Canvas: Unframing Art & Ideas

Chun Yin Rainbow Chan is an interdisciplinary artist, vocalist and producer working across music, image, sculpture and performance, and is one of six finalists in the 2021 - 2022 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship (Artspace, CreateNSW, NAS). Rainbow joins Ayeesha to share the history and rituals she has been learning in her research into her matrilineal links to the Weitou people. In doing so, she continues the transmission of Weitou culture, strengthening her connection with her mother and her heritage, while also exploring concepts of place and time.

Audio excerpt from “魚文,鳥文” (Fish Song, Bird Song) performed by 文鳳琼婆婆, Man Fung Kun, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0aMw7t4kW8&t=9s

Additional resources:
https://www.chunyinrainbowchan.com/
https://www.artspace.org.au/program/52-actions/project-1/rainbow-chan/

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Curator, producer and performer Beau James joins host Ayeesha Ash to reflect upon their time in the arts industry so far, share some advice they’d give to their younger self and consider the way things have or haven’t changed during their time in the arts industry. We also hear about two works they have curated as Head of First Nations Programming at the Sydney Opera House; Rodney Bell Ngāti Maniapoto’s ‘Meremere’ and photographic exhibition ‘Always Here - 50 Years of Black Theatre’ inspired by the National Black Theatre in Redfern and the activism and stories of those who were instrumental to its establishment.

Works mentioned and additional resources:
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/express-yourself/article/2016/06/10/basically-black-legacy-national-black-theatre 
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/awaye/culture-comes-first/13468050 
https://www.samag.org/sydney-arts-event/heal-country-celebrating-first-nations-leadership-in-the-cultural-sector/

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Photographic artist and curator Otis Burian Hodge joins Ayeesha Ash to share the evolution of TCS Windows, a non-commercial gallery hosting monthly shows of photography-based work by emerging artists. Burian Hodge explains the versatility of photography as an artistic medium and its ability to tell stories and capture time, and we fall in love with his nana as he recalls his first solo exhibition ‘The Last Jar of Rosehip Jam’.

Additional resources:
https://tcswindows.info/
https://soundcloud.com/tcs82a

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We take a deep dive with Joan Shin and Brigitte Podrasky into their work ‘Traces’, performed at arts and music festival Soft Centre. Glimpsing at ghostly gestural markings, fragmented rhythms and scrambled visuals, ‘Traces’ is a live audiovisual performance showcasing the multidisciplinary offerings of DBR, Cypha, Brigitte Podrasky and Joan Shin. Situated as a collaborative project across three remote cities, ‘Traces’ takes inspiration from memory and disorderly exchanges between each artist’s temporal context.

Brigitte and Joan talk about their process working across three cities and as four artists with different practices and reflect on the experience of live performance as visual artists. Plus, the value in finding good collaborative dynamic.

Works mentioned and additional resources:
https://www.facebook.com/softcentrefestival/videos/3162256410717153/
https://www.astrophemagazine.com/astrophe-magazine/soft-centre-traces-dbr-x-cypha-x-joan-shin-x-brigitte-podrasky-pres-traces-live-a/v
https://www.vividsydney.com/event/music/soft-centre 
https://www.decolonialhacker.org/ 

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Gillian Kayrooz joins Ayeesha to share how her beginnings taking photos of friends in high school evolved into her current practice providing representation of young people from Western Sydney. We get insight into her work for group exhibition Over the Fence and her process discovering family stories of their community, discuss sneakers as cultural commodities, as well as Gillian’s go-to pair.

Works mentioned and additional resources:
https://gilliankayrooz.com/
https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/over-fence-exhibition
https://gilliankayrooz.com/fre-h-pair
https://ice.org.au/project/granville-barbershop-2019/
https://www.kalanjay.com/

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Morgan Hogg is an artist who explores the identities of Indigenous perspectives within the Pacific Islands, and the cultural impact modern day has on traditional standards. Morgan talks about the balance involved in protecting and sharing culture, the importance of creating conversation about climate change in the Pacific, the objectivity and subjectivity of art and her practice.

Works mentioned:
https://www.morganhogg.com/enua-manea
https://www.morganhogg.com/tangaroa
https://www.morganhogg.com/rangiunui-papat%C5%AB%C4%81nuku
https://performancespace.com.au/programs/live-dreams-distance/

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Temporary Position (Mara Schwerdtfeger and Zoe Baumgartner) hosts web publications and shared spaces that explore alternative presentations of narrative. Mara and Zoe join Ayeesha to chat about the platform, their process and upcoming De-Choiring workshop at Phoenix Central Park. Agus Wijaya shares his artmaking journey, how he has found a safe space to explore the personal and cultural self, and his exhibition Tata Reka.

Works mentioned:
https://temporary-position.com/
https://crawlingtowards.temporary-position.com/
https://events.humanitix.com/de-choiring?accesscode=22DCPTP/
https://stanleystreetgallery.com.au/exhibitions/tata-reka/

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Snack Syndicate (Andrew Brooks and Astrid Lorange) is a critical art collective. Canvas team member Emerald Dunnfrost guest hosts this episode with the pair where they discuss infrastructural inequalities, abolition, and their recently launched publishing collective Rosa Press. Featuring an excerpt from 'Groundwork'.

Works mentioned:
https://snacksyndicate.net/infrastructural-inequalities/
https://rosapress.net/
https://rosapress.net/product/inferno-andrew-brooks/
https://snacksyndicate.net/protocols/texts/groundwork/

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Multi-disciplinary artists David Capra and Abdul Abdullah return to Canvas in this reunion episode. They chat about what they've been up to during the COVID-19 pandemic, graduating from the 'art school fantasy' and reconciling the intimate and commercial aspects of creating work. Abdul shares his formative experiences of art education and the influence of politics and identity on his practice.

Works mentioned:
https://tvfh.artgallery.wa.gov.au/artist/abdul-abdullah/

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In this episode, Ayeesha Ash chats with Jazz Money, an award-winning poet and artist of Wiradjuri heritage. Jazz discusses the challenge of balancing poetry as a medium for self expression and vulnerability with using her voice for activism and shares what she's been working on, including her recently released debut collection of poetry 'how to make a basket'.

Works mentioned:
https://www.uqp.com.au/books/how-to-make-a-basket
https://www.dreamysleep.com.au/stories/bilabang
https://www.maas.museum/event/eucalyptusdom/
https://fremantlebiennale.com.au/project/these-words-will-remain/

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