Articles - 27 June 2008
Australia by design
June has been a busy month with Australian design featuring high on both the national and international arenas. There is much to enjoy about the prospects these developments bring to the Australian craft and design sector.
Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC)
Nationally we are seeing several key programs identified by the Rudd Government come to fruition. Principally the $17 million, promised prior to the election by Minister Garret, for a creative industries innovation centre has now evolved. Expressions of interest from partner organisations are due by 14 July. The proposals will be scrutinised by the Department of Innovation, (DIISR), and the Department of the Arts, (DEWHA). More details about what is expected in an expression of interest can be found at the Enterprise Connect website.
Craft Australia attended the briefing held on Monday 30 June in Canberra. While there were many questions from the floor about the logistics of the centre, what was very clear is that there is funding for only one centre to deliver a national service. The principle aims of the CIIC being to provide training and support for established creative industries to gain a more sustainable position in the market. Craft Australia will bring you more information about the CIIC as it develops.
2020 Summit Report
The final report outlining the recommendations and conversations of the Summit has now been published and is available on the Summit website. You can download chapters by specific topic or you can get the entire conversation. Design eventually featured in the 'towards a creative Australia' group and we thank Dr Astrid Wootton, the Executive Director of the Design Centre in Tasmania, for her much valued contribution to the discussion. The full creative Australia report is available at the 2020 Summit website.
CHASS design paper
The role of design features in the latest occasional paper to be launched this month by the Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS). Titled Between a Hard Rock and a Soft Space the paper outlines the capacity for design to provide a competitive advantage in the global economy. The launch will take place in Canberra on 9 July with special guest, John Newbigin, British creative industries expert. Countries throughout the world are developing design-led innovation policies. Does Australia need a National Council for Design and Creative Practice? Such issues will be raised at the launch. Launch details
Design festivals
Design festival fever is about to hit most of the national capitals over the next two months. The first city to feel the full impact of the design buzz is Melbourne. They will have 2 festivals happening simultaneously, State of Design and the Melbourne International Design Festival plus Furnitex - a major international furniture fair. Melbourne is followed closely by Sydney Design Week in August and Brisbane in Design in September. For more details on these festivals and their programs see the Craft Australia calendars.
Freestyle in Milan
On the international arena Australian design has been well represented with major exhibitions in Italy and America. The much loved and much toured exhibition Freestyle, New Australian Design for Living, developed by Object in collaboration with the Melbourne Museum, opened on 10 May at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. Opened by H.E. Amanda Vanstone, Australian Ambassador to Italy, the opening also attracted a number of the participating artists to the event. Jennifer Robertson who was there on the night will give us her overview of what took place in next month's issue of 716. The Triennale is Italy's premier design museum. It is the first time it has represented an exhibition of work form Australia as part of its program of international exhibitions. Triennale website
Australian glass in the USA
During the recent GAS, glass artist conference, held in Portland Oregon, Australian glass artists were a major focus of the event. Featured as part of the program is the significant 30-year retrospective of Klaus Moje presented at the Portland Art Museum which began on 31 May and continues till 7 September 2008. An exciting inclusion in the exhibition is The Portland Panels: Choreographed Geometry, a massive four-panel work with each panel measuring 1.9m x 1.2m created especially for this retrospective. Composed of more than 22,000 hand-cut strips of glass fused together at the Bullseye Glass factory studios in Portland, this work is a stunning technical achievement. Over the course of a year, Moje collaborated with a team of eight glass technicians to overcome problems with the process of fusing glass at this monumental scale. The Portland Panels
The Klaus Moje exhibition will travel to the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, after which Moje will be the first one-person show in New York's new Museum of Arts and Design. Klaus Moje is recognised as an Australian Living Treasure.
To compliment the Klaus Moje retrospective, another exhibition featuring Australian glass artists was presented at the Bullseye Gallery in Portland. Succession, showing from May 27 to August 2, features works by contemporary Australian artists and Canberra School of Art alumni Giles Bettison (1996), Claudia Borella (1995), Deb Jones (1989), Jessica Loughlin (1997), Kirstie Rea (1986), and Richard Whiteley (1987).
In the 25 years since its founding, the Glass Workshop at the Canberra School of Art has enjoyed a succession of exceptional masters, from founder Klaus Moje, through the late Stephen Procter and fellow course-leader Jane Bruce, to current program head Richard Whiteley. Over this same time period the glass workshop has also enjoyed a special working relationship with the Portland, Oregon factory, Bullseye Glass Company. The ongoing interchange of ideas and personnel has led to the development of new materials and new methods in an energetic symbiosis that continues to this day. Succession traces these influences in a select body of work and is a tribute to inspiring teachers, exceptional students, and the rich interface between artist and factory. Succession website
Catrina Vignando
General Manager
Craft Australia
June 2008
