Woollahra Sculpture Prize shortlists 45 artists

The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, presented by Woollahra Council, has shortlisted 45 emerging and established artists as finalists for the 14^th annual Prize and exhibition. The finalist group was selected from a record number of entries this year including artists from Australia, Hong Kong, USA, the United Kingdom, and Italy, highlighting the Prize’s growing international reputation.

 The innovative submissions – each for a freestanding sculpture of up to 80cm in any dimension – were selected from 597 entries by a judging panel comprised of Carriageworks Director Lisa Havilah, former Director of Sotheby’s Australia, Justin Miller and philanthropist Gretel Packer. The exhibition will be on view, free to the public, from 18 October until 2 November 2014 at the Woollahra Council Chambers in Sydney.

Sydney Fringe Festival 2014

The Sydney Fringe Festival, presented from 1 until 30 September at 60 partner venues across inner Sydney, presents a vibrant program of more than 300 ticketed productions, spanning theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, cabaret, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry.

Highlighting the city’s vibrant culture, several ‘creative villages’ hosted by the Festival will activate the suburbs of Darlinghurst, Chippendale, Surry Hills, Redfern, Marrickville, Sydenham and St Peters. This year’s program also includes public forums, a picnic day, artist talks and a short film competition. 2014 Festival Director Kerri Glasscock has curated the Festival with different focus each week, spotlighting the Inner City in opening week, followed by ‘Community, Ideas & Laughs’ in week two. The third week of the Festival is focused on family events and closing week is dubbed as ‘The Final Frontier’.

Bundanon presents spring festival celebration Siteworks

Bundanon Trust’s annual spring festival Siteworks will transform the property into a large-scale campground for a weekend of free performances, visual art, discussions and ecological initiatives, being held on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September amongst pristine New South Wales’ bush land.

Bundanon has invited visitors to camp onsite at the historic property for the first time for Siteworks, in a celebration of art, science and community.  Festival highlights include a 24-hour BioBlitz event focused on bio-diversity and environmental preservation and the unveiling of a major new site-specific commission by artist Janet Laurence.

A major new site-specific commission and installation by acclaimed visual artist Janet Laurence will be unveiled at Siteworks, inspired by Bundanon’s Living Landscape Project. Other site specific art works and performances will be presented across the weekend by artists Keith Armstrong & Lawrence English; Nigel Helyer; Janet Laurence; Stalker Theatre; Josie Starrs & Leon Cmielewski; Rosemary Laing; De Quincey Co.

Pearl Lam Galleries secures major presence at 2014 Melbourne Art Fair

Pearl Lam Galleries, one of the most influential drivers of Asia's contemporary art scene, has secured a major presence at the 2014 Melbourne Art Fair, one of Australia's most respected and longest-running art events running from 14 until 17 August.

Pearl Lam, the Galleries' founder and director, has also been announced as Keynote Speaker for the Melbourne Art Fair Lecture, to be presented on Monday 11 August.

Pearl Lam Galleries will present works from notable Chinese artists including: Zhu Jinshi, Qin Yufen, Su Xiaobai, and Michael Chow (aka Zhou Yinghua ~O-O~), alongside new works by acclaimed Australian painter Ben Quilty; English painter Loreta Sáez Franco; Japanese artist Sayaka Ishizuka; Tibeten born artist Gonkar Gyatso; American artist Carlos Rolon; and Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.

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.