DOCSLIB.ORG

Opera Queensland's Annual Report 2014

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Image by Stephanie Do Rozario OPERA QUEENSLAND’S ANNUAL REPORT 2014 OPERAQ DOES MORE THAN JUST PERFORM $6,713,784 $995,139 2 22 310,095 2014 ANNUAL REPORT THE COMPANY ne of Australia’s major performing arts companies, OOperaQ serves Metropolitan Brisbane and regional/ OUR MISSION remote Queensland through the development and presentation of opera projects that reflect our passion for Excellence, Community and Adventure. To reflect, Three intersecting spheres of engagement are central to achieving our goals: celebrate and • In a range of theatres and venues across Metropolitan enrich life in our Brisbane we present grand opera of excellence and bold creative adventures; communities. • We tour extensively throughout Regional Queensland, creating unique and innovative opportunities for regional artists and audiences to experience opera; and OUR VISION • OperaQ’s Open Stage unit creates first-rate education and community engagement programs for all ages. A boundless Located in the heart of Brisbane’s South Bank cultural precinct, OperaQ enjoys creative partnerships with Griffith University landscape of opera and multiple arts organisations, festivals and presenters across and beyond Queensland. experiences. VALUES CORE GOALS Leadership Stewardship Our work inspires confidence, pride and aspiration. As opera’s custodian we look to the future We set the bar high, producing work of the highest to ensure the art form will flourish. quality, benchmarking ourselves against the best Connection to the world in the world, continually challenging ourselves to To actively participate in the broader world of ideas. progress and evolve. Connection to our communities Adventure To build and maintain strong, meaningful relationships We are imaginative, adaptive and ambitious. with diverse communities across Queensland. We embrace bold ideas, big and small. Excellence, Leadership and Innovation We are not afraid to take risks in exploring new To be recognised for excellence, leadership, artistry pathways and territories. and innovation in all areas of our work. We plan and share creative adventures with like-minded partners. Powerful Brand and Reputation To be recognised as Australia’s most adventurous Relevance opera company. For the communities we serve, the experience we provide Sustainability and Financial Strength is valued and has impact. To ensure we have the people and the resources to realise our ambitious plans. 1 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER Realising the 2012-2017 The second half of 2014 saw a much improved financial situation for OperaQ with the production of La bohème Strategic Plan in the Conservatorium Theatre, supported by Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, and our collaboration with Brisbane Festival and QPAC in the presentation of The Perfect American. These productions continued the critical acclaim the company has been receiving for its work which included ABANDON and Rigoletto earlier in the year. The undoubted highlight however was our tour of La bohème which produced life changing experiences for the nearly 400 singers who participated in Project Puccini. Our incredible search uncovered local talent to become the choruses for La bohème in eight regional centres from the Gold Coast to Mount Isa. These wonderful performances broke all audience records for an OperaQ tour. In 2014 Opera Queensland began to realise the ambitions There were many other examples in 2014 but Project of the change and transformation agenda first outlined Puccini / La bohème championed our passion for in our 2012 annual report. When I composed my letter collaboration and proved that by working together with to you last year OperaQ had experienced a perfect others we can improve both the quality and the audience storm of disappointing audience numbers for Otello reach of our productions. We thank our eight regional and Rigoletto, both high quality productions with great performing arts centres for co-presenting the tour with Australian artists. It was a difficult time for OperaQ OperaQ and for their commitment and support. We and for that matter international and Australian opera also thank the Graeme Wood Foundation, the John generally which was experiencing similar events. Later Villiers Trust and the Queensland Government’s Playing in the year this prompted the Federal Government’s Queensland Fund, for the significant financial support National Opera Review and I will comment more about that made Project Puccini possible. that later. Our final ‘performances’ for the year were another Last year I wrote that we needed to face these challenges. great collaboration, this time between the Queensland I am pleased to report that OperaQ has responded to Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Queensland Chorus, these challenges superbly, not only in turning around the OperaQ G20 Community Chorus and the magicians the financial performance but doing this with a world from Electric Canvas. As a part of the State’s Cultural first community based initiative in Project