Art in nature
Awe is the theme of 2024 Nature Festival, which this week launched a line-up of more than 400 events ranging from folk music in a forest to seven-minute “awe talks” at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
The festival will take place across the state from September 28 until October 13.
One of the highlights will be Pleasance, a floral art installation / “immersive architectural folly” in the AGSA courtyard inspired by the tranquil flow of Karrawirra Parri/River Torrens. On the afternoon of September 29, the gallery will also host 7 x 7 Awe Talks – an event led by ABC radio presenter Jason Chong during which seven speakers will each give a short talk on “awe in nature” in response to seven artworks in the AGSA collection.
Nature Festival’s 2024 artist-in-residence Eleanor Noir will be at Wittunga Botanic Garden over two days creating cut-out bird drawings for a large-scale installation titled Our Beating Hearts, Their Beating Wings: An Interspecies Murmuration, with members of the public invited to participate by submitting their own photos of birds in flight.
Music highlights will include performances by the Bowerbird Collective at UKARIA and Carrick Hill, and a series of concerts in a forest setting at Sinclair’s Gully winery by artists such the Fiddle Chicks, harpist Siobhan Owen, and folk duo Courtney Robb and Snooks La Vie.
The full Nature Festival program is online.
Jazz meets hip-hop
Three-time Grammy Award nominee Jazzmeia Horn will return to Adelaide this October for a series of concerts, masterclasses and events – including a collaboration with local hip-hop group DEM MOB.
The American jazz vocalist, who captivated audiences with her performance alongside Elder Conservatorium graduating musicians at the Helpmann Academy’s annual A Night of Jazz concert last year, says she is excited to return to mentor and perform with the next generation of South Australian jazz talent.
Jazzmeia Horn performs at the 2023 A Night of Jazz concert. Photo: Sam Roberts
As a guest of Helpmann Academy, University of Adelaide and the City of Adelaide, Horn will headline a concert at UKARIA Cultural Centre on October 27, as well as the 2024 A Night of Jazz on October 31 at the Adelaide Town Hall (tickets will go on sale on the Helpmann Academy website in early September). She will also collaborate with DEM MOB, students from the university’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) and Elder Con jazz students to write, record and produce a new music track and video.
“Jazzmeia had a galvanising effect on our community during her visit last year,” says Professor Anna Goldsworthy, director of Elder Conservatorium. “It was an immersive, empowering and, for some, transformative experience. We are thrilled Jazzmeia returns in 2024, bringing her unique blend of artistry and pedagogical innovation not only to our jazz students but also to our Centre of Aboriginal Studies in Music.”
Myriad stories
Artist Mia Qua with her artwork in the Myriad Art Exhibition. Photo: supplied
As SALA Festival heads into its final couple of weeks a new exhibition has opened in the State Library’s Institute Gallery that showcases a “myriad” of artist abilities.
Presented by disability support provider Community Living Australia, the Myriad Art Exhibition has the theme Art Speaks and features more than 100 artworks by 70 South Australian artists.
“Art has the power to speak volumes, art speaks when words can’t, art speaks to everyone’s imagination differently and art is without judgment or bias,” says Community Living Australia chief executive Mark Kulinski. “There is no greater example of that than Myriad, where each artwork is a powerful representation of the artist’s personal journey… We invite exhibition goers to enter the world of the artist and embrace their unique stories.”
The Myriad Art Exhibition runs until August 29, with all proceeds from artworks sold going directly to the artists.
Cracking reads
Forty-six writers have been shortlisted for the 2024 South Australian Literary Awards in their first iteration since being renamed last year and uncoupled from Adelaide Writers’ Week.
The biennial awards, presented by the State Library of South Australia and previously called the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, attracted 827 entries across six national and five South Australian categories offering a total prize pool of $167,500, including the $25,000 Premier’s Award for the overall winner.
Among SA writers shortlisted in the national categories are Shannon Burns, whose memoir Childhood is vying for the Non-Fiction Award, and poet Jill Jones for the John Bray Poetry Award. Other shortlisted authors for the national awards include Tracey Lien, Christos Tsiolkas, Laura Woollett, Kris Kneen and Craig Silvey.
Shortlisted for the Arts South Australia Wakefield Press Unpublished Manuscript Award are Gina Inverarity, Alastair Sarre, Heather Taylor Johnson, Robin Boord, Lyn Dickens and Alicia Carter, while Rebecca Meston, Anthony Nocera, Michael Hill, Melissa-Kelly Franklin, Nina Pearce, Nicola Watson and Piri Eddy are finalists for the SA-only Jill Blewett Playwright’s Award.
Get InReview in your inbox – free each Saturday. Local arts and culture – covered.
Thanks for signing up to the InReview newsletter.
There are also three $15,000 fellowships available for South Australian writers: the Tangkanungku Pintyanthi Fellowship (finalists Karen Wyld, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Alexis West); the Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship (Karen Wyld, Katerina Bryant, Molly Murn) and the Max Fatchen Fellowship (Allayne Webster, James A Cooper).
The full list is available on the State Library website, with winners to be announced at a ceremony in the Mortlock Chamber in October.
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
Support local arts journalism
Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.
Donate Here
