Leading Indigenous contemporary artists featured in new series of art+soul

Curator Hetti Perkins shares her knowledge of and passion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in a major three-part television series, art+soul, screening on ABC1 during NAIDOC week - Tuesday 8.30pm on July 8, 15 and 22.

Based around three key themes - Pride and Prejudice, Beauty and Cruelty, Love and Longing - the second series of art+soul explores how artists make sense of their history and considers how art is both political and a source of healing. For many artists, acknowledging the difficult stories that stem from colonisation lies at the heart of their life and work. The series examines the role and responsibilities artists have in setting the record straight and the relationship between the maintenance of tradition and innovation. Through this, Perkins weaves her own family story as the daughter of leading activist Charles Perkins.

Throughout the art+soul series we meet some of Australia's leading contemporary artists including Daniel Boyd, Julie Gough, Lola Greeno, Wanyubi Marika, Vernon Ah Kee, Christian Thompson, Brian Robinson, Jonathan Jones and Warwick Thornton.

Campbelltown Arts Centre celebrates youth culture in Western Sydney

Campbelltown Arts Centre presents The List, a major new art exhibition celebrating youth culture in Western Sydney, presented from 8 August until 12 October. Each new work in The List is the result of six months of collaboration and shared experiences between 13 artists and young people from the local community, establishing a platform for innovation and creative development that can expand into the future.

Director of the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Michael Dagostino, explains, "The youth population of Campbelltown sits at 22% of Campbelltown's overall population. We were therefore inspired to create a socially diverse project that really speaks to young people. By pairing this respected list of major contemporary artists with a broad range of local youth groups, we hope to explore ideas relevant to them and address social issues of utmost important to young people across the local community."

New vision for Sydney Fringe Festival

The 2014 Sydney Fringe Festival program celebrates the experimental, grass-roots cultural heart of Sydney, spanning a diverse range of art forms including theatre, music, comedy, visual art, design, film, cabaret, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry. Presented from 1 to 30 September, the Fringe will present more than 350 ticketed productions and a free events program at more than 60 venues across Sydney.

New Festival director Kerri Glassock commented, “Sydney Fringe Festival 2014 will push experimental ideas and support emerging and early-career artists across numerous art forms. We will also partner with some of the most innovative arts organisations in Sydney to further expand our reach and audiences.”

Local communities, small businesses and Sydney nightlife will be engaged through a series of dynamic street activations, lane-way bars and public artworks which will be covering Paddington, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Redfern, Chippendale, Glebe, Annandale, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Sydenham, St Peters, Newtown, Erskineville and Enmore.

Contemporary jewellery art presented at .M Contemporary

This spring, .M Contemporary presents Intimately Connected, an exhibition of wearable art. Running from 16 September until 26 October 2014, the exhibition will be exploring the connection between art, design and contemporary jewellery making, featuring unique pieces from artists across the globe.

Each of the artists' designs experiment with a diversity of unconventional materials and explore how an object can connect with the human body. The wearable objects explore contemporary ideas and themes through their theatrical use of colour, unexpected scale, texture, decorative details and striking sculptural elements.

Intimately Connected features new and existing works by contemporary artists from around the world and Australia, including: Benja Harney (Australia, pictured above); Bliss Lau (New York); Claire McArdle (Australia); Zoe Robertson (Birmingham); Natalie Dissel (Bali); Daniella Saraya (Israel); Vacide Erda Zimic (Peru); Reka Gottilieb (Budapest); Olga and Rok (Slovenia) and Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro (Indiana).

ARTAND Australia launches new online platform

ARTAND Australia, Australia’s longest running and most respected art publication, has launched a dynamic online platform, featuring art news, feature stories, exclusive video content, exhibition reviews and special contributor content. The new platform will also celebrate cross-collaborations between the visual arts and other creative sectors including architecture, design and fashion. 

For the first time, the entire archive of ARTAND Australia print magazines has been digitised and made available at www.ARTANDaustralia.com to search and peruse online.

ARTAND Australia editor and publisher Eleonora Triguboff commented: "ARTAND Australia has a proud heritage as the most respected independent art publication in Australia.The launch of our new online platform propels us into an exciting new era."

Melbourne Art Fair 2014 announces 70 participating galleries and artwork highlights

The Melbourne Art Fair, Australia’s longest running and leading art fair presented by the Melbourne Art Foundation, today announced a premier selection of 70 galleries confirmed to participate in the 2014 event. Presented from 13 until 17 August 2014 in the historic Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne’s Carlton Gardens, the Melbourne Art Fair will showcase over 300 artists from around the world presented by some of the best Australian, New Zealand and other international galleries. 

Galleries at the Fair will be presented across two sections, with established galleries in the main MAF Galleries section and emerging galleries and artist collectives presented in the MAF Platform section. MAF Platform continues the Fair’s commitment to exhibiting the best emerging talent by presenting curated galleries and artist run initiatives younger than five years. 

Melbourne Art Fair Director Barry Keldoulis, who will oversee his first Fair in 2014, commented: “The focus of the Fair is to present the best contemporary art from Australasia and we’re excited to have attracted the foremost galleries and artists from the region to participate. Galleries will present a diverse range of works spanning paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, new media and installation work by established artists and emerging talent.”

Tacita Dean premiere presented by Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks

The 19th Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks co-present the world premiere of Event for a Stage, a new performance work by Tacita Dean running from 1 until 4 May 2014.  The work, which is part of the middle program of the Biennale, represents the first time the artist has created a live performance piece and is a development of her practice. 

Centred on the filming of a portrait of an actor on stage, played by acclaimed British actor Stephen Dillane, the performance will explore the role of the actor as well as exposing Tacita Dean's way of filming to the audience. This one-act theatrical presentation is made in association with ABC RN, who will produce and broadcast a radiographic version of the performance.