Sunday Arts Magazine

Nell talks to the Sunday Arts Magazine about the upcoming Exhibitions at the Linden Gallery

Stephen talks to the Sunday Arts Magazine Team

After a hugely successful singalong show with 300 participants in January, ‘Pop Choir at the Bar’ is back at MEMO by popular demand on Saturday 18 March 2023. International singers Sharon Stokes and Darryl Moulton present a very special evening event where YOU are part of the show.

Darryl and Sharon will teach you a few simple harmonies, while you sip on some drinks and sing your heart out to a classic well – known pop song. But you won’t know which song it is until the day! It could be anything from the 1960s to a recent classic. The end result is recorded professionally to create an amazing video you can treasure forever.

Darryl and Sharon agree that if you think you can’t hold a note, No worries! “Our motto is, ‘if you can speak you can sing’. Singing is not just fun, it’s also good for you, and there is no better way to unite a big group of people. You’ll get that euphoric feeing you have at a rock concert when everyone is singing together,” they said.

“We just love the sense of community and connectedness that Pop Choir creates whether in a community hall or at the ‘Pop Choir at the Bar’ events. To see the genuine fun that people have and the joy on their faces when they sing is so rewarding,“ Sharon said.

Darryl and Sharon have performed Pop Choir events all over Melbourne at iconic venues such as Hamer Hall, Federation Square, Melbourne Town Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne and the Melbourne Convention Centre, to name a few. Their energy, flare and charisma on stage guarantees an event to remember.

A woman stands before a mirror. The trains hum. A plane flies overhead. This woman is hunted. Pursued by a man with eyes of ash.

CUT by Duncan Graham is a jagged and disorienting psychological thriller. A female flight attendant is being stalked. But what is real and what is jet-lagged fantasy? CUT traverses the edges of truth, desire, imagination and violence.

Directed by Laurence Strangio (L’amante anglaise, Krapp’s Last Tape, and The Year of Magical Thinking at fortyfivedownstairs) and performed by Christina McLachlan, CUT is a tense and disturbing solo performance that will leave you questioning where the danger really lies.

The lived city is far from rational; it is a place of curious encounters and beguiling coincidences, from a forgotten handprint in Melbourne’s walk of fame and signage removed from unknown city buildings to an apparently damaged architectural model along with the history of public art and environmental campaigns.

Desire Lines also presents the work of artists Hossein Valamanesh, Laresa Kosloff, Sonia Kretschmar and Miles Howard-Wilks, artworks dedicated to finding new ways of seeing and understanding the complex motifs and layers of urban existence.

A motif for Desire Lines is evident in the presentation of brass signage, recently discovered in a plastic box at the collection’s former storage depot on Little Bourke Street. These letters, rendered in Helvetica font, once spelt ‘CITY OF MELBOURNE’ on a building, although exactly where or when no-one seems to know. For Desire Lines, the letters have been salvaged to free associate and form anagrams of new words and phrases – a hidden poem in the city’s midst.

A collection of images, contextual information and commentary on objects in the exhibition are accordingly featured in these pages to accompany the exhibition at City Gallery, Melbourne Town Hall.

An exhibition catalogue, designed by Stephen Banham and richly illustrated with an essay by Sean Lynch, will be freely available.

In his public art commission for the City of Melbourne (CoM), Distant Things Appear Suddenly Near was a temporary public artwork at University Square, Carlton.

Sean Lynch lives and works in Askeaton, County Limerick, Ireland. He represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

Prominent solo exhibitions include Edinburgh Art Festival (2021); Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2019); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2017); Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver (2016); Rose Art Museum, Boston (2016) and Modern Art Oxford (2014).

He has held fellowships and been a visiting professor at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, and is a graduate of the Stadelschule, Frankfurt.

His work is represented by Ronchini, London and Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin. Alongside Michele Horrigan, he works at Askeaton Contemporary Arts, an artist-led residency, commissioning and publication initiative situated in the west of Ireland since 2006.

The exhibition SHE has over 20 years of history at the Walker Street Gallery. SHEof mind and body depicts the multilayered and complicated aspects of being a Woman today. It showcases the depth of textiles as a medium and its ability to speak without words. While there was a time, when the medium was considered merely a form of craft, more recent discourse has placed it at the forefront of contemporary art.

Historically, depictions of the female body have held a male gaze and the focus is on male constructed ideals. Ironically, despite some cultural shifts to invert this depiction, the power and ubiquitous nature of social media has created greater anxiety in how ideals are constructed. Particularly, by those who are yet to form their identity, not to mention the hyper-reality rarely being reflective of the real. This exhibition offers the opportunity to create SHE of mind and body and allow a new depiction by and for Women.

Rohan talks to David and Neil about the thriving Arts scene in Melbourne.

For the first time and exclusively to Melbourne, the Red Centre’s nationally acclaimed and visually spectacular Aboriginal light festival, Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, is set to deliver a taste of its extraordinary, immersive light installations outside of the Territory.

Coming to Melbourne’s Fed Square for two nights only, Parrtjima will present its Grounded installation from March 10-11.

Grounded transforms Indigenous artworks and stories into a large-scale animated sequence that is projected onto the ground, accompanied by an immersive, atmospheric soundscape.

A vibrant, seamless canvas projected on Country in Alice Springs (Mparntwe), Grounded encourages people (especially kids!) to interact with the installation, to step in and become a piece of the stunning art, and discover the Dreamtime stories and song lines presented by the artists.

