New Curator + Collections Lead

The City of Fremantle is thrilled to announce the new Curator & Collections Lead; Abigail Moncrieff. Abigail is an esteemed curator and arts leader who has worked both independently and within major institutions across Australia.

Based at Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) and working in close collaboration with the Manager of Arts and the Arts leadership team, the Curator & Collections Lead will curate the annual gallery program at the FAC and lead the City of Fremantle Visual Arts team across the portfolios of public art, City collections, The Moores Building Arts Space and wider Arts portfolio.

Recognised nationally for her curatorial work, Abigail’s multi-disciplinary approach is considered and confident with extensive curatorial experience across exhibitions, collection practices and public art contexts. She has a deep respect for artists, and highly developed liaison skills within the national arts community.

Abigail has held curatorial roles at Carriageworks, ‘The National: New Australian Art’ 2021, MCA Australia, C3West, ‘Experimenta Speak to Me’, International Biennial of Media Arts, and realised ‘La Passion de Jeanne D’Arc: Rozelle Hospital’ with Venezuelan artist Javier Tellez for Biennale of Sydney. Her experience includes an ongoing interest in curating social and digital art projects and exhibitions, often investigating forms of curatorial practice beyond conventional exhibition models at institutions. Abigail was awarded an MFA from UNSW Art & Design for curatorial research involving community and regional engagement, which culminated in the exhibition ‘Sentient’ at Murray Art Museum Albury with artist James Nguyen.

Abigail has edited and contributed to numerous catalogues and publications, regularly contributing to Australian art journals.

We are looking forward to Abigail joining the City at the Fremantle Art Centre from 22 April 2024 and welcome all that she will bring to Walyalup.

Revealed, Western Australia’s largest annual Aboriginal art exhibition and Art Market, heralds a new era as AACHWA prepares to deliver the program in partnership with Fremantle Arts Centre.

Known for championing new and emerging First Nations artists, in 2024 there are 42 artists featured in Revealed for the first time – the highest number of emerging artists that have featured in the exhibition since its inception.

Opening Thursday 9th May, the Revealed exhibition features a diversity of practice and mediums spanning painting, drawing, silkprint, textiles, photography, animation, glass sculpture and linocut. Each work shares unique narratives of connection to Country, culture and regional life. The exhibition features more than 150 artworks, with almost 70 artists representing 27 WA Aboriginal art centres, plus 12 independent artists.

For the first time since its inception in 2008, the state-wide Aboriginal art showcase will be in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hands, as the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia (AACHWA) takes the reins for 2024.

AACHWA CEO Chad Creighton said AACHWA’s leadership ushers in a new era of self-determination for Revealed. “As an Aboriginal-led and governed body, AACHWA provides a genuine and deeply rooted perspective on the Aboriginal art scene across Western Australia,” Mr Creighton said. “We work all year round with Aboriginal art centres across the State, and by working closely with artists to reflect their aspirations and needs, we hope this year’s Revealed can increase its impact for the sector.
“AACHWA’s approach to Revealed reflects our unwavering commitment to art creation, cultural strength, best practice, and the wellbeing of Aboriginal artists.”

The exhibition and hugely popular Revealed Art Market are the best place to discover and invest in works by the rising stars of the Aboriginal arts scene, with the 2024 market returning to the Fremantle Arts Centre’s front lawn on Saturday, 11 May. The market provides an ethical, direct avenue for purchasing art by WA Aboriginal artists, all in one place.

This year there are 30 stalls selling original First Nations artworks including painting, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and carved artefacts and merchandise at a range of price points, offering something for every art lover or budding collector.

City of Fremantle Director of Creative Arts and Community Pete Stone said Revealed was a highlight in the Western Australian arts calendar. “Revealed is an opportunity for the community to immerse themselves in a rich and layered showcase of Indigenous art and listen to the many First Nations stories that shape Western Australia,” Mr Stone said. “Since its establishment, Revealed has been pivotal in championing new and emerging Aboriginal artists from across Western Australia.

“The Fremantle Arts Centre is proud to have been involved in this development for many years and looks forward to celebrating another extraordinary collection of First Nations art in 2024 as the Exhibition Partner.”

Darryl Dempster, an independent artist who has previously exhibited work as part of Revealed, has been selected to present a spotlight exhibition at the Fremantle Arts Centre. An emerging, non-verbal artist hailing from Esperance, Dempster uses a raw, joyful, and free-spirited style of painting to express his thoughts. His first solo exhibition includes mediums of textile and painting and will sit alongside the wider Revealed exhibition.

