Sunday Arts Magazine

As the Olympics inject excitement into our lockdown days, there’s a cultural project of contemporary photography by 8 leading artists from Australia and Japan to feature in a major exhibition as part of the Tokyo Tokyo Festival for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Cultural Olympiad which will be staged at the premier photography museum in Japan.

Conceived pre-covid, it’s a miracle Reversible Destiny: Australian and Japanese contemporary photography exhibition is happening and in the context of Olympic ideals and values, it poses reflection and offers hope for us all.

The artists are looking at what it means to make photography now, in a time of global upheaval, human fragility and uncertain future – what are our shared destinies across nations?

Melbourne based exhibition co-curator Natalie King, a leading Australian curator with an Asia-Pacific region specialisation and significant Venice Art Biennale curating experience, poses the big questions – where are we now, what is our collective future, how is this informed by the past?

Over 100 circus artists delve into the next unbelievable

As part of the Circus Oz experiment, the Circus Arts Incubator Fellowship program introduces five circus creatives committed to uncovering the next Australian circus arts provocation.

Each receiving a $40K stipend over a six-month period, the Fellows represent a powerful force of diversity that covers First Nations, disability, queer, social politics and wickedly humorous approaches to inclusion.

Harley Mann, a Wakka Wakka man from Queensland, grew up on Gadigal country. Mann is interested in the value of land and how it holds memory and the relationships to country. His driving ambition is to establish a First Nations physical movement and circus company.

Award-winning Jarred Dewy hails from in Adelaide. He is a National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) graduate and spent nine years as part of the Circa ensemble. Jarred’s fellowship will focus on the identity of all things queer, raw, subversive and surreal through a hybrid of acrobatics and drag.

Acclaimed mid-career artist, Jess Love will focus on stories told through beautiful images and physical feats. Love wants to challenge the status quo on gender, sexuality and lifestyle. She explains, “I want to make work for children that teaches them that difference is exciting and cool.”

Mitch Jones is a physical performer with over a decade of creating thought-provoking and playful shows that experiment with genre and style. He wants to take audiences on a wild ride through the absurd, darkly comical and visually surreal.

As an adventurous street performer, Roya the Destroya shocks and disrupts strangers into a soulful and joyful exchange. With global experiences, she has busked in the Middle East and performed at the White House. Roya’s fellowship will focus on representation for disability artists and audiences.

The five Fellows will join over 100 other circus performers selected to be part of the Circus Arts Incubator Associate program to take-over and activate many spaces throughout the enormous Circus Oz headquarters within the Collingwood Yards precinct.

Circus Oz Executive Director, Penny Miles, explained that these new Circus Oz Arts Incubator programs attracted over 80 applications covering over 200 artists, “This is a major turning point. It’s a new era to support a broader range of circus arts. We cannot wait to witness what they discover.”

“We’ve striped back our entire building to give artists access to spaces and resources to research, test and create new possibilities. They will have access to over 2,000 square metres of space (approximately half an acre) – this includes two large rehearsal rooms as well as a range of new studio spaces we’ve transformed from existing offices,” said Miles.

Circus lovers can access a special Sneak Peek pass to see exclusive scheduled and last-minute viewings as well as time to meet and engage with the Circus Arts Incubator Fellows and Associates.

Circus Oz will launch the $80 Sneak Peek pass soon. It will cover eight months (October 2021 to May 2022) of varied moments that test new circus experiments before they hit the main stage.

Rohan talks to David and Neil.

PluginHUMAN is a multi-award-winning art duo led by Dr Betty Sargeant and Justin Dwyer. PluginHUMAN are at the progressive edge of their field, providing audiences with new cultural, environmental and scientific perspectives. Their artworks address the leading questions and concerns of our times.

PluginHUMAN’s work centres around the art of illumination. They create projection mapping, video artworks and led immersive multi-sensory environments. They use the medium of light to translate complex data into meaningful audience experiences.

