CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIA WOMEN - Queensland Art Gallery ...

CONTEMPORARY
AUSTRALIA WOMEN
MEDIA KIT
GALLERY OF MODERN ART, BRISBANE
21 APRIL – 22 JULY 2012
PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
MAJOR SPONSOR
WOMEN IN FILM SUPPORTED BY
MEDIA PARTNERS
Kate Mitchell / Being punctual (still, detail) 2010 / Courtesy: The artist and Chalk Horse, Sydney / Photographic still: Christopher Morris

MEDIA KIT CONTENTS
Exhibition summary
Contemporary Australia series overview
Artists represented
Contemporary Australia: Women in Film
Children’s Art Centre: ‘Fly Away Home’
Embodied Acts
Public Programs and Events
Education
Publication
Image use
Sponsors
SPOKESPERSONS
On the exhibition:
Tony Ellwood, Director, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)
Julie Ewington, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art, QAGOMA
On the public programs and education program:
Andrew Clark, Deputy Director, Programming and Corporate Services, QAGOMA
Donna McColm, Head of Public Programs, Children’s Art Centre and Membership, QAGOMA
Melina Mallos, Program Officer, Education & Curriculum Programs, QAGOMA
On the Children’s Art Centre project, ‘Fly Away Home’
Kate Ryan, Curator, Children's Art Centre, QAGOMA
Fiona Hall, artist, ‘Fly Away Home’
On the film program, Contemporary Australia: Women in Film
Margaret Pomeranz, Curator of Contemporary Australia: Women in Film
Rosie Hays, Associate Curator, Australian Cinémathèque, QAGOMA
On the performative program, Embodied Acts
Bree Richards, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, QAGOMA

CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIA SERIES OVERVIEW
MAKING CONTEMPORARY ART ACCESSIBLE TO AUDIENCES
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) has a long history of presenting major
multi-faceted, scholarly and engaging exhibitions of contemporary art. This reflects the Gallery’s
commitment to collecting, researching, exhibiting, publishing and interpreting contemporary art.
This experience of presenting innovative, challenging and sophisticated contemporary work in an
accessible way includes the flagship series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT),
‘Contemporary Australia: Optimism’ (2008) and ‘21st Century: Art in the First Decade’ (2010).
The Gallery initiated the ‘Contemporary Australia’ triennial series of exhibitions in light of the success of
the APT series. Since the first Triennial in 1993, more than 1.8 million people have visited the exhibitions,
with the most recent, APT6 in 2009, attracting more than 531 000 and averaging 4400 visitors daily.
APT7 in 2012-13 will mark the 20th anniversary since the first APT.
Launched with ‘Contemporary Australia: Optimism’ in 2008, the series explores the range, ambition and
achievement of contemporary Australian art and aims to be the most extensive regular presentation of
contemporary Australian art and film by an art museum in Australia.
Over 186 000 people visited GoMA during the 14-week free season of ‘Contemporary Australia:
Optimism’, a daily average attendance of 1860 visitors.
That exhibition included painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, video and video
installation, cinema, animation, performance, music, literature and comedy by more than 60 emerging,
mid-career and senior Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from every state and territory.
These multi-faceted contemporary art exhibition projects encompass major artwork commissions and
acquisitions for Collection development; curated Children’s Art Centre projects with artists; extensive
public programming; education programs and resources; online, digital and print publishing and
interpretive materials.
Collection development is an important legacy of these exhibitions, enabled by significant support of the
Queensland Art Gallery Foundation, individual benefactors, and the Queensland Government.
The calibre of the Gallery’s contemporary Asian, Pacific, international and Australian art collections is
testimony to this strategic process of commissioning and acquiring major works for these exhibitions.

