

To counteract the rise of negative and inaccurate perceptions towards asylum seekers within the wider community, a group of academics and staff from three Sydney universities are organising a group art exhibition at Sydney’s Mori Gallery from 20 June 2011 entitled fear+hope. The exhibition will be launched on World Refugee Day and will be opened by Amnesty International’s Graham Thom.
http://www.therefugeeartproject.com/faqs
Awareness Muscle
The Academy of Emergency Art
Awareness Muscle combines; new works (Deadline Art) created by a selection of Emergency Artists who have been invited by Dennis and Jones to participate in awareness muscle training; a collection of videos documenting the duo’s activation of critical formats over the previous 18 months; and unique live formats and events that will be launched throughout the exhibition, encouraging community participation and collective critical awareness exercise. The exhibition is part of Creative Sydney Vivid Festival, exhibiting At The Vanishing Point Gallery.
Mikelangelo and The Tin Star
Mikelangelo and The Tin Star will be launching their Debut Album The Surf ‘n’ Western Sounds Of Mikelangelo and the Tin Star at The Vanguard on Friday 17th June.
Well known for his cabaret persona fronting The Black Sea Gentlemen, and as a star of the international hit
show La Clique, Mikelangelo formed The Tin Star in late 2009 as a channel for his love of instrumental
guitar music of the 50’s and 60’s. Combined with a fascination for Western cinema soundtracks and
Mikelangelo’s impressive baritone croon, The Tin Star could never be a purely instrumental band, and
shades of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley can be heard in the vocals on the group’s debut album.
+ Sydney Film Festival interview w/ Celluloid Dreams, film show
+ more!
Ironfest
Ironfest is a cool arts Festival with a Metal Edge, featuring art exhibitions, stalls, live music, street performance, historical re-enactments, (including St George’s Day Jousting and a Napoleonic battle re-enactment entitled ‘The Battle of Lithgow’ featuring infantry, cannons and cavalry!), blacksmithing demonstrations, workshops, busking competitions, automotive displays, educational, historical and technological displays and lots more of a particularly ‘steamy’ nature this Ironfest!
Where and when: Lithgow Showground May 14 - 15.
Sat. 10.00am – 6.00pm & Sun. 10.00am – 4.00pm.
Tiny Stadiums Festival FREE Live Art Weekend!
There are also three more performances of the ticketed theatre double-bill of Applespiel's Executive Stress / Corporate Retreat and Nat Randall's Cheer Up Kid. Friday 13 May - Saturday 14 May @ 7pm, Sunday 15 May @ 3pm.
Pyrmont Festival this Sunday, 15th May 2011
The day starts at 11am with an Aboriginal welcome!
There will be all day entertainment including wine tasting & food stalls street theatre & music all day.
Bring all your friends & vote for your favourite work, kids are welcome too.
The Lord Mayor will open the event at 12 midday.
Announcement for the judges choice at 2pm and peoples choice at 3pm. Hope to see you all there.
Venue: End of Harris Street, Pyrmont in the Award winning Pirrima Park on the Panoramic Sydney Harbour.
Head On Photo Festival Seminar
A weekend of fantastic talks, presentations and workshops delivered by leading figures in photography
A must for anyone interested in photography, The Head On Photo Festival Seminar will be held on 14 - 15 May at the National Art School.
Whether you’re a photo artist, a professional photographer or a passionate enthusiast, this seminar is sure to inspire.
You can opt to participate in general sessions that cover all bases of the photography world - getting into “that” competition, accessing funding support, getting your work or your book published, and protecting your copyright. You can also sign up for small group workshops on everything from fine art printing to the latest tips and tricks for Adobe Photoshop™.
With an amazing array of award-winning artists, high-profile editors and industry figures from Australia and abroad leading sessions and workshops, this weekend is a unique opportunity for anyone who loves photography. Numbers are strictly limited, so early booking is essential.
Seminar link: http://headon.com.au/product/head-seminar-day-2-15-may-2011
Sydney Writers Festival, No Typos: Telling the Story in Images
Photographer: Stephen Dupont, Paul Goldman, John Ogden, Mike Bowers (facilitator)
Join award-winning photojournalist Stephen Dupont, filmmaker and photography book collector Paul Goldman, photography book publisher John Ogden, and photographer and former photo editor of ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ Mike Bowers as they discuss storytelling through picture books and photojournalism.
