Visual artists Angela Tiatia and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran are among the nine Sidney Myer Creative Fellows for 2019.
The fellowships have been awarded across a range of arts disciplines and each winner will receive $160,000, tax-free, over a two-year period.
Nominated artists and arts managers must have been practicing between seven and 15 years and meet the criteria of “outstanding talent and exceptional professional courage.”
This year the peer review panel included: Andrew Myer AM, Clare Watson, Elizabeth Walsh, Genevieve Lacey, Jo Dyer, Tarun Nagesh, and Amos Gebhardt.
“Courage is a word that is often bandied about, but real courage, as shown by these artists displays a fearlessness in making and producing their art,” said Myer who was chair of the selection panel. “This is important to them, but also to everyone at large. We need artists to be free to speak through their art-making and to open our eyes on issues that are not always visible particularly as we struggle to comprehend an increasingly complex and divided society.”
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is known for his figurative ceramic sculptures which tackle the politics of gender, sex and religion.
Multidisciplinary artist Angela Tiatia often draws attention to the commodification of bodies, neo-colonialism and the climate crisis.
Since its inception in 2011, more that 80 artists have received support through the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships.
“There is a real sense of confirmation and responsibility to be joining the legacy of all the Sidney Myer Fellows who, through the arts and humanities, have contributed so much to Australian life,” said Angela Tiatia, “I’m drawn to create work at a huge scale and some recent works have taken over a year to realise. The Sidney Myer Fellowship provides real and tangible encouragement, and a means to keep challenging what’s possible.”
The nine 2019 Sidney Myer Creative Fellows are: Lior Attar, music; Maxine Beneba Clarke, writing; Ceridwen Dovey, writing; Natano Fa’anana, performance; Lydia Fairhall, producing; Alisdair Macindoe, dance; Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, visual arts; Angela Tiatia, visual arts; and Emma Valente, theatre.
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