what

What can art bring to the con­tem­por­ary pub­lic con­ver­sa­tion about Aus­tralian iden­tity and culture?

We Australians.org present Mani­fest­a­tions of Now, across prom­in­ent pub­lic and private spaces at Fed­er­a­tion Square in April 2012. This high pro­file, dynamic exhib­i­tion show­cases the work of eight­een high cal­ibre artists whose sub­ject mat­ter chal­lenges main­stream expres­sions of Aus­tralian iden­tity and cul­ture. Mani­fest­a­tions of Now fea­tures a spec­trum of art prac­tices span­ning draw­ing, sculp­ture, video install­a­tion, pho­to­graphy, live per­form­ance and hybrid art­forms. The art­works are innov­at­ive, socially enga­ging and rep­res­ent a new gen­er­a­tion of Aus­tralian artists from diverse art prac­tices and cul­tural tra­di­tions. This exhib­i­tion and stim­u­lat­ing pro­gram of events is designed to incite new ways of rep­res­ent­ing con­tem­por­ary Australia.

This dynamic exhib­i­tion pro­gram includes a draw­ing per­form­ance work, a live-in inter­act­ive install­a­tion in the Atrium that will be inhab­ited by the artist for the exhib­i­tion period, artist talks, and a guided ‘Art Guru Tour’ of the exhibition.

why

In 2011, any use of the phrase ‘We Aus­trali­ans’, neces­sar­ily describes an increas­ingly diverse pop­u­la­tion with a mul­ti­tude of con­cerns. If ‘mul­ti­cul­tur­al­ism is dead’ then per­haps we should pro­claim a revolu­tion of words and images, to eman­cip­ate tra­di­tional notions of a fixed national iden­tity. As we – both as indi­vidu­als and as mem­bers of a union of Aus­tralian cul­tural tribes – move bey­ond dog­matic con­struc­tions of ste­reo­types and con­form­ity, we enable new ways of respect­ing the dig­nity and rights of humans, and enhance their capa­city to enjoy the diversity of their culture.

We artists prac­tice in a world that is mov­ing on from post-colonialist the­or­ies crit­ical of West­ern hege­monic struc­tures (and the cri­tique of this cri­tique) and the fad­ing buzz of ‘mul­ti­cul­tur­al­ism’, to be immersed in a trans­itional land­scape of dynamic national and global rela­tions, some­where between old and new, indi­gen­ous and nat­ur­al­ised, sec­u­lar and sac­red, pat­ri­otic and cos­mo­pol­itan, desir­ing recon­cili­ation and harmony.

who

Monika Behrens
Boatpeople.org
Jessie Boylan
Brown Coun­cil
Sapna Chandu
ZHEN
Bindi Cole
Eva Fernan­dez
Ann Fuata
Jane Kor­man
Keith Lim
MISO
Paula do Prado
Roberta Rich
Carl Scrase
Dario Vacirca
Michael War­nock
Paul Yore

These artists will present enga­ging art­works with unique, pro­voc­at­ive and con­tem­por­ary per­spect­ives on a vari­ety of Aus­tralian cul­tural sub­jects (such as sport, race, migra­tion, gender, weapons test­ing, and endangered spe­cies). The works are innov­at­ive, aes­thet­ic­ally diverse, and gen­er­ate recon­sid­er­a­tions of genre and audi­ence engagement.

where

The exhib­i­tion will be held at FEDERATION SQUARE in Melbourne’s CBD. It will span NGV Stu­dio, NO Vacancy Gal­lery , Fed­er­a­tions Square’s Atrium, The Frac­ture Gal­lery,and the Big Screen.

when

Our inaug­ural pro­gram from 4th-28th April 2012, will show­case diverse art prac­tices and cul­tural tra­di­tions, to anim­ate pub­lic con­ver­sa­tion and debate about what it means to be Aus­tralian today.