Join the Vanguards

The Art Gallery of South Australia wants to hear from young “art lovers, change makers and conversationalists” keen to join its Vanguard program in 2022.

Applicants must be aged between 20 and 30, and no previous art training is necessary. The program provides 12 weeks’ training focussing on contemporary art and its intersections with social justice, diversity and the environment.

Training for the 2022 program will take place against the backdrop of the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State, and will include the opportunity to learn from artists, curators and critical thinkers. Once it is completed, the Vanguards will then share their knowledge through public programs at the gallery.

AGSA director Rhana Devenport says the Vanguard program is unique within Australia: “Far from being a traditional art training program, the Vanguard course encourages big ideas, provocation and important conversations, which will then be shared with our audiences through talks and public events.”

CityMag spoke to two Vanguard participants last year about their experience of the program. Applications for the 2022 Vanguard program close on February 18, with further information available here. Up to 20 people will be selected.

Around the Park at WOMADelaide

A 60m-long Cathedral of Light archway and a new acrobatic and physical theatre promenade performance by Gravity & Other Myths will be among the activations around Botanic Park during this year’s WOMADelaide.

The Around the Park program is the final element to be announced for the world music festival, which return to the park in its usual seven-stage format from March 11-14.

The Cathedral of Light, presented by visual experience company Mandylights, comprises tens of thousands of LED light globes and is inspired by the arched windows of historic churches.

Other highlights include the world premiere of Kardla Paltendi (Dancing Fire), a collaboration between Kaurna man Jamie Goldsmith, his Taikurtinna dance group and installation artist Simon Hutchinson which celebrates the re-emergence of traditional Kaurna fire practice. It will be presented nightly, beginning with ceremony and live performance, and incorporating large carved flaming pillars.

The Around the Park line-up also includes TAKSU, a sculptural installation made of 160 bamboo combs shaped into a spiralling tunnel; an interactive experience by Slingsby Theatre in which audience members can share their memories of WOMADelaide from the past 30 years; a high-tech “music-making playground” designed by Adelaide creative studio Pulsing Heart, and an exhibition based around the ABC TV mini-series Bush Mechanics that followed five young Warlpiri men travelling through remote outback Australia.

Read previous stories about the 2022 WOMADelaide line-up here, and see the full program here.

Art as a Visual Language

Futura Bold, 2013, by Olga Sankey.

It’s worth paying a visit to the Adelaide Town Hall in the coming weeks to see this latest exhibition presented through the ART WORKS Emerging Curator Program delivered by Guildhouse and the City of Adelaide.

Curated by 2021 ART WORKS emerging curator Anne-Marie Green, Art as a Visual Language features work in a range of media by emerging and established artists Michelle Driver, Kate Little, Annette McRae, Monika Morgenstern, Mark Niehus, Sue Ninham, Olga Sankey, Kasia Tons, Iteka Ukarla and Amanda Westley.

Guildhouse says the artists “invite us to unpack art as a visual language of exterior, interior and liminal landscapes, via found and constructed images, text and symbols”. Art as a Visual Language continues until March 22.

First Nations film opportunity

Pauline Clague.

South Australian First Nations writers are invited to apply for a short-film skills development program being run by the SA Film Corporation.

The program, part of the SAFC’s new First Nations Short Film initiative, will see six writers selected to take part in a six-month training and mentorship program to hone their short-form writing skills and develop a “polished short-film script”. Their projects will then be eligible for production funding through the First Nations Short Film Production Program later this year.

Program guidelines are available here, with applications closing at the end of this month.

The SAFC has also announced the appointment of producer Pauline Clague as First Nations screen strategy executive. Clague, a Yaegl woman from North Coast New South Wales, has worked as a storyteller and producer in film and TV for 25 years.

Deep Creek writers’ residency

Applications open today for a new one-week residency fellowship for a South Australian writer that includes a week’s accommodation at Grass Tree Gully in Deep Creek and a mentorship session with Adelaide Hills author Hannah Kent.

The Deep Creek Residency Fellowship is offered through a partnership between Writers SA, Matilda Bookshop and Ultimo Press, promising “support (time, writing space and mentoring) to work on a writing project of literary merit”. In addition to the mentorship session with Kent – author of bestselling novels Burial Rites and The Good People, and the recently published Devotion – it includes a manuscript assessment by Ultimo Press.

Further details can be found here, with applications open until April 1. The first residency will take place in October this year, after which it will be offered annually.

Writers interested in other opportunities in 2022 – including literary prizes, competitions, fellowships and more ­– should check out this comprehensive list compiled by Writers SA.

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 [email protected]