New SAM site visit by Deputy Prime Minister

11 April 2019

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Federal Member for Murray Damian Drum today visited the site of the new Shepparton Art Museum at Victoria Park Lake on Wyndham Street.

Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Kim O’Keeffe formally thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for supporting the new SAM with their funding of $15m towards the build.

Mr McCormack reiterated the importance of large scale projects such as the new SAM for regional Victoria and said it would be drawcard to the region

Mr McCormack also formally announced the $208 million for the Goulburn Valley Highway Shepparton Bypass stage 1 project.

New Shepparton Art Museum Limited Board announced

4 April 2019

The Board of Shepparton Art Museum Limited has appointed six new directors after a lengthy process of advertising and interviews.

The Board comprises nine Company Directors and is a skills-based Board with representation from a broad range of sectors. Two of the Directors are Greater Shepparton City Council nominated positions, and one Director is from the SAM Foundation.

The Board is:

Jeannie Furphy
Jo Gartner
Peter Harriott (GSCC CEO)
John Head (SAM Foundation)
Stephen Merrylees
Kimberley Moulton
Drew Pettifer
Naomi Ryan
Chris Teitzel (GSCC Director Corporate Services)

Director and Company Secretary, Chris Teitzel, said Shepparton Art Museum Limited has been established as a company limited by guarantee to operate the Shepparton Art Museum as a public art museum.

Mr Teitzel said “Shepparton Art Museum Ltd has established a Board with great diversity of skills and backgrounds. We have representatives from the legal, art, indigenous, community, financial, business, marketing and education sectors.”

“All of the Board are strongly connected to Greater Shepparton and demonstrated a commitment to guide the future direction of the new Shepparton Art Museum,” said Mr Teitzel.

“This is a great opportunity for skilled, experienced and knowledgeable people to direct the new Shepparton Art Museum to provide an inspiring, community hub for locals to meet and socialise,” he said.

The Museum aims to present exemplary contemporary, international exhibitions of relevance to the public and particularly the region’s diverse Aboriginal and multi-cultural communities; and provide opportunities for members of the public to learn, be challenged, think about, and emotionally engage with art.

The new SAM will provide access to the art collections and significant ceramics collection in unique and engaging ways. It will also present Aboriginal art and support local Aboriginal artists to provide complementary programs and support local artists in the development and presentation of their art and the creation of empowering experiences.

Board Directors serve for a minimum of two to three years to a maximum term of nine years. The new SAM will operate as a not-for-profit, charitable organisation and the Board positions are voluntary.

For more information on the new Shepparton Art Museum project visit our new SAM project page.

DIRECTOR PROFILES

Jeannie Furphy

Jeannie Furphy is a former stockbroker who has lived in Shepparton since 2000. Jeannie was raised in rural western Victoria before studying and working in Melbourne prior to her move to Shepparton.

Jeannie holds a Bachelor of Business and a postgraduate Accounting Degree and has experience in financial management and a strong understanding of its importance to any organisation.

Jeannie has a deep understanding of the value of effective community-based activities and organisations through numerous volunteer roles and committee involvement.

Jo Gartner

Jo Gartner is Digital Marketing Project Manager at Dexus, one of Australia’s leading property groups.

Jo has more than 15 years’ experience working across the arts, destination marketing, national retail shopping centres and property developments in Melbourne and Sydney.

In her time at Dexus, Jo has led the marketing strategy for large-scale city retail dining precincts including Southgate Melbourne and the award-winning marketing launch strategy for Gateway Sydney in Circular Quay. Jo also worked on major event projects during her time at the City of Melbourne including the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition series with NGV International and Australian Centre for the Moving Image, while responsible for promoting city visitation.

Jo holds a Masters of Marketing from Melbourne Business School and Bachelor of Arts Management from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and is originally from Murchison.

Peter Harriott

Peter Harriott is the CEO of Greater Shepparton City Council, and was previously CEO of Wattle Range Council (South Australia) 2013-2016, and a Director at Greater Shepparton City Council 2000-2012.

Peter has worked mostly throughout Victoria in local government over the past 30 years including three years in the picturesque Limestone Coast of South Australia.

Peter’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Masters of Business Administration, Building Surveyor Certificate, Engineer for Water Supply Certificate and a Municipal Engineers Certificate.

John Head

John Head has held many roles in the arts community in Shepparton including being a member of the new SAM Project Board, recent Artistic Director of the Shepparton Festival, Convener of the Shepparton Short Film Festival, playwright, actor and member of the Shepparton Theatre Arts Board.

John is a podiatrist in private practice in Shepparton since 1983. He has been a Fellow of the Australasian Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine since 1998 and completed a Masters by Research in 2002. John has presented regularly on Podiatric and sports medicine topics at Australian conferences since 1988.

John was also on the board of the SheppARTon Festival between 1999 and 2015 with the role of Artistic Director from 2005 to 2014. He is a Board member of the Shepparton Theatre Arts Group and a regular actor and playwright.

Stephen Merrylees

Stephen Merrylees is SMR Legal’s Managing Director and has extensive experience as a senior political adviser and as a government lawyer with the federal government (most recently Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). He is renowned for finding practical solutions to clients’ complicated and seemingly gridlocked matters.

A five-term Mayor and nationally accredited mediator, Stephen applies this exclusive skillset to commercial and estate matters. His advice on governance issues impacting private and public sector organisations is highly sought after.

Clients appreciate Stephen’s life experience of operating a large family property, lecturing in law at Melbourne University Dookie Campus and as Executive Director of Goulburn Murray Community Leadership Program (Fairley Leadership).

Stephen has served on numerous local and state advisory boards and committees and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course. He is currently a Director of Shepparton Villages and a member of the CFA Shepparton District Headquarters Brigade.

Kimberley Moulton

Kimberley Moulton is a Yorta Yorta woman and was born and raised in Shepparton. Kimberley is a curator and writer and Senior Curator South Eastern Aboriginal Collections at Museums Victoria (2016-present). Kimberley has worked in curatorial roles at Melbourne Museum for 10 years (Bunjilaka Project Officer and Curator 2008-2015) and has curated over 16 exhibitions with the Victorian Koorie community.

In 2018 Kimberley was lead curator for Mandela: My Life, an exhibition on Nelson Mandela at Melbourne Museum in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Kimberley is passionate about supporting First Peoples cultures, histories, futures and agency within cultural institutions and has researched historical First Peoples collections across the world, connecting history and people, considering what it means historically and for the future of cultural materials in institutions. Kimberley has written extensively for art and museum publications nationally and internationally and held research, curatorial and writing fellowships across Europe, UK, South Asia and America. Kimberley has been engaged with SAM for several years with her arts writing and lecturing and was a judge for the 2016 Indigenous Ceramic Art award.

Dr Drew Pettifer

Dr Drew Pettifer is an artist, academic, lawyer and small business owner who divides his time between Melbourne and Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley. He has strong connections to the region having been born in Shepparton. He is an active member of the SAM Foundation and the Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association.

Drew holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours – First Class) in Cultural Studies (The University of Melbourne, 2005), a Graduate Certificate in Visual Art (Victorian College of the Arts, 2009), a Masters of Arts Management (RMIT University, 2010) and a PhD in Fine Art (Monash University, 2017).

Drew is a peer assessor for the Australia Council for the Arts and the City of Melbourne. His art is in the National Gallery of Victoria, Monash Gallery of Art and the City of Melbourne Arts and Heritage Collection, as well as private collections.

Naomi Ryan

Naomi Ryan is a Partner at PwC with over 12 years of experience working closely with both owners and management of growing private businesses, ASX 200 companies and not for profit organisations bringing her in depth knowledge and experience in assurance and audit services to add value to her clients.

Naomi is passionate about working with innovative and growing businesses, with expertise in advising clients on financial reporting matters, business risk assessments, acquisitions, IPO’s, corporate governance and accounting compliance obligations. Naomi’s collaborative approach in working with her clients has resulted in a strong network and reputation for being a trustworthy and dedicated advisor. Naomi is now also focussed on using her skills gained through her successful career to be part of a company board, which is focused on solving important social issues.

Naomi is a certified chartered accountant and holds bachelor degrees in Business (Accounting) and Arts (Japanese language) from Swinburne University.

Naomi grew up in Shepparton, country Victoria, attending Wanganui Park Secondary College, where she continues to return to her family home to visit friends and family. Naomi now resides in Melbourne and enjoys travelling the world to experience different cultures across the globe.

Chris Teitzel

Chris Teitzel is a strategic, community focused individual with exceptional corporate governance, finance and operation planning skills. He has a strong interest in the Arts and over the course of his career has overseen the strategic direction and operations of 4 regional art galleries, 2 regional historical museums and 2 performing arts centres.

Chris has been with Greater Shepparton City Council as Director Corporate Services since 2014 and has almost 30 year’s local government and private sector experience in both Queensland and Victoria. Chris has held many senior roles including CEO, Director Community and Environmental Services, Director Corporate Services and Manager Finance as well a position of Commercial Manager in the private sector.

Chris is a Certified Practicing Accountant with a Degree in Business and a Graduate Certificate in Management.

Contract for building new SAM signed

3 April 2019

Construction on the new Shepparton Art Museum is set to commence on Friday following the signing of the contract between Greater Shepparton City Council and Kane Constructions Pty Ltd, the successful tenderer for the build.

The construction contract was awarded to Kane Constructions at a Special Council Meeting on Tuesday 26 February 2019.

