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.

Bazaar maker’s market returns to Fremantle Arts Centre in 2023 with a bumper line up of WA artisan vendors.

Western Australia’s most loved Christmas market will be held December 1 – 3, treating marketgoers to a smorgasbord of bespoke, locally-made arts and craft wares. Now in its 44th year, Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) is thrilled to announce their curated list of 45 stallholders for the 2023 Bazaar Christmas Makers Market. Vendors will gather on the Arts Centre’s grassy lawns, hand selected for being of the highest calibre and designed and created in W.A. An enjoyable and unique Christmas shopping experience, the Bazaar market offers everything from crafts and homewares to fashion, jewellery, textiles, ceramics, woodwork, toys, prints, stationery and more.

FAC is also very pleased to announce its first major sponsor, neighbouring property development, Muse at Artisan Place by Edge Visionary Living and DevelopmentWA. Acting Director Olwyn Williams commented, “The Bazaar market has been part of Fremantle Arts Centre since 1979, when it was known as the Annual Crafts Fair. So much more than a traditional market, the event brings the community together and offers an antidote to the usual stress of Christmas shopping. As we celebrate 50 years of art at FAC, we are delighted to have found such a befitting partner in Muse at Artisan Place with a commitment to Arts and Culture at its core.” Muse is the first in a collection of inspired buildings at Artisan Place, and Edge Visionary Living Managing Director Gavin Hawkins said the Bazaar represented the perfect opportunity to present the vibrant new residential and arts precinct located on Vale Street in Fremantle’s east end.

“Artisan Place incorporates art studios and galleries, makers spaces, and a performing arts centre, and will help to connect residents with a community of like-minded neighbours at the Fremantle Arts Centre,”Mr Hawkins said. “We are very proud to be extending this commitment to the local arts scene, as the inaugural sponsor of the Fremantle Arts Centre Christmas Bazaar. “It is a privilege to contribute to such a vibrant event that is paramount in bringing locals and visitors together to enjoy the atmosphere while supporting the local arts scene. Muse will only add to the vibrancy of this very special neighbourhood,” Mr Hawkins said.

Some of the talented makers on offer at the market include ceramicist and art therapist Anthea Carboni of Yuniko Studio, with a range of hand made ceramics and textiles. Anthea is heavily influenced by Japanese design, and the concept of ‘wabi sabi’- beauty in imperfection. Not to be missed is timber artisan Mark Nagtzaam with a selection of works including wooden boards and kitchen utensils primarily made from reclaimed timber, sourced near his workshop in the South West of Western Australia. Lisa Gardner will display her resin jewellery made with organic materials including native grasses, foliage, flowers and shells; seamlessly integrated into resin. Bazaar regular Njalikwa Chongwe brings his ceramic vessels infused with themes drawn from his African heritage and coastal influences. Njalikwa embraces techniques found in Asian ceramics as well as practices used by traditional African potters – a true ‘melting pot’ and convergence of many cultures.

Collage artist Meagan Gardiner will also have a stall featuring her three-dimensional miniature shadow boxes containing found objects ranging from seashells from the Australian coastline to native seeds and wildflowers from the bush, and more recently, watch parts, Kalgoorlie gold and iron ore.

Fremantle Arts Centre will also continue to foster emerging makers through its incubators program. The Incubator Program involves subsidised stallholder fees, mentoring and support for craftspeople in their first five years, and is part of the Fremantle Arts Centre’s continued commitment to nurturing the careers of emerging makers. This year sees the program supporting four stalls, including Fish Apple Rugs, Koro, Love Lamps and MEG Ceramics.

As per previous years shoppers may rest their feet and appreciate delicious food and beverage offerings from a range of food vendors. What’s more, this year on the Friday evening Christmas lovers will also enjoy carols by the Arts Centre’s very own FAC Yeah! Community Choir.

