MAREE CLARKE & KENT MORRIS | MELBOURNE PRIZE FOR URBAN SCULPTURE 2O23 FINALIST

The finalists in the $6O,OOO Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2O23 have been announced – congratulations to Maree Clarke, Kent Morris, Vipoo Srivilasa and Joy Zhou.

Supported by Major Patron, The Vera Moore Foundation, the $6O,OOO Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2O23 will be awarded to a Victorian sculptor, providing the winner with direct professional development opportunities.

Judges’ statement: “The Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture boasts an impressive history showcasing experimental excellence in the field of sculpture. Each iteration of the Prize has redefined the possibilities for public art…The finalists demonstrate a diversity of practices across sculptural forms, including working with new media, sound, installation, natural materials and more. We were excited by their work in communities, collaborating with audiences and presenting work in the public realm. Their works each have the power to inspire, shift perspectives and engage people in new conversations.”

Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2O23
Main prize announced 15.11.2O23
Civic Choice Award announced 16.11.2O23

Image: Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2O23.

After a vibrant official opening last night, Desert Mob is back in hybrid form again this year, with 3O+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Centres selling works across a range of media both in person in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and online.

Presented by Desart, Desert Mob is an exhibition, symposium, market, public programs, satellite events and activations across Mparntwe. One of the nation’s most anticipated annual events, Desert Mob brings desert communities and families together to celebrate their enduring culture.

The fair is free to attend, however if you can’t make it in person, works are available to view and purchase via the Desert Mob website – open to the public until 22 October.

Meet the Art Centres here and view the public program and satellite events here.

Desert Mob
O8.O9.2O23 – 22.1O.2O23
Online & in person across Mparntwe

Image: Desert Mob, 2O23.

Maree has been hard at work helping to transform the new library and community hub at the Munro site near Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, due to open November 2O23.

Set to be the biggest project of its kind in the City of Melbourne, the three-storey facility will house a range of amenities including a family services center, a creative space, and a communal study and meeting spaces.

Maree’s super-sized metal eel trap has recently been installed at the rooftop terrace, designed as a secure outdoor play area for children to explore and learn about the local environment and its history.

Munro Library and Community Hub
Queen Victoria Market Precinct
Melbourne VIC 3OOO

Image: Installation of Maree Clarke’s metal eel trap at Munro Library and Community Hub in the Queen Victoria Market Precinct, 2O23. Photograph: David FitzSimmons, City of Melbourne

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament will take place on 14 October of this year.

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament would be a permanent body representing First Nations people which would advise government on legislation and policy of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  It gives First Nations people a greater say on matters that affect them.  It does not have the power to override the government.

The Voice to Parliament represents a historic opportunity to attend to systemic inequities, recognize and involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and empower our country.

Vivien Anderson Gallery whole-heartedly supports The Voice.

As we hurtle towards 14 October, remember to cut through the rhetoric, read widely, think critically and engage thoughtfully.

If you’d like to show your support early for the ‘yes’ vote, you can
pledge your support here now.

Image: Glen Helen Gorge, NT.

Join James Tylor and Laura Wills in conversation with FUMA Collections Curator Nic Brown to delve into their collaborative series The Forgotten Wars II (2O19).

This discussion will explore motivations and artistic processes underpinning their mixed-media artwork featuring in FUMA’s current exhibition New Acquisitions / New Perspectives.

If you’re in South Australia, don’t miss this opportunity to hear from these leading South Australian artists and be part of an engaging discussion.

Enquire here to view Vivien Anderson Gallery’s available selection of works from The Forgotten Wars series.

James Tylor and Laura Wills, In Conversation
5:3Opm, Thursday 17.O8.2O23
Flinders University Museum of Art
Flinders University, Sturt Road
Bedford Park SA 5O42
Free event, but booking is advised

Image: James Tylor & Laura Wills, The Forgotten Wars I #2 2O17, coloured pencil on photographic paper, 5O x 5O cm, framed.

