In 2010 the Telstra Art Award will celebrate its 27th year and is the longest-running art award dedicated to the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. 

It is considered the premier national event in the Australian Indigenous arts calendar. Telstra has been sponsoring this Award for 19 years.

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and Telstra are proud to announce the inaugural Telstra New Media Award with the theme of ‘connections’ as a new category this year.

Telstra Local Area General Manager, North Coast, Michael Sharpe, said new media is an emerging category with more and more artists incorporating technology into their works, and is an exciting evolution of the Telstra Art Award.

“The award presents a fantastic opportunity for local artists to gain national exposure for their artworks, as well as take advantage of the financial benefits that can flow-on to their local communities from a win in these prestigious awards,” he said.

“Telstra is committed to supporting the growth of the Australian Indigenous arts community, by continuing to increase the opportunities for established and emerging artists across the country.”

Telstra will provide an additional $3000 prizemoney for this New Media category.

Telstra will continue to award the $40,000 Telstra Award and $4000 to other categories including the Telstra General Painting Award, the Telstra Bark Painting Award, the Telstra Work on Paper Award and the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award in addition to the New Media Award ($3,000). 

Last year’s $40,000 Telstra Award winner Danie Mellor (pictured) has had his winning entry, From Rite to Ritual, acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. 

In 2010 the Telstra Art Award will celebrate its 27th year and is the longest-running art award dedicated to the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. It is considered the premier national event in the Australian Indigenous arts calendar.

The 27th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award exhibition opens, and award presentations will be made, on Friday, 13 August 2010.

Entries for the 27th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award close on Friday, 2 April 2010.

Entries for the inaugural Telstra New Media Award will close on Friday, 30 April.

For an entry form, contact the Award Co-ordinator at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, GPO Box 4646, DARWIN NT 0801, phone 08 8999 8203 or email natsiaa@nt.gov.au or go to www.magnt.nt.gov.au/natsiaa

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A regional launch of the prize will be held at the Tweed River Art Gallery at 11am on Tuesday 16 February to officially launch the 2010 prize and invite artists to enter.

The $35,000 Country Energy Art Prize for Landscape Painting is Australia’s richest annual landscape prize.

In its eighth year, the art pPrize showcases the wealth of artistic talent across country and coastal New South Wales while contributing to the visual arts industry.

A series of regional launches are held across NSW announcing that the annual prize is open for 2010, and inviting artists to enter.

Entries for the 2010 Art Prize close on 25 June 2010, with the finalists exhibited at the Glasshouse Arts, Conference and Entertainment Centre in Port Macquarie. The winner will be announced at an opening event at the Glasshouse on 30 September.

Entry is exclusive to artists whose principal place of residence is within Country Energy’s network distribution area, which covers 95 per cent of New South Wales’ land mass.

The prize is open to all artistic styles, mediums and contexts, ranging from figurative to abstract, charcoal to traditional oil paint and landscapes to seascapes.

The Art Prize also includes the Youth Encouragement Award. This award is designed to support and promote the work of emerging young artists from regional NSW. The additional prize of $5000 from Country Energy is presented each year to an artist who has entered Countryscapes and is aged 25 years or younger.

Artists and art lovers are all invited to the launch of Countryscapes 2010. The guest speaker, and three time Countryscapes exhibitor, painter Robyn Sweaney from Mullumbimby, will speak about her experiences as a regional artist and being a finalist in the prize.

PICTURE: Graham Lupp of Bathurst won Countryscapes 2009 for his work Hen and Chicken Lane (courtesy of Country Energy).

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To that end, QSE’s Christina Koch (pictured) is currently touring northern NSW in search of budding public speakers and community leaders.

In a series of workshops from Armidale to Lismore, Christina will work with groups of business practitioners, presenters, and students of performance to develop vocal resonance, persuasive speaking, personal connection to text, and development of memory – all through a look at the life and work of William Shakespeare. 

Ms Koch is a theatre practitioner (voice coach, actor, director, producer) of over 15 years experience in Brisbane, working with the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, Queensland Theatre Company and the Bell Shakespeare Company during that time.

Since 2002 she has trained in the Linklater approach to voice training through the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble with master teacher Rob Pensalfini, and internationally in 2008 at Shakespeare and Company in Massachusetts, where she was invited to return as a guest participant in a specialised workshop on Shakespeare’s Rhetoric.  

