IN RED
Wednesday 18 November, 6pm, QUT Art Museum
As 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the events of 1965, Dadang Christanto will undertake a restaging of his moving 1979 performance work at the opening of Nineteen Sixty-Five: Dadang Christanto.
performed at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art as part of 48HR Incident, 2015
Courtesy the artist
Photo: Zan Wimberley
Texta book club
Clean straw for nothing by George Johnson
Tuesday 20 October, 6pm, QUT Art Museum
Texta is no ordinary book club; it's for people who love art. We use fiction (mostly) to unpack the subjects, themes and emotions of art. Conversation is never colourless, and is facilitated by our brains trust from QUT Creative Writing and Literary Studies. For our final book of the year we read Clean straw for nothing by George Johnson.
In the sequel to his semi-autobiographical novel My brother Jack, George Johnston's Clean straw for nothing (winner of the Miles Franklin Award in 1969) is set against the backdrop of a Greek island, and follows the story of successful war correspondent and retired journalist, David Meredith, as he abandons his career for a life in exile with his beautiful wife Cressida. Johnston focuses on the developing relationship between David and Cressida, exploring the complex and reflective character of David as he questions the nature of success, sexual tensions, expatriation, and ill-health.
Held in conjunction with the exhibition 1969: The black box of conceptual art, join us for a brief tour of the exhibition followed by a glass of wine and generous amounts of healthy conversation.
Books can be purchased from the Gardens Point QUT Bookshop.
Waypoint
Contemporary artists, conceptual influences
Wednesday 14 October, 6.15pm, QUT Art Museum
In 1969, artists Ian Burn, Roger Cutforth and Mel Ramsden sent an exhibition from New York to Pinacotheca gallery, Melbourne. This exhibition of three works – one by each artist and delivered in a small box – is considered the first Conceptual art exhibition to be held in Australia. 1969: The black box of conceptual art currently showing at QUT Art Museum is a reconstruction of this exhibition.
Join four local artists, Courtney Coombs, Sam Cranstoun, Daniel McKewan, and Tayla Haggarty, as they discuss the impact of Conceptual art on their practice and their response to this seminal exhibition.
Courtney Coombs is an artist who works with photography, moving image, installation, performance, sculpture and found objects. She completed her PhD in Visual Arts at QUT this year. Courtney is the co-director of the artist run initiatives and collectives No Frills* and LEVEL, and her work has been featured in both solo and group shows, including It's complicated, Boxcopy Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane (2014), Extended conversation pieces, Melbourne Art Fair (2014) and Wish you were here, Rojitohito, Tokyo (2012).
Sam Cranstoun is an artist and founding member of artist-run-initiative, Current Projects. Sam completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art) Honours at QUT in 2010, after commencing a Bachelor of Animation at Griffith University. Sam is represented by Milani Gallery and has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and internationally, including GOMA Q: Contemporary Queensland art, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2015), Guarding the home front, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool (2015) and Light play, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2015).
Daniel McKewen is a founding member and current board member of Boxcopy. He holds a PhD in Visual Arts and currently lectures at QUT. Daniel is also a prominent Brisbane artist whose works have been shown nationally and internationally. His work has been included in a number of high-profile exhibitions including You imagine what you desire, the 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014) and NEW14, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2014).
Tayla Haggarty is a current QUT Honours student. Tayla's practice involves precariously placed and strategically composed objects and structures that explore themes of tension and balance, particularly in regard to the duality of same sex relationships. Tayla has recently had success with the solo show Alone together, Boxcopy (2015) and the group show This is not a drill, The Hold, Brisbane (2015).
Orchids
My intersex adventure
Tuesday 15 September, 5.30pm, QUT Art Museum
Join us during Pride Month for a special screening of Orchids: My Intersex Adventure with director and star, Phoebe Hart.
This is my story. It's a story of how my body became a site of pain, confusion and secrecy for me and for my family. Not because it is diseased or dysfunctional but because society deemed it to be abnormal.
Orchids: My Intersex Adventure is an autobiographical documentary about Phoebe Hart – a woman with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS). It follows her journey around Australia, speaking to other intersex people, and her personal journey of reconciliation.
Light refreshments will be offered at 5:30pm prior to the 6pm screening. Guests will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with director Phoebe Hart after the screening.