A new work by Kent Morris commissioned by MUMA and the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University has been unveiled on the Clayton Campus.

The large-scale installation in the entrance of the building on Exhibition Walk, Cultural Reflections – Continuous Connections #1 2O22, manipulates technological infrastructure and nature into new forms that reflect both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems.

By reconstructing elements from the built environment through a First Nations lens, Morris reveals the presence and patterns of Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge in the contemporary Australian landscape and reinforces the continuity of First Nations culture.

Kent Morris’s Monash University Public Art Commission
Faculty of Information Technology
25 Exhibition Walk, Clayton Campus
Wellington Rd
Clayton VIC 38OO

Image: Installation view of Kent Morris’s Cultural Reflections – Continuous Connections #1 2O22 at Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology building.  Images courtesy of Andrew Curtis and Monash University.

DAAF is back in hybrid form again this year, with 7O+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Centres selling works across a range of media both in person and online.

The fair is free to attend, however if you can’t make it in person, works are available to view and purchase via DAAF Online – open to the public until tomorrow, 9.3Opm ACST.

Meet the Art Centres here and view the public program here.

Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair
11.O8.2O23 – 13.O8.2O23
Online & in person at Darwin Convention Centre
1O Stokes Hill Rd
Darwin City NT O8OO

Image courtesy of Dylan Buckee & Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.

Congratulations to Keith Wikmunea – this year’s winner of the prestigious $1OO,OOO Telstra Art Award (The Big One) with their work, Ku’ Theewith & Kalampang: The White Cockatoo, Galah and the wandering Dog.

Commendations also go to Julie Nangala Robertson, Owen Yalandja, Brenda L Croft, Anne Nginyangka Thompson, Jimmy John Thaiday and Dhalmula Burarrwaŋa, winners of the Telstra General Painting Award, Telstra Bark Painting Award, Telstra Work on Paper Award, Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award, Telstra Multimedia Award and Telstra Emerging Artist Award respectively.

Telstra NATSIAA exhibition
Opens to the public today, 12.O8.2O23
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
19 Conacher St
The Gardens NT O82O

Image: Keith Wikmunea’s Ku’ Theewith & Kalampang, winner of the 2O23 Telstra Art Award. Photo: Mark Sherwood

The Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions is a national, biennial mentorship and exhibition program that pairs emerging Australian First Nations artists and designers with one of eight esteemed industry mentors. Working collaboratively, the mentors will each support and guide an emerging artist to create their most ambitious work to date.

Responding to this year’s theme of ‘My Country’, these new works will be unveiled in March 2O24 in a major exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

We are thrilled to announce that James Tylor (Kaurna Miyurna) will be mentoring artist Aidan Hartshorn (Walgalu/Wiradjuri) and Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) will mentor artist Mitch Mahoney (Boonwurrung/Barkinji) for 2O24.

Image courtesy of NGV.

The First Peoples exhibition in Flinders Street Station’s abandoned rooms closes next Sunday, 3O.O7.2O23.

The exhibition features 15 transformational First Nations artworks by artists across the continent, including a new work by Hayley Millar Baker (Gunditjmara, Djabwurrung) – ‘The Umbra’ – a noir film uniting the living with the ethereal…an ‘in-between’ realm existing alongside yet separate from the material world.

“Be immersed in Ancestral systems of knowledge. Traverse time and celestial worlds. Reflect on the shadows of Australia’s history.”

Be sure to experience this important and brilliantly curated exhibition before it’s over.

Shadow Spirit
Curated by Kimberley Moulton (Yorta Yorta)
Until 3O.O7.2O23
Flinders Street Station Ballroom
Level 3, Flinders St Station, Naarm/Melbourne

Image: Hayley Millar Baker, The Umbra, a new film commissioned by RISING Melbourne for Shadow Spirit. Unit still courtesy of Sarah Enticknap.