Stallholders

Ceramics
Zinongo Studio
Yuniko Studio
Deep Earth Ceramics
SWALÕ CERAMICS
Ceramics by Danica & Beste
Ceramics by Holly O’Meehan
Forrest Road Studios
Gather Ceramics
Two Stories

Jewellery & Fashion
Kor by Lisa Gardner
Violet Clark Studio
The ANJELMS Project
Annette Wiguna
Belen Berganza
Carmel Fasolo Designs & Daphneling.gt Designs
Claire Townsend Design
Clay + Metal
convict
daniel(ink.)
i j e w e l l e r y
Jewellers & Metalsmiths Group of Australia (WA) Inc
Native Needle
Patong/Alison Bullock
Pixelcat Co
Saltwater Sapphires
Sewing Machine Activist: Miranda Green
Susannah Kings-Lynne Jewellery
Tineke Creations Jewellery

Furniture & Homewares
Nagtzaam
Anne Gee
ELIA Balms & Blends
Melting Pot Glass Studio
nikked glass
Nook & Corner Furniture
tony docherty
Turner + Turner

Print works & Art
Semblance
Braw Paper Co.
Map Journal

Incubator Program
Fish Apple Rugs
Koro
Love Lamps
MEG Ceramics

Indigenous
Jalbi Australia and The Natural Food Emporium
HOOSH Designs & The Mango Silk Collective

Bringing together voices of cultural ambassadors, academics and emerging leaders, this panel discussion, moderated by First Nations advocate Emma Garlett (Noongar, Yamatji & Nyiyaparli Peoples), explores the legal, cultural and social complexities and benefits of a Voice to Parliament, an ambition articulated through the Makarrata: The Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017.

SPEAKERS

• Emma Garlett – Moderator

Emma Garlett (Noongar, Yamatji & Nyiyaparli Peoples) is a First Nations woman who applies an Indigenous lens to current issues and seeks to educate others to bring them on a journey of reconciliation to make a better Australia for all. Emma is passionate about justice, law reform and ensuring First Nations people are involved in decisions which affect them. Emma has experience working in academia, industry, media and as a lawyer. Emma is an advocate for the Voice to Parliament as often speaks publicly about how constitutional reform will support First Nations Peoples self-determination, and increase agency and autonomy for First Nations communities nationally.

• Carol Innes – Panelist

Carol Innes (Nyoongar Peoples) is a Co-Director of an Aboriginal Led project Danjoo Koorliny – Walking Together. 2029 marks the milestone of 200 years of colonisation in Western Australia. The work focusing on social, cultural, environmental and economic impact on Aboriginal people and what barriers need to shift in policy and programs.Building better relationships across all sectors. Respect, Recognition Identity and Belonging. A mentor, consultant, Board Director and project manager. Carol is currently Co-Chair of Reconciliation WA and a Board member Art Gallery of WA. Carol has worked in not for profit organisations, arts and cultural organisations; State and Federal governments agencies and Aboriginal controlled community organisations.

• Stephen Gilchrist – Panelist

Belonging to the Yamatji people of the Inggarda language group of northwest Western Australia, Dr Stephen Gilchrist is Senior Lecturer in the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia. He is a writer and curator who has worked with the Indigenous Australian collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2003-2005), the British Museum, London (2008), the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2005-2010), and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College (2011-2013). Stephen has curated numerous exhibitions in Australia and the United States and has written extensively on Indigenous Art from Australia. He has taught Indigenous Art in Australia and in the United States. He works with major Australian and international institutions and contributes to the international dialogues surrounding the scholarship and interpretation of Indigenous art and culture with a focus on Indigenous curation as an expression of sovereignty.

• Sophie Coffin – Panelist

Sophie Coffin is a proud Palyku, Ngangumarta and Yindjibarndi lawyer from the Pilbara. Sophie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Indigenous Studies and Juris Doctor degrees from UWA. She is currently the Principal Associate to Chief Justice Quinlan at the Supreme Court. Sophie is particularly interested in intellectual property law, Aboriginal economic development, and early intervention in the criminal justice system. As a WA Youth Representative of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Sophie volunteers a lot of time educating the community. In addition, Sophie guest lectures and tutors at UWA law school, and assists in state-wide cultural security audits. Since winning Miss NAIDOC in 2018, Sophie has spoken at a number of events across the state, including the WA Police’s historic Formal Apology to Aboriginal peoples. Sophie is also an alumni of the US Department of State’s International Visitors’ Leadership Program, through which Sophie learnt about Indigenous Leadership from Native American peoples. Sophie has presented at conferences on Indigenous education and leadership in Toronto, Hawaii and Vietnam. Sophie enjoys getting back up north to spend time with family.