Puccini and Program for the G20 leaders meeting, the son et an Australian first with our collaboration for The Perfect lumière presentation The Changing Face of Brisbane American. Equally importantly, we also invested in the transformed the facade of Brisbane’s Treasury Hotel. future of opera with a return to primary school touring The thousands who experienced these free events through FiZZ! – a production developed in collaboration witnessed a great example of how our 400 year art with shake and stir theatre co with the support of form has been sustained by its continuing capacity to Energex. I am proud to report that FiZZ! was enjoyed by generate powerful contemporary statements. more than 10,000 Queensland school children. As a consequence of the hard work of the OperaQ These events clearly reflect the company’s fundamental team and the enthusiastic support of our many partners commitment to deliver exceptional Opera for audiences we have achieved the best financial outcome for the through metropolitan, regional, and community company since 2007, albeit whilst still reporting a small loss. engagement programs. 2 2014 ANNUAL REPORT CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: TURNING THE CORNER continued Our patrons, supporters and the OperaQ Board were As you will see from the financial information in this vital contributors in making this turnaround possible. report, the major portion of OperaQ’s government Through our philanthropic and corporate support and support comes from the Queensland government. the initial efforts of our 2014/15 annual appeal we raised On the other hand the major portion of the over $950,000 in 2014. This achievement has enabled the Commonwealth government’s support for opera in company to benefit in 2015 from additional ‘leverage’ Australia is allocated to Opera Australia. We are now funding provided by the State government, an outcome awaiting the release of a Discussion Paper which we we hope to repeat in 2015 to benefit 2016. expect will provide a number of options as to the We are very pleased with this achievement, and believe potential direction of the final report of the Review Panel. OperaQ has turned a corner, but we know there is We believe the Discussion Paper will be widely still much to be done to ensure we maintain that new distributed and that written responses will be welcomed. direction. For 2015 we have planned a program very We hope the outcome of the Review will see continued much informed by our financial performance of recent support for the OperaQ transformation journey currently years and, although early days, we are on course for underway and, more importantly, provide a means a modest profit. A consequence of this has been a by which the range of opera experiences available to reduction in the number of our main stage productions, Queenslanders can be enhanced. a situation we are working to address for future seasons, I would like to use this opportunity to pay special tribute but at the same time undertaking a range of new to Nancy Underhill who retired as a director of OperaQ initiatives to broaden the company’s audience base. in April 2015. Nancy had been a director of OperaQ for Already this year we have been thrilled by the response over fifteen years and her commitment demonstrated to the first leg of our regional tour of The Adventures the passion with which she has loved opera throughout of Figaro, designed for smaller regional centres; to our her life. We will miss Nancy’s contribution around the Cloud Song opera ‘experience’ in Fortitude Valley’s board table but are comforted that opera will continue Cloudland; and to our community workshops associated to benefit from her knowledge and enthusiasm in her with La traviata and Candide. At the time of writing we leadership role at the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School. are about to launch our $25 ticket offer for La traviata Finally I would like to thank our key stakeholders, the for 2000 balcony seats in the Lyric Theatre, specifically Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, designed for ‘first-timers’ to experience why this Verdi and Australia Council for their on-going mentoring masterpiece is the most performed opera in the world. and support. Our patrons, sponsors, performers, We are enthusiastically creating as many pathways as performance partners and the OperaQ team have all possible to introduce new audiences to what we all know made significant contributions and, together with my can be a lifetime passion. colleagues on the OperaQ board, have my gratitude. We anticipate our future plans will be impacted by the I also express my appreciation to the opera lovers of Commonwealth Government’s National Opera Review Queensland: season ticket buyers; occasional purchasers which is examining “the artistic vibrancy, engagement and community participants who can enjoy this with audiences and financial positions of Opera Australia, wonderful art form in so many ways and whose passion State Opera of South Australia, West Australian Opera for opera will be the key to its continued success.
Recommended publications
  • 1A N N U a L R E P O

