The relationship between the power of nature and the energy of ritual traditions is explored in these intensely personal artworks by Aboriginal artists living in remote Australia. Their vivid canvases evoke rain making rituals, ancestral narratives, the connection to stars and moon and how they feature in traditional land management practices.
EXHIBITION OPENING
Thursday, 4 July, 2019
6-8PM
FORM MEMBER PREVIEW
5.30-6PM
Bugai Whyoulter is an internationally acclaimed pujiman (desert-born) artist, from Kunawarritji (Well 33). In association with Martumili Artists, FORM presents Bugai, a solo exhibition of significant recent and historical works showing why Bugai’s artwork continues to resonate across cultures, generations and borders.
Weaving describes an action, and it also connotes a tradition imbued with cultural heritage. Distinctively and regionally diverse, the Indigenous fibre art of Australia is nonetheless expressive of a community of practice, unified by the amazing ability of practitioners to transform raw materials into creative expressions of story and place.
Connected to women’s traditional knowledge of plant materials and harvesting, fibre art is inextricably linked with the seasonal availability of resources and the transformation of raw materials into dyes, yarn and threads. The works, and their creators, perform a most special mixture of artistry and alchemy.
Accordingly, The Alchemists showcases the recent work of artists and art centres from Anindilyakwa, Bula’ bula, Elcho Island, Merrepen and Maningrida in the Northern Territory, Milingimbi and Gapuwiyak in East Arnhem Land, Pormpuraaw Art Centre in Cape York, Baluk Arts in the Mornington Peninsula, and closer to home, Martumili Artists in the Pilbara. The exhibition also features the work of Tasmanian artist Vicki West, Cairns-based artist Grace Lillian Lee and Janine McCaulley Bott of Western Australia.
*** We’re sorry, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 & The Australian Government’s advice that events of 100+ people should not go ahead, we’re sad to announce that we’ve had to cancel Scribblers Festival this year. ***
A FREE festival celebrating literature & arts for young people, including inspiring talks by authors & illustrators from around the world, hands-on creative activities for all ages, Book Dr Prescriptions, a venue devoted to YA lit (The YA Collective), a Mother’s Day Market on Sunday featuring local bakeries, free flower jars for Mum, and custom calligraphy. Did we mention food trucks, great coffee, and magic that stays with you all year long?
*** We’re sorry, for your health and safety during the outbreak of COVID-19, as of close of business Friday, 20 March 2020, The Goods Shed and Coffee Pod are closed. We hope this exhibition will resume when we reopen in the future ***
Eight million tonnes of plastic enters our ocean every year. There is 500 times more microplastic in the sea than there are stars in our galaxy, and by 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish. With only nine percent of the world’s plastic recycled, artists are developing ways to rethink the plastic problem. Plasticology, opening on Thursday, 12 March 2020, features creative approaches to the recycling of plastics by artists Leeroy New (Philippines), Yufang Chi (Taiwan/Australia), Eko Nugroho (Indonesia), and Angela Yuen (Hong Kong).
One of Indonesia’s most respected contemporary artists, Eko Nugroho’s work has been exhibited and collected all over the world. He makes art for and of the people, based in the street and on his own experiences, using humour and irony to respond to social and environmental concerns. He works across many mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, video, performance, and street art and often adapts ideas from science fiction, comic books and other forms of popular culture merged with traditional Indonesian artforms. Look out for Nugroho’s bold graphics and hybrid-aliens or part-man part-machine figures, with faces concealed by masks, helmets, or machine parts, seeming never to reveal their true selves. Who will you see looking back at you?
When hit exhibition Mulyana: A Man, A Monster and the Sea transformed The Goods Shed into a colourful underwater wonderland last year, more than 30,000 people visited the Claremont cultural hub. Now, FORM is continuing to explore themes around the ocean in an artistic exchange with Western Australia’s regional neighbours.
Internationally acclaimed creative education expert Paul Collard returns to Perth for a month-long residency this March, working closely with Perth’s young people, and sharing his knowledge with their parents, carers and educators. Hear Collard speak in a special address at the Scribblers Program Launch on Thursday, 1st March at The Goods Shed.
Multidisciplinary artist Pilar Mata Dupont established her practices in Western Australia before leaving to forge a formidable international career.
An immersive art installation by Bruce Munro will illuminate the Avenue of Honour at Mt Clarence later this year, paying homage to the Anzacs with 13,000 shining spheres marking the last sight of home for 41,000 troops who departed from Albany for the Great War.
Join UK thought-leader Bill Lucas and Paul Collard for a hands-on workshop, suitable for all educators