Creative artists present nuanced views of conflict, causes and consequences

Award wining film director George Miller says, “. . . art is at its best when it allows catharsis through story telling and a nation is at its best when it provides a refuge for humanity to heal and flourish.” It seems that this observation is relevant to three arts events due to launch across western Sydney, where negotiating multiculturalism and difference is a daily  experience.

The first is Diaspora-Making Machines opening at Blacktown Arts Centre, on Thursday, September 29. The second is a public dialogue between writers Ellen van Neerven and Michael Mohammed Ahmad under the provocative title Black and Lebo. The third is The Cartographer’s Curse, a new production created by National Theatre of Parramatta, which explores the complexities of political and social divisions within the Middle East. Above is an image of the qanun, a Middle Eastern instrument featured in The Cartographer’s Curse. Director Paula Abood explains qanun is the origin of the English word canon, encompassing the lore and law of a society.

In Diaspora-Making Machines eight artists of diverse cultural backgrounds explore some of “the systemic devices (the machines) that generate movement and the dispersal of communities (the diaspora).” From the earliest days of the colony, Blacktown has been a scene of continuous waves of migration. Some were forced, like the Aboriginal and Maori children sent to be “reformed” at the 1823 Blacktown Native Institution, and others like migrants and refugees who made new homes there by choice.

Offering an Aboriginal perspective on the exhibition’s theme of Blacktown’s historic place as a centre of migration, attitudes to newcomers, and notions of belonging and assimilation is Blak Douglas, who grew up in the area. His work, left, Pipe Dreams (Part A), suggests a challenge to the role of the church as a systemic device in the dispersal of Aboriginal communities. Another of the artists is Mehwish Iqbal, who grew up in a small town in Pakistan where art wasn’t even taught in the local school. Nonetheless, she defied traditional expectations to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National College of Arts and then moved to Dubai. In 2006, she moved to Australia with her family where she completed a Masters degree at the College of Fine Arts UNSW. Mehwish has undertaken international artists residencies and has a keen interest in themes of integration, assimilation and separation experienced by migrants living in Australia and issues faced by under privileged children in developing countries.

The other artists are Jumaadi, Nerine Martini, Susannah Williams and Warren Armstrong, Luping Zeng and his son Cheng Zeng. Diaspora Making Machines will continue at Blacktown until Saturday, November 5.

Black and Lebo promises a lively discussion between two award winning young writers, Aboriginal author Ellen van Neerven, right, and Michael Mohammed Ahmad, below, left. Ellen won the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Indigenous Writers Prize, among other awards, and has just published a new book Comfort Food, a collection of poetry. Michael is the director of Sweatshop – Western Sydney Literacy Movement, a talented actor, and a doctoral candidate at the Western Sydney University Writing and Society Research Centre. He has won several awards for his work and for his debut novel The Tribe. His second novel The Lebs will be published early next year.

Ellen and Michael will discuss the intersections between race, faith, class, gender and sexuality in contemporary Australian literature, give performances from their latest works and take questions and comments from their audience. Black and Lebo takes place on Friday, September 30, at Western Sydney University, Bankstown campus, Building 3, Room G 55. The event is free with lunch provided and everyone is welcome, but RSVP is essential.

French and British colonialism of the early 20th century in the Middle East is the starting point for The Cartographer’s Curse. Invasion, colonialism and conflict have been common experiences for centuries among people in this region, where borders have undergone frequent change, according to who holds the power. A century ago, it was the British and French who drew lines on a map to divide the area according to their own interests. The consequences continue to reverberate and have led many people to seek refuge elsewhere in the world. Under the guidance of Paula Abood, history is imagined through spoken word poetry and prose, parkour movements and qanunic music. Among the characters are the cartographer, the wandering professor, the poet, the resistance, the merchant and the master of the qanun. The professor is played by Ghassan Hage, above right, an actual Future Generation Professor of global stature.

“This ensemble captures the very best of Arab Australian artistry in all its different expression,” Paula says. “Each performer in The Cartographer’s Curse brings a particular prowess and this makes for an exciting performance.” The coupling of the melodic quality of the qanun with the edginess of Parkour movement, she describes as “artistically very exhilarating.” The thistle, left, grows throughout the landscape of the Middle East and could easily be perceived as a metaphor for resilience and survival. The Cartographer’s Curse opens at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, on Thursday, October 5 and continues only until October 8.

