ICYMI: A wrap of the week’s arts news – ArtsHub

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A record number of entries has confirmed the strength of childrens books in Australia as the Childrens Book Council of Australia (CBCA) announces its Book of the Year Award Notables List.

CBCA National Chair Professor Margot Hillel OAM said the 2020 Notables List was drawn from 517 entries and is 'arguably the most diverse award longlist in Australia'.

Our Notable books are set in small towns and big cities in Australia and overseas. They take us from the ocean to the bush, telling stories of Indigenous, immigrant, disabled, LGBTQI+ and elderly characters. Many were created by own voice writers and illustrators.

'There are genre books that break the rules, such as fantasy crossed with science fiction, history and mystery. Romance that isnt just for girls. Sports books that arent really sports books.'

The 2020 Notables include favourite childrens authors Emily Rodda, Jackie French and Paul Jennings as well as Tim Flannery, the acclaimed scientific writer and conservationist making his first foray into writing for young people.

Visit the CBCA for the Book of the Year Award Notables full list.

Renewal SA has chosen Australian artist James Geurts to deliver a significant public artwork in the heart of the Adelaide Riverbank.

The 25-metre long sculptural piece will be integrated into the ceiling of the new northern entrance to the Adelaide Railway Station which will run beneath SkyCity Casinos new hotel building and link the Railway Station concourse to the Riverbank Footbridge.

Geurts artwork will be made up of dozens of sculptural elements which will create a three-dimensional illusion of an ancient geological formation and rupture as pedestrians move in and out of the station.

The new station entrance will be a grand arcade featuring a series of intersecting vaults arching down to the ground, new retail spaces and a new entrance to the Dunstan Playhouse. It is part of a broader program of works set to transform Adelaide Railway Station and Festival Plaza.

Geurts was awarded the commission following an Expression of Interest process which yielded submissions from artists from all over Australia and overseas. The selection process was overseen by a Public Art Fabrication and assembly of the artwork will commence in early 2020 with the big reveal to take place in late 2020.

James Geurts installingWater Gate, at Kuandu Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan, 2017. Image supplied.

Talks & Opportunities

Art lovers have the opportunity to engage with 21 artists, to see how they work and what inspires them in addition to buying their art as part of the Pittwater Artists Trail (PAT) in Sydney.

Each year in March and October PAT artists collectively open their studios to the public to create a trail for art lovers.During the weekend, artists offer visitors the opportunity to learn techniques through courses and demonstrations.

Victoria Norman will be running hands-on demonstrations of sculptural products and chalk paint uses at 12pm on both days at her store and studio: Made in Design, 64 Darley Street, Mona Vale.

Pitwatter Artists Trail is on from 7-8 March 2020.

Fiona Verity is an artist participating in the Pittwater Artists Trail. Image supplied.

IMA School is a new professional development series that seeks to help emerging artists navigate the world of contemporary art. In this hands-on workshop series key artists, academics, and arts workers will share insights, resources, and offer practical advice on how to build a sustainable art practice.

The 5-week course runs Tuesdays 6-8pm, commencing 10 March. Registration costs $99 for five weekly intimate group sessions with discounts available for IMA Members.

Visit IMA School to find out about their new professional development series

ON STAGE

Kickstarting conversations about everything from climate anxiety to toxic corporate feminism, Griffin Theatres Company's Batch Festival is a three-week fiesta of shows by some of the freshest, wildest and most inventive artists in the country.

An exciting new batch of theatremakers, storytellers, poets and performance artists from across Australia will take over Griffins iconic Stables stage and beyond, showcasing their wares from 17 April 2 May.

A later time-slot of hand-picked nocturnal performers, joke-makers and raconteurs will take over the stage from 10 pm.

Between shows, audiences can sign up for Unkiss Me, an intimate, participatory art-game for two, or witness Kush, a hilarious micro-drama for three in the backseat of a Toyota. And craft beer will again be flowing in the foyer, courtesy of Batch Brewing Company.

