arts news: the weekly wrap up
The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) has announced its National Agenda for the Visual Arts in Australia, outlining a 30 year vision which aims to see artists play a central role in all aspects of Australian life. Importantly, NAVA is hoping to see Australian arts funding double from 0.084% to 0.17% of GDP by 2043 with funding equitably spread across all art forms. Under its proposed agenda NAVA aims to introduce ‘Status of the Artist’ legislation that will preserve a range of social and economic rights to help protect artists from exploitation, encourage diversity within the arts and equitable distribution of resources across all art forms and guarantee freedom of expression. In addition NAVA aims to achieve a greater level of arts reporting in news bulletins; increased arts education in primary and secondary schools; engagement in cultural diplomacy in Australian embassies overseas; a higher percentage of politicians across all levels of government with a genuine commitment to the arts; further availability of free or low cost work or exhibition spaces for artists and tax incentives for artists and those purchasing artwork. Sounds pretty great to us folks here at lip magazine!
The Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board has presented the $50,000 Red Ochre Award, Australia’s highest peer-assessed award for an Indigenous artist; to actor, dancer, choreographer and painter David Gulpilil, OAM (pictured). Presented since 1993, the award acknowledges the “outstanding contribution of an artist to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts at the national and international levels.” (Australia Council). The award was presented on Monday at the 6th National Indigenous Arts Awards, at the Sydney Opera House. In addition the $20,000 Dreaming Award for young and emerging indigenous artists was presented to South Australian photographer Rhonda Dick; and two fellowships of $45,000 per year over two years were presented to visual artist (glass), Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello, and writer, activist and musician Richard Frankland.
The Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts has announced the Arts Forward Indigenous Fellowship, a $25,000 arts fellowship open to already established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and arts workers working in any medium excluding film, television and radio. The fellowship is an initiative aimed at supporting mid-career indigenous artists to further expand their practice. Applications open in March 2014.
The National Gallery of Victoria is excited to announce that the Melbourne Now exhibition has had over 100,000 people through its doors since opening just two weeks ago. The great response the exhibition has received is fantastic news and suggests a growing interest in and appreciation for local, Australian art. In a press release sent on Tuesday, Tony Ellwood, the NGV’s Director says of the exhibition: “It is an opportunity for us all to discover and enjoy some of the best of Melbourne’s culture, to appreciate the diversity of practice and to celebrate what is unique about our creative communities.” Oh, and another cool thing about Melbourne Now that Tony Ellwood failed to mention? It’s FREE! You can read a great article on Melbourne Now, written by Lip’s own Audrey K. Hulm, here.
In an effort to inspire conservation, a series of paintings are on display underwater in the Great Barrier Reef in far north Queensland. Opening on Tuesday, the Undersea Art Exhibition, by artist BJ Price, features six single edition prints on aluminum and mounted on weighted easels in front of a coral wall. Oh, and there’s also a giant inflatable turtle sculpture.
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