• Tyson McEwan – Panelist

Tyson McEwan is a proud Bardi and Kariyarra man from the Pilbara region of WA. Recently graduated from his law degree at UWA. Tyson is a graduate at a Perth law firm. Tyson is a WA Uluṟu youth representative since the inaugural Uluṟu youth dialogues in Carins 2019. Tyson volunteers his time to share his perspective and thoughts about the proposed referendum and the Uluṟu statement from the heart. In 2018, Tyson studied abroad in Portland Oregon where he lived in the United States for 6 months.

Sunday Music 2023 – 2024 MEDIA Release

Fremantle Arts Centre Sunday Music program announced: a diverse lineup championing emerging artists

This year marks 50 years of the Fremantle Arts Centre and over 40 years of their iconic Sunday Music offering. To celebrate, they have announced a diverse and memorable lineup, ranging from visionary electro pop, indie rock and psychedelic funk to soulful jazz offerings.

Sunday Music is Fremantle Arts Centre’s beloved free weekly summer concert series, held in the lush greenery of the front garden. Returning for the season on Sunday October 1^st the epic seven-month season will present the best in local and nationally touring musicians, with a particular emphasis on emerging talent.

Fremantle Arts Centre Acting-Director Olwyn Williams said, “Sunday Music has been part of Fremantle Arts Centre’s history since 1981 when it was originally known as Courtyard Music. Since then it has evolved into one of the most anticipated ongoing events in the local music calendar, showcasing a diverse range of musicians and acts. In this, our 50^th Anniversary Year, we are pleased to offer a greater breadth of talent than ever before, giving our visitors a really exciting showcase every Sunday.”

Just a selection of highlights for this year include emotionally charged alt-pop outfit Joan & The Giants, recent winners of 3x WA Music Awards including ‘Song Of the Year’ and ‘Outstanding Indigenous’. The band has been described as “Poignant, heartfelt, and achingly raw” and have embarked on multiple sold out WA tours in the last few years.

Freo favourites gypsy ska band The Witchy Djypsies, hailing from Witchcliffe in the Southwest will perform on the 8^th October. The high energy, eclectic international 7-piece incorporates their musical backgrounds from France, Guadeloupe, Czech Republic, The Netherlands and Australia and are known to “cast a musical spell on their audience.”

Also from regional WA is Sash Seabourne, who will take to the stage on the 25^th February with his rousing acoustic act. A recent WAM Award winner and Top 10 finalist on Australian Idol, Seaborne is a fast-rising folk artist who combines intricate compositions with bare-face lyricism. Another emerging regional artist is Alexia Parenzee of Geraldton who plays on 14^th January. Combining lush soul vocals and finger-picking grooves, Alexia’s soulful acoustic act is smooth and striking, exploring stories of connection and identity.

Playing at the Arts Centres 50^th Anniversary celebrations on 26^th November is Hector Morlet, described by Rolling Stone as “a swooning crooner whose groovy and textured indie pop faintly recalls Unknown Mortal Orchestra.” The producer and multi-instrumentalist will share his groovy, retro-infused beats alongside alt-pop artist Ella Therese who performs earlier in the day.

The lineup also features some interstate offerings, with Turpentine Babycino who will share their loud rock and punk 90’s sounds on 18^th February. Hailing from Newcastle, the high energy band has two successful Australian tours under their belt, with their debut single placed no.1 on the Newcastle Live Radio Countdown 2022.

