4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art – Installation Images

Khaled Sabsabi, corner (2012), installation view, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 2012. Photograph: Susannah Wemberley

Thank you to all that made it to the opening of Edge of Elsewhere at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art last night. There was an incredible amount of support for the project and participating artits. Special thanks also to Maud Page for opening the exhibition.

There’s a small selection of installation images below.

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art – Exhibition Launch

Edge of Elsewhere launches this evening, 6 – 8pm at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 181-187 Hay Street, Haymarket. The exhibition will be opened by Maud Page, Curator of Contemporary Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery.

YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, THE SLICKEST LITTLE KOREAN SCUMBAG DOWN UNDER, 2012, HD QuickTime film and original sountrack

In its final year, Edge of Elsewhere presents a number of projects in development since 2010. Exhibited at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art are works by Arahmaiani, FX Harsono, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Khaled Sabsabi and YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES.

By initiating and developing experiences of cross-cultural dialogue with communities, and linking these to significant experiences of contemporary art and everyday life, Edge of Elsewhere expands the profile of Australia’s emerging communities by connecting them with broader national and international arts practices.

Edge of Elsewhere – Install

YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES - THE SLICKEST LITTLE KOREAN SCUMBAG DOWNUNDER (2011), HD QuickTime movie with original soundtrack, installation view

Last weekend the Edge of Elsewhere team took a break to enjoy Sydney Festival First Night, which included a live performance of  Brook Andrew’s  Travelling Colony, a dizzying and hypnotic combination of the artists Wiradjuri tradition, the circus and pop culture. The following day the team headed to Carriageworks in Redfern for the launch of Black Capital, the inaugural series of performances, seminars, concerts and exhibitions that celebrate the diversity of Redfern, as the Indigenous capital of Australia.

So after an enjoyable weekend it was back into the galleries today, preparing for our own openings later this week. Remember, the openings of our new exhibitions begin this Thursday, at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art at 6pm.

 

 

 

Exclusive Preview – Michel Tuffery

New Zealand based artist, Michel Tuffery, was recently in Campbelltown to produce his latest work for Edge of Elsewhere 2012.

When Tuffery explained his project, there were four simple requests:

1. A state public housing property in the suburb of Minto.

2. A group of local youths willing to spend one day playing video games and socialising inside the propery.

3. A film crew, comprising Film and Digital Media students from Campbelltown TAFE to document the performance.

4. A herd of Limousin cattle, including two bulls, three cows and a calf to co-habit the house with local youths.

Click below for an exclusive preview of the latest work commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre for Edge of Elsewhere 2012. The project involved over 30 local youths from the Campbelltown area, including students from Campbelltown TAFE and Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural High School. This work represents almost two years of research into the Campbelltown area by Tuffery, and draws connections between the shared histories and stores of Campbelltown’s communities, with those from communities of the wider Pacific region.

Studio Visit – Phaptawan Suwannakudt

The Edge of Elsewhere team recently visited artist Phaptawan Suwannakudt at her studio and had a chance to preview her new commission for the 2012 exhibition. Throughout 2011, Phaptawan has worked extensively with groups and individuals in South-West Sydney and the Inner West of Sydney, looking at how individuals create or respond to a understanding of home.

In many instances, the people that Phaptawan spoke to used an object of their own – a piece of clothing, a photograph, a book – as a means of articulating these feelings.

Phaptawan has incorporated these objects into her expansive, multi-canvas mural work which will be part of the Campbelltown Arts Centre exhibition for Edge of Elsewhere 2012. The mural involves a design of canvasses of different sizes and shapes that inter-lock to produce a sculptural and multidimensional work. Read on to see a small glimpse of the work that Phaptawan is creating for the exhibition.

Workshop – FX Harsono: In Memory of a Name

Beginning in early 2011, Indonesian artist FX Harsono initiated a curatorim to be made up of a group of emerging cultural producers – artists, writers, curators, academics – as part of the artists contribution to Edge of Elsewhere. Through a series of workshops, online discussions, meetings and individual research the group has conisdered the implications of, and decisions tha lead to changing one’s name.

In late October, 2011 Harsono returned to Sydney to participate in the third In Memory of a Name curatorium workshop. The workshop was a chance for participants to come together to share their individual research and begin discussions about how the outcomes of their progress so far.

The curatorium will present a selection of outcomes from their individual and collective research as part of the 2012 Edge of Elsewhere exhibition program. These outcomes are still in development, but stay tuned for more details closer to January!

Breathing is Free: 12,756.3 – Canberra performance

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba recently completed a stage of his ongoing project, Breathing is Free: 12,756.3 in Canberra, ACT. The performance was part of am ongoing project in which the artist aims to run the diameter of the Earth, 12,756.3 km, in a series of performances that will be documented in still and video photography, along with topographical maps that track the artist’s movement via GPS.

Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s performance in Canberra was commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre for the final installment of Edge of Elsewhere, 2012.

Brook Andrew – Banjo

 

Edge of Elsewhere is excited to present a series of production sketches from a major new work, Banjo, by Australian artist, Brook Andrew.

5th Pacific Thought Symposium

5th Pacific Thought Symposium, Bringing Forth the Ancestors, Seymour Centre, January 10 2010

In 2010, the MAU Artistic Director Lemi Ponifasio convened the first Pacific Thought Symposium to be held in Australia. The symposium was a rare opportunity to share different views and cultural philosophies, and to provoke and propose new ways to grapple with Pacific thought. Ponifasio’s theme – Bringing Forth the Ancestors – explored the common ground shared by Sydney’s Indigenous and Pacific communities.

Comprising artists, cultural leaders and dynamic thinkers from Pacific communities in Australia and Asia, the panel included Edge of Elsewhere participants Richard Bell, Dacchi Dang and Shigeyuki Kihara. Edge of Elsewhere curator Lisa Havilah was also in attendance.

As a theme, Bringing Forth The Ancestors proposed that even if the body exists in a bleak present the ancestor still lurks in the vitality that the body inherits.

Newell Harry – Istanbul Biennial

Newell Harry, Untitled gift mat series, installation view, Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011

The Edge of Elsewhere team would like to share some installation images of Newell Harry’s work that has been included in the 12th Istanbul Biennial, Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011.Harry’s contribution to the Biennial included a number of his untitled gift mat series. This series (pictured above) are a group of Tapa mat’s that Newell Harry commissioned in 2009. Other Australian artists in the Biennial include Simryn Gill, with her series of photographs, My Own Private Angkor. Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011 run until 13 November, 2011.