    1A N N U a L R E P O

    20 1ANNUAL9 REPORT Rachelle Durkin in Tosca / Photo: Stephanie Do Rozario Front: (L–R) Owen Willetts, Orpheus & Eurydice / Photo: Jade Ferguson Rachelle Durkin, Tosca / Photo: Stephanie Do Rozario Eva Kong, A Flowering Tree / Photo: Paul Blackmore Verdi’s Requiem as part of Bleach* Festival, HOTA Home of the Arts / Photo: Art-Work Agency 2019 SNAPSHOT HIGHLIGHTS & ACHIEVEMENTS 2019 was a year of great success and learning, built Based in Brisbane and engaging with communities across the entire state, upon a program that enabled new possibilities and Opera Queensland presents works of the highest quality to local, national and international audiences. much needed change. Everything we do at Opera Queensland celebrates and interrogates the Our commitment to introduce new audiences to the diversity and power of opera takes us into regional and remote communities across the state. Our annual main extraordinary energy that opera creates. One of our stage productions at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) are of the highest musical and theatrical standards. goals is to “Lead Change in Opera”. To do this we must live it in every facet of our work. PATRICK NOLAN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO 254,524 18,744 67% TOTAL REACH REGIONAL QUEENSLAND QUEENSLAND ELECTORATES REACH REACHED 265 ARTISTS AND ARTS 90% WORKERS EMPLOYED RATE THE ARTISTIC QUALITY OF PERFORMANCES AS GOOD OR $273,331 EXCELLENT OPERATING SURPLUS 02 03 Opera Queensland respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Lands on which we perform. We pay respect to their ancestors who came before them and to Elders past, present and emerging. CONTENTS Our Reach 07 Leading a Change in Opera 08 New Opera Workshop — NOW 2019 10 Project AR-ia 11 Orpheus & Eurydice 12 Collaborations 14 PURPOSE Nurturing and Growing Audiences 18 To make opera an integral part of Queensland life.
  • Director Deputy Director Research Officer Visiting Fellows THE

    Director Deputy Director Research Officer Visiting Fellows THE

    14/1986 10/1/86 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HUMANITIES RESEARCH CENTRE ANNUAL REPORT 1985 Director Professor C.I.E. Donaldson, BA Melb., MA Oxf., FAHA Deputy Director Professor G.W. Clarke, BA Oxf., MA NZ & Melb., LittD Melb., FAHA Research Officer Dr J.C. Eade, MA St And. & Adel., PhD ANU Visiting Fellows Professor A.D. Cameron, BA, MA Oxf. Dr J.K. Campbell, BA Camb., MA, D.Phil Oxf. Professor J.M. Crook, BA, D.Phil Oxf. Professor D. G~llop, BA, MA Oxf. Dr H.J. Gregory, BA Monash, PhD Lond. Professor A.C. Hamilton, BA Manitoba, MA Toronto, PhD Camb. Professor P. Herbst, BA, MA Melb., BA Oxf. Professor M.F. Herzfeld, MA Birmingham, D.Phil Oxf. Professor M.L. Jacobus, BA, MA, D.Phil Oxf. Mr R.H.A. Jenkyns, MA, M.Litt Oxf. Dr F.R.P. Just, BA, MA Melb., Dip. Soc. Anth. Oxf. Professor A.H.T. Levi, BA, D.Phil Oxf. Dr P. Magdalino, BA, D.Phil Oxf. Professor R. Parker, BA Princeton, BA, MA Oxf., PhD Harvard Mr D.W.R. Ridgway, BA Lond., Dip. Eur. Archeol. Oxf. Professor G.M. Sifakis, PhD Land. Professor S. Vyronis, BA Memphis, MA, PhD Harvard Dr P.B. Wilson, MA Edinburgh, D.Phil Oxf. 1 . Visiting Scholars Dr W.A. Krebs, BA Qld, MA, PhD Leeds Dr E.M. Perkins, BEd, BA, MA, PhD Qld Mr J.R. Rowland, BA Syd. Professor G. Seddon, BA Melb., MSc, PhD Minnestoa Dr J.G. Tulip, BA Qld, PhD Chicago Mrs N.D.H. Underhill, BA Bryn Mawr, MA Land.
  • Thesis Title