The Grounded activation will feature the work of 12 artists who have participated in Parrtjima from a range of art centres. Artists include Sharon Alice, Marina Pumani Brown, Anne Dixon, Hannah Nungarrayi, Serena Hayes, Annette Nungala, Roseanna Larry, Mary James, June Smith, Corban Clause Williams, Cassaria Young Hogan and Isaac Girrabul.

The soundscapes were composed by Damian Robinson, Wicked Beat Sound System and Rhyan Clapham, aka DOBBY.

The only authentic Aboriginal light festival of its kind, Parrtjima is delivered by Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC) on behalf of the Northern Territory Government, and is produced by Creative Directors AGB Events. The Grounded activation is being delivered in partnership with the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation (MAP Co).

NTMEC CEO Suzana Bishop said she couldn’t be more excited to showcase Grounded at Melbourne, ahead of the festival’s opening from 7-16 April 2023 in Alice Springs.

“Parrtjima is a truly moving and magical experience for everyone. Aside from large-scale light installations, likeGrounded, we have a great program of music, talks, workshops and film all heralding Australia’s Indigenous artists, leaders and people,” she said.

“Everyone in Melbourne can now experience a piece of Parrtjima and see first-hand what the magic is all about!”

Parrtjima Curator Rhoda Roberts AO is delighted Melbournians will be able to enjoy the first-ever experience of Parrtjima outside of the Territory.

“It is wonderful to expand the reach of the Parrtjima Festival and give additional exposure to the amazing Aboriginal artists who contribute every year,” she said.

“The festival is a wonderful public event and it is also very significant in helping provide economic pathways for our Indigenous artists. Grounded is an exciting and contemporary way to enjoy Aboriginal art. It’s experiential and engaging and people respond really well to that.”

Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation Director of Programming & Interpretation Sarah Tutton said, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Parrtjima to bring a piece of the festival to the people of Melbourne, in the heart of our city. Illuminating the stunning architecture of Fed Square, Grounded will bathe the landmark’s iconic sandstones in mesmerising light and immerse locals in a taste of the Territory.”

Emboldened by the Me Too movement, Wendy calls out the man who assaulted her youthful self, and the institution that shielded him.

With the constant and tender companionship of Richard – her imaginary friend and alter ego – Wendy navigates the maelstrom that engulfs her when truth telling collides with formal processes.

Radioactive Cockroach’s pervasive humour, rich sound design, tender choreography and integrated animation, bring a timely celebration of self care and faithful friendship.

First Peoples have used pelts in ceremonial and everyday life since time immemorial.

KHT has one of Australia’s most significant collections of South East Australian art and cultural belongings.

It is from this collection that Second Skin: Essence of Country brings together 22 artists and presents

works and cultural belongings that relate to the use of animal pelts in cultural practices.

For tens of thousands of years possum skin has been used in the production of cloaks to protect First

Peoples from the wind, rain, snow and cold in South East Australia, but are also made for use in

ceremony, making music, trade, to reflect cultural identity, map Country and pass cultural knowledge down

through generations.

The exhibition will present underlying themes relating to cultural and spiritual resilience; pride in identity and

community; connection to culture, community and Country.

Featured KHT Collection artists include William Barak (Wurundjeri); William Carter (Nharrang Clan of

Wiradjuri Nation, and Pajong and Wallaballooa Clans of Ngunnawal Nation); Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta,

Wamba Wamba, Mutti Mutti, Boonwurrung); Wally Cooper (Yorta Yorta); Vicki Couzens (Keeray

Woorrong Gunditjmara); Lee Darroch (Yorta Yorta, Mutti Mutti, Boon Wurrung); Mick Harding

(Taungwurrung); Val Heap (Yorta Yorta); Nola Kerr (Yorta Yorta, Jaara); Kelly Koumalatsos (Wergaia,

Wamba Wamba); Cassie Leatham (Daungwurrung, DjaDjaWurrung); Gayle Maddigan (Wamba Wamba,

Wertikgia); Teena Moffatt (Yorta Yorta, Gunaikurnai, Gunditjmara); Isobel Morphy-Walsh (Taun

Wurrung); Kent Morris (Barkindji); Jenny Murray-Jones (Yorta Yorta); Mandy Nicholson (Wurundjeri,

Dja Dja wurrung, Ngurai illum wurrung); Daryl Rose (Gunditjmara); Iluka Sax-Williams (Taungurung,

Tibrean); Titta (Diana) Secombe (Jardwadjali, Gunditjmara); Len Tregonning ( Gunai /Kurnai); Werrimul

Art & Krafts; and Kevin Williams (Wiradjuri).

The rich knowledge embodied in these works ranging from cloaks, marngrook, arm bands, headdresses,

necklaces, bags, vessels, baby carriers, and various forms of contemporary art and craft, continues to

flourish throughout South East Australia.

Organic forms of cultural material act as powerful reminders of the natural life cycle of living things – from

birth, through life, to death and the inevitable return to Country. Procuring pelts was part of a larger waste-

free process of harnessing the resources of Country. Long after the rest of the animal has been utilised,

the pelt continues to provide physical warmth and an ongoing physical connection to Country, culture and

community.

Possum skin cloaks are also an important reminder and marker of time, both materially and in their method

of production. Beginning with a small number of pelts at birth, the cloak grows as pelts are added

throughout a person’s lifetime, and is decorated with cultural designs and symbols. The various designs

and markings made on the cloak, in both pigments and engravings, tell the story of an individual’s life

journey, forming a visual biography and link to cultural identity. The cloak often follows its owners’ journey

through life, marking key events and milestones, to finally be laid to rest with them when they pass into the

Dreaming.