Winter festival
We may be about to have the coldest day of the year so far, but have you noticed the blossoms are out and that we’ve had some frost-on-the-windscreen-free days this week? Spring is (almost) around the corner, and to celebrate, the National Portrait Gallery is having its first ever Winter Festival this Sunday. Or, to put it another way, we’re all so sick of winter, here’s an excuse to get out of the house. From 11am-4pm, the gallery will be hosting an eclectic array of wintry, arty events, from performance to stories, sculptures and crafts. Throughout the morning, ice sculptor extraordinaire Glenn Smith will be carving a bust of Sir Douglas Mawson, complete with beanie, while artist Victoria Lees will be taking cues from visitors throughout the day as to how her giant sculptural installation evolves. Local designers will be created winter-inspired garments using unusual materials, culminating in a fashion parade, and there’ll be performances by the Etcetera duo, with comedy, mime and magic, and some toasty fire-twirlers in the forecourt. And, towards the end of the day, the finalists and winner of the Winter Time literary event will be announced and selected contributors will be reading their own responses to the portrait Winter Time, from the portfolio Fifty Masterpieces of Photography, by Dr Julian Smith.So, ice and firesides? Snowflakes and fire-twirling? Winter is looking better already! The National Portrait Gallery’s Winter Festival will be on Sunday August 3, 11am-4pm. The event is free.
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Selfies!
The Canberra Contemporary Art Space members show is coming up, and the theme this year is incredibly topical and self-indulgent – #selfie!! Or, to be more precise – actually, nothing could really be more precise than the word “selfie”, but to be posh, it’s self-portraiture. Entries for members (or aspiring members) closes on Friday August 8, and the show will run on August 15-16. “#selfie reflects the times in which we live and will be a kind of Archibald where self-promo is not only allowed but encouraged,” says CCAS. “Remember that when you enter a work in #selfie, you are supporting CCAS and this is much appreciated in these times of budgetary restraint. Whatever happens, you will feel good, have fun, hopefully sell a work (no commission) and one lucky competitor will go down in the annals of CCAS history joining an exclusive club of local creatives.” The show is open to all members (you can join when you enter), and entry fee is $35. All media is welcome, but work must be ready hang and no installations accepted. Drop-off at CCAS, Gorman House Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon. Deadline for entry is 5pm Friday. For more info, visit ccas.com.au.
Breathe easy
Congratulations to Canberra glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock, whose piece Breathe has won the Sculpture and Objects in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize.
Workspace for hire
It doesn’t happen every day … A new space has opened up at M16 Artspace. “Workspace A is available for casual and regular hire for workshops, classes and meetings. The workspace is 8.65m x 8.9m, equipped with tables, chairs, easels, a sink and an urn. For further details call Bettina on 6295 9438 or see m16artspace.com.au/hire-spaces.” M16 Artspace is at 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith.
And over at ANCA …
ANCA Gallery in Dickson is now calling out for exhibition proposals for the second half of 2015. Emerging and established, local and interstate artists and curators are encouraged to apply. Further information and the application form can be found at anca.net.au. Applications close at 5pm, Wednesday, August 20.
And at Screen ACT…
The ACT Screen Development Fund 2014 is now accepting applications, with funding available for script development, project development and/or marketing activities. Funding is for projects that “can expect a commercial return”, which means short films are not eligible. Entries close Monday, August 18, with announcement of recipients in the week of September 15. Guidelines have changed since last year – check screenact.com.au for details.
Belconnen shows
The August exhibition program at Belconnen Arts Centre kicks off this weekend with three new shows. Synergy – Shibori Down Under, is a showcase of “resist-dyed shibori (a fabric dying technique incorporating folding and manipulation of fabric) created by the members of the World Shibori Network Australia and New Zealand”. In the foyer, Samuel Townsend & Abigail Varney are showing All the Young Dudes, "exploring notions of beauty perceived in the male subject and the various guises he assumes. The portraits, spanning the course of a decade, are meditations on masculinity and its ever-evolving flexibility." And in the Arts Lounge, Anna Sutherland is showing A Printed Space, which is partly the launch of her new design range, which incorporates her “passion for design and colour” inspired by jewellery. "Anna hand-dyes and prints onto a variety of fabrics including silks and velvets to create richly decorative interior settings, creating unique bespoke furniture pieces and accessories with jewel-like qualities, adorned with hand-woven braids". All three shows run until August 24 at Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, and there will be a chance to meet all the artists on Sunday, August 10 from 1.00-3.00pm
Soviets at the War Memorial
For the first time in Australia, a selection of Russian Second World War posters will be on display at the Australian War Memorial until February 2015, and a series of talks will explore their broader context. The next talk, Stalin and the warrior archetype, is being presented by Anita Pisch, from the Art History department at ANU, 12.30pm on Tuesday, August 5: "The creation of a symbolic persona for Joseph Stalin as leader was a deliberate process that drew on mythic archetypes, including the Father, the Warrior, the Architect, the Helmsman, the Teacher, the Saviour and the Magician. A key archetype, particularly during the years of the Second World War, was that of the Warrior. This presentation will examine the ways in which Stalin was presented in political posters as a successful warrior leading the Soviet Union to victory.”
