The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is proud to present Tell, an exhibition of contemporary Indigenous photography, unbound by convention. Bringing together new commissions and recent works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, this collection deploys new photographic technologies and techniques to tell these stories and articulate the experience of life as an Indigenous person. Tell highlights photography as a multifaceted and innovative outlet of expression for Indigenous artists working today, and opens up a new line of sight, challenging the existing predispositions of Indigenous art that continue to permeate Australia’s increasingly digitised and intercultural landscape. The exhibition features the work of Moorina Bonini, Maree Clarke, Bindi Cole Chocka, Brenda L Croft, Destiny Deacon, Robert Fielding, Deanne Gilson, Jody Haines, Dianne Jones, Ricky Maynard, Hayley Millar-Baker, Kent Morris, Pitcha Makin Fellas, Steven Rhall, Damien Shen, Warwick Thornton and James Tylor, exposing a culturally dynamic visual narrative which mediates past, present and future.
CURATOR: Jessica Clark
Jessica Clark is a Palawa woman, and current curator for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, teacher and arts manager. She has been working in the arts sector since 2009, and her work has been published in Catalyst Magazine and Angela Tandori Fine Art. She was part of the Australian contingent as an emerging Indigenous curator at the Venice Biennale. Currently she is completing a Master of Arts Management at RMIT University.ARTISTS:
]]>The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is proud to present Tell, an exhibition of contemporary Indigenous photography, unbound by convention. Bringing together new commissions and recent works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, this collection deploys new photographic technologies and techniques to tell these stories and articulate the experience of life as an Indigenous person. Tell highlights photography as a multifaceted and innovative outlet of expression for Indigenous artists working today, and opens up a new line of sight, challenging the existing predispositions of Indigenous art that continue to permeate Australia’s increasingly digitised and intercultural landscape. The exhibition features the work of Moorina Bonini, Maree Clarke, Bindi Cole Chocka, Brenda L Croft, Destiny Deacon, Robert Fielding, Deanne Gilson, Jody Haines, Dianne Jones, Ricky Maynard, Hayley Millar-Baker, Kent Morris, Pitcha Makin Fellas, Steven Rhall, Damien Shen, Warwick Thornton and James Tylor, exposing a culturally dynamic visual narrative which mediates past, present and future.
CURATOR: Jessica Clark
Jessica Clark is a Palawa woman, and current curator for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, teacher and arts manager. She has been working in the arts sector since 2009, and her work has been published in Catalyst Magazine and Angela Tandori Fine Art. She was part of the Australian contingent as an emerging Indigenous curator at the Venice Biennale. Currently she is completing a Master of Arts Management at RMIT University.ARTISTS:
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#Dysturb is a network of photojournalists driven by the desire to make visual information freely accessible to a wider audience by pasting large images in city streets in over 30 cities globally. #Dysturb presents photojournalism in a new, innovative way, completely independent from the restrictions of conventional news publishing channels. They believe in arming the public with tools to further understand the images and information they see every day, with interventions in streets, schools and online. #Dysturb and the Ballarat International Foto Biennale will present a series of images in an effort to raise awareness on current global issues. This project will be visible throughout the centre of Ballarat and the community will be invited to attend paste-up sessions as well as visit the installations throughout the Biennale.
To register your interest email : info@ballaratfoto.org
]]>#Dysturb is a network of photojournalists driven by the desire to make visual information freely accessible to a wider audience by pasting large images in city streets in over 30 cities globally. #Dysturb presents photojournalism in a new, innovative way, completely independent from the restrictions of conventional news publishing channels. They believe in arming the public with tools to further understand the images and information they see every day, with interventions in streets, schools and online. #Dysturb and the Ballarat International Foto Biennale will present a series of images in an effort to raise awareness on current global issues. This project will be visible throughout the centre of Ballarat and the community will be invited to attend paste-up sessions as well as visit the installations throughout the Biennale.
To register your interest email : info@ballaratfoto.org
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Photography infiltrates our daily lives as one of the most prominent forms of modern communication: from art, advertising, media and surveillance to smartphones, selfies and social media.This phenomenon was explored in 1977 by cultural analyst and critical essayist, Susan Sontag. She stated "our need to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs...is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted". But how does photography equally confirm and enhance reality? Fashion photography embraces our imagination and sits as the looking glass through which we wander into daydreams, playing with ideas of human desire, pushing societal boundaries and experimenting with identity, medium and form. Curated by Michelle Mountain, Reverie Revelry looks at photography as a dream that represents a coinciding truth and fallacy, through the lens of fashion. Featuring work by Bruno Benini, Robyn Beeche, Noé Sendas, Prue Stent and Honey Long, Nancy de Holl and Matthew Linde/Centre for Style, this exhibition invites viewers to lose themselves in the revelry and the reverie, meeting in the place where art and unreality collide.