More creative opportunities and events which smash conventions

Adding to last week’s post about opportunities, here’s another valuable offering from Blacktown Arts Centre. With funding from Blacktown Council and the NSW Government, the centre is offering six Creative Residencies in 2017 in the following categories –

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Residency $5000
• Pat Parker Memorial Residency $5000
• Performing Arts Residency $5000
• Performing Arts Space Residency
• Visual Arts Studio Residency
• Without Borders (Accessible Arts) Residency $5000.

The residencies offer space for the creation of new work and mentoring opportunities for the further development of existing creative projects. Blacktown Arts Centre is recognised for its exploration of dynamic, culturally diverse work that reflects Blacktown, its history and its communities. Above is one of this year’s resident artists Nazanin Marashian combining calligraphy and ink drawing in her exploration of identity. Nazanin came to Australia from Iran as a young child when her family fled the Iran/Iraq war in the early 1980s. A great deal of her art work is influenced by the lingering images of war torn houses and streets and the stories from relatives who remained in Iran. Below, left, is a work from her first day of residency – as she “got a few different ideas flowing.

Central to Blacktown Arts Centre’s program are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities drawing on issues of local and global significance. A free workshop to assist applicants will be conducted by award-winning author and long-time writing coach Janet Fennell.

Writing for Small Grants & Opportunities 
Saturday, 13 August | 10am – 4pm | Blacktown Arts Centre
BOOK NOW

Another will be conducted by Patricia Adjei from Viscopy to answer questions relating to copyright, licensing, fair use and moral rights. Patricia will also explain the Resale Royalty Scheme in relation to your practice, and in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

Viscopy Licensing & Copyright Law 
Saturday, 20 August | 2pm – 4pm | Blacktown Arts Centre
BOOK NOW

Applications close Wednesday, 9 September 2016. Blacktown Arts Centre.

Among the people who have made a major contribution to Blacktown Arts Centre’s performing arts program and simultaneously benefited from the centre’s support is Richard Petkovic. Richard is the founder and director of Sydney Sacred Music Festival now in its sixth year. In the course of his musical and regional networking during the last 20 years, Richard has met many highly skilled musicians – many of whom arrived in Australia as refugees. Two years ago, they launched Sydney World Music Chamber Orchestra which combined an eclectic mix of cultural music from Mongolia, East Turkistan, Vietnam, China, Mexico and Indigenous Australia to create new Australian music that explores different cultures, faiths and genres.

“Featuring some of the best ‘world’ musicians in Sydney, SWMCO melds classical strings, Dervish rhythms, Latin Samba and intimate melodies to smash conservative music conventions and create a dynamic journey that changes the internal chemistry of the listener,” Richard says. Now some of these musicians are collaborating with others and leading visual and multimedia artists to create the spectacular Worlds Collide event on Saturday, September 3, as part of this year’s Sydney Sacred Music Festival.

The festival will be formally launched with The Gathering Ceremony at Marrong, Friday, September 2, at 2pm – (Prospect Hill) Pemulwuy. Featuring in the ceremony will be internationally renowned didjeridoo player, William Barton.

Marrong (Prospect Hill), was a place of Darug ceremony for thousands of years and the highest landmass in the Sydney Basin. It was from Marrong that indigenous warrior, Pemulwuy, observed the approaching devastation of Aboriginal land and led the resistance against the expanding colony. The Gathering Ceremony will bring together the local Aboriginal community to relaunch Marrong as a significant place of culture for Aboriginal people – a place of spirit and a place of the Crow (Pemulwuy’s totem).

The event kicks off a program that will continue until September 18 and incorporate a wide range of musical events in venues from Mona Vale to Campbelltown, Sydney CBD to the Blue Mountains. Program and bookings.

From Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) comes this urgent invitation –

Don’t miss out — TRIBUNAL is selling fast!

Join Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT), Griffin Theatre Company and some of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists and cultural leaders to tell the parallel stories of Indigenous Australia and our treatment of newly arrived refugees in a performed conversation at the SBW Stables Theatre from August 12 to 20. LISTEN HERE to the cast talk to ABC Radio National about TRIBUNAL

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW and are selling quickly. Book online HERE to avoid disappointment.

Are artist run initiatives (ARIs) the answer for creative spaces?

Here’s a welcome opportunity to discuss an issue of major concern across western Sydney – creative space.  Young and committed creative Natalie Wadwell, is organising an all day forum on May 27, We Run This: A Conversation with Australia’s Independent Arts Sector, as part of Vivid Sydney. It will be a co-presentation by 107 Projects in Redfern and the National Association for the Visual Arts. Above, Macarthur Advertiser’s photo of Natalie.