“Kane are very excited to be appointed to construct this unique and special project,” said Kane Construction Director, Geoff Purcell.

“At Kane, we have a long and successful history of delivering tailor-made, complex and demanding building projects throughout Victoria and are very much looking forward to making the new SAM vison a reality.”

Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said the Council was pleased the contract has now been signed to enable works to commence on April 5. “This is the most significant and bold building that Council has invested in, and we have every confidence that Kane Constructions will do the design justice. It will be exciting to see some movement on site as we watch the new SAM take form.”

The works will necessitate the removal of 37 trees in the footprint of the SAM building. The trees were part of the planning process and were subject to a detailed inspection and audit. The majority of the trees are of low to medium value and some are being removed due to noted risks such as consistent limb failures.

Council is replacing the trees with 35,000 tube stock trees, 31 medium (45 litre) trees and 46 large (100 litre) trees to offset the loss. The trees will be Australian native and indigenous plants suitable to the area. This will ensure carbon offset for the Goulburn Valley region although there was no requirement for offsets on these tree removals.

The building will be constructed with the following actions and completed by the end of 2020:

Stage 1:

Site preparation and tree removal as part of endorsed arborist plans
Piles completed & ground floor slab underway mid 2019
Level 4 slab & roof steel structure completed late 2019
Façade completed early 2020
Fit out completed mid 2020

Stage 2:

Landscaping, car parking late 2020 including the planting 80 mature trees and 35,000 tube stock

For more information visit greatershepparton.com.au

Latest SAM Drawing Wall artist talk on Friday

3 April 2019

Discover the meaning of the intriguing and barely visible ‘AT THIS SITE’, the latest Drawing Wall instalment by artist Steven Rhall at a free artist talk on Friday 5 April from 12.30pm.

Artist Steven Rhall and SAM Community and Indigenous Engagement Officer Belinda Briggs present a lunchtime artist talk to find out more about Rhall’s art practice and the way this informs his work. This unique drawing wall is a signpost that reflects on Australia’s history and the absence of Aboriginal voice.

Steven Rhall is an interdisciplinary artist of the Taungurung People, whose practice spans photography, sculpture, and performance including public and private interventions responding both to cultural histories of place and ideas about their potential futures. He lives and works in Melbourne, Victoria.

Rhall exhibits internationally, lectures at the Victorian College of the Arts, and is a current PhD candidate at Monash University on Birrarung-ga land (Melbourne, Australia).

All are welcome to come along to this free talk, register your interest via the event on SAM’s Facebook Page, online, or just drop in.

Autumn school holiday fun activities at SAM

3 April 2019

The Shepparton Art Museum is offering a week of school holiday activities to allow kids to explore their creativity from Monday 8 to Saturday 13 April.

The activities range from decorating clay jugs, creating a woven wall handing, slime making, archaeology and a combined theatre performance and ceramic workshop based on Picasso and His Dog, partnering with Riverlinks.

“We are offering something different these school holidays with the Picasso Clay Day and the Picasso and His Dog performance at Riverlinks,” said SAM Curator, Lara Merrington. “Kids can create their own ceramic plate based on the creative world of Picasso and later attend the fun performance at Riverlinks.”

“Holidays at SAM are always an excitingly creative time,” said Ms Merrington. “Both children and adults take away something more than just an artwork – they build on their personal and professional creativity, their confidence, and learn new techniques and approaches to art while meeting new friends.”

“I would encourage anyone who would like to introduce their children to the museum to book into one of our workshops and find out what else is on offer at SAM,” she said.

“SAM also has an after school Art Club which is very popular and also a SAM Little Hands series for younger children, which allows them to play and get messy while participating in fun art activities. If you are planning what you might want your children to be involved in this year then come and have a chat to one of our SAM staff who can provide all the information.”

The activities are suitable for a range of ages and are free or low cost. Bookings are essential as numbers are limited – visit https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/programs-and-events

Please note that bookings for the theatre performance Picasso and His Dog must be made through the Riverlinks box office on 5832 9511 or via the website riverlinksvenues.com.au

SAM goes local – celebrating regional artists

7 March 2019

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) will go local from 1 March to 7 April, spotlighting the practice of regional artists with three exhibitions – SAM Local: Spotlight, SAM Local: Best of Friends and SAM: Education Lab, supported by La Trobe University.

Spotlight is an exciting, profile-raising exhibition for a regional artist. This year the spotlight will be on Maree Santilla.

Maree is an Echuca-based artist who works across drawing, painting and sculptural ceramics. Working in a variety of mediums, Maree’s work looks at the relationship of animal, human and landscape.

Every year the Friends of SAM are invited to showcase their artwork in an exhibition that brings together the works of community artists practising in painting, drawing, textiles, sculpture, photography and design.

Best of Friends highlights this diversity and skills. The opening event provides an opportunity to meet the artists, celebrate their artistic talent and their contributions to our creative community. Friends are invited to showcase their work at SAM. For information on becoming a Friend of SAM, click here.

Education Lab will be an evolving exhibition process that will see a range of schools and educational groups work with artist Heather Hesterman to transform the gallery space on a weekly basis.

The students’ work will remain in the gallery space for six weeks, providing them with the opportunity to see their work displayed in the galleries in an open lab-style mode.

Heather’s art practice investigates the intersection of place, ecology, education and science via practices of installation and collaboration. She will take up residency in the Education Lab from 1 March to 7 April.

SAM Director, Dr Rebecca Coates, said each exhibition provides a great insight into the talent in the Goulburn Valley.

“These are great projects that engage artists and communities across our region, telling unique stories, inviting people of all ages to get involved with SAM’s programs and activities and be inspired by the diverse range of creativity and imagination on our own doorstep,” she said.

More information on SAM Local here.

New Ben Quilty ceramics join SAM collection

24 January 2019

The Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is excited to announce a major new acquisition by one of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Ben Quilty.

A portrait painter, and winner of the 2011 Archibald Prize, Quilty is recognised for his work with Australian soldiers and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), through his work as an official war artist in Afghanistan, and his campaign to save the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the Bali Nine.

Working here in a different medium, the four newly acquired porcelain jugs continue Quilty’s exploration of psychological states. The series of highly glazed slipcase ceramics are based on Victorian Toby jugs, or the more modern Character Jugs, depicting the head and shoulders of a figure. Quilty creates a series of psychologically charged portraits in these Victorian domestic vessels.

The first in the series of these ceramic portraits Conscript (Private Phil Butler) was purchased in 2016 with the assistance of the Friends of SAM.

SAM Director, Rebecca Coates said “Quilty has long been a champion of the role of regional galleries and art museums and their significance for communities near and far. As such, the artist has this year generously donated the remaining four jugs in the series to SAM through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.”

Now reunited, Jug (Lloydy), Jug (Nose), Jug (Leonardo), and Scream after Leonardo have joined Conscript (Private Phil Butler) on display at SAM until 5 May. Come in to SAM and check out these amazing porcelain portraits.

Indigenous artwork new acquisition for SAM

14 January 2019

The recent acquisition of Cook’s Landing, 2018 to the SAM Collection by Wathaurung/Wadawurrung artist Marlene Gilson, will further bolster works by Indigenous artists of the South East Australia.

This historic event leaves no part of this country untouched and has shaped all our lives today in some shape or form. This work is a powerful conversation piece and invites audience engagement thought and Indigenous lens.

Marlene Gilson lives on her home Country Wathaurung/Wadawurrung in the small rural town of Gordon, located 25km east of Ballarat. As a child Gilson’s grandmother ensured she would know about her Ancestors, their history and culture through storytelling, and at times by drawing in the sand.

It was Gilson’s family that encouraged her to take up painting 10 years ago as a way to occupy her mind as she overcame a serious illness. Through art she was able to continue her inherited storytelling abilities by painting wooden blocks carved by her husband Barry in various shapes, depicting whole scenes of little villages for her grandchildren.

Cook’s Landing, 2018 is a re-imagined scene of Captain James Cook and the First Fleet arriving at Botany Bay in 1788. Continuing her exploration of significant events of national importance, Gilson’s work challenges mainstream historical narratives, in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and experiences have often been absent or played a peripheral role.

The work depicts Aboriginal people in both a traditional setting, as well as dressed as Captain Cook and those of the First Fleet arriving and setting up camp. This approach is similar to that of Australian documentary film maker Don Featherstone, whose 1986 film BabaKiueria featured the late Bob Maza alongside several other notable First Peoples as central characters dressed in historic British military uniform, similar to that worn by the First Fleet. The use of satirical humour in this work is both a cultural expression and a gesture to invite appreciation of the power structures at play.

The artists use of humour allows audience to engage with the work in a light hearted way but cleverly about a significant event in history that continues to colour our lives today in diverse and for Aboriginal people traumatic ways.

SAM Director Rebecca Coates said the work was an important acquisition for the museum “Marlene’s paintings are whimsical, wonderful, and importantly, enable us to re-imagine Australia’s history from various points of view. “

“As well as being a marvellous work by an important Australian artist, the acquisition signals Shepparton Art Museum’s commitment to supporting Aboriginal artists from South-East Victoria, through the acquisition of work and programming. It enables us to engage with ideas central to our place, people and context, and a broader First Nations discussion,” she said.

Image: Marlene Gilson, Community / Language Group: Wathaurung / Wadawurrung, Cook’s Landing, 2018, acrylic on linen, Shepparton Art Museum Collection, purchased, 2018.

School holiday creative family activities at SAM

10 January 2019

The Shepparton Art Museum is offering a week of school holiday activities to allow kids to explore their creativity from Monday 21 to Friday 25 January at SAM and in the Maude Street Mall.

