As part of Ten Days on the Island Salamanca Arts Centre is proud to present Proof of Life: Studio Sessions, which is curated by Elizabeth Woods and Kevin Leong as part of The Homesickness Project.
The Homesickness Project’s thesis is that the role of the world as a home for its citizens is under threat and that collectively, we are increasingly homesick.
Artists, experts, community groups and the general public will participate in a series of events that elaborate on and investigate possible answers to these questions: What does it mean to be civilised within an increasingly market-driven system of social values? What is required from our environment for us to thrive?
“SAC believes in the continuing importance of artists having a key role in provoking, leading and facilitating discussions about the human condition,” says Salamanca Arts Centre Acting CEO Joe Bugden. “We’re excited to see what will develop from this ambitious, multi-faceted collaboration.”
The ensuing discussions, lectures, performances, demonstrations and exhibitions will invite public contribution and form the basis of a major exhibition opening in the Long Gallery in September 2017. This is an opportunity to observe and participate in the creative development of collaborative, socially-engaged art works.
“There is a mission for the arts to address the heightened fears around our global future but there is a shortage of existing tools to do so,” says curator Kevin Leong. “Hobart’s tight-knit, highly-cooperative arts community, where disciplines are fluid, and where broad community contact is sustained, is the ideal environment to develop these tools.”
Featured artists include: Lisa Garland, Paul Gazzola, Laura Purcell, Elizabeth Woods, Kevin Leong, Abdul Hakim Hashemi Hamidi, Dalibor Martinis, Daphne Keramidas, James Newitt, Nick Leitch, Peta Cook, Leigh Hobba, and Hussen Ibraheem and Ameen Nayfeh.
The official launch of the project is this Saturday, 18 March in the Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre at 12 noon. This will be followed by a Curator’s Talk and an afternoon discussion forum entitled “Are We Really Alive?”.
Salamanca Arts Centre and Ten Days on the Island present
PROOF OF LIFE: STUDIO SESSIONS
Curated by Elizabeth Woods and Kevin Leong as part of The Homesickness Project
Studio Sessions exhibition:
Wednesday 15 – Sunday 26 March 2017
10:00am – 5:00pm daily
Venue: Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania
Official Launch & Welcome Drinks:
Saturday 18 March 2017 @ 12:00pm
Curator’s Talk:
Saturday 18 March 2017 @ 12:30pm
Elizabeth Woods and Kevin Leong will speak about the ideas behind Proof of Life, its history and the process of development leading to the September exhibition and beyond.
Public Forum: ‘Are We Really Alive?’
Saturday 18 March 2017 @ 1:45pm
1.45 pm Helen Thomson will speak about the role of creativity and social justice in building resilience, from the perspective of queer artists who are often pitted against social norms.
2.15 pm artist, filmmaker and writer Jim Everett – puralia meenamatta will talk about kraka neka, a travelling school focused on Aboriginal philosophy.
2.45 pm Sociologist and artist Dr Peta Cook will talk about her project Reclaiming the Self where she provided seniors with digital cameras so they could document their own process and signs of the ageing process.
Interval
3:30pm Dr. Cullan Joyce considers if we really are alive, and how the question has been addressed by philosophers.
4:00pm Jess Feehely, principal lawyer for the Environmental Defenders Office, will talk about her work in providing free community legal support for planning and environment issues.
4:30pm Tahereh Fazeli and Gini Ennals – will speak about the work of Students Against Racism in promoting cultural understanding in culturally-diverse communities.
Audience members are welcome to attend part or all of the program.
Image Credits: Lisa Garland Fred’s Kitchen, 2016, Giclee print