Artists participating in Revealed were selected from a panel of industry experts including Zali Morgan, a Wilman, Ballardong and Whadjuk Noongar artist and AGWA Assistant Curator; Stephen Gilchrist, a Yamatji writer, curator and Senior UWA Lecturer of Indigenous Studies; JD Penangke, a Whadjuk, Ballardong and Eastern Arrente mural artist; and Michael Bonner, a Yanyuwa and Jingili curator and researcher.

The judging panel paid particular attention to the techniques being applied by artists and the relevance of these techniques to the local area.

The opening night for Revealed 2024 is on Thursday, 9 May with Revealed Art Market returning to the front lawn of the Fremantle Arts Centre on Saturday, 11 May from 10am – 5pm.

Revealed is supported by the WA State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries; and the Australian Government through the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program.

Image: Roslyn Padoon, My Mother Country, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 60 cm, image courtesy of the artist and Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency. 

FAC is proud to support artists in their craft, with our extensive studio and residency programs offering artists from all disciplines the opportunity to explore and develop ideas.

Sherry Quiambao

Sherry Quiambao is our current Artist in Residence, in the process of developing a body of work for an upcoming exhibition at Goolugatup Heathcote later this year. She intends to explore the intricate interplay of memory, cultural heritage, and materialism and investigate the ways in which we navigate our aspirations, through the mediums of still life photography, video, and sculptural installation.

Veiled in a Golden Hue will open on Sat 10 August, where Sherry will explore consumerism through the personal lens of family history. Reflecting on her mother’s 1980 migration from the Philippines to regional Australia, Quiambao examines the dynamics between personal ambitions and the societal inclination toward endless acquisition. Using photography, installation, and video, it invites consideration of the meaning of fulfilment, and the role that possessions play in forming our identities. Find out more about here exhibition here. 

During her residency in the lead-up to a film shoot scheduled this month, Quiambao has been working closely with local artist and choreographer Emma Fishwick, filmmaker Apurva Gupta, and performer Keana Mislang. This collaboration has been central to the creation of a new video work that will be launched at the exhibition.

Sherry is a multi-disciplinary artist of Filipino heritage, born and raised in regional Western Australia. Her work explores the relationship between found objects, memory, cultural heritage, and consumption. Using various mediums such as photography, sculpture, and installation, Quiambao challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with possessions and their impact on self-image and status. Her work often explores themes of identity, belonging, and the intersection between culture and consumerism.

She completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sculpture, at Curtin University in 2003, followed by postgraduate studies in art curation and secondary education. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia, the Philippines, and the United States of America.

For more information about FAC residencies contact [email protected]

Image credits:
Sherry Quiambao, ‘Holding on’, 2024. Archival pigment print
Sherry Quiambao, ‘Veil, walis, walis (Sweep, Sweep)’ 2024. Archival pigment print.
Sherry Quiambao, ‘Echoes: say oh te’, 2024. Archival pigment print

Quiambao acknowledges the generous support from the State of Western Australia through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

FAC is proud to support artists in their craft, with our extensive studio and residency programs offering artists from all disciplines the opportunity to explore and develop ideas.

Alexandra Kirwood + Stanton Cornish-Ward

This month we farewell Alexandra Kirwood & Stanton Cornish-Ward who work together under the alias Hiball, directing works specialising in moving image for the digital world. While undertaking their FAC residency the duo have developed their new project Composition for Mnemosyne, an installation consisting of a two-channel video work accompanied by six wall works which will be displayed for an A.I focused show at The Lock-up in November.

Their work explores the ‘machine gaze’ and ‘mediated body’, where the use of the human body and voice in the form of a youth choir act as conduits, symbolising Generation Alpha’s immersion in an increasingly synthetic online environment.

The video work features The Hunter Singers, a regional youth choir, translating and performing a synthetic A.I assisted score composed by long-time collaborator Mitchell Mackintosh, using their voices and hands to emulate digital sounds into a choral piece. Their vocal fluctuations score the second video channel, featuring cinematic tableaux of youth captured through a combination of live action and synthetically altered data. The wall works blend staged photographic scenes with synthetic imagery, coexisting within the same frame. Creating a feedback loop reflective of the evolving nature of our interactions with synthetic media.