The activities range from large scale outdoor drawing using colourful electrical tape to hand sewing a soft toy and participating in an oversized weaving project. SAM is partnering with Activities in the Park and the GV Libraries to run some of the workshops.

“Holidays at SAM are always an excitingly creative time,” said SAM Curator Lara Merrington. “Both children and adults take away something more than just an artwork – they build on their personal and professional creativity, their confidence, and learn new techniques and approaches to art while meeting new friends.”

“I would encourage anyone who would like to introduce their children to the museum to book into one of our workshops and find out what else is on offer at SAM,” she said. “We also have some wonderfully imaginative, colourful artworks on display in the Craftivism exhibition at the moment so take some time to relax and explore the galleries.”

“SAM has an after school Art Club which is very popular and also a SAM Little Hands series for younger children, which allows them to play and get messy while participating in fun art activities. If you are planning what you might want your children to be involved in this year then come and have a chat to one of our SAM staff who can provide all the information.”

The School Holiday program includes:

Tape It

Collaborative Drawing

Monday 21 January, 10am-3.00pm at Maude Street Mall.

All ages. Free. Artist: Briony Barr

Using colourful electrical tape kids will collectively create a large-scale floor drawing and take over the mall. Based on rules provided by Briony Barr the board-game like collaborative artwork will morph with patterns and colours. Held in conjunction with Activities in the Park.

Sew a Softie

Hand sewing for kids

Tuesday 22 January, 10.30am-noon or 1pm-2.30pm at SAM

For 5 to 14 years. $5.

Goulburn Valley Libraries and SAM are bringing Sew a Softie to Shepparton! Using simple hand-sewing techniques and their imaginations, children will sew a soft toy which will be exhibited at SAM and the Shepparton Library. Join Rhyme & Storytime at 10.30am on Monday 21 January for stories about teddies and then make a softie at SAM on Tuesday.

Weave ’n Play

Experimental Weaving

Wed 23 Jan, 10am-11.30pm or noon-1.30pm or

2pm-3.30pm at SAM.

For families. $5. Tutor: Slow Art Collective.

Join artists from Slow Art Collective and help make a cubbyhouse inside SAM! Part architecture and part over-sized loom, this large-scale installation invites participants to play, imagine and learn how to weave.

Slow Down World

Reading and Workshop

Thu 24 Jan, 10.30am – 2.00pm at SAM

For families. $10. Tutor: Tai Snaith

Join artist and author Tai Snaith for a reading of her children’s picture book which was long-listed for the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards. Slow Down World takes us on a journey towards living in the present moment. The reading will be followed by a practical workshop where kids will use clay and paper to collage pictures of their world.

Cut and Paste

Collage Workshop

Fri 25 Jan, 10.30am to 12.00pm, ages 6 – 10. $5.

1.00pm to 2.30pm, ages 11 – 16. $5.

Explore ideas of collage and identity reflected in SAM’s current exhibition Craftivism. In this workshop participants will create their own collage or mood-board, reflecting themselves or a feeling/idea important to them.

The activities are suitable for a range of ages and are free or low cost. Bookings are essential as numbers are limited – visit https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/programs-and-events

Six shortlisted artists announced for 2019 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award

18 December 2018

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is delighted to announce the six shortlisted artists who will present new artworks in the 2019 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award (SMFACA).

The Award celebrates and promotes contemporary Australian artists working in the ceramic medium. With $50,000 in prize money, the SMFACA cements its place as the premier Australian acquisitive ceramic art award.

The 2019 shortlisted artists are:

Julie Bartholomew
Stephen Bird
Greg Daly
Lynda Draper
Juz Kitson
Isadora Vaughan

The SMFACA is one of the most prestigious awards in the visual arts in Australia, with a uniquely ceramic focus. It has evolved over its many year history. It began in 1991 as the Sidney Myer Fund Australia Day Ceramic Award, and evolved into the Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramic Art Award in 1997, with the aim of providing an unprecedented opportunity for a major international ceramic award and exhibition in Australia.

In 2009, SAM reviewed the Award, and it returned to a format that showcases and supports contemporary Australian artists. The Award now celebrates and promotes contemporary Australian artists working in the ceramic medium. With ceramics increasingly adopted by a number of emerging and established contemporary artists, as recent exhibitions nationally and internationally have highlighted the possibilities for the medium has significantly expanded.

The Sidney Myer Fund Trustees are proud to be associated with an exhibition that understands, explores and challenges the possibilities of ceramics and art making in our contemporary world. As a direct outcome of the relationship between the Sidney Myer Fund and Shepparton Art Museum over 26 years, over 175 works have been acquired, creating a diverse and dynamic collection of works by both Australian and international artists.

The shortlisted artists will present their new bodies of work at SAM from 22 June to 1 September 2019. The winner for this acquisitive prize will be announced during the exhibition’s official opening event on Friday 21 June 2019. Accompanying the exhibition will be a series of public programs.

The 2019 Award will be judged by Lisa Slade (Assistant Director, Artistic Programs at the Art Gallery of South Australia), Stephen Benwell (Artist) and Rebecca Coates (Director, SAM).

SAM Director, Dr Rebecca Coates commented on behalf of the judges: “We wish to commend and thank all of the artists who submitted proposals for the 2019 Sidney Myer Fund Australia Ceramic Award. The six shortlisted artists selected by the judges reflect the exciting and innovative ways that artists are working with ceramics as a contemporary medium. We look forward to seeing how their projects develop and evolve with much anticipation.”

The 2019 SMFACA attracted an extremely high calibre of entrants, with around 50 applications from around the country by many of Australia’s leading contemporary artists and ceramicists.

Important Dates

Exhibition Official opening and Award announcement: Friday 21 June, 5 to 8pm

Exhibition Dates: Saturday 22 June to Sunday 1 September 2019

Public programs & floor talks: Commencing 21 June 2019

Colours of art showcased in new SAM exhibition opening Friday

20 November 2018

Visitors to the Shepparton Art Museum will experience art that reflects on the issues which affect us all when Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms opens this Friday evening.

The Shepparton Art Museum (SAM), in partnership with National Exhibitions Touring Support (NETS) Victoria presents this collaborative, playful and immersive exhibition featuring craft-based materials with a political intent, by 18 contemporary Australian artists and artist collectives.

Craft, activism and social change have long been interlinked; they have crossed boundaries and borders, genders and generations. Craftivism evidences this moment in contemporary art embracing craft techniques in order to explore and articulate the ideas and issues of our times.

Artists featured in the exhibition include: Catherine Bell, Karen Black, Penny Byrne, Erub Arts, Debris Facility, Starlie Geikie, Michelle Hamer, Kate Just, Deborah Kelly, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Raquel Ormella, Kate Rohde, Slow Art Collective, Tai Snaith, Hiromi Tango, James Tylor, Jemima Wyman and Paul Yore.

Curated by SAM Curator Anna Briers and SAM Director Dr Rebecca Coates the exhibition addresses a number of themes.

“Gender, representation and identity are ever-present, because ‘the personal as political’ remains relevant today. Many artists are engaged with environmental politics and climate change, while others are concerned about contested borders, immigration and democracy. Many embrace relational production processes that implicitly promote collaboration and social connection,” said Dr Coates.

“Broadening our understanding of craft-making traditions, the artists in this exhibition subvert and extend these forms as vehicles for activism and social change, reflecting on the world in which we live. While some respond directly to artistic or political movements, others encourage social connection between community members with works that require participatory activation through collective processes,” said Ms Briers.

“Craftivism reveals the myriad ways that these artists challenge our perceptions of craft materials and approaches within a contemporary context, inviting viewers to rethink craft in a new light.”

Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms is a Shepparton Art Museum curated exhibition, touring nationally by NETS Victoria.

It opens on Friday 23 November at 6.00pm and everyone is welcome to attend. There will be Artist Talks from 5.00 to 6.00pm with Penny Byrne, Kate Just and Paul Yore who will discuss their work, processes and motivations. The exhibition has free entry.

Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms is a Shepparton Art Museum curated exhibition, touring nationally by NETS Victoria:

Shepparton Art Museum (VIC) – 24 November 2018 to 17 February 2019
Warrnambool Art Gallery (VIC) – 4 March to 5 May 2019
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (VIC) – 17 May to 21 July 2019
Museum of Australian Democracy (ACT) – 6 September 2019 to 2 February 2020
Bega Valley Regional Gallery (NSW) – 18 April to 13 June 2020
Warwick Art Gallery (QLD) – 3 July to 15 August 2020
University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery (QLD) – 12 September to 31 October 2020

Local artists encouraged to submit art ideas for SAM exhibitions in March

7 November 2018

Early next year the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) goes local with the spotlight on artistic practice from the region across a range of exhibition spaces including SAM Local Spotlight, SAM Best of Friends, SAM Education Lab, SAM Showcase, and the SAM Drawing Wall.

SAM Local Spotlight is an open call-out for a solo artist to exhibit a body of work at SAM. The call for entries is now open and local artists of all ages are encouraged to share their creativity and get involved!

SAM welcomes proposals from artists living in or originally from North Central and North East regional Victoria who maintain strong connections within these locations.

SAM’s Curator, Lara Merrington, said: “SAM Local Spotlight is an exciting, profile-raising opportunity for a regional artist. The aim of the exhibition is to encourage, stimulate and promote local and regional cultural activities as part of SAM’s annual program.”