ARTISTS REPRESENTED
Rebecca Baumann (WA)
Lauren Brincat (NSW)
Brown Council (NSW):
Frances Barrett
Kate Blackmore
Kelly Doley
Diana Smith
Kirsty Bruce (QLD)
Bindi Cole (VIC)
Agatha Gothe-Snape (NSW)
Marie Hagerty (NSW/ACT)
Fiona Hall (SA)
Natalya Hughes (NSW)
Ruth Hutchinson (VIC)
Deborah Kelly (NSW)
Justine Khamara (VIC)
Anastasia Klose (VIC)
Gabriella Mangano and Silvana Mangano (VIC)
Jennifer Mills (VIC)
Kate Mitchell (NSW)
Rose Nolan (VIC)
Jess Olivieri and Hayley Forward with the
Parachutes for Ladies (NSW):
Hayley Forward
Jess Olivieri
Therese Ritchie (NT)
Sandra Selig (QLD)
Noël Skrzypczak (VIC)
Sally Smart (VIC)
Soda_Jerk (NSW):
Dan Angeloro
Dominique Angeloro
Wakartu Cory Surprise (WA)
Hiromi Tango (QLD)
Monika Tichacek (NSW)
Tjala Arts, Amata community (SA):
Senior painters: Ruby Tjangawa Williamson,
Wawiriya Burton, Tjampawa Katie Kawiny
Jenny Watson (QLD)
Judy Watson (QLD)
Louise Weaver (VIC)
Justene Williams (NSW)
Gosia Wlodarczak (VIC)
Judith Wright (QLD)
For more information on participating artists visit www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/women/artists

CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIA: WOMEN IN FILM
To complement the ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ exhibition, the
Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque presents Contemporary Australia:
Women in Film, specially curated by film critic, producer, and co-host
of ABC Television’s ‘At the Movies’, Margaret Pomeranz.
The program, which spans 25 years and includes 49 films by 37
directors, explores representations of women in Australian films by
women and men, and explores the contributions to Australian cinema
by women.
Margaret Pomeranz / Courtesy: ABC TV
On Saturday, April 21 at 5.00pm Margaret Pomeranz will join film
directors Gillian Armstrong, Ana Kokkinos and Louise Alston to
discuss representations of women in contemporary Australian cinema
through different perspectives.
This will be followed by the program’s first screening: Look both Ways (2005) directed by Sarah Watt at
6.30pm.
The program continues until July 18, with screenings on Wednesday and Friday evenings as well as during
the day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at GOMA. The Audi GOMA Bar is open for Friday
evening screenings.
Contemporary Australia: Women in Film features free screenings of titles including Animal Kingdom 2010 by
David Michôd, Muriel’s Wedding 1994 by PJ Hogan, Radiance 1998 by Rachel Perkins and Cannes Film
Festival award winner Warwick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah 2009.
Queensland visual artist and film director Davida Allen’s feature film Feeling Sexy (1998) will be screened on
Saturday, July 14 at 2pm, followed by an in-conversation with the artist.
Contemporary Australia: Women in Film focuses on the female characters and gender relationships which
populate Australian cinema, while also acknowledging the growing number of women behind the scenes in
such key production roles as scriptwriters, cinematographers and producers.
For more information on Contemporary Australia: Women in Film visit
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/cinematheque

‘FLY AWAY HOME’
As part of ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’, the
Gallery’s Children’s Art Centre presents leading
Australian artist Fiona Hall’s large scale installation
‘Fly Away Home’ which occupies the entire Park
Level of the Children’s Art Centre. ‘Fly Away Home’
opens up young imaginations to the wonders of the
world inhabited by both humans and birds, while
also introducing important issues of our time –
human migration and the need to protect the
environment.
Installation view of Fiona Hall’s ‘Fly away home’ artist project
/ First commissioned by the Children’s Art Centre for ‘21st
Century: Art in the First Decade’ / Supported by the Tim
Fairfax Family Foundation 2010 / Photograph: QAGOMA
The installation reveals the artist’s ongoing fascination
with the connections between the migratory behavior
of birds and people and her interest in Sri Lanka: its
politics, people and nature.
Fiona Hall invites children to explore these ideas from a bird’s perspective as they make a bird and nest
using paper money she has created for ‘Fly Away Home’.
Visitors to ‘Fly Away Home’ first encounter a space inspired by a nineteenth century museum interior,
which features interesting facts about a variety of birds written by the artist. Children are invited to explore
the museum space that features a display of bank notes drawn from the artist’s collection, bird specimens
on loan from the Queensland Museum and small origami birds crafted by the artist.
The rest of the installation at GOMA is an environment constructed of towering wooden tree structures
providing a space for children and their families to make their own bird creations. Other features of the
installation include custom-designed wallpaper by the artist depicting Sri-Lankan birds and military
camouflage, and a video installation entitled Video wallpaper for a rainy afternoon 2008-10, documenting
the bird life visiting a Sri Lankan lake during the monsoon.
“‘Fly Away Home’ responds to my growing concern with the widening gap between nature and culture…
‘Fly Away Home’ brings together these two opposing realms to try to show young visitors just how
interconnected we are with the natural world — that we are part of it.” Fiona Hall
‘Fly Away Home’ was first commissioned by the Children’s Art Centre for the ‘21 st Century: Art in the First
Decade’ exhibition in 2010, supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation.