Development imagery, courtesy of the artist.

Jen Datu

Jen Datu is a queer Filipinx emerging artist who remains at FAC until late April. Their multidisciplinary practice draws heavily on everyday experiences and personal histories to uncover hierarchies of power and hidden traumas. During their residency Datu continues to investigate the physicality of their Muay Thai training, playfully antagonising the boundaries of violence and spirituality through a bricolage of weavings, bodily imprints, B-grade American martial arts films and Catholic iconography.

Jen Datu, Blood and Bone. 2023. Photo by Guy Louden.

Sherry Quiambao

Sherry Quiambao is our current Artist in Residence, in the process of developing a body of work for an upcoming exhibition in July 2024. She intends to explore the intricate interplay of memory, cultural heritage, and materialism and investigate the ways in which we navigate our aspirations, through the mediums of still life photography, video, and sculptural installation.

Sherry is a multi-disciplinary artist of Filipino heritage, born and raised in regional Western Australia. Her work explores the relationship between found objects, memory, cultural heritage, and consumption. Using various mediums such as photography, sculpture, and installation, Quiambao challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with possessions and their impact on self-image and status. Her work often explores themes of identity, belonging, and the intersection between culture and consumerism.

She completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sculpture, at Curtin University in 2003, followed by postgraduate studies in art curation and secondary education. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia, the Philippines, and the United States of America.

Cim Sears

Cim Sears is a body of work being created for an exhibition at Gallery Central in June 2024. Cim is a multidisciplinary artist who works with printmaking processes, photography, ceramics and script. She travels long distances to the Western Desert where she draws on connections to explore and discover narratives that are lost from memory and the historical landscape. She will be moving into new territory during her time at FAC, bridging cinematic moving images with print making processes, artists books and archives. It will invoke the form of her mother, a First Nations woman of the Western Desert who was stolen from her homeland as a very small child.

Walking on Country, Wongawol Station. 2019. Video still by Cim Sears.

For more information about FAC residencies contact [email protected]

You don’t have to be good at art for art to be good for you

Echoes of New Year’s resolutions past – promises to ‘eat better’ or ‘save money’, have come back to haunt us as we settle back into the routines of post-festive life.

Looking for motivation? Learning a new skill or hobby can have profound benefits for both mental and physical health, with the rush of endorphins after creating your first painting or sculpture linked to reduced stress, pain and improved well-being.

Dr Christina Davies, Director of the Centre for Arts, Mental Health and Wellbeing WA from the University of Western Australia said while people were familiar with doctors suggesting sport and physical activity in a bid to improve mood, the same could be said about singing, painting and listening to music. “Artistic pursuits should be encouraged in a similar way to physical activity and sports.” She said “The arts could be stigmatised or that adults could feel self-conscious about picking up a paintbrush. But for those who do overcome their doubts, the benefits could be unending. You don’t have to be good at art for art to be good for you,” she said. “Two hours a week of singing your heart out or sculpting something can release so much pent-up frustration or anxiety.”

Term 1 Creative Learning Courses Now on Sale

Explore over 80 Creative Learning courses (no previous experience required) for Term 1, which run on weekends, evenings or during the week from early February.  Create your own self-watering pot for your plant babies, learn to play the Ukulele or explore the basics of ceramics with award-winning tutor and artist Stewart Scambler. Traditionalist options including painting, drawing, jewellery and textiles are also available.

See the full course list here

FAC TUTORS

Fremantle Arts Centre takes immense pride in its strong ties with the arts community, particularly the dedicated tutors who continue to share their skills, experiences, and creative spirit. Our extensive tutor roster includes almost 50 practising artists and teachers who have been recruited for their passion for the arts, their warmth and extensive multi-disciplinary knowledge.

Meet our tutors here 

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-14/arts-program-improves-mental-health-mandurah/101954636

Photography by Jess Wyld.

Polarity: Fire & Ice to premier at Fremantle Arts Centre  

First Peoples reflect on the impact of the climate crisis across the world.

Polarity: Fire & Ice, an exhibition of immersive film and photographic works of artists living in Australia, the Arctic and Canada will showcase at the Fremantle Arts Centre from Sat, 10 February – Sun, 28 April 2024.

Polarity: Fire & Ice captures the impact of the climate catastrophe across the world, taking viewers on a journey to opposite ends of the planet – from the melting ice caps of the Arctic and Antarctica to the devastating summer fires that have become commonplace right here in Australia.