“This is also great opportunity to gain professional experience working in an art museum context – working with SAM’s team across curatorial, marketing and communications, registration, education and public programs, and much more,” said Ms Merrington.

For further information on how to become the SAM Local Spotlight artist, click here. Submissions close on Friday 7 December, 5pm AEST. Artists can chat to SAM’s Curator Lara Merrington about their proposal prior to submitting on (03) 5832 8480. All applicants will be advised by 17 December 2018.

You can also show your art at SAM as part of the SAM Best of Friends open access exhibition. All Friends of SAM are encouraged to submit work. The exhibition’s purpose is to celebrate the creative practices of many local artists working in a range of media in the Goulburn Valley. It is a great way to see what other people are creating and to gain insights into the regional arts sector. Keep an eye out on SAM’s website in December for more information on how to apply.

SAM Education Lab is an exciting initiative directed at students and schools, giving them the opportunity to work closely with a contemporary artist at SAM. The second year of this hugely successful program, SAM will present an evolving exhibition project led by a contemporary artist for all student levels. This is a great way for teachers and students to get involved and get creative, using on of SAM’s gallery spaces to make and install work. For more information contact SAM, or ask to speak to one of our Education team.

Sam Jinks’ Woman and Child on loan to Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery

31 October 2018

Shepparton Art Museum’s much loved Woman and Child sculpture is going on loan to the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery for an upcoming exhibition Obsession: Devil in the detail from 30 November 2018 to 17 February 2019.

The Sam Jinks hyper-realist sculpture has been a part of the Shepparton Art Museum’s collection since 2010. It is widely recognized as an exemplary example of the artist’s work, and work being created in this hyper-real style and approach.

“Since first exhibiting and subsequently acquiring Woman and Child in 2010, the work has become one of the best loved in the collection, and a powerful symbol of the ways in which contemporary art can engage with, and bring together, diverse communities,” says SAM Director Rebecca Coates.

“It is always great to be able to work with our other gallery colleagues, and share these major works with wider audiences. As one of Victoria’s leading regional art museums, part of our role is to share, raise awareness of and celebrate the works that we care for and are in our Collection. We do this by attracting audiences to Shepparton, and showcasing SAM’s Collection through these lending opportunities. Both allow audiences across the country to gain an idea of some of the highlights that are to be found in the Shepparton Art Museum Collection.”

The artwork will be taken off display at SAM on 7 November and will go back on display in May 2019.

“Before Woman and Child goes on loan it would be a great opportunity for people to come and visit or re-visit the work. And of course, for those on the Peninsula over summer, you can always visit the work in its temporary new location,” says Dr Coates.

Presentation by leading curator and Yorta Yorta woman, Kimberley Moulton

3 October 2018

Presented alongside Shepparton Art Museum’s 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award, join Kimberley Moulton, Senior Curator at Museums Victoria, for a lecture titled: First Peoples Art and the Archive; the Intersection of Historical Collections and Contemporary Artists and Makers.

Through sharing her curatorial practice at Museums Victoria and research experiences in international collections, Kimberley Moulton will present on the intersection of contemporary art and historical collections and consider the influence museum collecting has had on contemporary First Peoples art today.

A local to Sheppparton, Kimberley is a Yorta Yorta woman, curator, writer and Senior Curator of South Eastern Aboriginal Collections at Museums Victoria.

Kimberley has worked in curatorial roles at Melbourne Museum for 10 years and as well curating over 16 exhibitions with the Victorian Koorie community, her projects and research have included international experiences. Her most recent project is the highly anticipated Museums Victoria exhibition; Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition.

The event will be held on Thursday 11 October from 6-7.30pm in Riverlinks Eastbank Function Room 2.

The cost will be $15 per person, $10 for Friends of SAM and $5 for students. Light refreshments provided.

Tickets are available on EventBrite.

2018 ICA Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA) Winner Announced

26 August 2018

The Shepparton Art Museum is pleased to announce the winner of the 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award – Yhonnie Scarce, for her work, Servant and Slave, 2018.

The winning work was selected for the way it speaks to difficult histories with a delicacy and resolved sophistication of language and material. In an extension of her previous work, Scarce rethinks the traditions of fine porcelain and tea. Her broken and intentionally fragmented porcelain cups appear inhabited or co-opted by a series of black glass forms. She invites us to reflect on past oppressions and lived experiences from her own family.

The $20,000 Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA) is the most prestigious national award for Indigenous ceramics, showcasing new and exciting developments in the field. The acquisitive prize attracted ceramic works from Indigenous artists across Australia.

The winning work, and that of the finalists, will be on display at SAM from 25 August to 11 November 2018.

Judges shortlisted seven artists from a wide field of contemporary Indigenous artists working in the ceramics medium. Their approaches highlighted the rich and diverse ways that artists understand and extend the possibilities of the medium of ceramics within our contemporary context and times.

The 2018 finalists are:

Dean Cross (Worimi, ACT): Cross presents a site-specific work that is responsive to the architecture that confines it and will continue to respond directly to the situation it is presented in. Cross’ work seeks to challenge the Western canon of memorial statuary.

Jackie Wirramanda (Wergaia, VIC): Wirramanda’s work incorporates the colours of Lake Tyrell, a site which is both locally and culturally significant to the artist; it is a place referred to by the old people as one where the earth met the heavens. The work represents the Creation story of Larnankurrk (seven sisters) of Wergaia area.

Jan Goongaja Griffiths (Miriwoonga/Ngarinyman, WA): Goongaja Griffiths’ work presents scenes from her family history, including her father’s experience as an Indigenous stockman working for rations at Victoria River Station, NT in the 1940s. The work continues in her practice of creating small figurines.

Janet Fieldhouse (Torres Strait Islands, QLD): Fieldhouse, who is participating in her fifth Award, presents large scale sculptural forms, exploring themes such as the narrative of storytelling, abstract scarification, the beauty of landscapes, and sharing of knowledge.

Jock Puautjimi (Tiwi, NT): Puautjimi presents lidded and unlidded vase forms which continue to explore Tiwi graphic mark making. Some lids have symbolic sculptural pieces affixed. Puautijimi also presents representations of traditional pukamani poles.

Penny Evans (Gamilaraay/Gomeroi, NSW): Evans’s pieces work with Thanggall and Giinbay (large and small freshwater mussel) ceramic forms, utilising terracotta, black and white clays.

Yhonnie Scarce (Kokatha/Nukunu, SA): Scarce’s work combines her signature glass vessels with ceramic forms, making reference to the oppressive behaviours that occurred during Aboriginal domestic’s employment, and how Aboriginal women were kept; hidden, covered and imprisoned.

“We congratulate each of the shortlisted artists presented in the 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award. The Judging panel were moved, delighted, and impressed with the calibre and diversity of approaches and artworks.

“Each work in its own way rewrites the language of ceramics inflected through a personal cultural specificity. Some of the works have a close engagement with Country, others with post-colonial narratives, while others celebrate deep memory of people, culture and place,” said the Judging Panel.

It’s the sixth in the series of biennial Indigenous Ceramics Awards which have been held at SAM since 2007.

Director, Shepparton Art Museum, Dr Rebecca Coates, said the Award supports Indigenous artists to pursue aspirational projects in the medium, and provides a national platform to share personal, historical and deep cultural learnings from artist and Country.

“The Award celebrates and supports the rich and diverse use of the ceramic medium by Indigenous artists and acknowledges the special industry of ceramic art. Each shortlisted artist has presented a substantial body of new work for display,” Dr Coates said.

The judges for the 2018 ICA Award were Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer of Indigenous Art, University of Sydney; Genevieve Grieves, Manager, First Peoples Department at Museums Victoria; and Dr Rebecca Coates, Director, Shepparton Art Museum.

The 2018 ICA’s Project Curator is Belinda Briggs, Shepparton Art Museum’s Community Engagement Officer – Indigenous, working with Anna Briers, Curator, SAM.

To assist the artists to create their dynamic body of work, the seven finalists received a development fee to help support the production builds on SAM’s significant holdings of Indigenous ceramics.

Previous Awards winners include Kaiela Arts artists, Jack Anselmi and Cynthia Hardie in 2016; Bankstown Koori Elders Group in 2014; Janet Fieldhouse in 2011 and 2007; and Danie Mellor in 2009.

The 2018 ICA is supported by Principal Partners, Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation and Mr Allan Myers AC QC, and the University of Melbourne (Learning and Engagement Partner).

Image: Yhonnie Scarce, Servant and Slave, 2018. porcelain and hand-blown glass, dimensions variable. courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy Dianne Tanzer + Nicola Stein, Melbourne. Image: Christian Capurro.

SAM announces 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA) shortlisted artists

25 March 2018

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is delighted to announce the seven shortlisted artists who will present work in the 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA) in August this year. The Award celebrates and supports the rich and diverse use of the ceramic medium by Indigenous artists and art collectives and acknowledges the unique talents of ceramic artists.

The winner of the $20,000 acquisitive prize will be announced at the exhibition’s official opening event on Saturday 25 August 2018 at SAM.

The 2018 ICA is the sixth in the series of SAM’s biennial Awards, showcasing new and exciting developments in the field. It contributes to the Art Museum’s significant holdings of Indigenous ceramic art, and provides cultural exchange opportunities for Indigenous artists from regional Victoria and around Australia.

