Jo Higgins

June 25, 2015

Lessons learnt: Kaldor regional progress report

Jo Higgins

June 25, 2015

It’s been six weeks since our Pilot Regional Engagement Project started and with two weekends of workshops behind us, it’s an interesting time to reflect on what we’ve learnt so far.

The invisible hours are the most important

Working with teenagers and in a community you’re not usually part of, there’s always a risk that no one will show up.

All nine of our participants did show up (and on time…) and despite not all knowing each other, they were quick acknowledged the uniqueness of the opportunity, which made for an immediately supportive group environment.

This couldn’t have happened without the many invisible hours we spent in regular communication with them, their parents, their teachers and the team at the Cultural Centre in the lead up to the first weekend. Maintaining that communication has so far ensured the retention and investment of everyone involved.

Image: Paige Williams / Orana Art. Courtesy Kaldor Public Art Projects.

Don’t assume anything

We had asked the participants to submit an introductory form outlining what they hoped to get from the experience so we knew before we arrived that most had little or no knowledge of performance art, contemporary art or Marina Abramovic.

So, the first day was dedicated to exploring what performance art is; what forms it can take and how it’s anything but theatre. We showed a selection of works from artists including Abramovic, Yoko Ono and Tehching Hseih and with each work asked the same three questions:

What do we think are the artist’s intentions?
What role does the audience play?
How successful is it?

Day two focused on autobiography, perception and identity construction. Activities included creating abstract self-portraits that were then analysed by the group and an exercise in response to Glenn Ligon’s series Runaways exploring how others see us and make judgements accordingly.

We had hoped that as a group they might be interested in creating works that explored the experience of being a teenager in regional Australia but discussing this particular experience only led to moaning about Dubbo. Eventually a more nuanced perception was negotiated but it reminded us not to assume anything. Especially when it comes to teenagers.

Amazing things can be achieved with trust

One of the risks in working with performance art is that its process of creation involves a lot of introspection, critical thinking and honesty. Which in turn, can generate the need for significant pastoral care.

Prior to the workshops we had been made aware of some existing mental health, sexuality and self-esteem issues, and while this didn’t alter the workshop activities we ran, it remains an on-going point of consideration in managing discussions and presenting ideas.

Several participants have since chosen to explore some of these issues directly through their work, which is a testimony to the level of trust we have built. It’s going to make for important, memorable performances – for the participants and the viewers.

Image: Paige Williams / Orana Arts. Courtesy: Kaldor Public Art Projects.

Work with brilliant people

Theatre Director Imara Savage spends a lot of time with the group taking them through basic ensemble training: how to be present, how to be aware of your body and its movement, how to listen to the energy of the group, how to avoid fidgeting and giggling and breaking focus.

Artist Lottie Consalvo, one of the 12 residency artists living on-site at Pier 2/3, joined us for the second weekend, and devised workshops that focused on the process of creation.

Amongst other activities, the group had to stare at themselves in a mirror for 20 minutes: they had to respond emotionally not descriptively, to a series of objects handed to them while blindfolded, and they had to sit and squeeze an orange for one minute while the rest of the group looked on.

Both Imara and Lottie listened to the group, respected them as individuals and earned their trust. This allowed us to push them out of their comfort zone, ask critical questions and importantly, give critical feedback.

At this stage in the project, many participants already have a sense of the work they want to create. That most of the group got to this point relatively easily reflects the importance of working with people whose personal skills as well as professional expertise best fit the audience.

‘Be’ there, even when you’re not

One of the issues with a regional pilot program is that there often weeks between workshops when nothing happens. To partially fill the void, we created a Tumblr page to document the project and to distribute material between visits.

Initially we hoped that the participants would also submit their own research, work, and ideas but so far that hasn’t been the case. See Point 2.

Regardless, it remains a useful way to share resources and images with the group, and to be present and available to the participants remotely.

You can see the blog here: www.kaldorpublicartprojects.tumblr.com

Connect – don’t exist in isolation

In every conversation about this pilot we’ve made a point to situate it within the wider context of Kaldor’s education and public programs but also specifically this current project with Marina Abramovic.

And so on Friday 3 July at 2,30pm, as part of the Upstairs Public Program at Pier 2/3, the participants will join Kent Buchanan, Curator from Western Plains Cultural Centre, in a discussion on contemporary performance art within a regional context.

This Sydney visit is a key moment in the project and an important public facing moment before we return to Dubbo for our next two weekends and the final presentation on 26 July.

Photo: Paige Williams / Orana Arts. Courtesy: Kaldor Public Art Projects.

This article was written for Museums and Galleries New South Wales in my capacity as Regional Engagement Coordinator for Kaldor Public Art Projects and originally published on 23 June 2015. http://mgnsw.org.au/sector/news/lessons-learnt-kaldor-progress-report/

Kaldor pilots regional engagement project

Jo Higgins

May 5, 2015

News

Image courtesy REcreativeUK.com. Photo: Richard Eaton

In 1977 Richard Long walked 100 miles across the Australian bush in what was then the 7th Kaldor Public Art Project (KPAP). Next weekend we head west again – but this time thankfully not on foot – for the launch of our 2015 Pilot Regional Engagement Program in partnership with the Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo.