Described as an ‘exercise in contemporary truth telling,’ the exhibition is premiering in Australia as part of the Perth Festival.

Polarity: Fire & Ice is told through the voices of First Nations artists alongside non-Indigenous artists who work closely with First Peoples communities to consider climate change, care for Country and climate action.

Drawing on and advocating for the environmental knowledge and solutions harnessed by First Nations people across millennia, the exhibition aims to inspire cross-cultural understanding and support international climate change initiatives.

Glenn Iseger Pilkington, Visual Arts Curator, commented: “Polarity: Fire & Ice transforms the galleries into immersive, salient and challenging reflections upon the climate emergency, as it unfolds in on and within land, river, sea and icescapes, across our interconnected planet. Through the voices of First Peoples, and settler artists who work collaboratively with First Peoples, the exhibition, opening during the peak of the Australian summer, connects our choices to global impacts which seem a world away. Importantly, the work within Polarity, reminds us of the enduring ecological knowledges of First Peoples, knowledge that can hold the keys to finding ways to mitigate the climate catastrophe.”

Twelve visual works will premier in Australia as part of the exhibition. A major new cinematic work will be unveiled for the first time titled Chanamee, Never Die, 2023, commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre and the Indigenous Desert Alliance. Artist Tim Georgeson journeyed deep into the Tanami Desert with the Karrinyarra people to create Chanamee, Never Die, 2023, bringing Indigenous lore to life through art.

The exhibition features award-winning film and photographic artists: Tim Georgeson (Australia, x 2 works – solo and in collaboration with the Fremantle Arts Centre and Indigenous Desert Alliance), Adam Sébire (Norway), Maureen Gruben (Canada), and Dr Cass Lynch in collaboration with and Mei Swan Lim (Australia).

Polarity: Fire & Ice aims to offer viewers a saliant reminder of the interconnectedness of the planet and the global concern that climate change poses.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS/WORKS 

Tim Georgeson’s cinematic journeys, titled Pyrogenesis and Chanamee, Never Die, 2023 (in collaboration with the Fremantle Arts Centre and Indigenous Desert Alliance), reflect on the unprecedented environmental disaster of the 2019 / 2020 Australian bushfires that unfolded across the country. Fuelled by record-breaking heatwaves, prolonged drought, and strong winds, the fires left a lasting impact on both human and natural ecosystems.

The once-stable ice in the Arctic and Antarctic regions continues to diminish at a rapid pace, posing severe consequences for the planet and to humanity. Artic-based artist and filmmaker Adam Sébire’s immersive audio-visual work Sikujumaataarpoq is based on Uummannaq Island, a remote Indigenous Inuit settlement in Greenland. Filmed during the 3-month polar night, it highlights the profound changes to everyday life and traditions felt as a result of melting ice in the Arctic Circle.

Stitching My Landscape by Inuvialuk artist Maureen Gruben unfolds upon expanses of frozen ocean, near Ibyuq Pingo, south-west of the artist’s homelands at Tuktoyaktuk (Northwest Territories, Canada). Ibyuq is estimated to be at least 1000 years old and features deeply in local cultural memory. The installation, represented through film, draws on the artists memories of her brother harvesting seal, and the fresh string of gut, laid along the fresh white snow. Consisting of 111 ice holes connected with red broadcloth and installed on April 23rd in 2017, the installation extended for nearly a thousand feet. Informed through stories passed down in her community, Stitching My Landscape reminds us how much knowledge, wisdom and self-hood is held within icescapes, and the annual return of ice and snow.

Nyoongar researcher and writer Cass Lynch and artist Mei Swan Lim will present audiovisual work Dampland, exploring Nyoongar storytelling and memories of place handled down over thousands of years. Dampland shares Indigenous science and traditional ecological knowledge about natural cycles, referencing the last ice age and rise in sea level that followed. Listeners are taken on a journey through time, across the Darling Scarp, Swan Coastal Plain, to Wadjemup, or Rottnest.

The Fremantle Arts Centre has partnered with Carbon Positive Australia to ensure the exhibition is carbon neutral.

From your artsy auntie to your difficult to buy for father-in-law, FAC is your one-stop shop for meaningful gifts. There is no need to step foot into a department store this silly season!

