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
65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art is an extraordinary account of the unique art of this continent, published alongside a landmark exhibition at the Potter Museum of Art. Necessary and urgent, it tells the story of Indigenous Australian art; a new art history unlike anything we’ve seen. For Jane O’Sullivan, it’s a remarkable and must-read book.
In a new series of illustrated postcards available as a free gift with purchase only at the Art Guide Bookstore, Oslo Davis takes on classic and contemporary art terms and genres and reimagines what they could be referring to.
With so much to choose from, we’ve rounded up the major summer exhibitions in each capital city, open all summer long. Spanning Yayoi Kusama, Magritte, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, and many more.
First Nations artist Reko Rennie possesses the gift of creating memorable images that are simultaneously puzzling, intriguing and entertaining.
Bringing together 70 artists from 30 countries, the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art fosters connections across cultures and borders, and translates cultural knowledge for the present day.
Josina Pumani’s electric ceramic work Maralinga—recently recognised at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards— deftly excavates a long-hidden past.