With four world premieres, Beethovens 250th anniversary, plus a number of Australian debuts, the 30th anniversary program of The Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) will be something to celebrate.

Themed Carnival, the 30th AFCM will celebrate an extraordinary generation of music making in the north as well as the 25th anniversary of Australias famed Goldner String Quartet and the 250th anniversary of Beethoven!

Taking place from 31 July to 9 August in Townsville, 47 artists will perform over the 10-days, including 31 Australian artists and 16 international artists, with four making their Australian debut.

In a musical coup for the event, four world premieres and 11 Australian premieres will be performed as part of over 125 pieces being played in total.

In the third and final AFCM under the artistic direction of celebrated British pianist Kathryn Stott, the line-up will include British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason who shot to fame globally after performing at the wedding of Harry and Meghan in May 2018, British flute player Adam Walker, violinists Alexander Sitkovetsky (Russia), Amalia Hall (NZ), and Lise Berthaud (France) plus more.

The Festival will also welcome its youngest ever artist, 12-year-old Melbourne violinist Christian Li. He made history last year by becoming the youngest ever winner of the Menuhin Competition, the worlds leading competition for violin players under 22.

Of the 2020 program, Stott said, We have music spanning centuries and continents, and exciting commissions and premieres all mixed into a joyous potpourri of the most celebrated chamber music repertoire ever written.

Stonnington Jazz Festival returns for its 15th year with 11 days of red-hot, all-Australian jazz across multiple Melbourne venues.

From 7 to 17 May 2020 the Festival will present a dynamite program of performances and events across multiple venues with Chapel Off Chapel serving as the festival hub, packed with stunning shows, interactive events and immersive experiences.

The authentic jazz club experience will come alive in the Lana Turner Lounge, inspired by the speakeasies of the 1920s to allow audiences to enjoy intimate performances of everything from swing and blues to late-night funk and soul. Highlights in the Lana Turner Lounge include: Arabesk, an award-winning, Sydney-based four-piece ensemble that will lift spirits with a mix of tango, reggae and funky jazz beats on Thursday 14 May, 9pm. An intoxicating show that journeys through Eastern Europes Gypsy Classical traditions with a backdrop of African and Arabic beats, before spinning into Motown Rhythms and Cuban Jazz.

This years festival embraces new generations of amazing Australian talent while honouring the timeless mastery of the jazz greats. Creative Producers Nichaud Fitzgibbon and Stephen McAllan have curated a program that encompasses the many and diverse genres that make up jazz, taking listeners on a round- the-world musical journey from New Orleans and New York to Polynesia, Brazil and even further afield.

Following a sold-out event and record-breaking crowd of 10,000 people at the 2019 event, a third stage will be added to this years festival, treating music fans of all ages to 10 hours of non-stop, live music.

This years lineup includes: Chillinit, Hayden James, Jack River, JessB (NZ), The Jungle Giants, Missy Higgins, Odette, Thelma Plum and Winston Surfshirt will be making their Peoples Choice Bassinthegrass debut, along with many more national acts at the Northern Territorys biggest and longest running music festival

Pierre Dalp, Wigstock Shotgun Wedding, Head On Photo Festival 2020.

Entering its 11th year, Sydneys Head On Photo Festival has unveiled the first 20 exhibitions to headline the 2020 edition, presented from 2-17 May.

Featuring both international and Australian artists, the Festival will span eight locations in Sydney including Paddington Town Hall, Paddington Reservoir Gardens, NSW Parliament House and for the first time a series of open-air exhibitions along the boardwalk of Bondi Beach.

Highlighting the extraordinary diversity of photography as a medium through thought-provoking exhibitions, the Festival will feature contemporary fine art photography, portraiture and photojournalism by artists from France, Guatemala, Japan, Greece, Germany, South Korea, The Netherlands, United States of America, United Kingdom, China, Canada and Australia.