Sydney Writers' Festival event presented with Head On Photo Festival
Cost: $15/$10
More information and bookings: http://www.swf.org.au/
Sun, 22/05/2011 11.30am to 12.30pm at Sydney Theatre, Wharf 2
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Phone: 02 9251 3687
Works inspired by Brett Whiteley at Depot II Gallery
Artist-run Initiative (ARI) "Sydney Art Exchange" exhibit works inspired by Brett Whiteley
at Depot II Gallery, 2 Danks St, Waterloo from 17-21 May 2011
Brett Whiteley’s famous painting Selfportrait in the Studio, 1976, was chosen as the source of inspiration for a collaborative project by the seven founding members of the Sydney-based Artist-Run Initiative (ARI) Sydney Art Exchange. Anya Pesce, Elke Wohlfahrt, Corinne Brittain, Kerry MacAulay, David Jones, Eleanor Er and Christina Puth will show their interpretations, and other individual works, in their new exhibition at Depot II Gallery at 2 Danks Street Waterloo from 17-21 May.
Elke Wohlfahrt explained: “We chose Brett Whiteley's painting as inspiration because it deals with the artistic work situation which we face every day and because it is a renowned and beautiful Australian artwork. For the collaboration, we focused on inspiration and cross-pollination by painting together and experiencing each other's artistic presence. This subconsciously influenced our paintings. We all had very different approaches to the homage to this Brett Whiteley painting and the outcome is surprising and satisfying. The diversity, beauty and intensity of the works prove that collaboration in visual art can be as inspiring as musical collaboration."
The artists invite the general public to the opening of the exhibition at Depot II Gallery on Tuesday, 17 May from 6-8pm for viewing and conversations.
Sydney Art Exchange exhibition will be at:
Depot II Gallery, 2 Danks Street, Waterloo,
17-21 May 2011, Gallery hours: daily 10.30am – 5.30pm.
Enquiries: sydneyartexchange@gmail.com, 0420 780 593
More info about Gilbert's show and Art Est here.
Warren Armstrong - (UN)seen Sculptures
Ange spoke to Warren Armstrong, curator of (Un)seen Sculptures, a mobile 3D augmented reality art show that will be staged in locations in Surry Hills as part of the Surry Hills Festival on Saturday, April 9.
Find out more about the hidden virtual digital works and how to get the app so that you can see them on you iPhone, Android or Nokia smartphone by clicking here.
Radio 2SER will have a stall at the festival. This year it's at Shannon Reserve and Ward Park.
The festival site is here.
Richard Hull - Sydney Fringe Festival
The new director of the Sydney Fringe Festival came into the studio to chat about what we can expect from this year's festival and the opportunities for artists.
Find out more about the 2011 Fringe Festival here.
Christie brought along Victoria Waghorn from Punk Monk Propaganda and Gerard Anthony from the Divine Knights to tell us what they'll be doing as part of the festival. Punk Monk Propaganda will be running some interactive animations and project bombing - sounds very intriguing! Divine Knights are a pop-synth duo who will be performing at the closing night party with big costumes. Check out their MySpace page for pics!
Smart ARTS runs until April 15. Find out all about it here!Check out Punk Monk Propaganda here and the Divine Knights here.
What's on and artist opportunities
Design Needs Less Mercenaries and More Guerrillas
Exploring the relationship between social responsibility and business success, a group of UTS design students have playfully subverted advertising messages in an exhibition of poster prints. Design Needs Less Mercenaries and More Guerrillas calls for designers to show greater awareness and responsibility in understanding the organisations they work for and the messages they create.
The exhibition opens on Thursday 7 April at 6PM at Fraser Studios, 10-14 Kensington St, Chippendale and continues daily until Sunday 14 November, 11am-5pm.
Art and About is calling submissions! Find out more here.Galleryeight in Millers Point is presenting Fabrication, an exhibition of twelve artists from multidisciplinary practices, each exploring their perception of reality and what is real in our world. Australian culture is rife with deceptions and hoaxes, ranging from the Ern Malley afair to William Blundell’s “innuendos”. To coincide with April fools day Galleryeight invited artists to submit their response to the notion of ‘The Hoax’ or the idea of creative "frabrication". It runs until April 21. More info here.
Today's play list