Exhibitions Opening at Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Join the artists at the official opening of three new exhibitions at Tuggeranong Arts Centre; Dyeing Words From Soil to Silk, Sistahood: Circles, Cycles and Spirals and Fold Stitch Bind.

Have a glass of wine with the artists, their friends and people from Canberra’s local arts scene. Hear from guest speakers and enjoy the celebratory atmosphere as you browse the artwork in three new exhibitions. Official speeches and drinks from 6pm on Friday 19 June. Free, all welcome.

Marissa McDowell & Us Mob – Dyeing Words, From Soil to Silk

Dyeing Words – from Soil to Silk is a play on words from colonisation to re-birth and continuation of story, language and connection to country. This is a cross-pollination of multi-disciplinary art and cultural practices that combine First Nation poetry from Us Mob Writers, the longest running published First Nations Australian writers’ group, transferred onto large scale hand dyed silk.

This project builds on cultural leadership by fostering meaningful skill development by creating new and innovative ways of sharing stories by intertwining knowledge of country in contemporary art practices. This immersive experience combines video projection onto fabric documenting the process, poetry responding to country and a soundscape recording.

Wallabindi & Harry’s Clarry – Sistahood: Circles, Cycles and Spirals

A powerful collaboration between Harry’s Clarry and Wallabindi with sisterhood at its core, this interactive collection of works is an exploration of culture, sistahood, motherhood, memories, trauma, resilience, creativity, love and history, through the symbolism of Circles and Spirals.

With a shared passion for sustainability, recycling, reusing and upcycling, 100% of the artworks showcased in this exhibit will be created from existing materials that would otherwise go to landfill. You will see furniture and other everyday items transformed into cathartic and emotionally expressive artworks.

This unique and thought-provoking exhibition includes a number of interactive elements that will combine music, craft and conversations.

Fold Stitch Bind: Artist Books Exhibition

Curated from an open call, this exhibition showcases the breadth and creativity of book artists from Canberra and the surrounding region. Featuring unique works across diverse media, scales, styles and techniques, in work by artists for whom bookmaking is a dedicated practice and those who explore the form as part of a broader artistic repertoire.

A defining aspect of an artistic nature is defiance, non-compliance or refusal to play by the rules; a rejection of constraints. Perhaps a better characterisation is a preference for being unpredictable; or an insatiable appetite for the new and novel, an impulse for discovery, if you will?

This contrary impulse that both drives and informs art practice, results in an astonishing variety of creative responses and expressions. Artists books, as a genre of art making defies definition for this very reason.

When we think of “books”, pages come to mind, print runs, cover art and the concept of an overarching narrative, but these are constraints that individual artists may choose to dismiss, when making their own artist’s books. Unique objects or limited editions, Artist made books are artworks in their own right. They may engage with literary subject matter or be musings on the traditional form and conventions of the book. Artists books are however, always surprising.

Bibliographic idioms pepper our language and expressions like, “Don’t Judge a book by its cover”, “Throw the book at someone,” or “Read between the lines,” have well known and explicit meanings and are ubiquitous in general use. We can all appreciate the anticipation that comes with a new book. We experience expectation as it opens to reveal the journey from front to back cover. The joy and fascination of encountering new facts, stories, poems or pictures, has long made the book a centre piece of the gift economy.

Fold Stich Bind aims to entice and tantalise viewers, while challenging conventional notions about the “book”; what it is and what it can be.