We’ve compiled some of our favourite gifts from FAC, just the tip of the iceberg of what can be discovered in the treasure trove that is FOUND, our curated gift shop of local wares. We encourage you to pop in, chat to our knowledgeable staff and pick the perfect gift for your loved ones.

Can’t decide? Grab a gift voucher – they can be used at FOUND or for art courses, memberships and artworks.

Support local, handmade and sustainable gifts from Fremantle Arts Centre this Christmas. FOUND is proud to support and represent Western Australian artists and craftspeople since 1976.

MUM
1) Cottesloe Beach Linen Tea Towel — $33
2) Ceramic Coaster, Rainbow Container by Tamsin Richardson — $11
3) Mega Liquid mismatched earrings by Kate Sale – $80
4) Cushion Cover, 40cm Better World Arts — $65
5) Amphora Scarf, 100% Silk Crepe de Chine by Rose Megirian — $280
6) Woven Basket, Sian Bouchard — $260
7) Gift Voucher —Assorted values

GRANDPARENTS
1) Hand-Drawn Wall Decal Rooster by Anna Louise Richardson — $52.50
2) Porcelain Vessel, Khaki by Felicity Bodycoat — $170
3) Jarrah Grinders by Mark Nagtzaam — from $129
4) Saltlake Jazz Travel Cup | Large by Annemieke Mulders — $60
5) Resin Earrings by Lisa Gardner — $85
6) Natural Edge Bowl | Mallee by Roger Symons — $318

KIDS
1) Hand-Drawn Wall Decal Cat by Anna Louise Richardson — $52.50
2) Kid’s Red Cranes T-shirt by Mokoh Design — $28
3) Magpie Mobile by Bridget Farmer — $38
4) Fremantle Sketchbook, by Neighbourhood Press 188x260mm — $45
5) Tiger Artwork by Shaun Tan — $225
6) Woollen T-Rex Toys by Julia Warren — $90 each

DAD
1) Tales From the Inner City by Shaun Tan — $35
2) Beard Oil by Hunter Gatherer Apothecary — $30
3) The The Tickets — at Fremantle Arts Centre, 27/11/24 — $110 each
4) Ngurra Tie by Bugai Whyoulter by One of Twelve — $80
5) Kulyakartu Ngurra Tie by Wokka Taylor by One of Twelve — $80
6) Pen, Jarrah by Roger Symons — $34

UNDER $30

1) Paper Star, 20x20cm, by Lynette Nangala Brown, Better World Arts — $8.25
2) Paper Star, 20x20cm, by Damien & Yilpi Marks, Better World Arts — $8.25
3) Bahen & Co Artisan Chocolate — $9.90
4) Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street — Books at Manic — $28
5) Baby on board Bumper Sticker by Carla Adams — $10
6) Red Dirt Soap — $12
7) Western Australia as You’ve Never Seen It Before by Jim Ward — $20
8) Pear Hardcover Notebook — $20
9) At The Bookshop Memory Game — $26​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

FOUND is open 9am-5pm everyday until Christmas.

Callout to Aboriginal artists announced as Revealed marks a turning point under AACHWA’s leadership

For the first time in its history the WA Aboriginal art showcase Revealed will be in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hands, as the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia takes the reins for 2024. Revealed is an annual program that brings WA Aboriginal arts centres and independent artists to Perth for an exhibition, art market, and more. Since its inception in 2008 it has grown into an unmissable event on the arts calendar.

AACHWA’s leadership ushers in a new era of self-determination for Revealed. As an Aboriginal-led and governed body, AACHWA provides a genuine and deeply rooted perspective on the Aboriginal art scene across Western Australia and has a profound understanding of the needs and aspirations of artists and communities.

Revealed will now become an integral part of AACHWA’s unwavering commitment to art creation, cultural strength, best practice, and the wellbeing of Aboriginal artists.

For the past eight years Fremantle Arts Centre has been home to the annual exhibition and art market and will stay on as a partner to support AACHWA in the delivery of Revealed 2024.

In 2023 the exhibition featured more than 100 Aboriginal artists from remote, regional and metropolitan WA, presenting a wide range of mediums including painting, animation, printmaking, textiles, sculpture and multimedia works—each one revealing unique narratives of Country, culture and regional life.

AACHWA Chief Executive Officer Chad Creighton said the team at Fremantle Arts Centre had made an important contribution towards making Revealed WA’s biggest Aboriginal art market.