Natalie has been pursuing the issue of space run independently by creative artists, for several years in the Campbelltown area. She is not opposed to government funding, but is well aware that there is not enough of it and all too often, it comes with strings attached that limits its relevance to local needs. Participants in Theatre Links in the West, based in Penrith, have been working on the same issue across several locations. Among many subjects of lively discussion at their meeting on April 5 they recorded, “The Penrith Council priority for a hub for arts and cultural development at the grass roots level in the heart of Penrith was a very popular topic, with discussions revolving around its location, its purpose, how it would be managed and the need for its management team and activities to be funded significantly for it to work.”

For a decade, Parramatta Artists Studios have been providing a tremendous resource and service for a whole range of artists across different art forms, though the number they can support at any one time is limited. Of course, the studios are not run by artists, but professionally managed by Parramatta Council. There are hopes that among the opportunities that may be available through the “transformation” by UrbanGrowth of the North Parramatta heritage precinct would be the establishment of an artist run initiative.

This suggests the forum We Run This: A Conversation with Australia’s Independent Arts Sector is very timely. There will be representatives of ARIs from Sydney, Wollongong, Launceston, Alice Springs and Canberra. They will offer experience and ideas in answer to questions and presentations from a dynamic group of speakers including John O’Callaghan (JOC Consulting), left, and Monica Barone (CEO, City of Sydney). John O’Callaghan is an urban planner specialising in social activation, community engagement and new media.

Other participants include Euphemia Bostock, left, below, founding member and chairperson of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. She is a Munanjali-Bundjalung woman and elder, who has worked across many mediums including textile, printmaking, design and sculpture from the early 1960s. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally. Boomalli has operated since 1987.

The conference will be moderated by Maria Miranda, a research fellow from the University of Melbourne writing on The Cultural Economy of Artist-Run Initiatives in Australia. Natalie and the joint organisers argue that Artist Run Initiatives (ARIs) play a vital role in balancing Australia’s arts ecology. Established for independence and flexibility for artists, ARIs operate at the intersection of community, urban planning, business and culture. “Is the ARI concept the future of the prosperous community?” they ask.

Western Sydney has already had its own experience of an Artist-Run Initiative, as recorded in my book Passion Purpose Meaning – Arts Activism in Western Sydney. Street Level operated for two years from a Penrith shopfront from 1988 to 1990, when it moved to a vandalised pinball parlour in Blacktown and continued for another five years. Street Level was instigated by visual arts graduates of University of Western Sydney and in its seven years of operation provided a huge range of experience and training for artists, curators and communities. In fact, it was one of three examples of developments that seemed to me to represent the region’s turning point in 1990 from being a victim of isolation and media demonisation to finding a strong voice confident of its unique characteristics.

We Run this: A Conversation with Australia’s Independent Arts Sector is designed for councillors, regulators, developers, urban planners, artists and practitioners, policy advocates, researchers, arts investors and all those interested in facilitating the sustainability of existing spaces, as well as encouraging the emergence of ARIs in more communities across Australia. Tickets from $33. Bookings and information.

 

 

 

200th anniversary of the Appin massacre offers opportunity to reconsider

Most people probably saw or heard about the Daily Telegraph front page, March 29, which sent commentators into overdrive. Whitewash said the headline – UNSW rewrites the history books to state Cook “invaded” Australia. Some claimed it was political correctness gone mad. Others stated that the university’s guidelines had been around for 20 years and were just that – guidelines for student essay writing. SBS’s “Backburner” offered a satirical opinion piece under the title Outrage as University Teaches History Correctly. In The Guardian online, Paul Daley wrote It’s not politically correct to say Australia was invaded, it’s history. Paul Daley also wrote a story Lachlan Macquarie was no humanitarian – his own words show he was a terrorist.

Camden professional historian, Dr Ian Willis responded to the second story with a blog post Was Governor Lachlan Macquarie a Terrorist? “The colonial frontier was a violent location,” he wrote, “and many people suffered and died. Colonialism wreaked havoc on many cultures around the globe. Was Governor Macquarie any better or worse than any other colonial administrator?” Ian considered the NSW colonial frontier and transportation, the colonial frontier wars in North America and elsewhere and the “Sugar Slaves” of Queensland and provided further related references. Among them was a link to the exhibition With Secrecy and Dispatch at Campbelltown Arts Centre. I found myself responding and then copying the response to the Professional Historians Facebook page.