The 2018 shortlisted artists are:

Dean Cross, Worimi, ACT

Jackie Wirramanda, Wergaia, VIC

Jan Goongaja Griffiths, Miriwoong/Ngarinyman – Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, WA

Janet Fieldhouse, Torres Strait Islands, QLD

Jock Puautjimi, Tiwi – Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation, NT

Penny Evans, Gamilaraay/Gomeroi, NSW

Yhonnie Scarce, Kokatha/Nukunu, SA

The seven shortlisted applicants have been invited to present a substantial body of new work for display at SAM from 25 August to 11 November 2018. Accompanying the exhibition will be a series of public programs and associated events that will provide skills and knowledge exchange. A full colour exhibition catalogue will also be produced and available for purchase from the SAM shop.

Judging the finalist in the 2018 ICA are: Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer of Indigenous Art, University of Sydney; Genevieve Grieves, Manager, First Peoples Department at Museums Victoria; and Dr Rebecca Coates, Director, Shepparton Art Museum.

The 2018 ICA’s Project Curator is Belinda Briggs, Community Engagement Officer – Indigenous, working with Anna Briers, Curator, Shepparton Art Museum.

Previous Awards winners include, Kaiela Arts artists, Jack Anselmi and Cynthia Hardie in 2016, Bankstown Koori Elders Group in 2014, Janet Fieldhouse in 2011 and 2007 and Danie Mellor in 2009.

The 2018 ICA is developed in partnership with the Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation and Mr Allan Myers AC QC.

Important Dates:

Exhibition opens to the public	Saturday 25 August
Exhibition official opening and Award announcement	Saturday 25 August
Exhibition dates	Saturday 25 August to Sunday 11 November

For further information, print quality images, or to arrange interviews with SAM staff, please contact Medialink:

Katrina Raymond (03) 96633222 or email katrina@medialinkproductions.com

Louis Raymond (03) 96633222 or email louis@medialinkproductions.com

SAM Local Exhibitions to Open in March

8 March 2018

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) goes local from 29 March to 13 May, spotlighting the practice of regional artists with three exhibitions, SAM Local Spotlight, SAM Local: Best of Friends and SAM Education Lab.
An official opening will be held on Wednesday 28 March from 5.30 to 7.30pm, and all are welcome to attend and support their local artists.

SAM Local Spotlight is an exciting, profile-raising exhibition for a regional artist, this year, Kate Hill. In a work that takes her directly back to her childhood farm in Boorhaman, North East Victoria, and to the banks of the Goulburn River, Shepparton, Kate Hill continues her investigation of local clays, industry and the intersection of waterways.

Every year the talents of the Friends of SAM are showcased in an exhibition which brings together the works of community artists practising in painting, drawing, textiles, sculpture, photography and design. SAM Local: Best of Friends highlights this diversity, and the artists’ commitment and skills. The opening event provides an opportunity to meet the artists, celebrate their artistic talent and their contributions to our creative community. Friends are invited to showcase their work at SAM. If you’d like to download an application form, click here, and for information on becoming a Friend of SAM, click here.

The SAM Education Lab will be an evolving exhibition process that will see a range of schools and educational groups work with an artist to transform the gallery space on a weekly basis. Students’ work will remain in the gallery space over six weeks, providing them with the opportunity to see their work displayed in the galleries in an open lab-style mode of display. Masato Takasaka is the first practicing artist to take up residency in the Education Lab for six weeks from 29 March to 13 May 2018. Save the date for the closing party of SAM’s inaugural Education Lab on Monday 7 May, 6 to 8pm.

SAM Director, Dr Rebecca Coates said:

“These are great projects that engage artists and communities across our region, telling unique stories, inviting people of all ages to get involved with SAM’s programs and activities, and be inspired by the amazing creativity and imagination on our own doorstep.”

Local media preview: Tuesday 27 March, 10.30am

Exhibition Dates: Thursday 29 March – Sunday 13 of May 2018
Official Opening: Wednesday 28 March, 5.30 – 7.30pm

Featuring music by Wade Gregory and Brian Matthews.

RSVP: rsvp-sam@shepparton.vic.gov.au or call (03) 5832 9861

For further information please contact SAM Marketing Officers Amina Barolli or Trent Howard on (03) 5832 9494.

I hope you get this: Raquel Ormella

20 February 2018

Works reflecting on the intersections of art and activism, by one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, Raquel Ormella, will be exhibited at SAM from 26 May to 12 August 2018.

Curated by Rebecca Coates & Anna Briers
A NETS Victoria and Shepparton Art Museum touring exhibition

Raquel Ormella employs a wide variety of media, including video, painting, installation, drawing, textile, paintings and zine production. ‘I hope you get this’ features some of her seminal early works, alongside more recent textile and text-based works, and new commissions. The exhibition reveals Ormella’s experimental relationship with textiles and a playful exploration of semiotics, critical hallmarks of her sustained practice. I hope you get this: Raquel Ormella, will be the artist’s first major survey exhibition.

Curated by SAM Director, Dr Rebecca Coates, and SAM Senior Curator Anna Briers, the survey exhibition will feature four significant bodies of work within the artist’s oeuvre, as well as a site-responsive commission. This exhibition was supported by NETS Victoria’s Exhibition Development Fund and will tour nationally through a SAM and NETS Victoria partnership.

Through her use of text and symbols, notably in her intricate embroidery work, Ormella invites audience members to engage with issues of nationalism, political activism and environmental intervention.

The exhibition will be supported by education and public programs that invite engagement and participation with some of Shepparton’s local community groups – from bird-watching groups to local textile artists. The exhibition will appeal to visitors of all ages, extending audiences’ engagement and opportunity to actively participate in some of these key themes and ideas.

Dr Coates described the exhibition as a timely appraisal and recognition of Ormella’s achievements following her previous selection in a number of significant international biennials and major temporary exhibitions, from Sydney to Shanghai and Nagoya, Japan. Bringing earlier works now in the Collections of some of Australia’s major collecting institutions, together with some of her more recent projects and newer commissions, audiences will be able to see the sheer breadth of her practice, and her deep and sustained engagement with themes and ideas of our times.

“Social and environmental activism; human and animal relationships; nationalism and national identity; feminism and political identity are recurrent themes which Ormella consistently explores.

“An integral part of the way Ormella works is to become involved with, or imbedded within, grass-roots organisations and interest groups engaged directly with the issues she is exploring. This has extended from time spent with the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, more recent works made in response to trade union movements and strike actions, or the connections she has forged with birdwatcher groups run by U3A in the Goulburn Valley region over the course of the development of this exhibition.

Ormella’s works aim to stimulate contemplation, connection and engagement with issues of our times, without making her own position necessarily explicit. Very often, the materials she uses are things that we all have at home, or for the hoarders amongst us, in some of our cupboards. The title of this show, ‘I hope you get this’ refers not only to her own position within the works, but also to our reading of these various subjects. She invites visitors to engage, to reflect, and bring their own understanding and experiences to the show at the same time,” Dr Coates said.

This exhibition represents an ongoing commitment by Shepparton Art Museum to present the work of prominent mid-career female artists as a series of solo survey exhibitions. The commitment was first established in the 1970s, through the acquisition of major works by leading Modernist Australian female artists including Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington-Smith, both recently included in Heide’s Making Modernism exhibition (2017). These works are now considered some of the outstanding highlights of Shepparton Art Museum’s Collection. Recent female artists exhibited at SAM have included Chen Qiuilin and Nell.

To arrange interview with the artist and curator and for supply of images please contact:

Katrina Raymond, MediaLink Productions
(03) 9663 3222, 0417 303 158
katrina@medialinkproductions.com
Louis Raymond, MediaLink Productions
(03) 9663 3222, 0448 808 811
louis@medialinkproductions.com

Raquel Ormella Biography:

Raquel Ormella (b. Sydney 1969) has a diverse practice that includes video, installation, drawings, and zines. Ormella works at the intersections of art and activism. She investigates the means by which critical reflexivity in contemporary art encourages processes of self-examination regarding political consciousness and social action. Ormellaʼs practice is grounded in exploring the nature of the relationship between humans and the natural environment, with a particular focus on urban expansion and forest activism.

In highlighting the interconnections between the two, Ormella attempts to show that our depictions of the natural world are not representations of true ʻwildernessʼ or a pure state, but rather are informed by human contact and reflective of human values. Ormella has built a practice covering a diverse range of activities such as video, paintings, textiles, installations, drawings, and zines. She is interested in exploring the relation of the audience to the artwork by using multiples. For example, she produced a work for the 2008 Sydney Biennale using electronic whiteboards that printed the drawings made by the artist, so that the audience may take them home.

Her solo exhibitions include Golden Soil, Milani Gallery, 2016; Birds, School of Art Gallery, ANU, Canberra, 2013; New Constellation, Milani Gallery, 2013; Feeders, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT, 2012.

Ormella has participated in various group exhibitions including in the 2015 Artist Making Movement, Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, See you at the barricades, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, More love hours: contemporary artists and craft, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne; Basil Sellers Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, Protest Songs, Artful Actions, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore, Conflict: Contemporary responses to war, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane; 2013 California-Pacific Triennial, Los Angeles, Social networking, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2012, the 1^st Aichi Triennial, Art and Cities, Nagoya, Japan, 2010.

Ormella was one of the artists selected for the One Year Studio Artists program at Artspace, Sydney, in 2017. In 2012, Ormella was awarded the prestigious Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, from the Campbelltown Art Centre, NSW, Australia; a New Work Grant from The Australia Council for the Arts and Arts ACT in 2009; Warrnambool Art Gallery’s New Social Commentaries Prize, in 2006; Western Sydney Artist Fellowship from the NSW Ministry for the Arts, 2000; and the Australia Council Studio Residency in Barcelona, Spain in 1999. In 2013 Ormella completed a PhD in Visual Arts at the Australia National University, Canberra where she lectures in the Painting department.