1969: The black box of conceptual art
In conversation
Part I: Dr Ann Stephen and Professor Sue Best
Friday 11 September, 5.30pm, QUT Art Museum, Free
Held in conjunction with 1969: The black box of conceptual art – a reconstruction of the first Conceptual art exhibition in Australia sent by Ian Burn, Roger Cutforth and Mel Ramsden in 1969 to Pinacotheca gallery, Melbourne – join us for a conversation with Dr Ann Stephen, curator of the exhibition and Senior Curator, University Art Gallery and Art Collection at The University of Sydney, and Professor Sue Best, Director, Fine Art and Art Theory at Griffith University, as they discuss the legacy of this exhibition on Australian art.
Stay on after the event for the opening reception with remarks by Professor Andrew McNamara, Visual Arts, QUT.
On Saturday 12 September at Milani Gallery, join us for Part II of the conversation with Dr Ann Stephen and Professor Andrew McNamara focussing on Ian Burn's London works. Visit Milani Gallery for further information.
Dr Ann Stephen is Senior Curator, University Art Gallery and Art Collection at The University of Sydney, and current chair of Art Monthly Australia. Her publications include: On looking at looking: The art and politics of Ian Burn (2006); Modernism and Australia (2006), and Modern times (2008), both co-edited with Andrew McNamara and Philip Goad.
Professor Sue Best is Director, Fine Art and Art Theory at Griffith University with research expertise in critical theory and modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on body art and performance, minimalism and conceptual art, women's art, and Latin American art. Her publications include: Visualising feeling: Affect and the feminine avant-garde (2001); and Reparative aesthetics: Witnessing and contemporary art photography (due 2016).
Professor Andrew McNamara lectures in Visual Arts in the Creative Industries Faculty of QUT. He has wide-ranging research interests, including modernism; contemporary art; Australian and indigenous art; design and architecture; critical cultural theory in relation to technology, society and media; and aesthetics. His publications include: Sweat – the subtropical imaginary (2011); An apprehensive aesthetic (2009); Modern times, with Ann Stephen and Philip Goad (2008). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Form and function
Designing for ballet
Friday 4 September, 12.30pm, QUT Art Museum, Free | Registrations essential
Designing and creating costumes for ballet is a highly specialised field. In addition to playing a vital role in communicating ideas in the ballet work, they articulate and accentuate the movement of the dancer, and have to be well designed and well made to withstand rigorous movement. Join Noelene Hill, Wardrobe Production Manager and Resident Designer, Queensland Ballet as she talks us thought how she negotiates form and function when designing for ballet.
Fashion masterclass
Tutu
Monday to Friday Term 3 (4 July to 31 August), QUT Art Museum
While we often imagine fashion and costume design as beginning with a sketch, sometimes the most interesting forms emerge through creative play and allowing room for the unexpected!
In this fun, hands-on workshop, students will test their problem-solving skills and ability to improvise to create their own inspired tutu design.
Students will enjoy a tour of the exhibition with QUT Art Museum staff before exploring design-through-making in a series of engaging exercises on half-scale dress forms with Paula Dunlop, a Brisbane based designer/dressmaker.
Fashion masterclass: Tutu is hosted by QUT Art Museum in conjunction with Tutu reimagined, an exhibition that showcases designer tutus from the Australian Ballet.
Sessions of this program are also being presented during the school holidays.
Sarah-Jane Clarke and Lydia Pearson
In conversation
Tuesday 25 August, 6pm – 7pm, Old Government House, Free | Registrations essential
Held in conjunction with Tutu reimagined – an exhibition at QUT Art Museum that brings together a collection of garments by Australia's top designers commissioned by The Australian Ballet – and Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival, Brisbane, join us in historic Old Government House for an evening of conversation with two designers from the exhibition. Sarah-Jane Clarke (previously of sass&bide) and Lydia Pearson (Easton Pearson) will be joined by fashion historian, curator, and writer, Dr Nadia Buick.
Presented by QUT Art Museum
Career and study pathways
Throughout July and August, various locations
QUT Precincts hosts a series of panel discussions for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the areas of visual arts and fashion. The panels are made up of QUT graduates, students, and lecturers who are available to answer any questions.
In 2015 we will take this program on tour to locations around Brisbane accompanied by staff from QUT Art Museum and QUT Creative Industries Faculty, alongside some of the talent featured in the ART/WORK video series.
For further information visit our dedicated Career and study pathways page.
Texta book club
Mao's last dancer by Li Cunxin
Tuesday 18 August, 6pm, QUT Art Museum
Texta is no ordinary book club; it's for people who love art. We use fiction (mostly) to unpack the subjects, themes and emotions of art. Conversation is never colourless, and is facilitated by our brains trust from QUT Creative Writing and Literary Studies. For our third book of the year we tackle Mao's last dancer by Li Cunxin.