“By chance I have just heard Ellen Fanning on ABC RN Life Matters, this morning, with Tharawal elder Glenda Chalker, reading and discussing Macquarie’s original documents at the State Library and with two historians, considering this proposition “was he a terrorist”. The issue at Appin (in April 1816 – [not 2016!]) was that the Tharawal people gave no “show of resistance” at all. It was 2 o’clock in the morning and the people were sound asleep, The fact that the military attacked in these circumstances, was quite contrary to British law and risked ending the captain’s career and Macquarie’s had it become known. Reporting was therefore oblique and secretive in style, as I understand it. The fact that Aboriginal bodies were beheaded and hung in high places to deter resistance and the heads sent to Scotland [not London], compares with the much condemned contemporary behaviour of Islamic extremists. Those heads were returned to Australia in 1991 and are currently held in a warehouse in Canberra. Dharawal elder Glenda Chalker, above, with the proclamation document ordering the Appin Massacre. (photo by Tracey Trompf on the Life Matters website)

“Arguments which seem to prevail at present,” I wrote, “are that colonial powers at the time were all behaving in similar ways, so this was no worse than any other. For Aboriginal people, context of the times is irrelevant. They did suffer from invasion and where they could, fought back. Australia’s colonial history is much more complex and nuanced than is frequently portrayed. We can’t change it, but we need to face up to it and recognise the continuing consequences to Aboriginal Australians. In an atmosphere of mutual respect, we have a great deal to learn from each other.”

Secretary of the Professional Historians Association, Dr Stephen Gapps, responded, “It’s certainly a 200th anniversary that not a lot of fuss will be made about. Come to the ceremony on 17th” – with a link to Federal MP Laurie Ferguson’s website. Under the heading 2016 Appin Massacre Memorial Ceremony, is written – “To honour the Dharawal people, the Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group is hosting a memorial to mark the 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre – Sunday, April 17, 11am, Cataract Dam picnic area. The account given varies somewhat from the Life Matters story, though difficulty, until recently, in getting access to those particular Macquarie documents may well be the cause. Photo – the Cataract Dam as it appears on the website.

Dharawal descendants and supporters have held this annual memorial ceremony now, for 20 years and Ian Willis’s link to the Campbelltown Arts Centre exhibition is closely related. With Secrecy and Despatch has been developed as a response to the 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre. New works were commissioned from six Aboriginal Australian artists and four First Nation Canadian artists and are shown alongside existing works by prominent Australian Aboriginal artists. Together these works explore themes of colonial brutality, conflict, identity, culture and memory. If you can’t make it to the memorial, a visit to the exhibition would provide time to reflect on history and contemplate the steps required to share the grieving and find a shared way forward as Australians.

So many causes for western Sydney celebration – birthdays, festivals and campaign progress

So much to celebrate in a crowded schedule that stretches way beyond the boundaries of western Sydney. The first cab off the rank is La Stupenda – a voice eternal, a concert that is a highlight of the 25th anniversary year of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, at Penrith. At the Joan’s official opening in 1990 Joan Sutherland performed her last ever concert recital, accompanied by her husband Richard Bonynge. The tribute concert 25 years later features some of Australia’s leading classical musicians and vocalists, including The Song Company, outstanding Opera Australia singer Amelia Farrugia, celebrated didgeridoo player William Barton and a world premiere performance of a new work by Elena Kats-Chernin. An elegant night of fine music, wine and canapés. Bookings and information.

Perhaps the concert is not quite the first cab. After several years of campaigning, Parramatta Female Factory Friends has notified supporters its petition has reached the requisite 10,000. Those who signed the petition requesting a parliamentary debate about the protection of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct, are invited to gather outside NSW Parliament House, 11am Thursday, August 20.  The Friends will present the petition to parliament and invite you join them in the presentation. Although not essential, it would be helpful if planning to attend that you rsvp to parramattafemalefactoryfriends@gmail.com with Yes in the subject.

The program for the 2015 Sydney Sacred Music Festival  has just been announced. This year is the fifth consecutive year of the festival, to be conducted at venues throughout Sydney, and running from September 5 to 20. The festival will open with Sacred Exchange, in the Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. Australia’s Grand Master of the Japanese Shakuhachi, Riley Lee will lead the program and will be followed by Mongolian throat singer and horse fiddle player Bukhu Ganburged (pictured left), the golden voice of Uyghur bard, Shohrat Tursun, Sufi violinist Asim Gorashi and Australia’s leading exponent of the Indian tabla, Bobby Singh. The five performers will demonstrate their sacred traditions through solo performances  and discussion and then come together to create a unique interfaith performance, directed by Richard Petkovic.