This exhibition has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program as well as receiving development assistance from NETS Victoria’s Exhibition Development Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Soft Core to show at Shepparton Art Museum

10 January 2018

Shepparton Art Museum is pleased to present Soft Core, an exhibition of newly commissioned and recent work by 12 Australian and International artists whose work questions the fluctuating meaning of softness.

Soft Core presents artistic practices that explore the many facets of ‘softness’ – from large-scale inflatables to forms made from soft materials to materials that simply look soft. These artists are making works that demand attention.

This exhibition includes works by 12 preeminent Australian and International artists including international superstar artist Tony Oursler; Michael Parekowhai, arguably New Zealand’s most celebrated artist; Patricia Piccinini, who famously designed the Skywhale hot air balloon; and Mikala Dwyer who courted controversy for her ritualistic excrement-based performance in 2013.

In the 20th century, artists began to disassemble the notion of traditional sculpture by adding and subtracting constructions, incorporating found objects and designating everyday items as art. These adaptive and divergent methods of form making continue today in a generation of artists who define sculpture in the negative condition: not bronze, not stone, not the macho force of the blast furnace.

The materials in this exhibition encompass air, inflatable nylon, unfired clay and plastics bags – materials that have been co-opted for their versatility and their mutability between function and emotion. Some of the works require activation – such as electricity or inflation to become whole while others inhabit their softness quietly.

Director of Shepparton Art Museum, Rebecca Coates, sees the fun, provocative and inspiring nature of this exhibition as a good fit for Shepparton audiences.

“Shepparton has a strong representation of groups who use and make textiles – from quilting, to weaving, to local Afghani embroiderers.

“There is a connection between this exhibition and SAM’s significant collection of Australian ceramics. Prior to firing, clay is of course a soft material – one that engages through its sheer tactility, and malleable potentiality. That’s in part why there has been an upsurge in the popularity of ceramics. Soft Core builds on the work we have done around contemporary artists engaging with these materials in a contemporary way.

“The show features work by leading Australian artists who have built a reputation in part based on materiality – Kathy Temin with her fake fur and soft environments; Mikala Dwyer with her pantyhose, oversized plastic sculptures, which are actually made from the material that you use for coke bottles; and Louise Weaver with her crocheted animals, objects and installations that intrigue visitors with whimsy and wonder,” Ms Coates said.

The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive soft-form catalogue featuring newly commissioned writing on each of the exhibition artists by significant institutional and independent writers including Justin Paton, Lisa Slade, Anna Davis, Jason Smith, Russell Storer, Georgina Cole, Francis E Parker, Vanessa Berry, Robert Leonard and Victoria Lynn.

Image: Michael Parekowhai, Cosmo McMurtry, 2006, woven nylon substrate, pigment, electrical components, 330 x 180 x 280 cm. Courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney © the artist and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland

ENDS.

To arrange interviews with SAM Director Rebecca Coates and Curator Michael Do, please contact SAM Marketing Officer, Amina Barolli on +61 3 5832 9494 or by email: amina.barolli@shepparton.vic.gov.au.

Welcome to 2018 at SAM

3 January 2018

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is proud to launch its first quarterly program for January to April this week, as well as its complete 2018 exhibition program online for all to engage with, participate in and share.

Showcasing four jam-packed months ahead, the SAM Program outlines temporary exhibitions, upcoming workshops for all ages and skill-levels, talks and other special events, as well as everyday offerings for all to enjoy. The 12-page booklet is available on SAM’s website to download, with hard copies available at SAM and in various locations around Shepparton.

EXHIBITIONS

Currently in its last days, SAM’s Summer exhibition, Cover Versions: Mimicry and Resistance uses mediums ranging from sound art and video to photography and installation, with artists drawing upon the histories of music, popular culture and the internet, ethnography and the natural world. New site-specific commissions highlight the discourse in the context of regional Victoria, from robotic flowers in Dookie’s golden canola fields to community choirs that interpret the SAM Collection and the museum architecture musically. Now showing until 14 January 2018.

From 27 January, SAM will present Soft Core, an exhibition of attention-grabbing 3D works that includes large-scale inflatables, forms made from soft materials, and materials that simply look soft. Soft Core is an exhibition for all ages – bring your family and friends to see the awe-inspiring recent work of 12 Australian and International artists. The official opening will be held on Friday 2 February at 6pm and include a special participatory installation of soft sculpture by the opening speaker, David Cross – artist and Professor of Art and Performance, Deakin University. On the following day, the work will be displayed for further participation in the Shepparton Maude Street Mall from 10am to 2pm. Soft Core is an exhibition curated by Micheal Do in conjunction with Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and toured by Museums and Galleries of NSW. Showing from 27 January to 18 March 2018.

In early March, we’ll say goodbye to 80/80: Eighty Years of SAM – The Collection as the whole ground floor of SAM changes over to include two new collection exhibitions; Intimate Realities and Ever-present. Drawn largely from recent acquisitions, most of these works are being presented for the first time at SAM. Intimate Realities showcases a selection of sculptural works by leading Australian artists whose works engage, intrigue, and inspire through quiet contemplation, references to the body, musical refrain, and sheer enjoyment of materials. Ever-present is an exciting exhibition of historic and contemporary works by Indigenous artists, exploring the many ways that Country is explored and revealed through painting, ceramics and the beauty of every-day objects. Showing from 3 March 2018 to April 2019.

SAM’s Education Lab is a new initiative taking place from late March to mid-May, where students of all ages can work with artist Masato Takasaka to contribute to an ever-evolving exhibition over six weeks. The Education Lab coincides with other local community favourites: SAM Local Spotlight, celebrating home grown creativity; and Best of Friends, which invites all members of the Friends of SAM to show their work inside the museum. This year’s SAM Local Spotlight artist is Kate Hill.

SAM Local exhibitions will show from 29 March to 13 May 2018.

Kate Hill’s practice utilises site-specific materials of earth, clay and water, and processes such as sourcing, refining and sculpting to engage in temporal modalities of place – reflecting on both macro landscapes and systems – and the intimate space of walking. Through the excavation and processing of these materials she examines the stories that are held in this site, and the broader environmental and political questions associated with larger scale industries using similar processes.

Currently on show, the Drawing Wall #29 features work by Jon Campbell on the 4 x 12 metre wall in the Eastbank Centre, next door to the art museum. In February, SAM will commission its 30^th Drawing Wall by well-known local artist Rosa Purbrick. The 30^th edition of the wall will be marked and celebrated. David Harley will complete the 31^st Drawing Wall in late April.

The fourth successful year of SAM’s Showcase sees Susan Frost’s minimalist forms that explore subtle gradations of colour and tone until late January, and to celebrate SAM going local in time for the Shepparton Festival, we’ll see local artist Kaye Poulton present new work in the 17^th Showcase. The Showcase, located in the SAM Shop, provides visitors and collectors with a unique opportunity to acquire work by accomplished ceramic artists.

In late May, a survey exhibition of new and recent work by one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, Raquel Ormella, will include a wide variety of media, and particularly draw on her experimental textile works. The exhibition will explore key themes that Ormella has consistently developed in her work: social and environmental activism; human and animal relationships; nationalism and national identity. Showing from 26 May to 12 August 2018.

In late August, SAM will present its sixth iteration of the Indigenous Ceramic Award, with applications open to Indigenous artists and groups from 15 January until 5 March. Showing from 25 August to 11 November 2018.

To conclude 2018, a major collaborative, playful and immersive exhibition, Craftivism, will feature the work of over 16 contemporary Australian artists and artist collectives. Extending our understanding of craft-making traditions and the potential of various materialities, the works in Craftivism will subvert and extend these forms into the realm of activism and social change. Many of the works included will encourage social connection between community members, and the idea of play and regeneration through collective processes. Showing from 24 November 2018 to 3 March 2019.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Ongoing favourites

SAM is thrilled to announce the return of sell-out programs from 2017 such as SAM Little Hands for toddlers and pre-schoolers and their carer; the SAM Art Club, after-school programming for kids and tweens; and SAM Out Late! for those secondary students and adults wanting to engage with art after hours and meet new friends. This year also sees the return of the popular SAM Art Trail, designed to encourage children and families to learn about the artworks through self-guided tours. Teachers and students can also access professional development workshops and talks.

Special lecture: Architecture as Land Art with John Denton

For those interested in the development of the new Shepparton Art Museum’s architecture, on Thursday 8 February, hear from John Denton, one of the founders of Denton Corker Marshall, talk about the idea of architecture as land art. As many will know, DCM won the architecture competition for the new SAM, and are working with Council on Detailed Designs. Denton will discuss DCM’s approach to architecture as an art object set in the landscape. Bookings can be made online via SAM’s website.

Summer Holiday Program

To kick off the year, SAM will present its popular Summer Holiday Program of art-making for people of all ages and skill-levels in mid-January. With some programs booked out as soon as details were published in December, make sure you book straight in if there’s something that interests you to avoid missing out!

Text Me, Clay Me

SAM’s sell-out clay play sessions are back. Taking inspiration from Jon Campbell’s, Drawing Wall #29, participants will explore text and typography. Using rolling, coiling and pinching techniques, kids will express themselves through loopy lettering, text and scale. Participants will get to take home their work after firing.