Amongst the topics addressed in these free and ticketed exhibitions are: the urgency of climate change, the precious but fleeting nature of childhood, the beauty of old age, the rise of anti-immigration groups, the devastation of war, identity politics, and the value inherent and ascribed of the selfie.

Head On Festival Director Moshe Rosenzveig OAM said: Head Ons international scope and agility as an independent organisation allow us to present world class exhibitions that place the work of established Australian and internationally recognised artists alongside those of emerging talent. Our 2020 headline exhibitions promise, as always, an incredible banquet of topical themes that are deeply relevant to our everyday lives.'

Visit Head On 2020 for more information about this year's festival.

Around the galleries

Melbourne Art Fair has announced its list of esteemed galleries taking part in the 2020 fair, presenting a mix of new and iconic works.

Twice the footprint of the previous fair, the 16th edition continues its focus on solo shows and large-scale installations where galleries will be presenting the best selection of contemporary art across four days from 18-21 June 2020 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

Yavuz Gallery (Singapore/Sydney), Mizuma & Kips (New York/Tokyo), and James Makin Gallery (Melbourne) are just some of the new galleries to feature in this years art fair.

Gallery exhibitions will be complemented by a new sector for 2020 titled Beyond. Harnessing the monumental exhibition spaces of the venue, six galleries will present large-scale installations and spatial interventions in mediums as varied virtual reality, kinetic sculpture and performative installations.

Visit Melbourne Art Fair for more information on the event taking place from18-21 June 2020 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Rather than an exhibition that exclusively presents women artists, Making Her Mark : Selected Works from the Collectionoffers a new appraisal of the work of leading women artists. held in the collection of TarraWarra Museum of Art.

The exhibition, opening on 29 February, includes the work of male artists in the form of unexpected pairings to present a nuanced conversation about image, composition and mark-making where women take centre stage. Taking the themes of works by female artists as its starting point such as the role of memory, a connection to the Australian landscape and the pursuit of abstraction art by women is not seen as a category, but as a catalyst.

Presented in thematic clusters, the exhibition includes works by artists such as Davida Allen, Yvonne Audette, Kate Beynon, which is then paired with the work of the artists' male contemporaries including Howard Arkley, Ralph Balson, Charles Blackman, Robert Klippel plus others.

Victoria Lynn, Director, TarraWarra Museum of Art and exhibition curator, said, The title of the exhibition refers to both the fact that women artists have well and truly made their mark on Australian art as well as highlighting the techniques and processes of mark-making, whereby visitors can engage with the numerous ways in which the artists have incorporated images, gestures, colour and texture in their work.

Making Her Mark: Selected Works from the Collection is on display at TarraWarra Museum of Art from 29 February to 16 April 2020.

Internationally acclaimed Australian performance artist Stelarc has a new provocative exhibition that examines a world where technology, medicine and engineering collide.

STELARC: Posthuman Bodies questions the future of human biology while tracing the artists groundbreaking practice over nearly 50 years.

Known for his radical and experimental investigations that probe the physical limits of human experience, Stelarcs survey exhibition presented by Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) includes diagrams, video and photography of the artists previous performance works and engineered prosthetics which have been integral to them.

One of the most celebrated artists in the world working at the cutting edge of art and technology, the show traces Stelarcs speculative and groundbreaking practice from the 1970s to the present day, said Fiona Salmon, Director of FUMA.

Bringing together these works for the first time in Adelaide, ironically the city that shut down the artists earliest attempted suspension performance in 1975, will enable audiences to contemplate the broader language of Stelarcs oeuvre and trajectory of his ideas.

Posthuman Bodies also serves as an essential companion to Stelarcs latest work commissioned by the Art Gallery South Australia (AGSA) for the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Monster Theatres. Made in collaboration with the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute (AITI) at Flinders University, FESTO (a global leader for automation technology) and consulting engineer Wayne Michell (from Ternay Pty Ltd), the colossal nine-metre pneumatically powered stick figure will be on display at the Art Gallery of SA from 29 February to 8 June.

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ICYMI: A wrap of the week's arts news - ArtsHub