Sunday Music runs 1 October 2023 to 17 March 2024 from 2pm – 4pm in the Front Garden at Fremantle Arts Centre. For the full line-up and more information please head to fac.org.au

Immersive labyrinth of light, air and sound to pop up at Fremantle Arts Centre

Visitors to the Fremantle Arts Centre will be completely absorbed in a multi-sensory, maze-like light, air and sound experience, which will pop-up on the south lawn between 23 September – 8 October. Visiting Perth for the first time is the ‘Aborialis’ luminarium, the latest immersive experience from the UK creative powerhouse Architects of Air, which return to Australia after a 3-year hiatus.

Spanning multiple interconnected domes, the giant inflatable architectural structure stretches 45 metres long by 35 metres wide, totalling 1,000sq metres of glowing maze-like spaces. Upon entering, audiences are immersed in radiant and mesmerizing colour which is created from daylight shining through the luminarium’s fabric. The organic yet geometric form of the luminarium provides a labyrinth of twists and turns spanning tunnels and cavernous domes to wander and explore, with each new room creating different colours and mixes of lights, shapes, and patterns.

Inspired by the natural world, Arborialis is dedicated to trees and is designed to echo aspects of being lost in a forest – there are radiant canopies of leaves that stretch overhead, there are vibrant tree trunks rising from the ground beneath. The visual world of Arborialis is enhanced by the natural and spiritual sounds of the Song of Danu created by Irish composer Dr Michael Morris.

Olwyn Williams, Fremantle Arts Centre Acting Director, said that the Architects of Air installation promises to delight kids, adults and everyone in between.
“Audiences all over the world have marvelled at Architects of Air’s magical, multi-sensory luminariums for the past three decades, harnessing the simple power and beauty of light and form. The Fremantle Arts Centre is delighted to host the latest in this series of luminous immersive inflatable structures.” Architects of Air have been a global phenomenon since 1992 with more than three million visitors in over forty countries welcomed into the monumental, ephemeral luminaria.

Alan Parkinson, founder of Architects of Air, commented on the experience of the Arborialis luminarium.
“A Luminarium is designed to envelop the wandering visitors in radiant and subtle colour, bringing them to a transformative encounter with the phenomenon of light. I’m delighted to be presenting Arborialis on the South Lawn, the physical setting is a perfect frame for a structure themed around trees and the culture of accessibility of Fremantle Arts Centre makes it an ideal host.”

Architects of Air Aborialis luminarium will be open at the Fremantle Arts Centre daily from 9.00am until last admission at 5.45pm between Saturday, 23 September to Sunday 8 October. Audiences are encouraged to book online https://www.fac.org.au/

-ENDS-

For more information, please contact FAC Marketing Officer Ella Boekeman, [email protected]

The 46th Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Australia’s most prestigious and longest running print prize, will officially open at the Fremantle Arts Centre on 4 August 2023.

To celebrate the gallery’s 50^th birthday, 50 emerging, established, and cross disciplinary Australian artists will present work. The Print Award presents a diverse selection of prints and artist books. Visitors can expect to view pieces ranging from small to large-scale across a range of innovative and emerging print making methods, including 3D, textile, etching, lino and wood cut, digital and screen printing.

As Australia’s richest print prize, the winner will take home $16,000 and their work will be acquired for the City of Fremantle Art Collection, the largest municipal collection in WA. Second prize receives $6,000. The winners will be announced at the exhibition opening on 4 August. Fremantle Arts Centre curator, Glenn Iseger‑Pilkington, commented the awards seek to offer a true picture of the breadth of contemporary Australian printmaking with 60% of finalists from interstate in 2023:

“We’re excited to be presenting the 46th Print Award, and to be celebrating the Fremantle Art Centre’s 50th birthday. Once again, the Print Award features works that challenge the very questions of what printmaking is in there here and now. With works from almost every state and territory, the Print Award reflects the many unique approaches to print making from all around Australia, simultaneously celebrating both tradition and innovation in an ever-expanding field of creative practice.”

The Fremantle Arts Centre Print Awards 2023 is being judged by a panel of artists and academics including Annika Kristensen: Senior Curator, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne and Visual Arts Curator at Perth Festival; Timmah Ball: Writer, Artist and curator of Ballardong Noongar heritage; and Tom Mùller, Western Australian visual artist and co-founder and Artistic Director of the Fremantle Biennale.