“We thank them for their care for WA Aboriginal artists and for their careful curation of the Revealed exhibition,” he said.

“Bringing together AACHWA’s deep connections with Aboriginal art centres and artists and FAC’s experience with Revealed promises to make the 2024 edition a huge success.

“We also offer our thanks to the State Government of WA, through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries for their support and for entrusting AACHWA with this important WA cultural event.”

FAC Acting Director Olwyn Williams said, “Since inception, Revealed has been key to building the profile of new and emerging Aboriginal artists across Western Australia.”

“Fremantle Arts Centre is honoured to have been part of that development and look forward to being the Exhibition partner as AACHWA presents Revealed 2024”.

AACHWA is thrilled to announce the callout to WA art centres and independent artists for Revealed exhibition submissions. For Revealed 2024, each art centre is invited to nominate up to three artists to feature three works each.

Revealed Art Centre Submissions:
OPEN Thursday 7th December 2023
CLOSE 11:59pm, Sunday 11th February 2024

Visit https://www.fac.org.au/for-artists/revealed-2024-exhibition-submissions-now-open/ to complete the submission form or email [email protected] for more details.

Revealed Exhibition Opening 6pm, Friday 10 May 2024
Revealed Art Market Saturday, 11 May 2024, details TBC

For further information, interviews or images please contact: [email protected] or AACHWA  CEO, Chad Creighton; email [email protected], phone 0419 163 584.

About AACHWA:
The Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of WA (AACHWA) is the peak advocacy and resource agency for Aboriginal art centres in Western Australia, and the only Aboriginal-led and governed body of its kind. It was established in 2009 to meet a sector need identified during Revealed and was incorporated in 2015. Led by an Aboriginal board of directors drawn from member centres across WA’s administrative regions, AACHWA’s primary objective is to celebrate the strength of Aboriginal art and culture by promoting, empowering, and connecting over 2,000 artists across 40 communities over 2 million square kilometres, with the aim of encouraging sustainable growth and commercial stability.

About Fremantle Arts Centre:
Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) is a creative campus committed to fostering a home of innovation and inspiration, collaboration and curiosity, risk-taking and rigour. FAC is both a cultural and a learning precinct situated in Walyalup (Fremantle) on Whadjuk Nyoongar Boodjar in the centre of a city celebrated for its heritage, creativity, and passionate community.

Revealed is proudly sponsored by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Your Guide to Bazaar 2023  

W.A.’s favourite Christmas makers market, proudly sponsored by Muse at Artisan Place, is almost here, with 50 local artisans ready to wow with their latest wares, including fashion, jewellery, textiles, ceramics, woodwork, toys, prints, stationery and more on offer.  

We’ve compiled a handy guide to Bazaar 2023 to help make the most of your visit: 

When and Where is Bazaar? 

Bazaar runs from 5.00pm-9.00pm Fri 1st December and 9.00am-5.00pm Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd Dec and is located at the Fremantle Arts Centre, 1 Finnerty Street Fremantle.  

Entry 

Entry is $2 per adult, kids under 12 are free (payable by card or cash). 

Shopping  

All stallholders, our front gate and all food vendors are fully equipped with card facilities. 

Cash payments for products can be processed at reception. Fremantle Arts Centre gift vouchers can also be used at reception. 

Parking  

Limited free street parking is available on Finnerty, Ord and Vale Streets. Paid Parking is available on neighbouring John Curtain College’s oval for a $5 fee.  

Parking is also available at Fremantle Leisure Centre for a small fee. 

Alternatively, take public transport. FAC is a short 10-minute walk from Fremantle train station with several bus routes stopping nearby. Head to the Transperth Journey Planner to find your best route. 

ACROD Parking  

Fremantle Arts Centre has reserved limited ACROD bays in the top carpark. Access to these bays are via our top gate entrance off Finnerty Street and is controlled by Security on event days. Please present your ACROD pass to the security guard on the gate and if we have bays available, we will accommodate you. 

BYO shopping bag 

While some stallholders have bags available upon purchase, it’s a good idea to bring along your own shopping bag to ensure you get all your goodies home safe and sound. 

Check the map 

We have large Bazaar maps positioned across the site to help you find what you might be looking for. 

Photo Ops  

Want a gorgeous festive photo on the FAC grounds? Head to the iconic concrete couch in the front garden and discover our Christmas set-up. Arrange your people accordingly and ask a Christmas fairy, friend, passerby or FAC staffer to take a snap on your mobile.  

