Dark Mofo Solid Light Works. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Winter Feast, 2016. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim, 2016. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Blacklist, photographed by Mona/Phil Kitt, 2015. Image Courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Blacklist, 2015. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Bass Bath. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
Dark Mofo Articulated Intersect, 2014. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo.
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
Equal parts monumental and fleeting, the sand sculptures of French artist Théo Mercier chart the histories—beyond our lines of vision—that a landscape reveals and conceals. Mercier’s MIRRORSCAPE is now showing at Mona.
For Chinese painter Gao Ping, the interplay between shadow and light is as much a symbol of our relationship with history as it is a visual technique. The artist’s latest exhibition Between the Shadow and the Soul, curated by Dr Luise Guest, is now showing at Vermilion Art.
Examining the documentary photography of the 1950s to 1980s might seem like an exercise in looking back, but as Jane O’Sullivan discovers, Imagining a Real Australia calls loudly to the present. It’s full of arresting works on subjects that still speak to us today, from land rights to war and feminism.
Using a hand coil pinch technique, the pots created by the Hermannsburg Potters of Western Arrarnta in Central Australia illustrate the lived histories of the artists and their surrounding Country. Their latest creations are now showing at Bett Gallery in Hobart.
The Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair debuts in partnership with the Melbourne Art Fair this weekend, offering a special preview of new and recent artworks from 37 Koorie artists and designers.
Wanda Gillespie’s handcrafted sculptures embody ideas of the sacred.
Her latest exhibition, Of Counting and Devotion, is now showing at Craft Victoria’s Vitrine Gallery.