Print Award judge, Annika Kristensen, commented the selected pieces for the exhibition will surprise and delight visitors:

“In addition to selecting individual works of quality, we kept in mind what the overall experience of the exhibition might be; selecting works of different styles, subjects and scale to create a dynamic mix of artworks that collectively represents the diversity of approaches to printmaking today – from traditional methods to more expanded understandings of the artform.”

Founded in 1976, just a few years after the establishment of the Fremantle Arts Centre, the prize was initiated as a way of attracting interstate artists and audiences to the gallery. Now in its 46^th year, the Print Awards is the Fremantle Arts Centre’s longest running exhibition series and attracts entries from a huge range of established and emerging artists from across Australia.

Previous winners have included NSW performer and artist Mike Parr, Fremantle based artist Sam Bloor, and Sally Morgan, one of Australia’s best known indigenous authors and artists.

The Fremantle Arts Centre Print Awards will run from 10am-5pm, 4 August – 22 October. The official exhibition opening will take place at 6pm on 4 August.

ABOVE: Tanya Singer, Trent Jansen & Errol Evans

• Cross-cultural design collaboration of timber furniture three years in the making
• Artforms respond to climate change and highlight the resilience of First Nations peoples
• Artists Tanya Singer, Errol Evans and designer Trent Jansen will give a public talk at Fremantle Arts Centre on 4 July 2023 as part of NAIDOC Week

Kuruṉpa Kuṉpu | Strong Spirit, a new body of collectible furniture, is exhibiting at the Fremantle Arts Centre until Sunday 23 July 2023.The collection of artforms is the result of a unique multi-year cross-cultural design collaboration between skilled First Nations wood punu artists Tanya Singer, Errol Evans, and non-Indigenous furniture designer Trent Jansen. The collaboration has aimed to highlight the resilience of First Nations People and ngura (Country) through crafting a body of 10 collectible works of furniture inspired by manta pilti (dry sand) and kutuji (shields).

In part a response to climate change experienced by the artists own communities in South Australia’s remote APY Lands, the collection shares the story of a rapidly warming and dehydrating landscape and the damage to ecosystems and native flora, Country, culture and community. It is a poignant reminder of the need for environmental responsibility and action.

Glenn Iseger Pilkington, Visual Arts Curator at the Fremantle Arts Centre commented:

“Kuruṉpa Kuṉpu | Strong Spirit is a celebration of excellence and of the incredible potential of meaningful, open and generous collaboration. We’re proud to have been involved in this project over the past three years, and to have been able to launch the exhibition here at Fremantle Arts Centre.
The works you see in the exhibition are the outcomes of years of discussion, consideration and exchange between three artists who herald from different parts of this place we call Australia, but which come together in a series of finely crafted design works that emerge from working together, across time and place, but also across cultures. In a year where this nation looks to its history, and to its future, reflecting on the exclusion of First Nations people from our Constitution, this exhibition is a salient reminder of what can be achieved when we all take time to listen to each other, and work together with a common goal.”

Our inaugural artist exchange program with Incheon Art Platform, South Korea provides the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for artists residing in Western Australia and South Korea to take part in a 3-month exchange program.

This year one WA artist will be selected to travel to Incheon to live and work at Incheon Art Platform for 3 months from September to November 2023. The exchange includes:

• Return airfare between Perth and Incheon (transfers included).
• $6000 to support studio costs and living expenses.
• Independent living quarters and studio with shared kitchen and workshop facilities.
• The opportunity to present your work in a 3-day open studio event late October, with support from IAP.

Incheon Art Platform (IAP) is a cultural and artistic complex built in Haean-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon as part of the Revitalization Project of the Old City Centre. The renovated historic port buildings form a creative hub that is IAP; a multi-faceted contemporary arts organisation that hosts National and International artists in a diverse artist in residence program across all forms of creative practice.

For more information, visit our residency page and Incheon Art Platform.

To be eligible you must be an artist whose primary place of residence and work is located within Western Australia.

EXCHANGE PROGRAM – APPLY NOW

Applications must be received by 11:59PM AWST July 9.