Make sure you share using the #FACBazaar on Instagram and tag @fremantleartscentre ! 

Ahead of the event search the #FACBazaar hashtag for a sneak peek at all the amazing products you can expect to find at Bazaar and to follow stallholders you love. 

Meet the makers  

There’s nothing better than directly supporting makers and artisans. Take the time to chat with the people who have made the items you’re loving. They are more than happy to tell you more about their range and how their products are made. 

Food & Drink Offerings  

There will be lots of delicious food options to choose from to keep your energy up while you shop. Head to the food court area at the rear of the building to find a selection of delicious meals from an array of food vendors and a fully stocked bar (open from 5pm on Friday and 12pm Sat + Sun). 

This year’s food vendors include: Thien Kim Vitenamese, My Goz, La Paleta, Wild Bakery and Clean Tasty Dirty. 

We will also have a water station, so bring your refillable water bottle. 

Entertainment  

City of Fremantle’s Buster the Fun Bus will be in the inner courtyard all weekend.  

Friday evening will feature Christmas carols from our very own FAC Yeah! Community Choir led by songstress Natalie Gillespie.  

The weekend mornings will host FAC Christmas Fairies from Ladybird Entertainment to delight the little ones.  

And be sure to pop in and check out our current exhibitions Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices – a travelling exhibition presenting work by 12 Australian artists who reimagine textiles and fibre. Special Treat is also on display, a gorgeous collection of beachcombed ‘treats’ recreated into unique works of art.  

Plus, don’t forget to leave your mark on our communal art project the Weaving Wall.  

Lastly, please leave your doggo at home. We love dogs but they’re not permitted within FAC grounds. 

Have a fabulous weekend of browsing and shopping!  

Fremantle Arts Centre presents Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices

A major exhibition of experimental textiles and fibre practices by leading Australian practitioners.

The Fremantle Arts Centre is pleased to announce a major exhibition of work by twelve Australian artists who reimagine textiles and fibre art. ‘Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices’ runs from Saturday, 4 November to Sunday, 28 January 2024 and is co-curated by Karen Hall and Catherine Woolley.

It includes new commissions and recent works by Akira Akira, Sarah Contos, Lucia Dohrmann, Mikala Dwyer, Janet Fieldhouse, Teelah George, Paul Knight, Anne-Marie May, John Nixon, Kate Scardifield, Jacqueline Stojanović, and Katie West.

The exhibition takes its title from a 1957 essay by celebrated Bauhaus artist Anni Albers who sought to rethink weaving through the lens of architecture, interpreting textiles as fundamentally structural and endlessly mutable. The exhibition presents works that experiment with materiality, spatial fluidity, and process and features painting, assemblage, sculpture, video, sound, and installation. It reflects artists’ use of textiles and fibre to chart social and cultural change, respond to historical modes of production and representation, and test formal properties through weaving, embroidery, knitting, and sewing.

Fremantle Arts Centre Exhibition Manager Pete Volich commented: “We are thrilled to host major exhibition Pliable Planes at the Fremantle Arts Centre for our 50^th birthday year. This exhibition features works which challenge and redefine the very essence of what textiles look like. Pliable Planes has brought together a diverse group of talented artists from across Australia, highlighting the many unique ways in which contemporary textile art can be created.”

Exhibition co-curator Karen Hall explains further: “The exhibition unites the work of practitioners who disrupt our understanding of how textiles and fibre are defined and used in contemporary practice. The exhibition highlights dynamic approaches to making from artists who weave with porcelain, unravel paintings on canvas, and create sonic representations of needlepoint.”

Commissioned by UNSW Galleries, seven artists have created new works for the project. They include Ramsay Prize winning artist Sarah Contos, who subverts conceptions of weaving or knitting as a ‘soft’ practice by casting in aluminium while also incorporating her signature DIY aesthetic. While, Kate Scardifield has created a new ‘textile wind instrument’ that explores the interplay between body and material, the natural elements and landscape.

The exhibition also features important collaborative works by John Nixon and Jacqueline Stojanović. Nixon completed half of the collaboration before his death in 2020, and Stojanović finished her part in 2021. The works combine their respective practices — constructed painting and weaving — evidencing the enduring exploration of abstraction across different generations.

