In this work we witness the artist Todd McMillan's attempt to swim the English Channel between Dover and Calais. The artist presents a 3-channel video projection. In the first shot we see the artist standing on an isolated English beach wearing black swimming trunks and a yellow swimming cap. He reaches for a tub of Vaseline and applies the contents to his body. A railway line is visible and a train passes in the background and goes through a tunnel cut into the chalk cliffs of Dover. In the second shot he wades into the sea until he becomes totally immersed. As he swims he struggles against the waves and we become disorientated. Todd McMillan's work explores physical endurance and self determination by confronting nature at it's most powerful. He challenges himself by undertaking exercises in concentration and tests his will power to the point of exhaustion. These attempts suggest a transcendental experience. A third wide-shot provides a context of ships, ferries and boats crossing the horizon. A dull-grey, misty light appears to increase the poetic nature of the work, echoing an iconic and timeless challenge that has been attempted for decades.
Todd McMillan was the recipient of the Helen Lempriere Travel Scholarship in 2006.
Renew Newcastle is a low-budget, not-for-profit, DIY urban renewal scheme that brokers access to empty buildings for artists and cultural projects. It was set-up by Marcus Westbury in his hometown in 2008. Marcus Westbury is a broadcaster, writer, media maker and festival director. He was the writer and presenter of ‘Not Quite Art’ for ABC1 Australian television.
We travelled to Newcastle - a two hour drive north of Sydney - to meet the general manager of the project, Marni Jackson, who led us on a tour of the high street and showed us examples of retail units which had been lying dormant and unused and now functioning as creative spaces. The initiative welcomes creative projects that would run for a minimum of 6-months giving access to spaces that would ordinarily be left empty.
Newcastle is a former industrial town that has felt the impact of recession leading to companies pulling out of the area and moving away. Renew Newcastle aims to activate spaces and develop creative sustainable projects. Renew Newcastle agrees a 12-month contract with the property owner and acts as a broker for placing interested parties in suitable spaces. Peppercorn rent allows minimal financial risk for the new tenants. Renew Newcastle nurtures longer-term projects that promote participation and foster regeneration of the area. Along the high street we were shown evidence of the project’s success. Here are two examples:
Upcycling: run by Nick Nelson, a graphic designer who has recently begun to occupy a section of a former department store to showcase his design practice. He focuses on stocking a diverse range of sustainable and recycled art and design objects.He has designed the space to function as a workshop, gallery and bookshop. Nick commented on how he was appreciating this new way of working which allows him to interact with the public who come into his shop, in contrast to spending much of his time doing computer-based work.
"Renew Newcastle inspired me to have a crack at this interest of mine because it offers both a limited risk combined with huge potential. It works on so many levels; I get to follow an interest of mine, I have a physical place to display it, I have little to risk financially, I get to meet other like minded people, and I get to be a part of an innovative new way of promoting artistic and creative endeavors by way of free shop space in an otherwise run down area."
The shop has a simple and spacious layout with exposed breeze-block walls and a concrete floor. Design books were displayed on palettes and photographic prints hung on the walls.
Make Space: is a small co-operative workshop and artisan store - set up by five women - most of whom come from a market stall background. This is the first time that these women have had the opportunity to base themselves at a permanent address on the high street. Each member of the collective brings to the project their own particular skills and interests. They share the responsibility of running the shop by taking it in turn to manage the shop one day a week. This arrangement is practical enough to allow for other employment to support their individual practices. There is a workshop incorporated into the space which allows the women to continue their making processes whilst based in a retail environment.
Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour and a short ferry ride from Circular Quay. It functioned as a former prison and naval dockyard and retains many remnants of its convict history. Many of the buildings on the Island have been nominated for World Heritage listing. In 2008, Cockatoo was used as an art venue for the 16th Sydney Biennale. The South African artist William Kentridge sited his project in one of the industrial buildings.
Today, his work ‘I am not me, the horse is not mine’ has returned to the Island to be seen by those who wish to revisit the exhibition installed in it’s original location. The piece is based on the absurdist short story called The Nose (1837) by Nikolai Gogol. The eight-channel video work plays with the origins and fragmentation of modernism and its subsequent crushing in Russia in the 1930s. The video projections, which fill an entire room, include text, music, animation and shadow play.
The launch took place at Fraser Studios, a warehouse located in Chippendale and close to Central Station in Sydney. It is a non-profit creative development run by artists and provides studio space for 3-month residencies throughout the year.
runway is an independent Australian contemporary art magazine published quarterly. It is a not-for-profit publication managed by a group of Sydney-based artists, writers and curators. The magazine encourages artists to conceptualise new works and to creatively consider presenting their practice within the published medium. runway is edited by Jaki Middleton and is an open submission project inviting international proposals and is stocked by most art galleries and museums in Australia.
This solo exhibition of work by Michael Stevenson was produced for the Panama Biennial in 2008. A video work is projected in the upstairs gallery space. The video presents a bird’s eye view of bundles of cards being sorted and dealt placed face-down concealing them in order to begin the playing of a game. A Spanish female voice-over narrates extracts from political biographies and other sources that provide details of encounters between Panama’s military leader, the exiled Shah of Iran and the U.S President Jimmy Carter during the late 1970’s, on the Island of Contadora, off the coast of Panama City. The individual’s are negotiating the treaty to hand back the Canal Zone to Panama.
