A fair way to buy Indigenous art

Paintings, ceramics, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and other works created by hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across Australia will be for sale through the online Tarnanthi Art Fair this weekend.

Various fabrics by Babbarra Designs Artists, 2022, water-based textile ink and cotton. Photo courtesy Ziian Carey and Babbarra Women’s Centre

The Art Fair, which is presented by the Art Gallery of SA and moved fully online post-COVID, is an opportunity to ethically purchase beautiful artworks while also supporting regional and remote communities where art is an important source of income. All proceeds go direct to artists and art centres, with last year’s event notching up $1.4 million worth of sales.

AGSA says this year’s fair brings together 50 art centres from across Australia, with each sharing their cultural stories through works that combine traditional techniques with contemporary practice: “Buyers can journey from the islands at the Top End through to the expanses of the Central and Western Desert; and from the rainforests of Far North Queensland to Australia’s southern coastline”.

Tarnanthi Art Fair is available via an online portal on the AGSA website, which will go live here from 5pm on Friday, October 14, until 9pm, October 17 – and demand is likely to be strong, so don’t leave your shopping till the last minute.

ASQ on tour

The Australian String Quartet. Photo: Jacqui Way

The Australian String Quartet is kicking off a national tour next Tuesday with an Adelaide Town Hall concert featuring the world premiere of a new work by Sydney-based composer Jack Symonds.

Symonds’ String Quartet No. 2, a work in two movements, was commissioned by the ASQ after a successful collaboration at the 2021 Adelaide Festival and was originally going to premiere at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Quartetthaus season at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which had to be postponed until next year.

The composer offers an insight into the work in a filmed interview with ASQ members that includes rehearsal excerpts giving audiences a taste of what to expect.

For the Symonds Beethoven concert – to be presented at the Town Hall on October 18 before touring to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra – Symonds’ quartet will be paired with Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op.131.

“Inspiration is what I find in both pieces on this program, not just because they are at times unexpected or painfully beautiful, but because they gently take us into another world,” says ASQ cellist Michael Dahlenburg.

Cast your votes

Elsy Wameyo is among nominees for the People’s Choice Awards.

Members of the public can vote now for their favourite South Australian musicians of 2022, with a record 160 People’s Choice nominations submitted in this year’s SAM Awards.

Nominees span 12 genres including blues, roots, rock, experimental, electronic, country, hip-hop and pop. Among them are artists such as electronic producer Motez, punk-pop duo Teenage Joans, hip-hop singer Elsy Wameyo and electronic music duo Electric Fields. Sons Of Zöku have won People’s Choice Experimental award for the past three years and are in the running again, while Tilly Tjala Thomas ­– winner of the Best Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Award and Emily Burrows Award in 2021 – is nominated for best pop award this year.

The 14-strong judging panel for the 2022 SAM Awards – previously known as the South Australian Music Awards and presented by Music SA – was also announced this week, with CityMag journalist Angela Skujins set to make her judging debut alongside music industry representatives including Triple J presenter Declan Byrne, Superjesus frontwoman Sarah McLeod and First Nations singer-songwriter Leah Flanagan.

Votes for the People’s Choice Awards can be cast here up until October 30. The 2022 SAM Awards will be announced on November 17 at an event at Hindley Street Music Hall.

First Nations arts pathway

Participants in ActNow’s Arts Pathway Program.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts are invited to apply for a pathway program run by ActNow Theatre that offers participants the chance to immerse themselves in the sector and build professional networks.

The Arts Pathway Program will run over five days, from November 28 to December 2. It includes workshops in theatre, dance, film, writing and other areas, with those taking part getting to meet a range of people in the arts industry and visit organisations such as the State Theatre Company SA, SA Film Corporation and Flinders Drama Centre. They will also be supported in the development of a short work of their own.

ActNow Theatre CEO and artistic director Yasmin Gurreeboo says there is still a lot of work to be done in the performing arts sector to support First Nations artists: “I am delighted that we can offer the program again this year and help to nurture these historically excluded artists.”

Those interested can register here on the ActNow website before October 28.

ART WORKS callout

Artist in residence Jingwei Bu in the City of Adelaide ArtPOD. Photo: Sam Roberts

Guildhouse is seeking applications from South Australian artists, writers and early-career curators interesting in taking part in the ART WORKS program in 2023-24.

ART WORKS (delivered in partnership with the City of Adelaide) presents residency opportunities for two individual artists and an artist and writer team in the City of Adelaide ArtPOD in Pirie Street, as well as an an early-career curator program presenting three exhibitions at the Adelaide Town Hall and Mankurri-api Kuu / Reconciliation Room.

Applications close on November 15, with more information available here.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

Get in touch by emailing us at e[email protected]