The Cutting Edge
Cut and engraved glass
Some glass is shaped by blowing, some fashioned by a lathe, and some engraved like silver.
Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79)
All cut glass is barbarous
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
There was a rough stone age and a smooth stone age and a bronze age, and many years afterward a cut-glass age.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
The Cutting Edge illustrates various ways in which one of the great artistic traditions in the history of glass extends into the contemporary realm - and it does so specifically in relation to recent practice in Australia. Indeed this is the tradition of cutting, engraving and otherwise shaping or decorating glass as if it were an artificial hardstone conducive to being worked in the manner in which a skilled lapidary cuts and polishes gemstones.
The Cutting Edge program was developed by the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and the exhibition draws from their stunning National Art Glass Collection.
» Catalogue essay by Geoffrey Edwards
A Voice of the Soul
The furniture of Adrian Potter
Water is vital to life, as we understand it.
The presence, or absence of water is taken as a benchmark to the possibility of other life in our Solar System or the Universe.
That the relationship of Australia and Australian society to water should be explored and commented upon by an Australian artist is perhaps not surprising. However, that Adrian Potter has done this through the vehicle of a collection of beautifully composed, functional furniture possibly is.
» Article by Rodney C. Hayward
In the media this month
- The fundamentalist urge in contemporary ceramics.
Kevin Murray. Craft Culture - Appointment to Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board
ABC - Refining the art of assessing creative research.
Dorothy Illing. The Australian - The big screen
Margot Osborne. The Advertiser - Artopia artist gives us a sneak preview
Peter Dailey. 720 ABC Perth - Woolharra small sculpture prize
State of the Arts
Craft Australia's events calendars
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Craft Australia presents Craft Galleries Online
This month Craft Australia launches the inaugural Craft Galleries Online designed as an online initiative to promote Australian contemporary craft. Craft Galleries Online was developed in response to the need to bring greater visibility to commercial galleries that specialise in dealing in Australian craft and design. We also know that many national and international collectors and gallery goers want to know where to find good quality Australian craft and we anticipate the demand will increase with the focus on contemporary craft presented by the latest exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Transformations: the language of Craft.
Hosted on the Craft Australia website Craft Galleries Online will be promoted to the public by Promo Postcards with URL details directing visitors to the site. Pick up your hard copy of the Craft Galleries Online Promo Postcard at galleries and arts venues.
International craft collectors visit Australia
Craft export is a major lobby focus for Craft Australia having established the Craft Export Advisory Group (CEAG) to develop strategies for action in this field. One of CEAG's focus areas is to increase collectors' interest in Australian craft and design. Through Austrade initiatives a group of American visitors from the Mint Museum in America will be in Australia in November to look at Australian craft and design. While in Canberra Craft Australia, is hosting a special reception for the collectors to coincide with Transformations and to officially launch Craft Galleries Online.
This reception promotes the vitality of Australian contemporary craft and the international nature of this practice. It also recognises the bilateral cultural links between Australia and United States of America.
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A festival of contemporary craft
November in Canberra is proving to be a very dynamic and action packed time for contemporary craft. In fact, reading the mood from the Craft Australia desk one could be mistaken for thinking we are in the grip of a national craft festival.
Leading the charge of our 'craft festival' is the exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Transformations: the language of craft opening to the public on Friday 11 November and continuing till 29 January 2006. A must see on your Christmas holiday list of exhibitions to visit.
Made up of recent work by 85 leading international and Australian artists, Transformations presents vibrant expressions in the fields of glass, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewellery and metalwork. The exquisite works in this show challenge our perceptions of design, function and the meaning of materials. In conjunction with the exhibition is a conference and forum on 12 and 13 November.
There are some fabulous craft and design exhibitions around Australia not to be missed. A few highlights to whet your appetite.
Visual Arts Board is born
The Council has changed the name of its Visual Arts/Craft Board to the Visual Arts Board. After the Council's recent reorganisation gave the Board significant budget responsibility for funding new media art, it was considered appropriate to revise the Board's name. Media release
OzCo appoints New Community Partnerships Chair
The Australia Council has named the inaugural chair of its new Community Partnerships Committee. Timothy O’Loughlin, appointed to the Council last week as a community interest representative by Senator Rod Kemp, will take up the role as Chair of the new Committee. Media release
Visual Education Research
The National Review of Visual Education is finally underway. Three representatives of the education group of NVACN made their comments on a discussion paper prepared by the research team at a teleconference meeting of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is committed to seeing well researched and argued recommendations for change produced by mid-2006 to achieve better delivery of visual literacy training and visual arts, craft and design education in schools across the country. Background brief
Jubilee tapestry unveiled
The second Jubilee Tapestry, a gift from the Vice-Chancellor, Ian Chubb, on behalf of The Australian National University to University House for the Jubilee Year was unveiled in October. The second tapestry was in honour of the Nobel Prize winners Peter Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel for discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence.
Valerie Kirk the artist commissioned to undertake the making of the three tapestries introduces her work at the unveiling.
National Design Centre
The National Design Centre opens its doors on Saturday 29 October at Federation Square with its inaugural exhibition We’re home. The exhibition features a collection of designs and stories from across Australia.
NSW Indigenous Art Prize announced
The inaugural $20,000 Parliament of NSW Indigenous Art Prize has been awarded to Esme Timbery for her work, Blue Shellworked Bridges. Ms Timbery is a Bidjigal woman who hails from a long line of La Perouse shellworkers. The Prize was developed in collaboration with Campbelltown City Art Gallery to encourage greater recognition of Indigenous artistic traditions in New South Wales.
Murrumbidgee School of Creative Arts
Charles Sturt University Community Education is gearing up for another intensive week of art and craft on their Wagga Wagga campus in January. Email ltillman@csu.edu.au for details.
Craft Australia is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
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