    Thesis Title

    Creating a Scene: The Role of Artists’ Groups in the Development of Brisbane’s Art World 1940-1970 Judith Rhylle Hamilton Bachelor of Arts (Hons) University of Queensland Bachelor of Education (Arts and Crafts) Melbourne State College A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2014 School of English, Media Studies and Art History ii Abstract This study offers an analysis of Brisbane‘s art world through the lens of artists‘ groups operating in the city between 1940 and 1970. It argues that in the absence of more extensive or well-developed art institutions, artists‘ groups played a crucial role in the growth of Brisbane‘s art world. Rather than focusing on an examination of ideas about art or assuming the inherently ‗philistine‘ and ‗provincial‘ nature of Brisbane‘s art world, the thesis examines the nature of the city‘s main art institutions, including facilities for art education, the art market, conservation and collection of art, and writing about art. Compared to the larger Australian cities, these dimensions of the art world remained relatively underdeveloped in Brisbane, and it is in this context that groups such as the Royal Queensland Art Society, the Half Dozen Group of Artists, the Younger Artists‘ Group, Miya Studios, St Mary‘s Studio, and the Contemporary Art Society Queensland Branch provided critical forms of institutional support for artists. Brisbane‘s art world began to take shape in 1887 when the Queensland Art Society was founded, and in 1940, as the Royal Queensland Art Society, it was still providing guidance for a small art world struggling to define itself within the wider network of Australian art.
  • Download This PDF File

    Download This PDF File

    Illustrating Mobility: Networks of Visual Print Culture and the Periodical Contexts of Modern Australian Writing VICTORIA KUTTAINEN James Cook University The history of periodical illustration offers a rich example of the dynamic web of exchange in which local and globally distributed agents operated in partnership and competition. These relationships form the sort of print network Paul Eggert has characterised as being shaped by everyday exigencies and ‘practical workaday’ strategies to secure readerships and markets (19). In focussing on the history of periodical illustration in Australia, this essay seeks to show the operation of these localised and international links with reference to four case studies from the early twentieth century, to argue that illustrations offer significant but overlooked contexts for understanding the production and consumption of Australian texts.1 The illustration of works published in Australia occurred within a busy print culture that connected local readers to modern innovations and technology through transnational networks of literary and artistic mobility in the years also defined by the rise of cultural nationalism. The nationalist Bulletin (1880–1984) benefited from a newly restricted copyright scene, while also relying on imported technology and overseas talent. Despite attempts to extend the illustrated material of the Bulletin, the Lone Hand (1907–1921) could not keep pace with technologically superior productions arriving from overseas. The most graphically impressive modern Australian magazines, the Home (1920–1942) and the BP Magazine (1928–1942), invested significant energy and capital into placing illustrated Australian stories alongside commercial material and travel content in ways that complicate our understanding of the interwar period. One of the workaday practicalities of the global book trade which most influenced local Australian producers and consumers prior to the twentieth century was the lack of protection for international copyright.
  • How Collaboration and Collectivism in Australia in the Seventies Helped

