Does place still matter?
This was the question posed to a number of artists from across Australia involved in the next group exhibition set to sail in to Umbrella Studio contemporary arts, The Partnershipping Project.
The touring exhibition, stopping at Burnie (Tasmania), Lismore (NSW), Port Gambia (SA) and Townsville, features the work of artists installed in eight small boats.
Local artist Anne Lord said the timing of the exhibition changed the way she approached her artwork.
“Though I think boats in the ‘urgent currency of today’ are about migration, I wanted to refer to the way all living things need to move, migrate, defend and some of them love in the way they move,” Anne said.
“The recent deluge and floods across Townsville and North West Queensland coincided with this project in a serendipitous way.
“I had been making artworks over the last year and a half, but the weather event certainly changed the chronological sequence of events for the exhibition, the delayed opening, and the way I saw the project. It made me realise I could provide a 21st century perspective on a place that had always been important to me and many others; it has had an amazing prehistorical and geological history.
“All these things overlap in my work, with paintings and maps of place, time, a long ago inland sea and the creatures that in my imagination encapsulate the place in their colours – which reference the colours of the North West Queensland landscape but in a very different way.”
Anne said the exhibition posed an exciting challenge to participating artists.
“This exhibition is a touring exhibition with a twist. Though there are a number of locations, only two artists are chosen at each to tour to the next place. That creates some friendly competition, as between six and eight artists from Townsville and Cairns are involved.”
Catch the launch of The Partnershipping Project and other exhibitions with Umbrella Studio contemporary arts on 17 May – check Umbrella’s Facebook page for venue confirmation closer to the date.