ABOUT FIONA HALL
b.1953 Sydney | Lives and works in Adelaide
Fiona Hall is a leading contemporary artist with a career spanning more than 30 years. Her work
enchants audiences in Australia and internationally. Hall has built her recent practice by focusing on
transforming ordinary things into extraordinary objects, fashioning new worlds from today’s leftovers
and excesses.
Experimentations in an array of media have resulted in works that engage with a number of key
themes including: the division between good and evil, the complex histories of colonial and
postcolonial trade, and the interconnections between botany, classification, trade and power.

EMBODIED ACTS
Live and performative art forms are currently enjoying a resurgence internationally, and in an Australian context,
particularly amongst early career and experimental women practitioners. Embodied Acts is a program of
performances, events and actions taking place in and around the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) during
‘Contemporary Australia: Women’.
Involving a diverse group of artists whose practices cross between disciplines and interests, Embodied Acts
includes site-specific, performative and ephemeral art forms. Many younger artists have moved to distance
themselves from feminist discourses, yet, whether consciously or not, reference the performativity of 1970s
feminist practices with their intense focus on the body as both subject and object. Each of the participating
artists — in various humorous, critical and sensual ways — presents works that interact with the everyday,
offering new vantage points on the worlds we inhabit and negotiate.
Rebecca Baumann will collaborate with a pyrotechnician to deliver blasts of candy-coloured smoke into the
sky for her work Smoke Fields, at 11.30am on Saturday April 21 and 2.30pm on Sunday April 22. Loosely
inspired by the Hindu Holi festival and Mexico’s Day of the Dead, which position disorder and destruction
alongside joy and exultation, this work, too, has a discomforting edge. Smoke is a sign of danger, which, along
with the spark of small-scale explosions, gives an alarming tinge to a work that embraces the revelatory
potential of colour. Rather than spectacle (though by its very nature it is exactly that), the object of this
performance is transformation itself. Its short duration and ephemeral nature means the work is tinged with
nostalgia even as it happens.
Lauren Brincat’s High Horse, is a one-off tambourine performance, incorporating the video and sculptural
objects she has made for the show, in collaboration with percussionist Bree van Reyk. Performance date to be
confirmed.
Performance fee is an endurance event by Brown Council where for two dollars the viewer can procure a kiss
from one of the blindfolded artists. Performances at 12 noon until 2.00pm on Saturday April 21 and Sunday
April 22.
Kate Mitchell’s video work Being punctual 2012 shows the artist swinging from a grand chandelier –
transforming an iconic symbol of decadence into a tool for larrikin abandon. Projected on GOMA’s glass
façade and visible at night, Being punctual offers a surreal vision of what could be occurring behind closed
doors, allowing Mitchell to ask broader questions about the society in which we all ‘perform’.
Jess Olivieri and Hayley Forward with the Parachutes for Ladies will intervene in the Gallery spaces with
sound and movement, working with GOMA’s Gallery Services Officers (GSOs) on an ongoing performance
entitled Canon, and with other staff members on Mass ornament, a one-off event that references Busby
Berkeley choreography from 1940s musicals, at 3.30pm on Sunday April 22.
Soda-Jerk present The Carousel, a multi-channel performance lecture on the temporality of cinema and its
relationship to death, at 3.00pm on Saturday April 21.
For more information on the Embodied Acts program visit: www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/women

PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ is complemented by a range of public programs, talks and
conversations with exhibiting artists and special guests presented throughout the exhibition. The popular
GOMA Talks program of entertaining and informative panel discussions, presented in partnership with
ABC Radio National, also returns with 'Contemporary Australia' to focus on ideas and issues inspired by
the exhibition with guest panelists.
NEW ART PERSPECTIVES: EXHIBITION FLOORTALKS
Art expresses the richness, diversity and relevance of contemporary art in our daily lives. Recent
contemporary art and new commissions featured in the exhibition become the platform for discussing
current ideas and the ways in which women have reshaped the landscape of contemporary Australian art.
The following events will explore this idea further:
Writers and Thinkers
Local writers and academics explore works in the exhibition through the lens of current ideas.
Thursday 26 April 2.30pm
Jane Morley, fashion designer, consultant and researcher with a specific interest in sustainability,
investigates a return to use of particular materials in selected works on display.
Wednesday 30 May 2.30pm
Feminist cultural critic Dr Anthea Taylor from The University of Queensland, explores the links between art
works in ‘Contemporary Australia’ and the place of women in the public sphere.
Artists
Artists share the stories behind the making of works in the exhibition. See how women artists have
reshaped the landscape of contemporary Australian art.
Saturday 5 May 2.30pm
Judy Watson used the histories of Queensland frontier life from the point of view of five generations of
Indigenous women in her family to create her installation in our skin 2012 on display.
Sunday 17 June 3.00pm
Natalya Hughes shares the evolution of her work over a decade to include her installation The After Party
2012 set within a parlour room space in the exhibition, and referencing the work of American feminist artist
Judy Chicago.
Curators
Learn about the development of ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ with Gallery curators.
Sunday 13 May 3.30pm
Julie Ewington, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art, provides a curator’s perspective on developing
‘Contemporary Australia: Women’.

Thursday 5 July 2.30pm (During NAIDOC Week)
The lives and work of senior Indigenous women artists is a compelling aspect of the ‘Contemporary
Australia’ exhibition. Hear about the works and artists with Diane Moon, Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art.
My Gen 50+
Programs and events for Gallery visitors over 50 years
Wednesday 9 May 2.30pm Conversations with Curators
A behind-the-scenes perspective on the development of the ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ exhibition
with Julie Ewington, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art.
Friday 25 May 10.30am Short Course: Women
In this specially developed short course, the changing roles of women in art and social history are
explored with a range of special guests. Bookings required: mygen@qagoma.qld.gov.au
New Wave Teens
Artist-run workshops and special offers for young people aged 13 to 18 years
23 June 2012 Artist-run workshop
During the Winter school holidays young people have the opportunity to work with Kirsty Bruce, exhibiting
artist featured in ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’.
Bookings required: newwaveteens@qagoma.qld.gov.au
New Wave Emerging
The Gallery’s public program for emerging artists, writers and curators
16 June 2012 Critical session 2.00pm
The experience and advice provided by exhibiting artists is invaluable for emerging practitioners. The New
Wave Emerging program provides students and young artists, writers and curators with the opportunity to
hear directly from practicing artists. In conjunction with ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’, exhibiting artist
Natalya Hughes shares the development of her work.
Bookings required: newwave@qagoma.qld.gov.au
GOMA Talks
6.30-7.30pm Thursdays fortnightly 7 June – 19 July 2012 CINEMA A, GOMA
Live webcast at www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/webcast tweet hashtag #GOMAtalks
GOMA Talks, presented in partnership with ABC Radio National, explores contemporary ideas and issues
from a range of perspectives with special guest panellists. During 'Contemporary Australia: Women',
GOMA Talks tackles some of the most topical questions about contemporary Australia, from national
identity and business to sexuality and science. ABC Radio National hosts Sarah Kanowski (Weekend
Arts), Natasha Mitchell (Life Matters), Geraldine Doogue, AO (Saturday Extra) and Fenella Kernebone (By
Design) lead all-female panels.
Admission to GOMA Talks is free and no bookings are required. The Audi GOMA Bar opens at 5.15pm.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS
The Gallery offers a range of education programs that aim to address curriculum standards and enhance
the classroom experience.
As part of ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ specially developed education resources will be available for
primary and secondary students to use in the Gallery and classroom. The resources include accompanying
teacher notes with curriculum information.
LOOK OUT TEACHER PROGRAM
The Look Out Teacher Program developed for ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ offers teachers the
opportunity to join artists, curators and education staff for a morning of interesting programs suitable for all
teaching levels.
Saturday 12 May, 10.00am – 1.00pm, GOMA
Panel Discussion (Teacher exclusive)
10.00am – 11.00am
Julie Ewington, Curatorial Manager, Australian Art and artists from ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ will
discuss themes within the exhibition.
Artist Workshops
11.30am – 1.00pm
Sessions will be facilitated by Brisbane artists featured in ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ to inspire
teachers to develop ideas suitable for the classroom.
This program has limited capacity | $20 | Suitable for all teaching levels | Bookings and payment online
from late April.
ART FOR OUR SCHOOL
The Art for our School program is a unique opportunity for a primary teacher to work with an artist from
‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ to create an art work for display at their school. The project will be
completed by July. Teachers attending the Look Out artist workshop will learn more about the Art for our
School program.
EDUCATION GROUP BOOKINGS
The Gallery welcomes school groups of all sizes however bookings are required in advance for groups of
ten or more. To arrange a school visit to ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’, contact the Education
Bookings Office.
T: (07) 3840 7255
E: educationbookings@qagoma.qld.gov.au

