The biggest challenge for artistic director Leigh Carmichael, mastermind behind Hobart’s hugely successful winter festival Dark Mofo is to keep it mysterious and energetic. After all, how titillating can a nude swim in the icy Derwent River remain for visitors, year after year?
Carmichael seems to have endless tricks up his sleeve and says the idea of darkness and night in our inner worlds provides rich inspiration for artists, poets and writers. This year he is exploring the notion of silence. “Ironically it’s shaping up to be quite loud. We can say with some confidence that it will be suitably dark, I suspect the darkest yet.” He reckons the exclusive Australian performance of Norway’s Ulver will be a highlight.
Carmichael says that while the format and curatorial direction remains largely the same from year to year, Dark Mofo’s lineup and mix of art and artists is always changing, with the organising team always attempting to create a space that feels uncomfortable.
“We never know if it’s going to work or not,” he says. “It’s always a nice surprise when it does! There is an unending source of material from which to draw for Dark Mofo… science and technology are helping us to under- stand what’s happening around us, but understanding ourselves is just as mysterious as ever. This may explain the allure of the art, and why the festival has such a wide appeal. There is no doubt it’s a challenge to reinvent the experience each year, but I guess therein lies the answer.”
Dark Mofo
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) & various Hobart locations
8 June – 21 June
Developed in 2022 by Artback NT as part of Apmere Mparntwe—the Australian Ceramics Triennale— touring exhibition Clay on Country, showing now at New England Regional Art Museum, showcases the diversity of ceramics in the Central Desert.
About Face is a smart piece of marketing. The new book on portrait painting from Australia and New Zealand has a mission to change buyers’ minds about the field. But as Jane O’Sullivan discovers, any sales pitch wears thin if it’s repeated often enough, and the close attention to how portrait painting is received by the market means that other important conversations fade to the background.
In Anmatyerr artist Elizabeth Mbitjana Pitijana’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne—which focuses on the Central Desert food source Arnwekety (bush plum)—the influence and love of her Country and culture is palpable. Elizabeth Mbitjana Pitijana is now showing at Niagara Galleries.
Whether beloved pets or superstitious omens, animals have always existed in art. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia’s latest exhibition is paying tribute to two of the most beloved animal figures: cats and dogs.
In her latest exhibition at THIS IS NO FANTASY, Ellen Dahl presents works from an ongoing photographic series that has captured many sites—from the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard to Tasmania—creating a dialogue between works that center place.
rhythm wRites, a new exhibition at QUT Art Museum, spans 30 years of Bigambul artist Leah King-Smith’s manifold art practice, covering painting, photography, sound and animation.