One day, not so very many years ago, a small peasant boy was chosen to study ballet at the Beijing Dance Academy. His mother urged him to take this chance of a lifetime. But Li was only eleven years old and he was scared and lonely, pushed away from all that he had ever known and loved. He hated the strict training routines and the strange place he had been brought to. All he wanted to do was go home – to his mother, father and six brothers, to his own small village. But soon Li realised that his mother was right. He had the chance to do something special with his life – and he never turned back ...
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Tutu reimagined, join us for a brief tour of the exhibition followed by a glass of wine and generous amounts of healthy conversation.
Books can be purchased from the Gardens Point QUT Bookshop.
School holiday workshop
Make your own tutu (for 12 to 16 year olds)
Friday 10 July, 10am to 1pm QUT Art Museum, $26
While we often imagine fashion and costume design as beginning with a sketch, sometimes the most interesting forms emerge through creative play and allowing room for the unexpected! In this fun, hands-on workshop, participants will test their problem-solving skills and ability to improvise to create their own inspired tutu design. This program will begin with a tour of the exhibition with QUT Art Museum staff before exploring design-through-making in a series of engaging exercises on half-scale dress forms with Paula Dunlop, a Brisbane based designer/dressmaker.
Make your own tutu is hosted by QUT Art Museum in conjunction with Tutu reimagined, an exhibition that showcases designer tutus from the Australian Ballet.
What to bring: Something to snack on to fuel your creativity (bottled water provided)
Supervision: Parents/carers required to drop off and collect their children from the workshop venue
Enquiries: For more information, email precinctseducation@qut.edu.au
Career and study pathways
Throughout July and August, various locations
QUT Precincts hosts a series of panel discussions for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the areas of visual arts and fashion. The panels are made up of QUT graduates, students, and lecturers who are available to answer any questions.
In 2015 we will take this program on tour to locations around Brisbane accompanied by staff from QUT Art Museum and QUT Creative Industries Faculty, alongside some of the talent featured in the ART/WORK video series.
For further information visit our dedicated Career and study pathways page.
School holiday workshop
Make your own tutu (for 8 to 11 year olds)
Monday 6 July, 10am to 1pm, QUT Art Museum, $26
While we often imagine fashion and costume design as beginning with a sketch, sometimes the most interesting forms emerge through creative play and allowing room for the unexpected! In this fun, hands-on workshop, participants will test their problem-solving skills and ability to improvise to create their own inspired tutu design. This program will begin with a tour of the exhibition with QUT Art Museum staff before exploring design-through-making in a series of engaging exercises on half-scale dress forms with Paula Dunlop, a Brisbane based designer/dressmaker.
Make your own tutu is hosted by QUT Art Museum in conjunction with Tutu reimagined, an exhibition that showcases designer tutus from the Australian Ballet.
What to bring: Something to snack on to fuel your creativity (bottled water provided)
Supervision: Parents/carers required to drop off and collect their children from the workshop venue
Enquiries: For more information, email precinctseducation@qut.edu.au
Curator's tour
William Kentridge
Saturday 4 July, 12pm, QUT Art Museum
William Kentridge is a major figure in contemporary art, who has established an international reputation as a gifted figurative artist. Working in the tradition of William Hogarth and Honoré Daumier, Kentridge explores themes of the society in which he lives, but in a particularly subtle way. Join Jaklyn Babington, Curator, International Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Australia, as she talks about the work of William Kentridge.
In the pink
Saturday 20 June, 2pm, QUT Art Museum
Most often in nature it is the male of the species that is more colourful. But when it comes to humans, are females the more colourful of the species? Recent scientific research has confirmed a long held assumption that women are able to see more colours than men. If this is the case, how has this played out in society and culture? Do girls actually like pink because they are more sensitive to the complexities and subtleties of this hue, or because they have been clothed in it from birth? Chaired by Dr Courtney Pederson, guest curator of Quaternary at QUT Art Museum, our speakers – including esteemed curator and writer Julie Ewington, Quaternary artists Bianca Beetson and Rachael Haynes, and author Hannah Pool – will negotiate the spectrum to answer the question, is there a gender politics of colour?
This event is held in conjunction with Women of the World Festival, Brisbane
Texta book club
The forgotten rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright
Tuesday 19 May, 6pm, QUT Art Museum
Texta is no ordinary book club; it's for people who love art. We use fiction (mostly) to unpack the subjects, themes and emotions of art. Conversation is never colourless, and is facilitated by our brains trust from QUT Creative Writing and Literary Studies. For our second book of the year we tackle the non-fiction title, The forgotten rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright.