Back in Australia, she applied this learning to her direction of a cast of senior legal practitioners, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland and the former Attorney-General, in a reading of Twelve Angry Men for the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble.

Christina was assistant director to John Bell AO on Bell Shakespeare and Queensland Theatre Company’s 2009 co-production of The Alchemist, and was script writer for Kerry O’Brien’s Hypothetical at the 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference. 

Ms Koch said today that she is ‘looking forward to working with people who genuinely want to improve their connection to their audience, and to be more confident, ethical, and persuasive in their approach to public speaking – Shakespeare teaches us to be bolder in our willingness to make connections.’
 
After an enthusiastic reception by members of Armidale’s Chamber of Commerce and Dorrigo’s Dramatic Club, and calls for return extended workshops, the ‘Shakespeare’s Playground’ workshop now comes to South Grafton’s refurbished Walker’s Marina Hotel on 20 February, and to the Dorrigo Theatre on 6 & 7 March, with future workshops under discussion for Maclean/Yamba, Lismore and Ballina.

Participants in the recent ‘Shakespeare’s Playground’ workshop in Dorrigo described the session as ‘an easy introduction to the world of Shakespeare’ and expressed enjoyment of the workshop’s variety, pace and flexibility.

 Further information: Christina Koch on 0423 295 493 or christinakoch@bigpond.com

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On Saturday morning they will also present a free talk and demonstration on how to turn an old wooden box or timber panel into a stunning original artwork.

Luke Taaffe’s beautiful flowing detailed work represents a life living by the ocean and its surrounding environment. Waves, boats, whales and octopus all make regular appearances on his colourful panels, usually taken from weathered old wooden boxes.

Taaffe says the eroded and often-found materials he paints on reflect the salt-decaying effects of oceanside living and how it impacts on man’s desire for development and progress.

In contrast, the vibrant colours and ink detail he uses show the fun and privilege one has to be raised on Australia’s coastline.

“There is always a lot of colour within my work and that is because the coast is like a wonderland to me, ever changing and always beautiful,” he said.

“I try to capture this beauty and the power and terror that the ocean can bring to our lives, which in turn is showing my respect for it. I feel there is a constant struggle of balance between man and the environment and I try and express this through these isolated and almost dark scenes.”

Originally from the tiny central coast town of Wamberal, he moved to the surf mecca of Torquay, Victoria, last year to take up a dream graphic design position with Australian label, Roxy.

Like Taaffe, Mia Taninaka juggles a successful design career with her personal art practice and surf habit. 

By day she supplies quirky illustrations and designs for clients such as Channel V, Volcom and Mambo, whilst at night she likes to draw and paint on found wooden objects and panels, creating stunning colourful imaginative works inspired by her Japanese heritage.

“From an early age, I was lucky enough to do a lot of overseas travelling with my family,” she says.

“Which opened up my eyes to a very enchanting world of different cultures, colours and customs.  

“Travelling through South-East Asia in particular, I became aware of how detached from the natural world we are here in the west.

“Eastern cultures seem to have a more holistic approach to life and the role we play in the universe. They believe in the soul and spirit and have a deep respect and dignity for all creatures of the animal and plant kingdoms.

 “My parents taught me to appreciate and connect with the universe and its energy. To a lot of people a leaf is simply a leaf, but I like to look a little deeper.

“When I’m painting, everything has to connect. All the elements have a purpose and important significance.”

 Taaffe says the title of their new show, The InBetween, refers to the diverse lives that he and Taninaka lead, incorporating art, fashion and graphics, and the challenge of trying to find the balance with everything else that comes with being a young creative.

The exhibition opens 6pm Friday February 12 at Retrospect Galleries, 52 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, everyone welcome.

Or come along at 11am on Saturday for a free talk and demonstration and find out how to turn that old box or panel of wood in the shed into something new and beautiful.

Image: Luke Taaffe, Playing in the Backyard

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The Australian artist spent 20 years working on a series of paintings inspired by the Gallipoli campaign and underpinned by personal tragedy.

Australian War Memorial Director Steve Gower said: “Sidney Nolan: the Gallipoli series constitutes a personal and public interpretation of a campaign that cost so many Australian lives.

“Nolan donated this collection to the Memorial in 1978 in memory of his soldier brother, who died in a tragic accident before the end of the Second World War.

“This travelling exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to view these striking and iconic works, displayed together for the first time in 30 years.”