Three of the performers – Bukhu, Shohrat and Asim – are members of Sydney World Music Chamber Orchestra, which was launched at last year’s festival and has just finished recording its first CD.The 2015 festival includes a sunrise chanting workshop at Bankstown, a Baha’i choral concert at Mona Vale, the high end jazz/Indian music fusion of Sandy Evan’s Kapture in the Blue Mountains, the dance fusion of tango and flamenco in Newtown and the uniting of Sufi Qawwali and electronic dance music at Campbelltown. Click here for program information and bookings.

Sydney Sacred Music Festival is always a richly rewarding experience and gives prominence to some of the extraordinary talent residing in Sydney’s suburbs, especially the west.

Last but not least come the 21st birthday celebrations of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. It was officially opened on October 29, 1994, after a period of five years of intense work by Susan Conroy, who became Liverpool Council’s first cultural planner. In fact she was the first cultural planner in Australia to be appointed by a local government. In 1992, she was joined by John Kirkman, who ultimately became the first director of the Powerhouse. In an inspired partnership and under the political leadership of then mayor Mark Latham, they turned the building from an almost derelict space to one of Sydney’s leading contemporary arts centres.

As present director, Kiersten Fishburn says, “In 21 years, we’ve grown and changed but the core of commitment to community and to western Sydney artists that was established by Susan Conroy and John Kirkman, initiating and first directing the centre, remains true.” Above is a photo of past and present staff published on the current front cover of CPAC’s periodical Generator. In the front row, second from left, is Kiersten, with John Kirkman, centre, alongside Susan Conroy.

Artists and community members engaged with programs range from Aboriginal to a great diversity of cultural backgrounds. David Capra is curating a 21st birthday bash for Casula Powerhouse on October 17 and everyone is invited. Party Party Party will be the opening night of 21, an exhibition celebrating the successful careers of 21 highly respected Australian artists who have shown at Casula Powerhouse during its formative years. 21 will continue to November 29. For more CPAC information click here.

The background to many of these stories can be found in my book Passion Purpose Meaning – Arts Activism in Western Sydney. None of these milestones occurred without a struggle, but their success is inspirational. Check the Book page on this blog and use the blog’s search facility for more information.

 

Joan Brassil – still a leading contemporary artist

Strangers: A Retrospective of Joan Brassil opened at Campbelltown Arts Centre, on Saturday June 6, the tenth anniversary year of her death. In about 1958, Joan had moved to Campbelltown as the widowed mother of two young sons and not long after, became Campbelltown High School’s first visual arts teacher. A much loved and inspiring teacher, artist and collaborator, her life and practice were celebrated by the large gathering of family members, former students, friends and colleagues. On her early retirement at the age of 50, Joan was invited by Barbara Romalis to become one of the founding members of the artist community at Wedderburn, where the surrounding bushland became one of her endless sources of inspiration. It was from this point that Joan’s professional development as a contemporary artist took off. Her academic studies ultimately included a doctorate of creative arts from University of Wollongong. In 1999, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by UNSW. Above, Strangers in the Landscape (sculpture) located in the cafe courtyard.

Assembling Strangers: A Retrospective of Joan Brassil was a major undertaking for the project curatorial committee (curatorium) – Michael Dagostino (director of Campbelltown Arts Centre), Ruth Banfield, Susan Best, Greg Brassil, Liam Brassil, Tony Bond, Marsha Meskimmon and Megan Monte. Joan was an installation and media artist, whose early embrace of technology and video led her into collaborations with scientists, researchers, and artists from other disciplines. She participated in major national and international art exhibitions and disposed of few of the materials she had ever used. In fact, one part of the exhibition includes objects created for one purpose and then changed or re-used in another role. Joan was always experimenting and learning. A selection of pages of research commentary and critical reviews are reproduced to enhance the experience of the object room. Above, Astral Potatoes, located in the object room.

Why Stranger in the title? Stranger is a recurring theme in much of Joan’s work. In her catalogue essay, Marsha Meskimmon writes: “It is difficult to look at Joan Brassil’s work without embracing unpredictability, the possibility of change and a profound sense of contingency. Moving easily between the dust of the ground and the light of the stars, the stranger (gazing) engages all that lies between, seen or unseen, heard or beyond hearing. Brassil’s aesthetic tactics were not to fix meaning, but to allow it space from which to emerge.” She was deeply interested in Aboriginal thinking and practice and their closeness to the natural world. Above, Joan as she appears in the film (see below), describes her sense of wonderment.

