2017 has begun extraordinarily well. It’s a pleasure to recognise and celebrate the successes of our QCA students, graduates and staff in the May 2017 edition of the QCA newsletter.
documenta 14
Well-known emerging artist and current QCA PhD candidate, Dale Harding, and nationally acclaimed painter and QCA alumnus Gordon Hookey, have both had large-scale artistic projects featured within the world’s most prestigious art event, documenta 14. Dale and Gordon’s projects are currently displayed in documenta 14’s Athens exhibition, and both will have works featuring in documenta 14’s Kassel exhibition from June.
Griffith University Art Museum, QCA and Griffith’s Arts, Education, Law Group (AEL) have collaborated with the organisers of documenta 14 on the publication of two high-quality publications to support each artist’s project. The publications will be available from early June and distributed at documenta 14 and throughout Europe. They will appeal to anyone with an interest in contemporary Australian Indigenous art.
A group of QCA students led by artist and Fine Art Lecturer, Dr Julie Fragar will travel to Germany where they will see both Dale and Gordon’s works in situ. The students will explore hundreds of examples of cutting-edge contemporary art on show at documenta 14 and attend forums led by the world’s leading curators and artists. The students will also work in collaboration with peers from the Kassel University Art School on a project that will draw on their documenta 14 experience. They will also have the opportunity to see the Venice Biennale, and to travel to Berlin to visit museums and meet with local artists.
Venice Biennale
In addition to Dale and Gordon’s international success, this week saw the highly anticipated launch of the exhibition, MY HORIZON, by another remarkable QCA alumnus, Tracey Moffatt. Tracey’s project is the result of an extensive period of focused work that will be shown to half a million viewers in the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Italy. The Brisbane-born photographer, film, and video-maker, is now one of Australia’s most successful international artists.
Brisbane Consortium for the Visual Arts scholarship
Closer to home we celebrate further QCA achievements. Queensland College of Art, Griffith University PhD candidate Carl Warner — whose work was displayed in the QAGOMA 10th anniversary exhibitionSugar Spin: You Me Art and Everything — is one of two recipients of the inaugural Brisbane Consortium for the Visual Arts scholarships. Carl’s PhD research project titled Dark views in a new light: The Claude Mirror now, aims to recast a forgotten piece of technology for contemporary use in art. The Brisbane Consortium is a collaboration between QAGOMA and three leading Queensland universities — Griffith University, University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology — in order to develop innovative scholarly and curatorial dialogues in arts research and teaching.
Contemporary Art Awards success
QCA photographer and lecturerAmy Carkeekhas been announced as the winner of the Contemporary Art Awardsfor 2017. The award, now in its second year, is a government-funded initiative based in Brisbane thatshowcases outstanding emerging artists from around Australia.
Maiwar lane ways art project
A number of QCA staff, students and alumni have works featured in Brisbane City Council’s lane ways art project, Maiwar. The project features large scale works by Laurie Nilsen, Bianca Beetson, Tony Albert, Robert Andrew, Carol McGregor, Warraba Weatherall, Tori Jay Mordey, and Claudia Moodoonuthi. Maiwar is a city-wide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contemporary art exhibition on display around Brisbane during May 2017. Maiwaris the traditional word used to refer to the waterway now known as the Brisbane River, making it a fitting name for this exhibition.
Photography students in Cambodia
QCA continues to develop its international study and research partnerships. Led by QCA Photography Program Director Dr Heather Faulkner, and Nobel Prize-winning photojournalist John Rodstead, 20 QCA photography students are planning a for-credit study intensive trip to Cambodia later this year. The students will be able to draw on John Rodstead’s decade’s long first-hand experience of the fast recovering formerly war-torn nation.
Cannes International Film Festival
Griffith Film School (GFS) staff and students will shortly be travelling to the Cannes International Film Festival. GFS is the only film school in Australia to have a dedicated showcase each year at Cannes. Eight GFS films will be screened as part of the Short Film Corner. Escorted by leading Australian film producer Trish Lake, ten students will be able to take advantage of engagement with international filmmakers and practitioners, attend meetings with prestigious and authoritative screen industry professionals, and participate in seminars, workshops and themed events.
There are, of course, many other equally worthy events and stories emerging from QCA, some of which are covered in the May 2017 edition of the QCA newsletter. We will continue to report on other news in forthcoming newsletters and updates.
Professor Derrick Cherrie
Director, Queensland College of Art (QCA)
Griffith University