One of Australia’s most complex, innovative and prolific artists, Nolan was born two years after the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915.

Nolan said the events of the First World War permeated his life as he grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne. However, it was not until he was living on the Greek island of Hydra in the mid-1950s that he started to explore the idea of a series of works with a military and heroic theme.

He made a one-day visit to Gallipoli and was profoundly moved by the place that had seen so much Australian blood shed.

The Director of Tweed River Art Gallery Susi Muddiman said: “the Tweed community should be proud that the Gallery was selected as the first regional gallery to host this significant and compelling exhibition.”

A number of public programs have been scheduled to coincide with this landmark exhibition.

Prior to the opening at 5.30pm on Friday 22 January, the curator of the exhibition, Lola Wilkins, from the Australian War Memorial, will present an exhibition floor talk. This talk will be repeated on Saturday 23 January at 2pm.

In a first for the Gallery, an exciting Bring in your memorabilia event has been scheduled for Thursday 11 February between 10.30am and 2pm (DST). Members of the public are invited to bring along any military heritage memorabilia in their collections.

A team of experts from the Australian War Memorial will be on hand to discuss your items of military heritage, and to assist individuals with the identification and preservation of items which may be in their care.

Firearms should not under any circumstance be brought to a BIYM event, and while comment may be made by staff on the relative rarity (or otherwise) of items, formal valuations will not be made.

Sidney Nolan: the Gallipoli series is on display at the Tweed River Art Gallery from 22 January to 14 March 2010, before travelling to other venues throughout Australia.

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The coveted set of artists’ proofs formed the centerpiece of the Gallery’s Anniversary Print Collection project which saw the Gallery commission six leading Australian artists to create a work in response to the Gallery and the Tweed region.

Gallery Director Susi Muddiman said Nela and John (all pictured) placed the most generous bid for the outstanding set of original artworks.

The Turnbulls said they were delighted to have been able to support the project.

“We are regular visitors to the Gallery and enjoy the range of programs on offer. It is a real treat to hear the news that we cast the successful bid,” Nela said.

“We have already decided where to hang our lovely new artworks,” John said.

At the initial stage of the project, Ms Muddiman invited artists GW Bot, Jan Davis, Graham Fransella, Marco Luccio, Euan Macleod and Graeme Peebles to visit the Gallery through a weekend residency program to provide an insight into the region.

“The artists were inspired by the Tweed Shire’s beautiful landscape and the prize-winning architecture of the Gallery, the diverse flora and fauna of the area, and the potential for leisure and industry that the Tweed offers,” Ms Muddiman said.

This project resulted in the creation of six unique artists’ prints that have been produced in a limited edition of 20, marking the Gallery’s anniversary year.

The Anniversary Print Collection set contains one print from each artist’s edition, presented in a specially crafted, archivally-sound ‘ready to hang’ frame.

This single frame holds one selected print for display, while the remaining five prints are contained in a recessed section at the back. This allows the owner to change the displayed print whenever they want.

From the 20 sets produced, one has been acquired for the Gallery’s collection and the remaining 19 were available for sale through the Gallery Shop for the price of $1000.

A number of sets have already been sold to members of the public – mostly to visitors to the Gallery who were unaware of the project, and happened to see the fine works on art on display in the Gallery from mid-September to late November 2009.

The print project has also received excellent coverage in national arts publications, and has been acquired by public art collections and regional galleries across NSW.

The Tweed River Art Gallery is located on 2 Mistral Rd (Corner of Tweed Valley Way) in Murwillumbah. The Gallery and Café is open from Wednesday to Sunday 10am – 5pm.

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The Hannah Cabinet will be on display at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery, in Cherry Street, Ballina until mid-February 2009.

Call the Northern Rivers Community Gallery on 6681 6167 for details.

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‘In Retrospect 10′ is a stunning full-colour 140-page publication introducing 34 artists from around the country, all represented locally by Retrospect Galleries.

Local artists Alberto Sanchez, Anna Nordstrom, Cornelia Burless, Daniel Clemmett, Dolores Cupcake, Erika Mayer, Fiona Kennedy-Altoft, Hilary Herrmann, James McMillan, John Cottrell, Michelle Dawson, Nikky Morgan Smith, Noel Hart, Rick Shearman, Sarah Harvey and Stephen Phibbs are featured in the publication.