In opening the exhibition, Tony Bond described elements she utilised in her work – randomness, chance, curiosity, interrogation, an intense engagement with the nature of being in the world, a manifestation of wonder. The 20 minute film made with Joan during her lifetime and which screens on continuous loop, reveals these characteristics and the way in which she used technology as an instrument of wonder, light and contemplation. Her style of work was generous, inclusive and collaborative. Astrophysicist Dr Brian Robinson was a friend and collaborator whose knowledge deepened her understanding of science. Her use of recordings such as the movement of electrical energy and pulsar registrations, helped him communicate science to a wider audience and gave a broader dimension to his work. Above, Randomly – Now and Then, 1990, microphone stand, computer, diorite mining cores, gravel rock, pavement, speakers and tuning forks.

While the technology may have changed, Joan’s approach to her work remains entirely contemporary. The challenge for the curatorium was to assemble her installations in ways she might have done, since each space was different and she responded intuitively to them. Her warmth and whimsical humour are also evident in some of her work. I was fortunate enough to have time with her on at least two occasions, when it always seemed she had a quality of stillness about her. Joan’s son, Greg, says her advice when all around seemed to be chaos was to “sit still”. Her work is deeply contemplative. Left is one of two panels which stand alongside her sculpture of giant tuning forks Tether of Time in Campbelltown Arts Centre’s sculpture garden. The forks stand over a pool of reflection and a perpetual small flow of water. The panel is inscribed with poetic observations about Tether of Time (with apologies for the layout) –

Wind harps on a busy corner tuned randomly

by natural forces sonipally declare the advent of air

NNE or SE find sound among strings

placing the ear against wood on masts

currents of air may be throbbing through wires

as a sonic harmonic searching for a song

Strangers: A Retrospective of Joan Brassil continues at Campbelltown Arts Centre to August 2. Go prepared to listen carefully. Delicate and diverse sounds are a constant among the installations. The catalogue helps illuminate the experience.

Death and Biggie Smalls at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre

Death is an inescapable certainty for all of us, but for many people the subject of death is very difficult to approach. Death and Biggie Smalls are two complementary exhibitions just opened at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Why Biggie Smalls? Biggie Smalls was a Brooklyn hip hop artist and became the face of East Coast gangsta rap. He grew up in violent surroundings, launched his first album Ready to Die in 1994 and was shot and killed in 1997 at the age of 24. Some of the many facets of death and life are explored in both exhibitions, curated by Toni Bailey. At the exhibitions’ opening on Friday, May 22, Madrid-based performer, choreographer and producer Pepa Molina, above, performed the dramatic flamenco, Pentenera. It was a deeply moving performance filled with grief, anger and mourning.

Death and mourning in a very different cultural context were expressed through the funeral and burial poles of the Tiwi and Melville Islands, right above. Nearby, through a range of animated vignettes, Richard Lewer tells the stories of a series of characters and their wilful or accidental experiences of threatened or actual death. There is quiet philosophising, gentle comedy and real poignancy. It is mesmerising to watch this parade of characters as they are brought to life, right below, with disarming simplicity in a continuous loop of black and white sketches. The vulnerability of being human is all too apparent.

Vulnerability, is also evident in the art works gathered together in Biggie Smalls, below top. Many of them seem like reflections on life and affectionate reminders and mementos of relationships – the threatening, the mundane and the uplifting.

Children and adults are invited to give practical expression to the meaning of death in their lives and the focus it can bring to the values and material items of importance to them. In Shelf Life, visitors young and old are invited to create their own art works from materials provided that represent those things they would most like to take into an afterlife. They then pack their finished items into large clear plastic jars and slide them along a shelf to sit alongside the selections of fellow makers. Three of the opening night Shelf Life jars, lower left.

Death and Biggie Smalls continue at Casula Powerhouse until July 5. My only regret is that exhibition catalogues are not available at exhibition launches, although primary and secondary education kits are already available. Without a personally escorted tour or the use of a catalogue, the lay visitor is at risk of missing some valuable insights.

Nepean TAFE announces new Bachelor of Visual Arts course for 2015

The Trapezium Gallery, Nepean Arts and Design Centre. Photograph by Stuart Marshall.

Nepean Arts and Design Centre, TAFE Western Sydney Institute, has just announced a new degree course to start in 2015. Click on Bachelor of Visual Arts for more detail about pathways to the three year degree. If you already have a diploma or advanced diploma of visual arts, you are already part way there. Phone the section on 9208 9484, or attend an information session. The next info sessions are scheduled for Wednesday November 26 at 2pm in Room PG39, and Monday December 1 in PG39 at 10am. Directions on how to find these can be found by clicking here.