PluginHUMAN has created commissioned artworks for institutions such as the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan), the Asia Culture Centre (South Korea), Questacon (Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre), the Melbourne Museum (White Night Festival, Australia) and Experimenta (Australian triennial touring media art exhibition). They have exhibited in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. PluginHUMAN were awarded the Rupert Bunny Foundation Visual Art Fellowship (2019/20); they’re developing new carbon neutral and carbon negative materials and working methods. They have also won Good Design Awards (2020 and 2018), and a Victorian Premier’s Design Award (2017).

PluginHUMAN has an acute understanding of the role that technology plays in contemporary society. They reimagine new technologies to produce artistic innovations, creating meaningful large and small scale audience experiences for indoor spaces and outdoor public arenas.

Bunjil Place is excited to present a variety of signature events inspired by John Young: Diaspora, Psyche that is currently exhibiting until Sunday 12 September, 2021. The survey exhibition presents an exploration of transculturalism, examining historic expressions of cross-cultural ethics, material and cultural exchange, and the effects of diasporic experience on the psyche.

Taking place on Saturday 14 August, enjoy a day out at Bunjil Place to explore the art and ideas of Diaspora, Psyche through dance, discussion, and more.

Home(s) is a cross-cultural and cross-genre dance project that brings together four dance artists from a diverse range of backgrounds Jennifer Ma, Nak Assa, Kaitlin Malone, and David Leupolu. Through a mix of contemporary dance, street dance and experimental music backgrounds, the works unravel the dancers’ own cultural experiences and investigate their sense of belonging at the crossroads of diverse cultural influences. Featuring music composed by Bluey Mooney and lights designed by Adelaide Harney, tickets are $8-$10 + BF which includes light refreshments, and the performance is set for 2.00pm in the Bunjil Place Studio.

Jennifer Ma is a Taiwanese-Australian dancer and choreographer whose own choreographic practice lies in the intersection of contemporary and street dance, resulting in her first full length work, Home(s), which premiered at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2020.

Nak Assa is the founding director of a Melbourne-based street dance crew, Mute. With over 10 years’ experience in choreography and freestyle, Nak has travelled internationally to Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and the US to attend dance camps, competitions and private trainings with world-class street dancers to refine his craft.

Kaitlin Malone is a current company artist with Transit Dance Company, Variation Three and Jennifer Ma & Collaborators and will be debuting her first work as part of a triple bill with Origins Dance Company in 2021. Kailtin has developed her artistic practice under the mentorship of Paul Malek and Israel Aloni at Transit Dance, since graduating in 2018.

David Leupolu is an Indian/Samoan freestyle artist who has explored multiple genres such as Popping, Hip Hop freestyle, House and Krump. David has ventured into contemporary dance joining Jennifer Ma & Collaborators in multiple creative projects including Home(s), Submerge at Dancehouse, and Bunjil Place’s Art Echoes project.

Umbrella Entertainment is proud to announce the theatrical release date of its latest quality Australian cinematic drama, STREAMLINE – starring Jason Isaacs, Levi Miller and Laura Gordon – which will screen in cinemas nationally on September 2, 2021.

The feature film debut of writer/director Tyson Wade Johnston, STREAMLINE will have its World Premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival in August, followed by regional screenings as part of the MIFF Travelling Showcase, and CinefestOZ Film Festival.

STREAMLINE is a coming-of-age sports drama about a fifteen-year-old swimming prodigy fighting to stay afloat as he faces pressure in the world of competitive sports, amidst overwhelming family problems.

Featuring a cameo performance by Australian swimming champion and Olympic gold medallist, Ian Thorpe (who is also Executive Producer on the film), the stellar cast also includes Jake Ryan, Tasia Zalar, Sam Parsonson, Hunter Page-Lochard and Joey Viera.

Bringing BIG Sculpture to The VegOut Community Gardens was not

dissimilar to organising a meeting of two great minds. Two great

industrious and creative minds, both independent, yet both committed

to engaging with community. Our curatorial challenge was to engage the

sculptures and the Gardens in a dialogue that was mutually respectful and

one that acknowledged each other’s achievements.

The achievements of the sculptors exhibited demonstrate, without

question, a remarkable inventiveness. The masterful manipulation of their

chosen materials shouts with the joy of aesthetic enquiry and the triumph

of hard labour. And the Gardens describe a parallel accomplishment.