Alongside are Sydney-based artists Bennett, Johnny Romeo, Kareem Rizk, Kareena Zerefos, Luke Taaffe, Kevin Tran and Mia Taninaka, Queenslanders Jan Van Dijk, Nic Plowman, Simon DeGroot and Troy Archer, Victorians Dave Bowers, Doug Bartlett, James Looker, Laura Skerlj and Nick Morris, Adelaide’s Dennis Ropar and American artists Fawn Gehweiler and Kelsey Brookes.

Four pages are dedicated to each artist, including a fun Q & A style interview and some great images of their work.

Retrospect Galleries Director Bree Delian said she decided to publish the book as an acknowledgement of the incredible work that comes into the gallery.

“We are often amazed at some of the art that comes in and of course these are the works that sell very quickly,” she commented.

“By publishing a book, it’s an opportunity to showcase the artists that we represent to a much wider audience and to share their work much more broadly, even long after individual artworks have been sent on to the buyer.

“Because of that we have kept the price of the book very affordable, at just $20, so that as many people as possible can share the joy.”

Delian has curated, edited and published the book herself, with art design by local artist/designer Rick Shearman.

She says it’s intended as an annual publication, with planning for In Retrospect 11 already under way.

In Retrospect 10 will be launched at Retrospect Galleries, 52 Jonson Street, Byron Bay on Saturday, December 12, in conjunction the gallery’s second birthday celebrations, the opening of their end-of-year show and announcement of their 2010 exhibition and events program.

Join them for some Christmas cheer from 5.30pm and take advantage of their book launch special to buy two copies for $25 (a saving of $15).

There are limited copies available, so get in fast!

For more information phone 02 6680 8825 or visit www.retrospectgalleries.com

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Each will receive $10,000 towards organisational and promotion costs. 

The Byron Bay Film Festival celebrates the spirit of Byron Bay and the North Coast through the universal medium of independent film. It will be held over nine days from 5-13 March.

Its director, J’aimee Skippon-Volke, said the funding represents genuine recognition of the commitment to grow the event so that it becomes an annual icon on the Australian calendar.

“We are extremely pleased to receive this level of support as it will allow us to reach a much broader audience and build on the reputation the North Coast has for being a serious centre for filmmakers and film making,” said J’aimee.

It is the second year that the Big Joke Comedy Festival in Bangalow has received this funding to help it increase visitor numbers from 2700 in 2009 to more than 4000 in 2010. It is held from 18-23 March.

Festival director Mandy Nolan welcomed the news. “The support of NSW Tourism last year enabled us to expand our profile and market into areas that were previously out of our reach. We are excited at the prospect of supporting Big Joke 2010 with a dynamic new approach which involves us taking on a social media campaign,” said Mandy.

Northern Rivers Tourism helps to promote and support events which are crucial for regional areas in attracting visitors.

“Especially at off-peak times of the year, cultural events like the Byron Bay Film Festival and the Big Joke are a great representation of the creativity and values that contribute to our destination brand,” said NRT CEO Russell Mills.

The Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay, in announcing the funding, said these events attract thousands of visitors each year and reflect the identity and unique character of each region.

More than $420,000 is being provided to support 20 festivals across NSW next year.

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“Two highly regarded local organisations, Screenworks and NORPA, have been successful in securing funding for exciting local arts projects,” she said.

“NORPA has been granted $19,000 for its Generator Dance Residency project. It will be done in partnership with Sydney’s Performance Space. 

“Under the project a Sydney-based artist will work in residence at NORPA with three local dancers to develop a new dance work.

“The visiting artist will also present two open master-classes to maximise the reach of this dance project in our region.

“Screenworks has been granted $17,500 for its project to support up-and-coming producers.

“The project, called Mentoring the Next Generation of Screen Content Creators, will have professional producers mentor four emerging producers for six weeks on a commissioned project. The commissioned project could be a feature film, documentary, TV program or some new media.

“The mentors will follow up with assistance for three to six months on the emerging producers’ own projects.

“Screenworks and NORPA are both successful examples of home-grown organisations that have made their mark locally and globally. I commend them for their continued commitment to our local artists and they support they give to nurture the talent in our region.

“Screenworks is seeking expressions of interest from professional and emerging producers for its project, and I encourage local screen producers to make the most of this opportunity.”

Further information on the Screenworks project is available on the website at www.screenworks.com.au

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