The Eureka Stockade. It's one of Australia's foundation legends – yet the story has always been told as if half the participants weren't there. But what if the hot-tempered, free-spirited gold miners we learned about at school were actually husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? What if there were women and children right there beside them, inside the Stockade, defending their rights while defending themselves against a barrage of bullets? As Clare Wright reveals, there were thousands of women on the goldfields and many of them were active in pivotal roles. The stories of how they arrived there, why they came and how they sustained themselves make for fascinating reading in their own right. But it is in the rebellion itself that the unbiddable women of Ballarat come into their own.
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Quaternary, join us for a brief tour of the exhibition followed by a glass of wine and generous amounts of healthy conversation.
Books can be purchased from the Gardens Point QUT Bookshop.
Damon Young
Philosophy in the garden
Sunday 19 April, 2pm, Old Government House
In his book Philosophy in the garden, Damon Young explores one of literature's most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workday labour; for others, solitude's quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role: giving their ideas a new life.
Join Damon as he discusses why Marcel Proust had bonsai beside his bed, what Jane Austen was doing coveting an apricot, and how Friedrich Nietzsche was inspired by his 'thought tree'.
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Garden, the lecture will be followed by a book signing by the author at QUT Art Museum. Books can be purchased on the day.
Hiromi Tango
NatureNurture in the rose garden
Sunday 19 April, 1 – 2pm, QUT Art Museum
Painstakingly woven together by hand, Hiromi Tango creates tactile and immersive environments that are constructed from donated material and fabrics that evoke a sensory experience. Both recent and current projects focus on her long-standing research interests in the potential for visual and performative arts to contribute to social, emotional, and neurological development and recovery.
For the exhibition Garden, Tango presents Rose garden and NatureNurture 2015 – works that combine to create an immersive environment through which Tango pushes the viewer to use their olfactory senses to inhale the essential oils sprinkled on the objects, exploring natural metaphors for brain development and recovery. These works consider how we might nurture synaptic pathways in the memory to effect recovery.
On Sunday 19 April, this environment will be brought to life. You are invited to celebrate the transformative nature of art and the environment by meeting and interacting with its inhabitant.
Texta book club
The orchard by Drusilla Modjeska
Tuesday 14 April, 6pm, QUT Art Museum
Texta is no ordinary book club; it's for people who love art. We use fiction to unpack the subjects, themes and emotions of art. Conversation is never colourless, and is facilitated by our brains trust from QUT Creative Writing and Literary Studies. Our first book for the year is The orchard by Drusilla Modjeska.
How does a woman find the shape of her own life? How does she come into a maturity that is truly her own? Taking the essay as 'a porous, conversational, sometimes moody creature' and combining it with fiction, The orchard continues Drusilla Modjeska's inquiry into the histories of women overshadowed by the stories of men. Rich in character, it is a meditation on mid-life, when a woman 'reaches both ways' towards the generations above and below. The narrator, the 'I' of the essays, picks her way through a crisis with her eyesight and the dilemmas of her forties, looking back to her past and forward to the possibilities indicated by Ettie, who, at 80, lives in the mountains with a garden on the edge of a scarp. Can she and her friend Louise find their own place of engagement and retreat? Can they offer a steady hand to the young and troubled Clara?
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Garden, join us for a brief tour of the exhibition followed by a glass of wine and generous amounts of healthy conversation.
Books can be purchased from the Gardens Point QUT Bookshop.
PORTAL
Re-sounding house, part two
The Hall, Old Government House
23 – 27 February: Sound installation, 10am – 4pm, FREE
Sunday 1 March: Live performance, 2pm – 3.30pm, FREE
Following his year in-residence at Old Government House, artist Luke Jaaniste presents PORTAL: Re-sounding house, part two an on-going sonic performance and installation project, as part of Mesmerism. Transforming the House into a gentle, resonant space of harmonies, PORTAL draws from Jaaniste's growing collection of vintage portable keyboards (Yamaha Portasounds manufactured in the early 1980s) each set to a simple tone or chord-pattern, which by themselves sound pretty cheesy, but when combined effect a mesmerising experience that can only be described as rich, immersive, and ambient. The sound installation can be experienced from 23 to 27 February, 10am – 4pm.
On Sunday 1 March, the sound installation will come alive from 2pm – 3.30pm as an ambient, ambulant live performance with contributing Brisbane artists performing on an array of keyboards placed throughout the lower level of the House, to coincide with the final day of Performance Now.