CURATOR: Michelle Mountain
Michelle Mountain is the Program Manager at the Centre for Contemporary Photography. She has a Masters of Art History specialising in South African Photography and a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies. Mountain also works as an independent curator.ARTISTS:
]]>Photography infiltrates our daily lives as one of the most prominent forms of modern communication: from art, advertising, media and surveillance to smartphones, selfies and social media.This phenomenon was explored in 1977 by cultural analyst and critical essayist, Susan Sontag. She stated "our need to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs...is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted". But how does photography equally confirm and enhance reality? Fashion photography embraces our imagination and sits as the looking glass through which we wander into daydreams, playing with ideas of human desire, pushing societal boundaries and experimenting with identity, medium and form. Curated by Michelle Mountain, Reverie Revelry looks at photography as a dream that represents a coinciding truth and fallacy, through the lens of fashion. Featuring work by Bruno Benini, Robyn Beeche, Noé Sendas, Prue Stent and Honey Long, Nancy de Holl and Matthew Linde/Centre for Style, this exhibition invites viewers to lose themselves in the revelry and the reverie, meeting in the place where art and unreality collide.
CURATOR: Michelle Mountain
Michelle Mountain is the Program Manager at the Centre for Contemporary Photography. She has a Masters of Art History specialising in South African Photography and a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies. Mountain also works as an independent curator.ARTISTS:
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Photography and astronomy have an intrinsic relationship, reflected in technical advances and the collective imagination of space. A Field Guide to the Stars is a group exhibition that explores how space might be understood through photomedia. Through a constellation of photographic and moving image projects, celestial observatory spaces are conceptually linked with contemporary and historical artworks. Featuring seven Victorian and international photographers, the exhibition comprises Australian astronomical photography, artistic inquiries related to the cosmos, a site-specific camera obscura, vintage photographic plates from the Australian Astronomical Observatory, photographs from the Lunar Orbiter V (1967) and outdoor video projection events. Central to A Field Guide to the Stars is the role of astronomical observatories and archives, as well as an exploration of human perception of scale, distance and time. The exhibition, curated by Rebecca Najdowski, obscures the boundaries between art, science, technology and archival material, and brings together unique and varied photoartistic practices with historical, scientific astronomical photography and ephemera to explore the human position within an ever-expanding universe. With its 130-year history, Ballarat Observatory is the perfect location to experience this special exhibition under the stars. The exhibition features the work of Clare Benson, Alex Cherney, Kate Golding, Kate Robertson, Hillary Wiedemann, Rebecca Najdowski and Eric William Carroll.
CURATOR/ARTIST: Rebecca Najdowski
Rebecca Najdowski is a visual artist, writer and academic. Her practice includes camera-less analogue photograms, video, sculptural light installations and augmented reality (AR) interventions. These works have been exhibited and screened internationally in the UK, Greece and beyond. Najdowski received her MFA from California College of the Arts and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil. She currently lives in Melbourne, where she lectures photography at RMIT and is undertaking her PhD in visual arts.ARTISTS:
]]>Photography and astronomy have an intrinsic relationship, reflected in technical advances and the collective imagination of space. A Field Guide to the Stars is a group exhibition that explores how space might be understood through photomedia. Through a constellation of photographic and moving image projects, celestial observatory spaces are conceptually linked with contemporary and historical artworks. Featuring seven Victorian and international photographers, the exhibition comprises Australian astronomical photography, artistic inquiries related to the cosmos, a site-specific camera obscura, vintage photographic plates from the Australian Astronomical Observatory, photographs from the Lunar Orbiter V (1967) and outdoor video projection events. Central to A Field Guide to the Stars is the role of astronomical observatories and archives, as well as an exploration of human perception of scale, distance and time. The exhibition, curated by Rebecca Najdowski, obscures the boundaries between art, science, technology and archival material, and brings together unique and varied photoartistic practices with historical, scientific astronomical photography and ephemera to explore the human position within an ever-expanding universe. With its 130-year history, Ballarat Observatory is the perfect location to experience this special exhibition under the stars. The exhibition features the work of Clare Benson, Alex Cherney, Kate Golding, Kate Robertson, Hillary Wiedemann, Rebecca Najdowski and Eric William Carroll.