An extension to Pliable Planes exhibition, the Fremantle Arts Centre is inviting the community to take part in the making of a piece of large-scale textile artwork, Social Fabric, in which donated fabric will be woven together on a loom across the life of the exhibition.

Running alongside Pliable Planes is exhibition ‘Special Treat’ by artist Dionne Hooyberg, which invites audiences to become lost in a joyful exhibit of colourful patterns and textures. A collection of beach-combed and crafted treasures, A Special Treat is a showcase of Hooyberg’s extensive skills in ceramics, drawing, textiles, and collecting. Curated by Mariann Pugh.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION / ARTISTS

‘Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices’ is a UNSW Galleries touring exhibition presented with the support of the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia touring initiative, the Australia Council for the Arts, and Museums & Galleries NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication designed by Small Tasks featuring new scholarship by writers and curators Sophia Cai, Katie Dyer, and Vikki McInnes.

AKIRA AKIRA (b. 1981 in Kobe, Japan. Lives and works in Boorloo/Perth) is a visual artist whose sculptural spatial practice is centred around notions of abstraction, embodied practices, and intuitive experimentation with processes and materials.

SARAH CONTOS (b. 1978, Boorloo/Perth. Lives and works in Warrane/Sydney) works across mediums creating sculptural installations and assemblages which revolve around themes of femininity, sexuality and materiality. Contos is particularly interested in the relationships between objects and the viewer’s autonomous associations with them.

LUCIA DOHRMANN (b. 1967. Lives and works in Tarndanya/Adelaide) is a visual artist whose works explore and extend the possibilities of traditional painting materials. Repetitious handmade textile processes give a softness and warmth, creating tactile surfaces that mark the passing of laboured time where unmaking becomes making.

MIKALA DWYER (b. 1959, Warrane/Sydney. Lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is predominantly installation-based, in which she constructs idiosyncratic, personal spaces within the conventional architecture of the gallery, using materials that have a strong association with the body.

JANET FIELDHOUSE (b. 1971, Gimuy/Cairns. Lives and works in Gimuy/Cairns) is a First Nations artist from the Meriam Mer (Torres Strait) working with ceramic clay and found materials to draw upon her matrilineal connections to the Torres Strait Islander communities as well as her father’s European heritage. Her objects are instilled with experiences and ideas sourced from family, culture, storytelling and interaction with First Nation peoples.

TEELAH GEORGE (b. 1984, Boorloo/Perth. Lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne) is a visual artist whose practice incorporates painting, textiles, sculpture and installation. Her woven and painted surfaces are built in response to oral histories, archives, photographs and fragmented timelines.

PAUL KNIGHT (b. 1976, Warrane/Sydney. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany) is a visual artist interested in how intimacy is constructed and communicated through a practice which includes both photography and textiles. With remarkable candour, he documents private moments that are at once banal and emotionally charged. 

ANNE-MARIE MAY (b. 1965, Naarm/Melbourne. Lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne) is a visual artist working across diverse mediums including sculpture, installation and design to undertake explorations of colour, abstraction and space. A long-standing interest in architecture, craft, making and materiality informs her experimentation with process and the production of objects.

KATE SCARDIFIELD (Lives and works in Warrane/Sydney) is a visual artist with a research-driven, interdisciplinary and experimental studio practice. Driven by material investigation and deeply invested in archival and collection-focused research, her work spans textiles, sculpture, installation and video to explore relationships between the body, site and space.

JACQUELINE STOJANOVIĆ (b. 1992. Lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne) is a visual artist whose practice incorporates textiles, drawing, and installation. Foregrounding an interest in the history of the handmade, her practice examines the geographic iterations of early art forms, paying particular attention to symbol, motif and the underlying feminine qualities early crafts have in production and metaphor.

JOHN NIXON (b. 1949, Warrane/Sydney. Died 2020, Naarm/Melbourne) An influential Australian abstract artist whose career was defined by an ongoing dedication to geometric abstraction. Spanning more than half a century from the late 1960s, his formal experiments and innovation concerned both minimalism and maximalism, encompassing painting collage, photography, video, dance and experimental music performance.

KATIE WEST (b. 1988, Boorloo/Perth. Lives and works in Boorloo/Perth) is a Yindjibarndi artist from the Pilbara region in Western Australia. She combines naturally dyed textiles, installation, sound, and social practice to formulate ways to enact custodianship in colonised and ecologically-compromised contexts.