The Spanish voice is translated into English subtitles. As these ‘interrelated histories are recounted’ the viewer is introduced to a series of mathematical probabilities demonstrated through the shuffling and dealing of the playing cards. The ‘probability of an event occuring’ and the likely outcomes are ‘expressed in mathematical equations’ according to the narrator. These personal histories are fragmented but ‘relative’ to the visual imagery which Michael Stevenson pieces together. In addition to the video, the artist produced a series of photographic works which presented additional research material for the project.
The Arab Film Festival Australia 2009 was held at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta - a short walk from our studio. We attended the opening night and spent the whole weekend in the cinema watching feature films, documentaries and shorts.
The festival programme provided a creative and critical space for representing diverse Arabic-speaking cultures. The festival was a celebration of modern and contemporary Arab cinema and the majority of the films were screened as 'Australian Premiers' offering Australian audiences alternative representations of Arab subjects and narratives.
The festival is managed by Information Cultural Exchange (ICE) an organisation based in Parramatta. 'Greater Western Sydney is home to the largest migrant, refugee and urban Indigenous populations in the country and is Australia’s most culturally diverse region.’ The festival ‘confirms the strong connections between Parramatta’s bold emergence as an up-and-coming city of culture, and the very strong presence of Arab-Australian communities who have made this vibrant city their home, and contribute greatly to its rich cultural life.’
Captain AbuRaed | Jordan 2007 | 95 min | Dir: AminMatalqa
This film was selected to open the Arab Film Festival 2009. The lead role was played by NadimSawalha who is a Jordanian-born British actor. It is a story about dreams and sacrifice set within the landscape of Jordan. AbuRaed works as a janitor in an airport where he encounters international languages and travellers. The film explores class and social divide through the eyes of a self-educated man who has lost his family. He is a lonely but generous character who begins to tell stories to the children living in his neighbourhood who are curious about the outside world. This enables the children to dream and transforms their harsh realities. This is the first Jordanian feature film to be made in 50 years and the film won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2008.
The Narcicyst | Phatwa | Music Video Premiere | Directed by HalaAlsalman | Canada / Iraq
The political hip hop artist 'The Narcicyst' (aka YassinAlsalman) originates from Basra, was born and raised in Dubai and now lives in Montreal, Canada. In this music video, his lyrics respond to the present climate of suspicion and fear generated at airports around the world since the events of 9/11. He references political events such as the invasion of Iraq and current situations such as detainees at Guantanamo. He is also a journalist and peace activist speaking out against the injustices in the world.
Life after the Fall | Iraq 2008 | 100 min | Dir: KasimAbid
The director returns to Baghdad to follow three generations of his family over the course of four years. This is an intimate and personal account documenting the struggles the family face in the changing political climate since the fall of the regime in 2003. The film chronicles the family's optimism after Sadam's downfall and the hopes for the nation to be rebuilt, however this mood changes to a more somber realisation as chaos ensues. The screening of this film was preceded by an introduction by Taffy Hany, a classically trained musician, who played the violin and sang an Iraqi folk song for the audience. Originally from the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq, he moved to Australia in the 1970's and settled here.
Recently, Taffy Hany and his son, Don Hany, were introduced as characters in the SBS television drama 'East West 101'.The real-life father/son relationship is portrayed on screen. In this detective drama, Taffy plays the Iraqi father of Zane Malik, a detective in the Sydney Police Force. Each episode follows a storyline based on the multi-cultural communities living in the city. The series responds to the tensions surrounding race and identity in post 9/11 Sydney.
Huriyya and her Sisters | Australia 2009 | 8 min
This short animation was created by young Muslim women and girls living in western Sydney. Representatives of the group were present on stage as the film was introduced. The group created four characters to represent and explore their experiences of the world - one is a superhero and wants to stop bombs falling on children.
This film was made by young females participating in workshops held in local community centres where they developed visuals, sound and story lines. During the 18-month collaboration, the girls were provided with the opportunity to engage, participate and communicate using a medium which would allow their own stories to be heard. The Australian Human Rights Commission supported this project and the making of this film.
The film begins with a narrator introducing us to a group of people who's lives are about to cross paths. The story takes place in the forgotten town of Ein Shams on the out skirts of Cairo. A taxi driver reminisces over the 'faded glory of the ancient past'. A doctor investigates the after-effects of depleted Uranium on people and the environment following the Gulf War in 1991. As we follow the story, a family drama emerges through both comic and tragic events.El Batout combines documentary footage with created scenes shot on digital format and later transferred to 35 mm film. It's low budget, grainy sequences add to the nostalgic mood of the film. The poetic nature of the film creates an opportunity to question social conditions and structures to which the people in this district have become accustomed.
Blacktown Arts Centre is situated on the land of the Darug people - the traditional owners of the land - and is currently home to the largest urban Aboriginal population in Australia. It is a short drive 13 km west of Parramatta. The current exhibition is Black(s)town : 'Inspired and informed by the stories of the original Blacks' Town settlement, this project acknowledges and celebrates Aboriginal heritage and contemporary practices within Blacktown, while exploring issues central to the identity of the region.'
The exhibition was attended by the Mayor of Blacktown who opened the show by saying:'I would like to acknowledge the Darug people who are the traditional custodians of the land. I would also like to pay respect to the Elders, both past and present, of the Darug nation and extend that respect to other Aboriginals present’. This was the first time that we had heard this statement which would precede other openings which we would attend.
