prior to and during a major exhibition she was invited to stage at the Esplanade Arts Complex in October and November 2003.

Emil Goh (NSW) Ssamzie Space

Supported by The Australia-Korea Foundation, the NSW Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council for the Arts

Emil Goh completed an honours degree in Fine Arts from Sydney College of the Arts and a Masters degree at Goldsmiths College in London. Goh’s work can be described as the documentation of ephemeral urban phenomena. During his residency in Korea Goh was based at Ssamzie  Contemporary Art Space. There he held two open studio days, started work on a new triple video projection installation and co-curated a screening of Australian & Korean videos called One Night Stand. At the invitation of Ssamzie Goh’s residency was extended for a further three months during which time he presented his videos & photographic work in a solo exhibition entitled entroducing at Factory Arts and Crafts, Seoul and was also invited to participate in the Busan Biennale at the Busan Metropolitan Art Museum from August to November 2004.

Gregory Bastian (NSW) Sogang University English Department

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Korea Foundation

Greg Bastian is a teacher and writer of critically acclaimed young adult fiction. His first novel for young adults was published in 1989. Whilst researching his new novel in Korea, Bastian presided over the publication of an anthology of stories written by creative writing students and funded by the Sogang University English Department. The university had never before offered a creative writing class in English and the result is a delightfully eclectic Korean-flavoured fiction.

Nick Drayson (ACT) Sri Lankan Natural History Society

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts & Arts ACT

Nick Drayson is a novelist and nature writer whose first novel, Confessing a Murder was critically acclaimed in the UK and US and short-listed for The Age Book of the Year Award.  During his residency Drayson worked on his new novel centred on the life of naturalist George Bennett and researching the late eighteenth century connections between Colombo and Australia.  Drayson arrived in Sri Lanka three weeks after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami hit the island and in between research and writing, accompanied members of the Sri Lankan Natural History Society to the east coast where they were providing care and assistance to a group of Tamil fishing families.

Niko Kelly & Belinda Newick (SA) Victorian College of the Arts

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts South Australia

Nico Kelly is a craft-based furniture and lighting designer and Belinda Newick is a jewellery designer at Zu Design Jewellery & Objects.  They undertook a joint residency to Lunuganga in Sri Lanka during which Kelly developed new designs from his research into of Sri Lankan furniture, particularly the works of Geoffrey Bawa. Newick researched aspects of traditional Sri Lankan arts and crafts that informed a series of drawings and designs for new work.

Kelli McClusky & Steven Bull (pvi collective) (WA) Taipei Artists’ Village

Supported by Arts Western Australia, The Australia Council for the Arts and ANAT

Founded in 1996, pvi collective produce art combining elements of performance, video & installation with public acts of intervention. In 2002 pvi collective undertook a residency at Taipei Artists’ Village in Taiwan. Involving the public, local art students, other artists and staff from the village, pvi worked towards orchestrating a live art event at the underground rail network stations in Taipei. From this event flowed a new media installation, Panopticon: Taipei which attempted to actively reclaim a sense of control over the public spaces we inhabit and the technologies we use.

Alexander Knox (VIC)

Supported by Arts Victoria and the Australia Council for the Arts

Alexander Knox studied public art at RMIT and has a background in film and industrial design. He has exhibited widely both in Australia and overseas with recent commissions including two major sculpture projects in Melbourne’s Docklands. Knox’s residency followed up connections he developed during UseBy at Bed, a new multi disciplinary art venue in Bangkok. There he produced Little God, a large sound and light work based on ancient sacred geometries.

Ian Bonde (TAS) Silkaporn University

Supported by Arts Tasmania and the Australia Council for the Arts

During the past 20 years Ian Bonde has undertaken residencies and exhibited in London, Paris, Germany, U.S.A., Thailand and Australia. Bonde's work references Eastern and Western formal gardens and examines the mapping or marking of land. His installations have used odours, processes and transient materials (including painted leaves, fruit and gravel) in contrast with precious metals. During his residency at Silkaporn University, Bonde exhibited new work and was able to further his interest in Thai culture. His exhibition, Insula, was very well received and comprised a wall piece of scented eucalyptus leaves and a large floor work made from locally sourced crushed onyx.

Katherine Olston (VIC) Chang Mai University Art Museum

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts

Katherine Olston, a graduate from the Sydney College of the Arts, is a multi disciplinary artist who works in sculpture, performance and installation. She has continued to pursue her interest in visual performance through ongoing work with Sydney based company Erth as a performer, costume and set designer. In 2000 she worked as part of the design construction team for the Sydney Olympics. In Thailand she will work with the Chang Mai University Art Museum where she will develop a performance installation entitled Beauty Suit working with a group of five Thai artists. The project examines and contrasts the concepts and structures of beauty in Thai and Australian societies.

Tania Cleary (QLD) About Cafe & Studio

Supported by Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts

At the time of her residency Tania Cleary worked as a conservator, curator and collections manager for the Australian Museum, Powerhouse Museum and Historic Houses Trust of NSW. Her residency, which was split between Vietnam and Thailand, enabled her to advise on nationally significant art works and on their preservation. In Bangkok she worked with About Cafe & Studio in Bangkok to develop their collection management practices and facilities. The Museum of Fine Art in Hanoi hosted the second part of her residency where she undertook an assessment for the restoration of a significant Vietnamese oil painting Little Thuy by Tran Van Can.