When: Monday 22 January, 1.30 to 3.30pm
For: Kids & Tweens
Cost: $20
Tutor: Kaye Poulton
Bookings: On the SAM website via Eventbrite

Skidding Squeegees

Our last screen-printing workshop was so much fun we’re rolling it out again. Learn how to print multiple colours and repetitive patterns onto a calico bag which you can take home, or bring your own white t-shirt and show it off when you get back to school.

When: Tuesday 23 January, 10.30am to 12pm or 1.30 to 3pm
For: Kids & Tweens
Cost: $20
Tutor: Tarli Bird
Bookings: On the SAM website via Eventbrite

A Summer Road Trip for Families
NGV Kids on Tour program

Spend the afternoon creating and making. To coincide with the National Gallery of Victoria’s Summer exhibition program, activities will include collage, board games and some take-home fun. More information on NGV Kids on Tour here. Come and join us!

When: Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 January, 1.30 to 3pm
Audience: Families
Cost: FREE
Bookings: On the SAM website via Eventbrite

To view the SAM Program January to April 2018 which includes all of the above: https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/programs-and-events

Free hard copies are available from the SAM Shop (70 Welsford Street, Shepparton), and in the Shepparton News on Friday 12 January.

SAM is open 7 days from 10am to 4pm (public holidays 1pm to 4pm).

Shepparton Art Museum is proudly provided by Greater Shepparton City Council, located at 70 Welsford Street, Shepparton. For general SAM enquiries and bookings please contact: (03) 5832 9861, email art.museum@shepparton.vic.gov.au, or visit www.sheppartonartmuseum.com.au. SAM is also on Facebook www.facebook.com/SheppartonArtMuseum, Twitter and Instagram: @SAM_Shepparton.

Applications for SAM’s 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award to open 15 Jan

3 January 2018

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is pleased to announce applications will open for its 2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA) from Monday 15 January to 5 March.

As a $20,000 acquisitive prize, the 2018 ICA is open to Indigenous groups and individual artists to propose an exhibition concept to be realised at SAM. Eight shortlisted groups or artists will be supported with an exhibition development fee of $2,200 each to produce new work from March to July. The exhibition will be presented at SAM from 25 August to 11 November 2018.

The Award will be judged by Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer of Indigenous Art at the University of Sydney; Genevieve Grieves, freelance curator, educator and consultant; and Dr Rebecca Coates, Director of SAM, and announced at the exhibition opening on Saturday 25 August 2018.

The 2018 ICA is the sixth in the series of this biennial Award, showcasing new and exciting developments in the field. It contributes to the Art Museum’s significant holdings of Indigenous ceramic art, and provides cultural exchange opportunities for Indigenous artists from around Australia and within regional Victoria.

The ICA was established under the patronage of acclaimed artist Dr Gloria Thanakupi Fletcher in 2007. As the Award is increasingly recognised as one of Australia’s significant Indigenous cultural opportunities, there has been increasing interest and participation in the Award from solo artists and collectives in both remote communities and urban centres since its first iteration.

SAM Director, Dr Rebecca Coates, commented:

‘SAM is delighted to again be presenting our significant national Award that explores and celebrates Australia’s First Nation’s histories (past, present and still to be written). With each edition, we continue to be inspired and delighted by the outstanding works that extend our understanding of Australia’s First People. The ICA is also a means of supporting cultural and professional development programs that engage and inspire Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences in new and exciting ways.’

Major Partners of the 2018 ICA include Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation and Mr Allan Myers AO QC.

Important Dates:

Applications open	Monday 15 January 2018
Applications close	Monday 5 March 2018
Artists advised of selection	Tuesday 13 March 2018
Due date for delivery of artworks to SAM	Monday 23 July 2018
Announcement and official opening	Saturday 25 August 2018
Exhibition dates	25 August to 11 November 2018

For further information on how to apply, full terms and conditions, please visit https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/indigenous-ceramic-award. All expressions of interest for the Award are to be submitted online, or via post, and received by 5 March 2018, 5pm (Eastern Daylight Savings Time).

Judge Biographies

Stephen Gilchrist: Belonging to the Yamatji people of the Inggarda language group of northwest Western Australia, Stephen Gilchrist is Associate Lecturer of Indigenous Art at the University of Sydney. He is a lecturer, writer and curator who has worked with the Indigenous Australian collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. He has held Curatorial Fellowships at the British Museum, the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College and Harvard Art Museums, Harvard University.

Genevieve Grieves: is a Worimi woman- traditionally from mid north coast New South Wales – who has lived in Narrm (Melbourne) for many years. She is an Indigenous artist, researcher, educator, curator, film-maker and oral historian who has accumulated nearly 20 years experience across the arts, culture and education sectors. Genevieve has consistently won recognition and awards for the variety of projects she has undertaken throughout her diverse career including online documentaries, film, art and exhibitions.

Dr Rebecca Coates: is the director of Shepparton Art Museum, and a Board member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria. She is an established curator, writer and lecturer, with over 20 years professional art museum and gallery experience in both Australia and overseas. Prior to her current role, she was a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Art History and Art Curatorship. Rebecca has a PhD in Art History. She is an Honorary Fellow of the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne.

ENDS

For further information, print quality images of past Award winners, or to arrange interviews with SAM staff, please contact SAM Marketing Co-ordinators Sarah Werkmeister or Amina Barolli on (03) 5832 9522 or email sarah.werkmeister@shepparton.vic.gov.au or amina.barolli@shepparton.vic.gov.au.

SAM Local Call for Entries Now Open for March 2018

19 October 2017

From 31 March to 13 May 2018, Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) will go local, spotlighting artistic practice from the region with three exhibitions: SAM Local Spotlight; Best of Friends; and SAM Education Lab. Local artists of all ages are encouraged to share their creativity and get involved!

Calling local artists… exhibit your art at SAM! The call for entries is now open.

SAM Local Spotlight is now open for one solo artist to apply to exhibit a body of work at SAM. Proposals will be accepted from artists living in or originally from North Central and North East Regional Victoria and maintain strong connections within these locations.

SAM Senior Curator, Anna Briers, said:

“SAM Local Spotlight is an exciting, profile-raising opportunity for a regional artist. The aim of the exhibition is to encourage, stimulate and promote local and regional cultural activities as part of SAM’s annual program. This is also great opportunity to gain professional experience working in an art museum context – working with SAM’s team across curatorial, marketing and communications, registration, education and public programs, and much more.”

For further information on how to become the SAM Local Spotlight artist, visit SAM’s website www.sheppartonartmuseum.com.au. Submissions will close on Thursday 2 November, 5pm EST. Artists can chat to SAM’s Senior Curator Anna Briers about their proposal prior to submitting on: (03) 5832 9893. All applicants will be advised by 17 November 2017.

Best of Friends is an open access exhibition and all Friends of SAM are encouraged to submit work. The exhibition’s purpose is to open a window onto the creative practice of many artists working in a range of media in the Goulburn Valley. It is a great way to see what other people are creating and to gain insights into the regional arts sector. Keep an eye out on SAM’s website in December for more information on how to apply.

The SAM Education Lab is an exciting new innovation for SAM. Working closely with teachers and schools in Greater Shepparton, SAM’s education staff have developed a program designed to work with all ages, to engage and inform through art and play led by a practising artist. Artist Masato Takasaka will be the artist in residence for the duration of the SAM Education Lab. Schools and education providers of all year levels and abilities are invited and encouraged to book in early to participate in this exciting new project.

There are many talented young art graduates in the Greater Shepparton community and SAM strongly encourages students to become a Friend of SAM and submit their end-of-year work for display in the Best of Friends exhibition.

For more information visit: https://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/education.

For further information on any of the above, to arrange an interview with a SAM staff member, or for a high resolution image, please contact SAM Marketing Coordinators by phone (03) 5832 9494 or by email on sarah.werkmeister@shepparton.vic.gov.au or amina.barolli@shepparton.vic.gov.au.

MPavilion join together with Shepparton Art Museum and Geelong Gallery to deliver new regional program

25 September 2017

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) and Geelong Gallery have joined together with MPavilion to deliver a new special regional program of workshops and public events designed to connect community groups, cultural institutions and government bodies, and to foster meaningful conversations around design.

Opening on Tuesday 3 October 2017 and running until Sunday 4 February 2018, MPavilion 2017 is designed by renowned international architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA. Inspired by Koolhaas’s current preoccupation with the countryside and urban design, for the first time, this year MPavilion is extending its reach from the heart of Melbourne to work with key partners in regional Victoria. Held throughout October 2017 and February 2018, the series of workshops and events are curated and facilitated by MPavilion in collaboration with Shepparton Art Museum; Geelong Gallery; Jack Self (director, REAL Foundation, UK; co-curator, British Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2016); artist Keg de Souza (NSW); and Sarah Lynn Rees (MPavilion Regional Program Manager; Indigenous Architecture & Design Victoria).

Naomi Milgrom AO, Founder of MPavilion said

This season the MPavilion program has been developed in collaboration with our architects Rem Koolhaas, David Gianotten of OMA. A main focus of OMA’s current research is the notion of countryside. It was important to us that we interrogate this theme with a focus on the unique Australian context. Through this project, we will investigate regional Victoria as a product of its Indigenous continuous living histories and its colonial history, as well as how it continues to evolve through immigration, infrastructure and agriculture.

With Shepparton and Geelong as central case studies, the program considers how regional Australia might address issues of inclusion, diversity, innovation and evolving industrial landscapes through the lenses of architecture, design and the built environment.