    How Collaboration and Collectivism in Australia in the Seventies Helped

    A Collaborative Effort: How Collaboration and Collectivism in Australia in the Seventies Helped Transform Art into the Contemporary Era Susan Rothnie Introduction The seventies period in Australia is often referred to as the “anything goes” decade. It is a label that gives a sense of the profusion of anti- establishment modes that emerged in response to calls for social and po- litical change that reverberated around the globe around that time. As a time of immense change in the Australian art scene, the seventies would influence the development of art into the contemporary era. The period‟s diversity, though, has presented difficulty for Australian art historiography. Despite the flowering of arts activity during the seventies era—and proba- bly also because of it—the period remains largely unaccounted for by the Australian canon. In retrospect, the seventies can be seen as a period of crucial impor- tance for Australia‟s embrace of contemporary art. Many of the tendencies currently identified with the contemporary era—its preoccupation with the present moment, awareness of the plurality of existence, rejection of hier- archies, resistance to hegemonic domination, and a sense of a global community—were inaugurated during the seventies period. Art-historically, COLLOQUY text theory critique 22 (2011). © Monash University. www.arts.monash.edu.au/ecps/colloquy/journal/issue022/rothnie.pdf 166 Susan Rothnie ░ however, it appears as a “gap” in the narration of Australian art‟s develop- ment which can be explained neither by the modernism which preceded it, nor by postmodernism. In Australia, the seventies saw a rash of new art “movements” emerge almost simultaneously.
  • Contents Price Code an Introduction to Chandos

    Contents Price Code an Introduction to Chandos

    CONTENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO CHANDOS RECORDS An Introduction to Chandos Records ... ...2 Harpsichord ... ......................................................... .269 A-Z CD listing by composer ... .5 Guitar ... ..........................................................................271 Chandos Records was founded in 1979 and quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading independent classical labels. The company records all over Collections: Woodwind ... ............................................................ .273 the world and markets its recordings from offices and studios in Colchester, Military ... ...208 Violin ... ...........................................................................277 England. It is distributed worldwide to over forty countries as well as online from Brass ... ..212 Christmas... ........................................................ ..279 its own website and other online suppliers. Concert Band... ..229 Light Music... ..................................................... ...281 Opera in English ... ...231 Various Popular Light... ......................................... ..283 The company has championed rare and neglected repertoire, filling in many Orchestral ... .239 Compilations ... ...................................................... ...287 gaps in the record catalogues. Initially focussing on British composers (Alwyn, Bax, Bliss, Dyson, Moeran, Rubbra et al.), it subsequently embraced a much Chamber ... ...245 Conductor Index ... ............................................... .296
  • Rusalkadvorˇák Cheryl Barker CHAN 10449(3) Opera Australia Richard105 Hickox

    Rusalkadvorˇák Cheryl Barker CHAN 10449(3) Opera Australia Richard105 Hickox

    RUSALKADvorˇák Cheryl Barker CHAN 10449(3) Opera Australia Richard105 Hickox CCHANHAN 110449(3)0449(3) BBooklet.inddooklet.indd 1104-10504-105 220/11/070/11/07 117:01:587:01:58 Antonín Dvořák (1841 – 1904) RUSALKA An opera in three acts Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, after Undine by Friedrich Heinrich de la Motte Fouqué A production by Opera Australia recorded live at the Lebrecht Music & Arts Photo Library Sydney Opera House in March 2007 Wood Nymphs Sarah Crane soprano Taryn Fiebig soprano Dominica Matthews mezzo-soprano Water Sprite Bruce Martin bass Rusalka Cheryl Barker soprano Ježibaba Anne-Marie Owens mezzo-soprano Prince Rosario La Spina tenor Gamekeeper / Huntsman Barry Ryan baritone Kitchen Boy Sian Pendry soprano Foreign Princess Elizabeth Whitehouse soprano Wedding Guests; Water Nymphs Opera Australia Chorus Michael Black chorus master Kate Golla assistant chorus master Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra Richard Hickox Stephen Mould assistant conductor Antonín Dvořák Aubrey Murphy concertmaster 3 CCHANHAN 110449(3)0449(3) BBooklet.inddooklet.indd 22-3-3 220/11/070/11/07 117:01:017:01:01 Opera Australia Chorus soprano Chloris Bath mezzo Caroline Clack tenor Dean Bassett cello Zoltan Szabo cor anglais Andrew Malec trombone Gregory van der Struik Helen Borthwick Jane Dunstan David Corcoran Eszter Mikes-Liu* William Farmer Annabelle Chaff ey Vanessa Lewis Warren Fisher Henry Urbanavicius** clarinet Peter Jenkin Nigel Crocker Angela Brewer Ke-Lu Ma David Lewis Margaret Iddison Richard Rourke* Lisa Cooper Lynette Murray Kent McIntosh
  • Conversation with Josh Milani