CURATOR/ARTIST: Rebecca Najdowski
Rebecca Najdowski is a visual artist, writer and academic. Her practice includes camera-less analogue photograms, video, sculptural light installations and augmented reality (AR) interventions. These works have been exhibited and screened internationally in the UK, Greece and beyond. Najdowski received her MFA from California College of the Arts and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil. She currently lives in Melbourne, where she lectures photography at RMIT and is undertaking her PhD in visual arts.ARTISTS:
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The streets and laneways of Ballarat come alive with the (outdoor) public program, featuring Shadi Ghadirian, Gohar Dashti, Adam Ferguson, Jannatul Mawa, Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen and more local photographers. From Police Lane, Armstrong Street and Sturt Street to George Laneway and Wigton Place, and all the way to Lake Wendouree, take a walk around the city and discover art in the most surprising places.
Exhibitions:
Like Every Day by Shadi Ghadirian
Stateless by Gohar Dashti
]]>The streets and laneways of Ballarat come alive with the (outdoor) public program, featuring Shadi Ghadirian, Gohar Dashti, Adam Ferguson, Jannatul Mawa, Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen and more local photographers. From Police Lane, Armstrong Street and Sturt Street to George Laneway and Wigton Place, and all the way to Lake Wendouree, take a walk around the city and discover art in the most surprising places.
Exhibitions:
Like Every Day by Shadi Ghadirian
Stateless by Gohar Dashti
Curated by Aaron Bradbrook, Rearranging Boundaries brings together leading documentary photographers and visual activists from some of the most reported and scrutinised upon regions of the globe to showcase and counteract underreported and often misrepresented depictions of their homelands. Each photographer in the exhibition narrates a nuanced alternative to mainstream media generalisations. The narrative is one of war to gender oppression to migration and the rearranging of psychological, physical and enforced boundaries of their societies. Featuring the work of Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Tanya Habjouqa (Jordan/US), Abbas Kowsari (Iran), Wei Leng Tay (Singapore) and Remissa Mak (Cambodia), the exhibition exemplifies humanity’s ability to recognise and adapt to the constraints of new situations, fight tirelessly for change and embrace life, but never forget where they came from.
CURATOR: Aaron Bradbrook
Aaron Bradbrook is a Melbourne-based photographer and curator who received his BA in photography and journalism from Edith Cowan University. He is currently completing his MA in Development Studies at the University of Melbourne. Bradbrook’s work has been exhibited and won awards around Australia.ARTISTS:
]]>Curated by Aaron Bradbrook, Rearranging Boundaries brings together leading documentary photographers and visual activists from some of the most reported and scrutinised upon regions of the globe to showcase and counteract underreported and often misrepresented depictions of their homelands. Each photographer in the exhibition narrates a nuanced alternative to mainstream media generalisations. The narrative is one of war to gender oppression to migration and the rearranging of psychological, physical and enforced boundaries of their societies. Featuring the work of Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Tanya Habjouqa (Jordan/US), Abbas Kowsari (Iran), Wei Leng Tay (Singapore) and Remissa Mak (Cambodia), the exhibition exemplifies humanity’s ability to recognise and adapt to the constraints of new situations, fight tirelessly for change and embrace life, but never forget where they came from.
CURATOR: Aaron Bradbrook
Aaron Bradbrook is a Melbourne-based photographer and curator who received his BA in photography and journalism from Edith Cowan University. He is currently completing his MA in Development Studies at the University of Melbourne. Bradbrook’s work has been exhibited and won awards around Australia.ARTISTS:
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In the digital age, selfies — self-taken photos — are ubiquitous. They are the ultimate act of the citizen photographer — a statement saying, “here I am, engaged in life.” Selfies redefine the nature of fame, and can be a powerful tool in expressing personal identity and for autobiographical documentation. The practice of taking selfies has been criticised for being solipsistic and mindlessly conformist. What is the role of the selfie in the 21st century, and what does it say about society?
In Self /Selfie, a selection of artists’ self-portraits have been brought together to highlight the custom of representing oneself in art, the same desire that must underpin this current phenomenon now technology allows everyone to be the artist. Curious and whimsical, the works in Self /Selfie point to today’s growing culture of narcissism and the resulting promotion of conformist behaviour — and equally, the development of the “anti-selfie” on social networks like Instagram.
CREATOR: Fiona Sweet
Ballarat International Foto Biennale Festival and Artistic Director, Fiona Sweet, is a prominent and highly experienced director, art director and creative. Sweet is renowned for inspiring and intelligent delivery of uniquely crafted festivals and arts events. She is an influential and highly sought after speaker, industry judge, photographic portfolio reviewer and assessor in Australia and internationally. She is the recipient of many prestigious design awards and was the director of Sweet Creative (design agency) and a former Board Director of the Australian Graphic Design Association and Melbourne Fringe. She co-founded Melbourne’s Acland Street Projection Festival, launched August 2015.ARTISTS:
Samuel Barsky Aleks Danko Rose Farrell and George Parkin Elizabeth Gower Suzanne Heintz Bruce Keller Adriana Napolitano Nusra Latif Qureshi Julie Rrap Tomoko Sawada Cindy Sherman Christian Thompson Dawn Woolley Anne Zahalka
]]>In the digital age, selfies — self-taken photos — are ubiquitous. They are the ultimate act of the citizen photographer — a statement saying, “here I am, engaged in life.” Selfies redefine the nature of fame, and can be a powerful tool in expressing personal identity and for autobiographical documentation. The practice of taking selfies has been criticised for being solipsistic and mindlessly conformist. What is the role of the selfie in the 21st century, and what does it say about society?