Applicants will be notified by July 18.

 Please note applications for the FAC and IAP exchange will only be accepted through the online form.

The winter sessions will not have a bar so please bring your own non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.

CONTACT US

Should you wish to discuss your application, or you require assistance completing your application (written, video or audio) please contact our team at [email protected]

Fremantle Arts Centre is thrilled to let our choir lovers know that we will continue to run FAC Yeah! throughout winter.

Beginning 7th June at the usual time of 7:00pm – 8:30pm, our community choir will be held fortnightly on Wednesday evenings at Sullivan Hall in White Gum Valley. Local music powerhouse, Natalie Gillespie will continue to lead you in song. Following winter, the choir will return to our beautiful gardens in October.

Pay what you can

To enable our beloved FAC Yeah! to run year-round, we have introduced a pay-what-you-can model to contribute to choir costs. We ask you to “pay what you can” at the door – as a guide we would suggest a contribution of $5. Donations will be accepted by card only! If you are not in a position to pay – we won’t ask you to – everyone will always be welcome at FAC Yeah!

Sullivan Hall Venue Information

2 Nannine Ave, White Gum Valley
Parking is available onsite.
The winter sessions will not have a bar so please bring your own non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.

Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) announces the 2023 return of Revealed: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists. Opening 5 May and running till 23 July, Revealed features a spectacular floor-to-ceiling display of more than 200 works by over 100 Aboriginal artists from remote, regional and metropolitan WA.

This year, artistic storytelling spills off the canvas into a range of diverse mediums, with vibrant paintings hanging alongside animation, printmaking, textiles, sculpture, photographic and multimedia works—each one revealing unique narratives of Country, culture and regional life.

According to FAC Director Anna Reece, “A cornerstone of the arts calendar, this nationally significant exhibition and art market provides a snapshot of the tremendous scale and diversity of First Nations art practice across multiple language and cultural groups in WA.”

“Revealed is an incredible opportunity for the community to experience the richness and vitality of Aboriginal art practice and to immerse themselves in the many First Nations stories, both ancient and contemporary, that make this place we call Western Australia so special.”

“We are grateful to the State Government of WA, through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries for their continued support which enables artists, communities, and audiences to collectively celebrate Western Australian Aboriginal culture.”

Artists were selected from a panel of industry experts including Nyoongar artist Sharyn Egan, Palyku author and curator Jessyca Hutchens, Bardi artist Ron Bradfield, and Nhanda and Nyoongar curator Glenn Iseger-Pilkington. The exhibition features 98 artists from 29 Aboriginal art centres across Western Australia, plus 18 independent artists.

According to FAC Curator Glenn Iseger-Pilkington, “From the upper reaches of the Kimberley to the desert plains of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Revealed brings the extraordinary artistic output from all corners of our state here to Walyalup (Fremantle)—showcasing Aboriginal art making in all of its diversity and complexity.”

“It is an absolute joy to see our galleries brought to life with the colours, textures and stories of Western Australia with works by artists at all stages of their careers, many of whom are seeing their works hung in a gallery for the first time, and others who are pushing boundaries with exciting new ways of working.”

A gallery-wide First Nations takeover, the Revealed program this year includes the popular opening celebration on Friday 5 May. A free public event, it will feature an Indigenous-style BBQ, a performance by the “most remote rock n roll band in the world”, Desert Stars from the Tjuntjuntjara community.

Taking place in-person at Fremantle Arts Centre for the first time since 2019, the Revealed Aboriginal Art Market returns for one day only, on Saturday 5 May. With more than 30 stalls selling original First Nations artworks including painting, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and carved artefacts at a range of price points, there is something for every art lover or budding collector. And with 100% of sales returned to the artists, the market provides an ethical, direct avenue for purchasing art by WA Aboriginal artists, all in one place.

For interviews or further information please contact Media Officer Rosamund Brennan via [email protected] or +61 (8) 9432 9565

Image: Stephanie Yukenbarri, Winpurpurla 2023, 91.4 x 61cm, acrylic on linen. Courtesy of Warlayirti Artists