Writings, News
Jo Higgins
Routledge publication: Youth Programs in Art ...
Routledge publication: Youth Programs in Art Museums - An International Perspective
Writings
Jo Higgins
Art Guide Australia: Field Notes. A Grassroots ...
Art Guide Australia: Field Notes. A Grassroots Approach to Public Art
Events, Review, News
Jo Higgins
Berlin trip: Connected Audiences Conference and ...
Berlin trip: Connected Audiences Conference and some Art, Art, Art....
Writings, News
Jo Higgins
Art Guide Australia: Home Truths - feature story
Art Guide Australia: Home Truths - feature story
News, Writings
Jo Higgins
Artlink magazine's 'Hyphen' issue published
Artlink magazine's 'Hyphen' issue published

News

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Artlink magazine's 'Hyphen' issue published

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Of the many genuinely special outcomes to emerge from the National Young Writers Program that I’ve been leading at the National Gallery of Australia for the last couple of years, this latest issue of Artlink magazine has to be one of the proudest.

Artlink has been publishing thematic issues dedicating to contemporary art practice across Australia and the Asia-Pacific for over four decades. It’s a rigorous, provocative, thoughtful publication that has long championed emerging and early career writers. I should know. My first by-line was a review for Artlink over 20 years ago (a Very Cringe Read all these years later, but still.)

Having Artlink Editor Una Rey and Assistant Editor Belinda Howden join the National Young Writers Program this year - with Artlink as official Publishing Partner - has brought another level of rigour, context, professionalism and care to the program. Their faith (in me, the program, the participants) to offer up their Summer issue to three program alumni to guest-edit as part of a paid professional development mentorship has been such a huge undertaking.

Back in July, Claire Osborn-Li, Ava Lacoon and Hen Vaughan were selected as guest editors and they’ve been working with Una and Belinda over the last five months to conceive, commission, edit and deliver their issue, Hyphen. It is now officially out in the world…

I feel very proud of them and very proud to have contributed an essay to this issue. “The Museum As A Cowboy Place” is my rethinking of the critical role of youth programs and young people to museums in the wake of MCA Australia quietly shuttering their Young Creatives programs earlier this year, including GENEXT, the Youth Committee and Young Guides.

The museums might be struggling (and/or getting it wrong) but if Hyphen and its guest editors and other young writers are any measure of things to come, the future feels salvage-able/possible/bright?….

You can order a hardcopy and/or buy a digital version of Hyphen via the Artlink website here. Please support the magazine and these writers. And if you want a taste - Claire, Ava and Hen’s editorial is available to read free here.

OTHER POSTS

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Biennale of Sydney opening & publication

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Last December I joined the Biennale of Sydney team as their Publications Editor and it’s been a mad couple of months working to get the catalogue across the line in time for the opening week. I’ve absolutely loved being part of this small, incredibly dedicated team and seeing this 24th edition come into being.

White Bay Power Station is truly something to behold and is such an addition to the cultural landscape of Sydney. It’s going to be fascinating to watch it evolve as a site.

I’m looking forward to finding some time to step back and appreciate it all.

OTHER POSTS

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Publication day! Museum Teen Program How-To Kit

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IT’S HERE!

The Museum Teen Program How-To-Kit by the Walker Art Center has been published, which includes my essay “Heartbreakers and Troublemakers: How to Navigate, Embrace & Ultimately Survive Disruption.”

This has been such a long-time coming but I’m so proud to be part of the publication and to have had the opportunity to learn from such extraordinary humans and educators as Nisa Mackie and Simona Zappas. 

A full, free PDF of the book will be available later in the year.

You can read more about the book here.

OTHER POSTS

Published outcomes - National Gallery of Australia: Digital Young Writers Mentorship

I’m looking forward to sharing some reflections and learnings from this project in the coming months. But in the meantime - some publication highlights from the program’s mentees:

ASSEMBLY: An annotation

Hen Vaughan responds to the themes of translation and collectivity in Angelica Mesiti’s three-channel video installation, ASSEMBLY.

Is social media affecting how we engage with art?

Aisyah Aaqil Sumito interviews artist Dan Bourke about the impact of Web 2.0 on our cognitive reading of art, pointing to children learning in a new exhibition.

This interview was published by ArtsHub, the publishing partner of the Digital Young Writers Mentorship Program.

Contemporary Resonances of Art in the Age of AIDS

Aisyah Aaqil Sumito reflects on the contemporary resonances of the trailblazing 1994 exhibition, ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way: Art in the Age of AIDS.’

A Modern Approach to Exhibiting Costume

Michelle Guo explores the challenges that curators encounter when exhibiting costume, and the unique way that they have gone about acquiring Justene Williams’ costumes for ‘Victory Over the Sun’.

Kara Walker’s Monument

Jade Irvine reflects on African American artist Kara Walker’s use of scale - from intimate to monumental - and her consideration of the histories that are memorialised and those that remain obscured.

REVIEW: Deborah Prior - On The Third Day

Hen Vaughan review's Deborah Prior’s powerful new textile exhibition at JamFactory Seppeltsfield, On The Third Day, for the Digital Young Writers Mentorship Program’s publishing partner, ArtsHub.

REVIEW: HOME | LAND

Jade Irvine reviews the group exhibition, HOME | LAND, at Hobart’s Contemporary Art Tasmania for ArtsHub, the publishing partner of the Digital Young Writers Mentorship Program.

OTHER POSTS

National Gallery of Australia: Digital Young Writers Mentorship

I am incredibly excited to be working with the National Gallery of Australia this year to pilot a Digital Young Writers Mentorship Program.

This program will pair five, young, aspiring arts writers from across the country with mentors including Jane O’Sullivan, Nur Shkembi, Andy Butler, Tian Zhang and Tristen Harwood for a series of masterclasses, industry insight sessions and paid writing briefs, alongside their 1:1 mentoring.

In consultation with the Gallery, the mentorship program has been designed to address identified challenges facing young people looking to enter the sector, including a lack of paid professional development opportunities; the need for supported communities of like-minded creatives; as well as platforms for their voices to be heard in dialogue with major institutions. 

Applications have opened and you can read more about the project on ArtsHub here.

OTHER POSTS

I live and work on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people and acknowledge their unbroken connection to this Country. I pay my deepest respects to their Elders, past and present, because this always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.