    Conversation with Josh Milani

    Conversation with Josh Milani Marysia Lewandowska: Josh, I am interested in the genealogy of the cultural scene in Brisbane, a city where you were born and where you now run a success- ful gallery. Let’s begin with some general comments relating to what you know of the establishment of the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) in 1975 and how this played a role in what you are doing now. Josh Milani: So in Brisbane, I would say the conditions for contemporary art as we understand it today begin to evolve just before that in the 1960s. The IMA was founded in 1975 under the pressure I suppose of the forces of art, curators, and people within the art ecology at the time. Modernist forces had been at play via the Johnstone Gallery which was showing some of Australia’s key modernists here, and the Contemporary Art Society. Its collapse led to the IMA. ML: That modernist work, what you call modernist culture … who was it driv- en by? By people at UQ, professional people elsewhere? Who was the biggest landlord of the time? I am interested in what impact property relations leave on culture. JM: I don’t know about that early history, that’s a bit too far back for me but there was obviously the Johnstones. Nancy Underhill is a very important figure. There was the Churchers and Jon Molvig. Gertrude Langer and her husband Karl Langer were significant figures. He [Karl] studied architecture under Peter Behrens at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna where they met.
  • HALCYON DAYS: HEIDE in the 1940S

    HALCYON DAYS: HEIDE in the 1940S

    MEDIA RELEASE 28 May 2015 HALCYON DAYS: HEIDE IN THE 1940s Opening on 20 June 2015, Halcyon Days: Heide in the 1940s celebrates highlights of Heide Museum of Modern Art’s collection from the 1940s, a heady period of extraordinary creative achievement and cultural change in the history of Heide. Throughout the 1940s, John and Sunday Reed’s home, Heide, formed a focal point for some of Australia’s most avant- garde artists, who rejected conventional ways of living and learning and spearheaded the modernist movement in Melbourne. This constellation of rising talent included the young Sidney Nolan, cerebral painter Albert Tucker and his partner Joy Hester, the quiet yet passionate Arthur Boyd and free-spirited John Perceval. Each developed a distinctive practice and came to hold an undisputed place in the canon of Australian art. Such was John and Sunday’s belief in this group that they supported them financially and materially and in some instances formed close attachments to them. As poet Barrett Reid observed, the Reeds provided a ‘total concentration of life’ at Heide, which not only gave rise to unprecedented experimentation and attainment, but witnessed a drama of human relationships. 1 MEDIA RELEASE The 1940s saw the creation of many much-loved Heide icons and the selection displayed in Halcyon Days will include Ned Kelly and St Kilda images by Nolan, some of Hester’s compelling psychological portraits, and surrealist images by Tucker. In addition, a remarkable major portrait group by Boyd makes its debut, a recent donation to the Museum by the Estate of Beverly Brown.
  • Albert Tucker and the Mystery of Hd 13 September 2014 – 15 February 2015