Pushing against the tide of state government funding cutbacks, reduced courses and closures, the course has been developed in partnership with Victoria’s Federation University, Australia’s newest university. Federation University brings together the University of Ballarat and Monash University (Gippsland) and delivers degrees with partners in Australia and around the globe.

Left, is a photo of NADC Visual Arts alumna Jennifer Gabbay, of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, who was a finalist in this year’s prestigious Portia Geach painting prize. Jennifer’s work True Blue is of her gardener, Phil Foster, of Mount Victoria. Jennifer was also a finalist in the Portia Geach prize in 2011 and 2013. See the original photo by B C Lewis, Blue Mountains Gazette, and story by clicking here.

Last year, the NSW Government developed a Creative Industries Action Plan, having already cut TAFE funding for some of the most basic building blocks of that plan. According to Associate Professor Leesa Wheelahan writing in The Conversation in 2012. “Perhaps the least visible aspect of the work of TAFEs is how they anticipate the knowledge and skills that will be needed to support innovation. Just as universities create new knowledge for society and train the professions, TAFE’s role as an educational and training institution is to anticipate how workplaces are changing, and the kind of knowledge and skills that will be needed for tomorrow and not just today.”

From Penrith Technical College’s certificate in art in the 1970s to its current manifestation as Nepean Arts & Design Centre, teachers have been doing their homework about the future demographics of the region and the anticipated demand for visual arts courses. With the progressive dismantling of visual and performing arts courses at University of Western Sydney, which began under the Howard government in the 1990s, it was clear that education and training opportunities in the arts were diminishing, just as the demand from a growing population was rising.

With the strong support of Cecelia Cilesio, WSI’s Director of Education, for Fine Arts, Media and Entertainment, the visual arts staff under the leadership of head teacher Cath Barcan, rose to the challenge of reduced funding and worked very hard for more than two years to create the new Bachelor of Visual Arts. Click here for background on the course development. Click here to read their Facebook announcement – “Join us in celebrating this landmark moment in creative culture in Western Sydney!”

Dispatches from western Sydney arts frontier

I’m taking a short break, so I thought I’d deliver a few quick dispatches from the Frontier.

July 30 – Sydney Sacred Music Festival director Richard Petkovic announces that master of the Mexican baroque harp Victor Valdes, left, has joined the Sydney World Music Chamber Orchestra. Richard says he was talking with Victor recently, when Victor described how he was playing his harp at a funeral and responded intuitively by playing new music for a few hours. Victor’s sense of responding to what was needed at the time harmonised completely with the spirit of other members of the orchestra. The exchange of energy that followed was a gift to them all.

Richard is very proud that the 14 highly talented cross-cultural members of the newly formed chamber orchestra all come from Western Sydney. Check out Sydney Sacred Music Festival.

August 13 – The Royal Australian Historical Society hosted their third in the History is Hot! series of presentations by fledgling historians. Penny Stannard, left, John Newton and Naomi Malone gave 20 minute presentations about their postgraduate studies at UTS. Three years ago, Penny began her doctoral research on the topic – Cultural Policy and its Convergence with Suburban Australia. Now her focus is a case study of Campbelltown from the mid-1950s to 1988, when the Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery was opened. The gallery has since been redeveloped to become Campbelltown Arts Centre. See Royal Australian History Society. There’ll be a report of Penny’s talk soon.

August 13 – Dance Makers Collective issues an invitation to attend their upcoming premiere of two new works Sketch & Between Two and Zero, Riverside Theatres, from September 11 to 13, at 8pm. Sketch converges old and new technologies to intercept lines, curves and colours with choreographic and sound scores. Tickets from Riverside.

August 14 – Urban Theatre Projects reveals a crossover to visual and environmental arts in its latest e-newsletter. From their Bankstown base, UTP is looking for Blacktown residents interested in creating a vertical garden as a public art work to be displayed at Blacktown Arts Centre in October. Democratic Garden will reflect the demographics of Blacktown using flowers, herbs and edible plants. Enquiries Democratic Garden.

In the meantime, Bankstown Arts Centre, home to Urban Theatre Projects has a display of flowers across its facade made entirely from  recycled household materials. On the Verge of Bloom has successfully weathered its first few weeks and remains on display until the end of the month.