Director of Shepparton Art Museum, Rebecca Coates, said

We are delighted to be partnering with MPavilion and Geelong Gallery on this exciting project. Shepparton is undergoing a period of exciting civic, social and economic growth. A major infrastructure project to build a new SAM Art Museum is currently underway – one of the many major new projects which will change the face of Shepparton over the coming years. The new SAM demonstrates that great art and design can be central to how we live and who we are. Working with leaders in the architecture, design, and creative thinking fields, we look forward to continuing to interrogate ideas around what good design can look like in a unique part of regional Victoria.

Director of Geelong Gallery, Jason Smith said

This is a timely and exciting collaboration for Geelong Gallery. Over the past year the Gallery has contributed to the thinking and planning for the community-led blueprint for Greater Geelong to be recognised regionally, nationally and internationally, as a clever and creative city-region. The opportunity to collaborate with MPavilion, OMA and our close colleagues at SAM aligns perfectly with our commitment to Geelong’s future.

The program will comprises of series of workshops and events including regional workshops in October 2017 in Geelong and Shepparton with international guest Jack Self and Sarah Lynn Rees of MPavilion; a Melbourne workshop with Rem Koolhaas & David Gianotten (OMA), Jack Self, Sarah Lynn Rees, Shepparton Art Museum and Geelong Gallery.

In February 2018, Sydney-based interdisciplinary artist, Keg de Souza will present a collaborative project with program participants at SAM in Shepparton and Geelong Gallery. With particular interest in the built environment and the social spaces and communities that inhabit them, de Souza’s wide-ranging practice is informed by her architectural training and encompasses video, performance, installation, publishing and inflatable architecture. Her work has recently featured in the Biennale of Sydney 2016, and the 5th Auckland Triennial, curated by Hou Hanru.

Designed to empower participants and associated organisations to instigate and support change in Shepparton and Geelong and elsewhere at grassroots and government levels, a high-quality not-for-profit publication—produced and globally distributed by Jack Self’s REAL Foundation—will also be produced that can be adopted and employed by all participants involved in the program.

Ends

To arrange interviews with MPavilion please contact Rhiannon Broomfield at ARTICULATE on 0410 596 021 or rhiannon@articulatepr.com.au

For further information, or to arrange interviews with SAM’s Director Rebecca Coates please contact SAM Marketing Coordinators by phone (03) 5832 9494 or by email on sarah.werkmeister@shepparton.vic.gov.au or amina.barolli@shepparton.vic.gov.au

Resources
Dropbox of high-res images, press release and further information: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f7h0grw17c39l1m/AAD_iHKxYFJQt-B5Yk23TvjLa?dl=0

VIDEO: A video featuring MPavilion 2017 architect Rem Koolhaas discussing the importance of the countryside can be found and shared through the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qniez5z3cy6o7bz/Video_Rem%20Koolhaas%20%282%20mins%29_5%20September%202017.mov?dl=0

MPavilion key dates and useful links:

MPavilion will open free to the public on Tuesday 3 October 2017 until Sunday 4 February 2018
For further information, please visit mpavilion.org

About OMA

OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism and was founded by visionary Rem Koolhaas, a Pritzker prize-winning architect. Together with 8 partners Koolhaas heads the work of both OMA and AMO, the research branch of OMA, operating in areas beyond the realm of architecture such as media, politics, renewable energy and fashion. David Gianotten is OMA’s Managing Partner-Architect; responsible for the management and growth of OMA worldwide and is the responsible partner-in-charge of numerous projects in Asia, Australia and Europe including the New Museum project in Perth and Rotterdam’s new Feyenoord football stadium. Together Koolhaas and Gianotten are responsible for the design and execution of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre.

OMA completed large scale projects in recent years include the Qatar Foundation Headquarters in Doha; Faena District in Miami; London’s Design Museum; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow; Fondazione Prada in Milan; Shenzhen Stock Exchange; De Rotterdam; and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing.

About MPavilion

MPavilion is Australia’s leading architectural commission and design event conceived and created by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in 2014. Every year one new temporary pavilion, designed by a leading international architect, is erected in Melbourne’s historic Queen Victoria Gardens. From October through February, the MPavilion becomes a design and cultural laboratory, and home to a series of talks, workshops, performances and installations. At the end of each season MPavilion is moved to a permanent new home within Melbourne’s CBD, creating an ongoing legacy in Melbourne’s increasingly sophisticated architectural landscape. Australian architect Sean Godsell designed MPavilion 2014 (now at the Hellenic Museum); and in 2015 MPavilion was designed by British architect Amanda Levete of AL_A (now in Collins Street, Docklands). Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai designed MPavilion 2016 (soon to be relocated to the Melbourne Zoo).

Australian philanthropist Naomi Milgrom AO initiated MPavilion. She is also the Commissioner for the Australian representation at the 57^th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale, Tracey Moffatt exhibition 2017.

SAM’s summer exhibition – Cover Versions: Mimicry and Resistance opens in November

13 September 2017

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is excited to present Cover Versions: Mimicry and Resistance as its major Summer exhibition. Featuring the works of thirteen artists and collectives, the exhibition explores ideas around mimicry and impersonation, re-performance or reiteration, as artists and collectives expand on the notion of the cover version and its subversive potential within the digital age.

Cover Versions: Mimicry and Resistance quotes from the histories of music, popular culture and the internet, ethnography and the natural world. This is expressed through a range of media including sound art and instrumentation, robotics, video, photography and installation. Mimicry has been equated with camouflage but it is also like holding up a mirror. Whether employed as a means of survival, in homage, or for the purposes of political critique, these works reveal something about the nature of our times.

Departing from Arthur Merric Boyd and Neil Douglas’ earthenware platter that depicts a lyrebird— a creature that can mimic multiple sounds and voices—the exhibition will examine the ways in which artists have used mimicry as a means of resistance, as a comment on contemporary culture, or as a means to subvert perceptions around gender, sexuality and ethnicity.

Curator, Anna Briers states:

This major group exhibition features two specials commissions anchored in SAM’s unique site and context. Artist collective Super Critical Mass will present a participatory sonic performance from a newly assembled community choir in response to the museum’s architecture, the collection display and each other. Also included, artist Michael Candy has produced a series of robotic pollenizers that mimic flowers, addressing the bee crisis that is both a local and global concern. These projects enable large-scale participatory audience engagement, while furthering cutting-edge experimental media art practice.

For the exhibition, two artists/artist groups have been commissioned to make new work.

The New York/Sydney/Brisbane artist duo, Super Critical Mass has been commissioned to create a version of their ongoing work, Moving Collected Ambience. It is a participatory sound art performance in which participants move through the gallery spaces producing simple vocal sounds in response to SAM’s permanent collection, the gallery architecture and each other. Artist Julian Day has been in Shepparton recruiting a choir to perform this work for the opening night of the exhibition.

Brisbane-based media artist Michael Candy has been commissioned to create a series of Synthetic Pollenizers – robotic flowers that work in concert with the local ecosystem to attract bees and increase the pollination of flora in the Shepparton region. This will occur in peak spring, assisting the bees with their pollination and documenting their activities with a motion tracking camera. On Saturday 23 September, the artist will be testing his Synthetic Pollenizers at Tallis Wines in Dookie. This is a public event, and those interested can RSVP via the SAM website. From Saturday 11 November, the bee activity will be live-streamed into SAM, from the rooftop residency of Melbourne-based beekeeper, Honey Fingers.

Yuki Kihara’s Culture for Sale 2014 will also be featured in the exhibition. Kihara, leading contemporary New Zealand- and Sydney and Samoa-based artist, here has employed a type of reverse anthropology in which the viewer participates in the exoticisation of the subject in the work by asking the viewer to insert a twenty cent coin in order for a video to be activated. Here, the artist subverts what was known as Samoan participation in the ‘Völkerschauen’, a popular form of exotic entertainment and colonial theatre in Germany in the early 20^th century. The work makes viewers question practices that have been embedded—albeit more slyly—within mainstream culture throughout time, now expanding on the ways in which we consume video games.

Artists in the exhibition include: Arthur Merric Boyd and Neil Douglas, Michael Candy, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Marco Fusinato, Percy Grainger and Burnett Cross, Yuki Kihara, The Kingpins, LOUD + SOFT (Julian Day and Luke Jaaniste), Frédéric Nauczyciel, Soda Jerk vs The Avalanches, Super Critical Mass, Christian Thompson, and Jemima Wyman.

Curated by Anna Briers

Artists available for interview Yuki Kihara, Julian Day, Michael Candy

Resources Dropbox of high-res images – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i0ygu3ew4s9bzg1/AAAcWBOgz8cHDBlugmna2pnUa?dl=0

For further information, or to arrange interviews with SAM’s Director Rebecca Coates or artists included, please contact SAM Marketing Coordinators by phone (03) 5832 9494 or by email on sarah.werkmeister@shepparton.vic.gov.au or amina.barolli@shepparton.vic.gov.au.

Image: (foreground) Super Critical Mass (Julian Day and Luke Jaaniste), Moving Collected Ambience 2014, participatory sound work, commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Performance Space, Sydney, 2015. Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2015. (background) Kerrie Poliness, OMG 2014, graphic film on wall, installation view, MCA Collection: Today Tomorrow Yesterday, 2016. Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2014. Image courtesy the artists and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney © the artists, Kerrie Poliness/licenced by Viscopy 2017. Photo: Hospital Hill.

Raquel Ormella Biography:

Traditional Owners Acknowledgement.