Illuminate pathway

Recent creative arts graduates (up to five years) are being invited to submit a proposal for a work that could be part of next year’s Illuminate Adelaide program.

The Illuminate Adelaide Graduate Pathway Program offers a $5000 commission fee for the selected artist or artists, with up to three proposals chosen each year for presentation. In addition, the artists receive $2000 each towards the cost of presenting their work, and introduction to a committed mentor.

Projection and light-based artist Miles Dunne, one of the 2022 recipients, says he gained an incredible amount of confidence from developing and showing his work, Proximity State, as part of Illuminate’s City Lights program this year, with one of the highlights being working with mentor Matt Adey. Proximity State is an immersive interactive installation in which visitors’ movements affect the light and sound around them.

“My advice to other artists would be to be ambitious with your idea that you’re pitching and take a risk,” Dunne says. “I really wanted to pitch a work that was outside my comfort zone.”

Applications will close on October 20, with more information available here.

Festival treat for classical music fans

Icelandic piano virtuoso Víkingur Ólafsson will make his Australian debut at the 2024 Adelaide Festival with two concerts ­– one at the Town Hall and the other at UKARIA Cultural Centre ­– as part of his international Goldberg Variations tour.

With more than 600 million streams of his past albums, Ólafsson is described by the Festival as “one of the most sought-after artists of today”, celebrated for his interpretations of JS Bach. His new album, featuring the recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, will be released next month.

“I can’t wait to hear his acclaimed and original journey through the Goldberg Variations ­– one of my personal top-10 works,” says Adelaide Festival artistic director Ruth Mackenzie. 

The Adelaide performances, on March 15 and 17, will be the first in the Australian leg of Ólafsson’s tour, which will also take him to Sydney and Melbourne. Tickets go on sale on October 24, when the Festival’s full 2024 program is launched.

Shop SALA

SALA acting CEO Bridget Alfred with artist Billy Oakley. Photo: supplied

SALA Festival has launched an online store where art lovers can browse and buy works from South Australian artists, with almost 300 items ranging from $70 to $4500 now available.

The festival piloted the Shop SALA platform last year with a small number of artists, and acting CEO Bridget Alfred says the just-released next phase features “expanded content and advanced filtering”.

“People often asked where they could buy local artists’ work outside of SALA month, so we created Shop SALA, a year-round digital exhibition space for artists to sell their work, and for audiences to browse and discover hundreds of artworks of all mediums and sizes, and for all budgets.”

Shop SALA currently features works by more than 40 artists, including Alan Todd, Dave Court, Carly Dodd, Billy Oakley, Max Callaghan and Lesley Redgate.

Performing arts fund launched

Philanthropist Pamela Wall will match donations of up to $1 million to the Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation in a major  new fundraising initiative announced at the centre’s 50th anniversary gala last weekend.

Dr Wall said the Pamela and Ian Wall Performing Arts Initiative was a testament to the couple’s belief in “the transformative power of the arts and the incredible potential it has to create a brighter and more beautiful world”.

“I am delighted to contribute to something that not only supports the growth of the arts but also inspires a new generation of philanthropists to champion the arts.”

Around $200,000 was raised at the gala event to kickstart the campaign, with the sum matched by Dr Wall. Visit the Festival Centre website to learn more or contribute.

ASQ bound for Italy

Five years after it last performed in Europe, the Australian String Quartet is heading to Italy in September for the annual international music festival MITO SettembreMusica.

The festival takes place across Turin and Milan, and the Adelaide-based quartet will perform one concert  in each city featuring works by Haydn, Mozart and Australian composer Nigel Westlake.

“Our travels will then take us to a charming, medieval hilltop town called Todi, in the region of Umbria, where we will perform a concert and work with local students from the region,” says ASQ violinist Dale Barltrop.

After the Todi Music Festival, the musicians will travel to Spain to join Sydney Dance Company for a performance at Madrid’s Teatro del Canal of Impermanence, which was presented as part of the 2021 Adelaide Festival program.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

Get in touch by emailing us at editorial@solsticemedia.com.au

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