 

FOOTNOTE –  Any mention of a long proposed centre for the visual and media arts  has been conspicuously absent from recent public discussion of the Framework Master Plan for the North Parramatta Precinct. If you want to make a submission about this, contact Urban Growth NSW.

And just a final note of thanks to Geoff Lee, state member for Parramatta, who earlier this year, went out of his way to assist with promotion of my book Passion Purpose Meaning – Arts Activism in Western Sydney. As you can see, this was before work began on alterations to the Lennox Bridge. Geoff has been leading the planning push for North Parramatta.

Subject to Ruin has a sting in its tail

Subject to Ruin was first proposed as an exhibition by curator Adam Porter two years ago. By the time it opened at Casula Powerhouse, Friday, May 23, 24 participating artists were offering a wide range of interpretations of the title. Works varied from playful to contemplative, overtly political to discreetly personal in a similarly wide range of media.

The elegant fragility of Rachel Park’s draped toilet paper installation, left, suspended from the Turbine Hall’s four storey high roof dominated the entrance to the exhibition and responded to every slight movement of a passing visitor. At the far end of the space, in a gallery containing rolls of toilet paper and taut wires, children and adults responded to the invitation to have fun making and displaying their own creations.

Adam introduced the exhibition with a quote from leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei – “The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.” His introduction ends with – “Subject to Ruin, acknowledging the enactment of social responsibility, challenges structures of sovereignty, encourages a reinstatement of cultural value as an absolute human right and interrogates ideologies in a move toward open and fearless dialogue.”

It was a grand vision and one perhaps not achieved by everyone, but notions of decay and deconstruction, frailty and strength, identity through cultural representation or personal callings were all present. Endings and beginnings, growth as a process of renewal, sometimes the simultaneous presence of despair and hope, defiance and acceptance, and always questioning, exploring.

Abdullah M.I. Syed presented three meditative photographic works recording his placement of himself as Soft Target, at three different historic sites of conflict around the world. He sees his work as a form of poetic activism, where he invites the viewer to stand as he does and “examine sites that are filled with memories of war, terror and human remains.”

Prominently placed in locations outside the Powerhouse were yellow bikes created by  artist Khaled Sabsabi from a series of eight (the symbol for eternity), Sold Salé, each mounted with a set of yellow rocket launchers. They were his response to conflict in Aleppo, Syria during his time there in 2007. Profound meaning and thought in Khaled’s work, often draws from his Islamic and Sufi cultural background. On the opening day of Subject to Ruin, Khaled crushed two of the eight bikes and placed them in two open suitcases.

On opening night, Abdullah took a certain glee in responding to the invitation accompanying Denis Dubois’s Stampford Case to pick it up and walk with it around the show.  Moving the case set off a very audible alarm. Abdullah posted on Facebook – “Took it with me for a stroll outside the building and then placed it next to a plaster gun and Khaled Sabsabi’s amazing yellow bicycle mounted with a rocket launcher (loved the danger sign underneath) Sent a message to the curator about the new location of the case and left the premise. An amazing experience, with loads of laughs.”

The availability of the exhibition catalogue in another two or three weeks will assist audiences to access some of the work. The exhibition continues to July 6.

Subject to Ruin delivers a sad sting in the tail. Immediately underfoot in the main Turbine Hall is the Koori Floor, seen left in black and white, created by Aboriginal artist Judy Watson in 1993, advised and supported by local elders and Aboriginal artists. Click on this link to see the colour version, though other information on this site is now out of date.
It is described in my book as “a wonderfully evocative work, which seemed to ground the Powerhouse in its long indigenous past and reclaim the land on which it was built. The traditional names of the local people Gandangara, Tharawal and Darug snake their way across the floor and the rough concrete holes from which the feet of the turbine had been removed, became repositories of relics from the past.” (p.127)

With great care, those holes were lined with protective material painted with symbols and laid with items according to themes – small shells and bones collected from riverside middens, artefacts, stones and other pieces – all with deep significance and all telling their own stories. Over the top were set five layers of reinforced glass, intended to cope with the pressure of footsteps and heavy loads. They gave a sense of peering into pools, contemplating an ancient past illuminating the present and future.

In recent years, heavy condensation has obscured the contents, cracks have appeared in the covering and been repaired with heavy black tape. No newcomer to the building could have any idea what lies underfoot. In fact one of the holes, representing a cross section of a local scar tree, has now been filled with concrete.

Is there any chance that the meaning of this site, subjected to ruin, can find reincarnation in a process of renewal? Leave a reply.