    Albert Tucker and the Mystery of Hd 13 September 2014 – 15 February 2015

    ALBERT TUCKER AND THE MYSTERY OF H.D. 13 SEPTEMBER 2014 – 15 FEBRUARY 2015 HEIDE III: ALBERT & BARBARA TUCKER GALLERY CURATORS: LESLEY HARDING & KENDRAH MORGAN Bush Fire in Gippsland c.1935 In 1944 Albert Tucker discovered two intriguing his own vision of the world with a simple paintings in an unexpected location—a bicycle shop unquestioning faith and paints it because he wants in Swanston Street, Melbourne. Attracted by their to, the best of all reasons’. naive artistry he set about trying to identify the painter, as the works were unsigned. Tucker With Tucker’s encouragement, four of H.D.’s learned that the pictures had belonged to Professor paintings were hung in the 1945 Contemporary Art Alfred Henry Tipper, a travelling showman and trick Society annual exhibition. This spurred Herald art cyclist who was depicted in the images, and who critic Clive Turnbull to investigate the artist’s identity. had died in April that year. He uncovered a sixth painting, this time signed H. Dearing. It is now thought that H. Dearing was an Tucker traced Tipper’s last place of residence and amateur artist who painted country life around found a further three paintings in the backyard, two regional Victoria during the 1920s and 1930s. Dearing of which were signed ‘H.D.’. Although his attempts may have encountered Tipper during this period to learn something about H.D. were unsuccessful, when the showman was touring his cycling act. he published an illustrated article about the pictures in Angry Penguins magazine in December 1944. This exhibition brings together four of H.
  • Russell James Milledge

    Russell James Milledge

    Russell Milledge 2015 CV. 1 email: [email protected] Russell James Milledge web: www.bonemap.com Selected Education: Course Title Institution Year Philosophical Doctorate Creative Media, JCU current Master of Fine Arts Creative Industries Faculty, QUT 2003 Recent appointments: Title Employer Role Year Head of Discipline, Media Arts & Creative Media, JCU Media arts research and teaching current Arts Co Artistic Director Bonemap Co-director current Chairperson KickArts Contemporary Arts Ltd Honorary board member 2015 Curatorial Projects: Project Title Organisation Role Year Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Arts Queensland / JCU Symposium Convenor 2009/10 Symposium Master of Ceremonies 2011/12/14 Blak Roots: Indigenous Art KickArts / Wet tropics Management Authority Exhibition Curator 2008 Survey / JCU Billy Missi: Urapun Kai Buai KickArts / JCU Exhibition Curator 2008 Bonemap : Selected Exhibitions and Performances Project Title Gallery/Venue Year Time Crystals CoCA Theatre, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2015 Terrestrial Nerve Brisbane Festival 2013 Nerve Engine Brisbane Festival and Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns 2013/14 Lodestar CoCA Theatre, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2013 Terrestrial Nerve The Space, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2012 Spectropica On Edge, Centre of Contemporary Art Cairns 2012 Sweet Spot KickArts, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2011 Cove KickArts, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2010 Whispering Limbs CoCA Theatre, Cairns Centre of Contemporary Arts 2009 Exquisite Resonance of Memory
  • Art Books Published in Australia

    Art Books Published in Australia

    1 The Art Book Publishing Industry in Australia Anita Pisch Ask any art historian,1 and they will tell you that it is quite difficult to get books published on art in Australia. Why this should be so in a nation that demonstrates increasing interest in and engagement with the arts is an interesting question, which generates both simple and complex answers. While it may be tempting to dismiss the issue as simply part of the broader challenges faced by the publishing industry as a whole, both in Australia and internationally, this would be to fail to recognise the distinct features and challenges of the art publishing industry as a niche market for a high-quality product which carries specific symbolic and cultural capital.2 In this paper I will briefly examine some of the key issues in contemporary Australian art book publishing, within both a historical and international context. The analysis here of the issues in contemporary Australian art book publishing will be brief, abridged and, somewhat unavoidably, synoptic. The term ‘art’ is fairly narrowly defined and restricted to the visual arts,3 and will not include books on design, fashion or architecture,4 many of which share salient qualities with the art book and sometimes target the same audience.5 I will also exclude books as art (livres d'artistes, or artists books),6 zines, art magazines, almanacs, instruction manuals,7 colouring books, and art ephemera promoting small exhibitions (usually in commercial galleries).8 Art book publishing comprises only a tiny fraction of the publishing industry as a whole, and differs from other areas of the industry in several ways, including high publication costs, target audience, 1 I have done this informally on many occasions and, as an art historian who publishes in the field, I feel qualified to make this general statement.