Bright Future for Craft + Design
The future is bright: contemporary craft at the forefront in new exhibition
The future contemporary craft and design is cause for celebration at the Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre annual members’ exhibition, to be opened by Rebecca Edwards (National Gallery of Australia) on 12 September 2019.
Visionaries: 2019 Craft ACT Members exhibition demonstrates how contemporary craft is evolving, reflecting experimentation with new materials and techniques, and an openness to innovation and collaboration.
“Craft is dynamic, enduring, entrepreneurial and respectful of tradition, uniting time-honoured techniques with contemporary interpretations built for the future. Work on show in our annual members’ exhibition presents a variety of creative excellence by artists spanning art, craft and design mediums including jewellery, furniture, metal, textiles, ceramics, paper and glass,” said Rachael Coghlan, CEO + Artistic Director Craft ACT.
The most anticipated show of Craft ACT’s artistic program, the members exhibition invited acclaimed Accredited Professional and Associate Members to submit recent works which are helping to shape and secure the future of craft and design.
This year Craft ACT received a record number of proposals from 80 artists and selected over 100 works that are helping to shape and secure the future of craft and design.
“The works on display express Craft ACT’s commitment to strengthen and invest in our community of artists. Craft’s tradition of exchange, mentoring and collaboration sustains its past and its future. As a result of our renewed commitment to build a thriving and supportive member community, Craft ACT has enjoyed significant growth in membership levels over the past three years (50% increase in membership 2016-18). We are honored to support some of Australia’s most respected and exciting craft practitioners and designers,’ said Rachael.
In her opening speech, Rebecca Edwards acknowledged the richness, openness and diversity that is alive and well in contemporary Australian craft, especially in Canberra: ‘This group of exhibiting artists reflects the strength of the craft community, and the enduring ability of craft to produce an inclusive space for connection, exchange, and collaboration and act as an anchor point between people across time. They are both teachers and mentors, students and mentees. They represent a cross section of practices, with long established makers presented alongside emerging artists whose creative voices are only just developing,’ said Rebecca.
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is one of Australia’s longest-running visual arts membership organisations. A respected and nearly 50-year-old organization, Craft ACT represents designers, artists and craftspeople at every stage of their careers, from glass artists, furniture makers, textiles artists, ceramic artists and jewelers. We foster deeper critical engagement with contemporary craft practice, and expand this engagement to audiences in our gallery and beyond. Craft ACT’s primary outreach activity is the annual DESIGN Canberra festival. From 4-24 November 2019, over 200 events, exhibitions, talks, tours, activations, markets, collaborations, artist studios and open homes will be showcased as DESIGN Canberra, transforming the nation’s capital into a new platform for the best in design. The festival, now in its 6th year, is for all interests and ages and most events are free. Utopia is the theme of this year’s festival program - harnessing the power of imagination to shape the future of design in Canberra and the world. The 2019 Craft ACT members exhibition is the first event to respond to the festival’s theme of Utopia.
Almost all works in the exhibition are available for purchase – an opportunity to support local artists.
DATES: Thursday 12 September – Saturday 26 October 2019
FLOOR TALKS:
Thursday 12 September, 5.30 pm with Craft ACT Accredited Professional Member Sharon Peoples hosting the talk. Featured artists: Dianne Firth, Emilie Patteson, Elizabeth Paterson, Gilbert Riedelbauch, Leonie Andrews, Monique Van Nieuwland, Melanie Olde, Ruth Hingston and Sally Blake.
Saturday 12 October, 1.00 pm with Craft ACT Accredited Professional Member Janet DeBoos hosting the talk. Featured artists: Andres Cayedo, Debra Jurss, Fran Romano, Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello, John White, Lia Tajcnar, Louis Grant, Moraig McKenna and Tania Vrancic.
Artists:
Abbey Jamieson | Alison Jackson | Andres Caycedo | Angela Bakker | Annie Trevillian | Avi Amesbury Barbara Rogers | Belinda Toll | Benedict Laffan | Bev Hogg | Bic Tieu | Cassandra Layne | Cathy Franzi | Chelsea Lemon | Daniel Lorrimer | Daniel Margules | Daniel Venables Debra Jurss | Dianne Firth | Elizabeth Paterson | Elliot Bastianon | Emilie Patteson Sebastian Davies | Fran Romano | Gilbert Riedelbauch | Hannah Gason | Harriet Schwarzrock | Isabelle Mackay-Sim | Janet DeBoos | Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello | Jennifer Robertson | Jeremy Brown | Jo Victoria | Jochen Heinzmann | John White | Judi Elliott | Julie Bradley | Julie Pennington | Keiko Amenomori-Schmeisser | Leonie Andrews | Lia Tajcnar | Lisa Cahill | Louis Grant | Luna Ryan | Madisyn Zabel | Marcia Holden | Margaret Brown | Mark Eliott | Melanie Olde | Monique Van Nieuwland | Moraig McKenna | Naomi Zouwer | Pamela Irving | Phoebe Porter | René Linssen | Robyn Campbell | Rolf Barfoed | Rozlyn de Bussey Ruby Berry | Ruth Allen | Ruth Hingston | Sally Blake | Sarah Bourke | Sarit Cohen | Sharon Peoples | Sophi Suttor | Sue Hewat | Tania Vrancic | Tom Skeehan | Valerie Kirk Ximena | Briceño | Zoe Brand