EXHIBITION PUBLICATION
‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ is accompanied by a full-colour
publication. In addition to over 30 illustrated essays on the artists and
collectives represented in the exhibition, it also includes texts by
prominent authors:
Here and Now by Julie Ewington, the Gallery’s Curatorial
Manager, Australian Art, the exhibition’s lead curator
I can hear her breathing by social commentator Emily Maguire
New challenges in Indigenous Affairs by leading Aboriginal
scholar, Marcia Langton, AM
Women in Contemporary Australian Cinema by Margaret
Pomeranz, AM, film critic, producer and ‘Contemporary Australia:
Women in Film’ program curator
The publication celebrates the diversity, energy and innovation in work by emerging, established and senior
contemporary Australian women artists.
The 220 page exhibition publication is available for purchase from the QAGOMA Store and online at
www.australianartbooks.com.au / RRP: $39.95 (softcover)

USE OF IMAGES AND COPYRIGHT
The Queensland Art Gallery respects the rights of artists and copyright holders when providing images for
media use. The Gallery provides images of selected artworks in the ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’
exhibition to approved media representatives to communicate broadcast and reproduces for fair dealing
purposes. Under the Copyright Act 1968, fair dealing covers criticism or review, and reporting the news.
Images strictly for these purposes are available at www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/women/media
The responsibility for securing permission from the copyright holder for any additional purposes of image
reproduction remains solely with the party reproducing the images. In addition, any reproduction of these
images must be accompanied by the full caption, including the credit line and the relevant copyright
information, as provided with each image.
Any party communicating, broadcasting or reproducing these images must not crop, distort or manipulate the
images in any way. No images can be bled off the page, or printed in a single colour other than black, or
overlaid with text.
Copying, dissemination or redistribution of any image is strictly prohibited without prior written permission
from the copyright holder.
For images or further information regarding image use, please contact the Queensland Art Gallery.
T: +61 7 3842 9563
E: dan.cameron@qagoma.qld.gov.au

CONTEMPORARY
AUSTRALIA WOMEN
GALLERY OF MODERN ART, BRISBANE
21 APRIL – 22 JULY 2012
MEDIA INQUIRIES
DAN CAMERON
MEDIA COORDINATOR
QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY
GALLERY OF MODERN ART
T: +61 (0)7 3842 9563
E: DAN.CAMERON@QAGOMA.qld.gov.AU
IMAGES
w: qagoma.qld.gov.AU/WOMEN/media
SPONSORS
PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
MAJOR SPONSOR
WOMEN IN FILM SUPPORTED BY
MEDIA PARTNERS