Craft Australia news

1 August 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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Young Talent Time
Druse Series #2, Christopher Harman Munich in March may be cold but it is a hot focal point for fresh talent in craft and design when each year selected international artists travel to Germany to be part of Talente the prestigious international exhibition held during the Munich International Trades Fair. Since 1979 Talente has showcased emerging artists, ideas and trends from the international world of craft and design. JamFactory reports

Undergrowth - Australian Arts UK
Work by Joungmee Do Australia's largest presentation of contemporary art in the UK, Undergrowth - Australia UK, was launched by the Hon John Howard MP, Prime Minister of Australia, at a reception in London to coincide with the London premiere of Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake by The Australian Ballet. Undergrowth is a two-year program of Australian contemporary arts in the UK, that will see more than 20 world-class Australian contemporary arts companies appearing at the UK's most prestigious venues and festivals during 2005, with many more to come in 2006.

Craft Australia presents the speech by Jennifer Bott, Chief Executive Officer of the Australia Council, at the launch in London and a preview of the exhibition Global Local being presented at the V&A Museum as part of the Undergrowth festival.

News from Craft Australia

Visual Literacy and Art Education Research
NAVA reports that at last work is underway on the National Review of Visual Education, funded by DEST and the Australia Council. The chosen research consortium based at Murdoch University had its first meeting in Sydney with the project's steering committee. Represented on this steering committee are NAVA and the Art Education Group of the National Visual Arts and Craft Network who lobbied so hard last year for this research to be undertaken. Results will be published in mid 2006. Craft Australia's reponse to the media announcement of the review was released in 2004 Read the 2004 response

Creative inc
By Helen Trinca

It's not just the money, it's all about engagement, says Lynda Dorrington

Three years ago, when the man from Alessi and the woman from Fantoni and the guy who used to run Domus in Milan stood before an audience in Perth and talked about designing the future, you could almost hear the bewilderment.

These - and others such as Canadian designer Bruce Mau - were speakers at a conference, organised by Craftwest, and given the task of finding a new direction for the state's native timber resource, based in its south-west.

Hundreds of jobs had been lost under a major restructure of the industry as old growth logging was banned. The future of the timber towns was a hot topic. Designing good quality timber products rather than exporting woodchips to the Japanese was an idea that excited not only the new Labor State Government but also big companies such as Wesfarmers and Rio Tinto, who kicked in the dollars.

In perfect winter sunshine that year, hundreds of delegates milled around Craftwest's funky CBD centre pondering the complex question of how to cross the divide between the creatives and commerce.

Lynda Dorrington, Executive Director of Form:Contemporary Craft and Design Inc. gets top billing in the Financial Review BOSS Magazine. Read the full story

News from the sector

Arts NT
There have been changes to the administrative arrangements in Arts NT. Arts NT is now part of the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts and Minister Marion Scrymgour is the new Minister for Arts and Museums.

Art-Look: A report on the state of the arts in Victoria
Arts Victoria has published the first edition of Art-Look, a new annual publication reporting on the state of the arts in Victoria. Art-Look provides an annual overview of highlights and trends for the arts in Victoria, and showcases the diversity, vitality and achievements of the Victorian arts sector. Art-Look online

Graduate Diploma/Master of Visual Art and Design
In a unique collaboration, the South Australian School of Art, within the University of South Australia, and Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design will be offering a Graduate Diploma/Master of Visual Art and Design (Specialisation) commencing in second semester 2005. Entries mid-year. Email John Barbour, University of South Australia.

Meg Larkin elected President of Regional Arts Australia
The Chair of Regional Arts NSW, Meg Larkin, has been elected President of Regonal Arts Australia (RAA) for a term of one year commencing on 9 May 2005. Full story

New President of the International Ceramics Acadamy
Janet Mansfield has been elected unopposed as President of the International Ceramics Academy. It's a great honour and reflection of all the years she has been on the Academy Board and it is of course a great thing for Australia.

International trade mission and market visit scheme - Regional NSW
A scheme from the Department of State and Regional Development to assist export-ready NSW companies with an effective and efficient way to identify new international business opportunities and gain the knowledge and connections critical to business success. Assistance is provided on a case-by-case basis. Visit the Department of State and Regional Development website

The Program
The Program is all about sparking connections between young people and the arts community. The Program is interested in hearing from you. You can put up your own stories, post events you're involved in, review what you've seen lately, and comment on stories or artistic incidents. Visit The Program website and meet the J Arts Crew

For fee or for favour?
In the coming months NAVA will be undertaking extensive research into the payment of artists' fees within the Australian publicly funded galleries network. NAVA reports, "at this early stage of the process we can see that the issues around which galleries pay fees, and under what circumstances, are very complex. But the one constant we have had in our responses to date has been in-principle agreement with the idea of the payment of artists' fees."

NAVA will set up an on-line forum For fee or for favour? from 15 - 30 September providing ways in which you can give NAVA valuable feedback on the exhibitions you have been involved in recently, and your opinions on the payment of artists' fees as a principle. Watch for the on-line forum on the NAVA website

Congratulations
Detail of Still Life A major international award has been won by Australian artist Lynda Draper in Faenza, Italy for her work Still Life, a ten piece installation. The Premier Aquisitive Award is part of the 54th International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Premio Faenza. The award is a major coup for both the artist and Australia.

Articles

Craft Culture Hi Tokyo Zoe MacDonell
Artshub 'Vietnam experience' wins top NGA Prize
The Age Our culture's still cringing Khadija Z Carroll
Artshub Labor: 'Who's on arts?' Venessa Paech
Fairfax Digital Embarrassment of riches Alexa Moses
Fairfax Digital Cultures cross in artist exchange Sunanda Creagh

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.