In Self /Selfie, a selection of artists’ self-portraits have been brought together to highlight the custom of representing oneself in art, the same desire that must underpin this current phenomenon now technology allows everyone to be the artist. Curious and whimsical, the works in Self /Selfie point to today’s growing culture of narcissism and the resulting promotion of conformist behaviour — and equally, the development of the “anti-selfie” on social networks like Instagram.
CREATOR: Fiona Sweet
Ballarat International Foto Biennale Festival and Artistic Director, Fiona Sweet, is a prominent and highly experienced director, art director and creative. Sweet is renowned for inspiring and intelligent delivery of uniquely crafted festivals and arts events. She is an influential and highly sought after speaker, industry judge, photographic portfolio reviewer and assessor in Australia and internationally. She is the recipient of many prestigious design awards and was the director of Sweet Creative (design agency) and a former Board Director of the Australian Graphic Design Association and Melbourne Fringe. She co-founded Melbourne’s Acland Street Projection Festival, launched August 2015.ARTISTS:
Samuel Barsky Aleks Danko Rose Farrell and George Parkin Elizabeth Gower Suzanne Heintz Bruce Keller Adriana Napolitano Nusra Latif Qureshi Julie Rrap Tomoko Sawada Cindy Sherman Christian Thompson Dawn Woolley Anne Zahalka
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Maziar Moradi’s powerful exhibition Ich Werde Deutsch (I become German) is more necessary than ever in the current climate of asylum seeker issues and debate. The collection explores the powerful and personal experiences of young people who were forced to leave their countries and start anew as immigrants in Germany, as well as capturing those who were born in Germany but have grown up under the influence of their families’ cultural backgrounds. Based on the impressions, fears, experiences, fates and losses of young immigrants, the work is at once personal and political, focusing on the individual circumstances of each life but also painting an overall picture of the face of immigration and change. Moradi invites the immigrants to reenact key scenes of personal developments, dramatic experiences or turning points in their lives, seeing them become actors of their own stories as they weave a narrative of what it means to become German.
ARTIST: Maziar Moradi
Maziar Moradi is an award-winning photographer from Germany who has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the US. His work has also been published in various books. Moradi has been sponsored by Goethe-Institut to appear at Ballarat International Foto Biennale, and is part of our proud Artists in Residence program. He will be giving talks and interacting with Federation University Ballarat students through this program. ]]>Maziar Moradi’s powerful exhibition Ich Werde Deutsch (I become German) is more necessary than ever in the current climate of asylum seeker issues and debate. The collection explores the powerful and personal experiences of young people who were forced to leave their countries and start anew as immigrants in Germany, as well as capturing those who were born in Germany but have grown up under the influence of their families’ cultural backgrounds. Based on the impressions, fears, experiences, fates and losses of young immigrants, the work is at once personal and political, focusing on the individual circumstances of each life but also painting an overall picture of the face of immigration and change. Moradi invites the immigrants to reenact key scenes of personal developments, dramatic experiences or turning points in their lives, seeing them become actors of their own stories as they weave a narrative of what it means to become German.
ARTIST: Maziar Moradi
Maziar Moradi is an award-winning photographer from Germany who has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the US. His work has also been published in various books. Moradi has been sponsored by Goethe-Institut to appear at Ballarat International Foto Biennale, and is part of our proud Artists in Residence program. He will be giving talks and interacting with Federation University Ballarat students through this program. ]]>
About the Sponsor:
The Dara Foundation has graciously sponsored this award in memory of the late Martin Kantor. Kantor was a photographer and philanthropist who was known for his arresting portraits of famous musicians and artists like Iggy Pop, Howard Arkley, painter Adam Cullen and conceptual artist Dale Frank. His image of Mark Seymour, the lead singer of Hunters and Collectors, was used by the band for an album cover and is a classic representation of Australian rock and roll. Kantor founded the well-known St Kilda gallery Brightspace and was a strong supporter of indigenous and environmental causes.Judges:
Naomi Cass | Director of The Centre for Contemporary Photography Isobel Crombie | Assistant Director, Curatorial and Collection Management at The National Gallery of Victoria Leonard Vary | CEO of The Myer FoundationThe Finalists: