Craft Australia news

1 June 2005

Craft Australia News is distributed free to subscribers every month. It presents information and news relating to the contemporary craft sector from a national perspective. Distribution within the sector is encouraged and new readers can subscribe for free on the Craft Australia website.
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This month

Gundaroo Woodfire 05
Image of kiln The Gundaroo Woodfire 05 international woodfire conference was held in April 2005 and was hosted by Ian Jones and Moraig McKenna at Old St. Luke's Church in Gundaroo. Ann McMahon reviews the conference.

"It was the moment of truth, the culmination of three years of planning by Moraig McKenna and Ian Jones, months of feverish organisational work and four days of firing. The final speeches had been made and as the jocular crowd followed master of ceremonies Ian Jones to the kiln an expectant quiet descended." Read the review

25 Years Monash Glass
Sophia Emmett - Untitled 2004 - blown glass Monash Univeristy's Faculty of Art and Design celebrates 25 years as one of the top glass education facilities in Australia with an exhibition showcasing 38 of their best graduates. 25 Years Monash Glass is a retrospective exhibition that acknowledges the high standard of Australian glass artists. Craft Australia, with kind permission of Monash Univsity Art and Design, has published the catalogue essay written by George Aslanis and Nick Wirdnam and includes images from the exhibition. Catalogue essay

Tom Rowney   New Work
Image of work by Tom Rowney Tom Rowney - New Work was part of the Cool Glass Hot Art 05 program held in Canberra during April and May 2005. Providing an opportunity for artists to share their work, ideas and approach with their peers and the wider public the program brought national and international glass artists to Canberra as a pre-curser to the Glass Art Society (GAS) conference held in Adelaide in May. Essay and artist statement

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News from Craft Australia

New look Australia Council
In July 2005, the Australia Council will implement changes to their organisation that were announced in December 2004. The Australian arts community has been vocal in their feedback to this restructure, and has demanded input into the process. Craft Australia has dedicated a great deal of time to this issue and has been active in representing the interests of the contemporary craft and design sector as a member of ArtsPeak, a lobby group of peak arts bodies representing the breadth of the Australian arts industry. Craft Australia has collated information about the restructure and how you will be affected by this change in an easy to find resource.

Craft Australia Research Centre
Papers presented at Challenging Craft the international conference held at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen in September 2004 have now been published on the Challenging Craft website. The topics discussed at the conference covered Approaching technology; Hybridity; The Academy; Craft articulating culture; and Cultures of display.

Craft Australia's President Kay Lawrence and Director Gilbert Riedelbauch presented the following papers at the conference.

The Challenging Craft conference has been included in the Craft Australia Research Centre Index where you can find a list of research and commissioned papers on contemporary craft and design.

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News from the sector

Director of Visual Arts/Craft appointed
Anna Waldman has been appointed the Director of Visual Arts/Craft. For the last 20 years, Ms Waldmann has worked with international, national and state art museums, galleries, craft organisations, contemporary art spaces and funding agencies on policy and program development, exhibition management, research and publications.

Visual Arts/Craft board appointment
Peter Bowles has been appointed to the VACB board until February 2008. An internationally renowned glass artist, Mr Bowles was born in Birmingham, England, and now lives in Perth where he is the co-founder and director of glass mad @ praxis galleries.

South Project - online forum
Recently launched, the online discussions generate a fertile source of dialogue for focus groups, debate on current issues and are research tools for artists and cultural workers. Visit The South Project online forum

oZmosis: a showcase of contemporary arts and design from Australia
A series of events will be held in Singapaore to showcase contemporary Australian art forms and include Asian Traffic, Dinosaur Designs and Contemporary Australia Studio Glass exhibition. Visit the Ozmosis website . Read article

National Design Centre announced
Details of Australia’s new National Design Centre was announced in Melbourne by Founder and Director, Kathy Demos. To occupy a prime position at Melbourne’s prestigious Federation Square, it will house a public gallery, information and education hub, retail outlet, and offer an annual program of exhibitions and events.

Australian Copyright Council
The Australian Copyright Council has updated their information sheets for visual artists, photographers, craft workers, graphic designers, fashion designers, illustrators, architects, galleries, museums who want to copy or use visual images, artworks or designs. Visit the Australian Copyright Council to download the information sheets

Books

Crunching the Arts
In September 2004 in the lead up to the Federal Election, artists and arts workers from south-west Sydney met in a roundtable forum to discuss the current policies of the Labor, Liberal, Greens and Democrat parties. A follow up forum will be held at the Liverpool Regional Museum in June 2005. Email Casulapowerhouse for details

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Articles

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Craft Australia gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance it receives from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian government's arts funding and advisory body.