Nearly 12 months in the making, this pilot is an important strand of the Public Engagement Program for our 30th project – Marina Abramovic: In Residence, which opens next month at Pier 2/3 in Sydney’s Walsh Bay.

The regionally focused project is a natural next step in KPAP’s investment in the development of innovative, world-class education and outreach programs, and in finding and supporting new audiences for contemporary art.

Envisioned as a productive and ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders in the region – including the teams at Dubbo Regional Gallery and Orana Arts, Dubbo City Council, local art teachers, artists and young people – it’s also an opportunity for us to explore the development of a sustainable model of regional engagement, exchange and future partnerships.

We approached Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) and began discussions with them about the pilot last July. We wanted to work with an organisation whose programming and vision reflected our own; who had established connections in the community and a strong school network; and who had the resources and facilities to support the project on a logistical level. Thankfully they didn’t take much convincing.

In February, along with Sue Saxon, Kaldor’s Education and Public Programs Manager, we made our first visit to Dubbo. The two days of meetings, conversations and planning with the teams at WPCC and Orana Arts, the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council’s Youth Committee were a fantastic introduction to the region.

Crucially, we also met with a large group of art and drama teachers, to whom we had reached out to with help from WPCC in the weeks leading up to our visit. This information session and the resulting feedback served to reinforce the value of piloting a project dedicated specifically to young people.

It also clearly demonstrated the enormous energy and commitment of this special group of teachers in supporting their students to access opportunities such as this one. The buy-in and support of teachers, and regular communication with them since has been critical to this stage of the project, and especially for the recruitment of participants.

The pilot project focuses on young people aged 16-20; a demographic often under-represented in public programming. The peer-led model of learning we are using has proven to be successful overseas in building young people’s confidence, creativity and critical thinking skills, and is designed to facilitate the development and realisation of the participants’ own ideas in collaboration with each other.

Over four weekends from May to late July the group will work with regional and Sydney-based artists and curators, including director Imara Savage and artist Lottie Consalvo, to explore their own ideas around performance, audience, public space and contemporary art.

On Friday July 3, the participants will experience Marina Abramovic: In Residence in Sydney and, we hope, contribute to the dynamic public program at Pier 2/3 with Dubbo Regional Gallery Curator Kent Buchanan. We’re looking forward to their ideas.

The project culminates on Sunday 26 July with a day of talks and performances led by the group at Dubbo Regional Gallery.

While we hope the participants will create a compelling series of works that reflect both their experiences as teenagers living in regional Australia and their own understandings of performance art, what we really looking forward to is seeing what they make of this pilot experience, in every sense of the word.

This article was written for Museums and Galleries New South Wales in my capacity as Regional Engagement Coordinator for Kaldor Public Art Projects and originally published on 2 May 2015. http://mgnsw.org.au/sector/news/kaldor-pilots-regional-education-project/

Melbourne Art Fair 2014

Jo Higgins

August 21, 2014

Events, Musings

Ken and Julia Yonetani, The Last Suppermarket, Melbourne Art Fair, 2014 — Ken and Julia Yonetani, *The Last Suppermarket*, Melbourne Art Fair, 2014

I haven’t been to Melbourne in, god, maybe six or seven years. But it’s as brilliant a city as I remember it and the Melbourne Art Fair was the perfect excuse to make a return visit.

Art fairs being what they are – ostensibly very glossy, visually stimulating, champagne-soaked exercises in high-end retail – I’m always fascinated by the way they expose, so matter of factly, so much of the art world ecology – the collector, the dealer, the price tags.

Frieze London left a huge impression of me the first time I went – more H&M-Oxford-St-flagship-store-two-days-before-Christmas crazy than anything else, but I was grateful nonetheless for the experience and the insight to it all. I particularly appreciated the Frieze Projects platform, offering emerging artists and more experimental art the opportunity for critical consideration amidst the ringing of cash register bells.

As uncomfortable as it makes me, thinking about art in terms of its retail potential, it’s a bit naive to think that the art world can exist without its market. So I suppose it’s a question of power really – and who that ultimately lies with.

But I really enjoyed the Melbourne Art Fair and it was a great opportunity to connect with some artists and galleries that I’ve worked with or interviewed before. And the venue, the Royal Exhibition Hall in Carlton Gardens, is pretty spectacular.

While I was there I conducted several “On the Couch” artist interviews for Art Collector magazine. I’m not sure I have a career in television journalism ahead of me but nonetheless I enjoyed the experience and was reminded yet again how much I get from talking to artists about their work and what motivates them to make what they do.

And because no trip to Melbourne would be complete without some street art watching…

Lessons learnt: Kaldor regional progress report

The invisible hours are the most important

Don’t assume anything

Amazing things can be achieved with trust

Work with brilliant people

‘Be’ there, even when you’re not

Connect – don’t exist in isolation

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Kaldor pilots regional engagement project

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Melbourne Art Fair 2014

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