A walk through this productive yet peaceful oasis reveals its variety, and

the wonder of its design traces the pleasure and industry of those who have

made it what it is today.

In seeing the two together the visitor is offered the opportunity to witness

a very special encounter. One in which we can participate; one where we

are invited to observe; one to which we can listen; one from which we can

learn.

The sculptors here represented are known, or are bound to be known,

as great practitioners in their field. In an age where utility is champion,

their unstated responsibility is to inspire other sculptors and students of

sculpture to develop their practice. So too do the Gardens, widely known

as being a benchmark for what can be saved from the appetite of urban

developers, show us a Garden for future community gardeners to aspire to.

BIG Sculpture has come to the heart of St Kilda. In the heart is The Garden.

WILAM BIIK, (home country) is a major exhibition of First Nations artists from south-eastern Australia and is part of the Yalingwa Visual Arts Initiative.

New works by nine contemporary Aboriginal artists of South-East Australia and an installation by the Djirri Djirri Wurundjeri Women’s Dance Group, and loans from the National Gallery of Victoria, Koorie Heritage Trust, State Library of Victoria, Art Gallery of Ballarat, and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

KEY PICTORIAL OPPORTUNITIES: 

·       First showing of ten new commissions by contemporary Aboriginal artists from south-eastern Australia selected based on their Country, language group, and songlines.

·       Works by William Barak (Wurundjeri), Timothy Korkanoon (Wurundjeri), Granny Jemima Burns Wandin Dunolly (Wurundjeri), Joyce Moate (Taungurung), and a selection of ancestral personal tools and adornments from South East Australian region.

Djirri Djirri Wurundjeri Women’s Dance Group, The Djirri Djirri Dancers at Toolangi Forest, 2018, video still. Image courtesy of the artists. Video still by Ryan Tews.

WILAM BIIK is the second exhibition to be presented as part of Yalingwa, a Victorian Government initiative. Yalingwa is a partnership between the Victorian Government, ACCA and TarraWarra Museum of Art, designed to support the development of outstanding contemporary Indigenous art and curatorial practice. It includes three new curatorial positions and three major exhibitions alternating between ACCA and TarraWarra Museum of Art, focused on new commissions by contemporary Indigenous artists.

Melbourne-based Circus Artist Ciara Thorburn recently birthed a lockdown baby of a different kind. A 50-minute voyeuristic glimpse into the life of an eccentric polymath, this August The Thesis takes centre stage at the Alex Theatre in St Kilda – superbly highlighting that there are no limits to what can be achieved when you are supposed to be doing something else.

Driven by silent comedy and theatrical circus, this ambitious Australian premiere season is a peculiar reflection of the creative process as an academic navigates writers block, procrastination, and perfectionism, while writing their hallowed thesis.

“After the completion of my third degree (a Bachelor of Circus Arts), I graduated into a pandemic.”, explains writer/performer Ciara Thorburn. “So, I decided to con my way into my ninth year of study – rather than writing my thesis I wrote a show – about writing a show, about writing a thesis, during a pandemic.

Through Expression Australia, the Sustaining Creative Workersprogram also made me keenly aware of the need for more accessibility within the arts once theatres were able to open our doors again. I created the work with that at the fore. The most enjoyable thing about the show is that most nights I don’t know what’s going to happen. The performance is rooted in moments of improvisation and my ability to react to what’s going on with any given audience. My work doesn’t really fit into any boxes. If I had to label it, I’d call it ‘Cult Clown Cinema’.”

A progressive and creative mid-career Melbourne-based circus artist, Ciara Thorburn is a graduate of Australia’s National Institute of Circus Arts. She has also trained under theatre master Philippe Gaulier and toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, New Zealand and Japan. Her various show credits include Shuffle Club Royale, Circus Rio, Wonderland Spiegeltent, Awaji Art Circus in Japan, Edinburgh Fringe’s Late Night Lip Service and Cheeky Cabaretat the Brunswick Picture House.

Embracing the mundane and making it remarkable, The Thesis is a subtle yet intelligent exploration of the human condition; both inspiring… and incredibly frustrating.

Rohan is back talk all things arts….