Learn the art of traditional Chinese papercutting with award winning artist Tianli Zu!

Delve into the art of traditional Chinese papercutting techniques with the award-winning multimedia artist Dr Tianli Zu. In a workshop inspired by her work in the current exhibition at 16albermarle Project Space Tianli will teach a papercutting workshop for participants aged 7-100! Discover the meaning behind the traditional symbolic patterns as Tianli shows you how to fold and cut while considering positive and negative space.

Join this workshop to create your own papercuts to take home. No previous papercutting experience is necessary. All materials provided.

The workshop is in collaboration with the exhibition Home and Away: Eight Asian Australian Artists' at 16albermarle Project Space from 22 November – 16 December 2023.

EVENT DETAILS

Thursday 25 January 2024
3-5pm
$20 + booking fee
VENUE: 16albermarle Project Space
16 Albermarle Street
Newtown 2042 NSW

Join us for an afternoon with the curators and artists discussing the issues and ideas behind the exhibition Home and Away.

What does it mean to build an art practice in Australia while looking to ancestral ties to ‘elsewhere’? How is a transcultural or diasporic identity a form of ‘always postponed arrival’? And where is ‘home’?

Exhibition curators Dr Luise Guest and Jennifer Yang will lead a walkthrough of the exhibition and discuss the ways that the artists’ diverse material practices – from papercutting to painting, glass to bronze, textiles and ceramics to photomedia and video – are imbued with complex meanings related to their ancestral ties to Asia.

Artists Pamela Leung and Dr Tianli Zu will be in conversation with Luise and Jennifer to reveal more about the way they work within and beyond traditional media to explore complex issues of identity and language.

EVENT DETAILS
Saturday 2 December 2023
3-5pm
16albermarle Project Space
16 Albermarle Street 2042
Free; bookings recommended

About Tianli Zu

Sydney-based multidisciplinary artist Tianli Zu’s practice spans painting, sculpture, multimedia installations and video. But at the heart of her work are techniques of papercutting and Chinese folklore. Zu’s grandmother taught her simple paper cutting techniques, and her grandfather taught her calligraphy. Later, as an art student in Beijing she travelled to rural Shaanxi Province. Seated in tiny rural homes she learned papercutting from women who knew the traditional methods, listening to stories about the sources of imagery and symbolism. ‘It’s told through the story, the folklore, it’s lots of things that are forbidden, and there are lots of things that are so wild,’ she says. Her work in Home and Away juxtaposes Chinese traditions relating to health, longevity and the sharing of food with her love for the natural world.

About Pamela Leung

For Hong Kong-born multidisciplinary artist Pamela Leung, the idea of home is increasingly painful and the sense of loss acute. Is ‘home’ any longer recognisable when its history of a distinctly Cantonese language and culture is steadily erased? In neon signs, installations and performance works Leung examines how the loss of a unique Hong Kong identity exacerbates the pain of being separated from her own history. Her ongoing project, Agglomerate, is a collaborative work begun with her mother and continued with participants across the globe who send her long strings created from Chinese newspapers printed in the Traditional Chinese characters used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. She crochets these into a woven mat of unreadable text – creating an artifact of an invisible and endangered cultural and linguistic history.

About Luise Guest

Writer, curator and academic Dr Luise Guest researches the work of contemporary women artists in Asia, most particularly in China. Her book Half the Sky (Piper Press, 2016) was based on interviews with more than 30 Chinese women artists, and she has contributed articles to numerous academic and generalist publications including the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, Artist Profile, and Australasian Art Monthly. She curated Tao Aimin’s first Australian solo exhibition, Her Secret Code: Tao Aimin and Nüshu, at Vermilion Art, Sydney in April 2023. She is currently working on a book about women artists who subvert the male-dominated ink painting tradition, to be published by Bloomsbury Academic.

About Jennifer Yang

Art historian, arts writer, and curator Jennifer Yang completed her Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Diploma of Language at the University of Sydney with First Class Honours and the University Medal in 2022. Jennifer has previously curated Our Grandfather Road (2022) at 16albermarle Project Space. Her writing appears in Artlink, Memo, New Mandala, Art & Market’s Check-In, Trans Asia Photography Journal, and Southeast of Now (latter two forthcoming). Research interests include photographic cultures, migrancy, and transnational and feminist histories in Southeast Asian contexts. She is due to commence her PhD candidature at the University of Sydney in 2024.

Work with local artist Annabelle McEwen to consider ways of printmaking that focus on the unique scraperboard technique: a reductive engraving process of scraping off dark ink to reveal a contrasting layer beneath. This process is featured in the current exhibition แผ่นดิน/Tanah/Land through the work of Indonesian artist Maryanto, who is widely recognised for his use of the scraperboard technique within his art practice. 

Over the course of the three-hour workshop, participants will construct their own scratched image, considering both the materiality and its application. McEwen will spend dedicated time helping participants develop their existing or new printmaking skills, so that by the end of the session each participant will have a final product to leave with. This workshop is best suited to early career artists, art students and novices who have an interest in materially focused art-making, whether they currently practice in this field or not. Basic printing materials will be provided.

This workshop is recommended for people over the age of 16

General Admission $30 + booking fee

Annabelle McEwen is a multidisciplinary artist practising on unceded Gadigal Land (Eora/Sydney) with a Masters of Fine Art majoring in printmaking from The National Art School. Annabelle has been shown in many exhibitions, recently including Edition Four at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios, BLACKBOX at Schmick Contemporary, and Freaks of Nature at aMBUSH Gallery. She was awarded The Ellen O’Shaughnessy Printmaking Award in 2019, a finalist in The Fisher’s Ghost Art Award at Campbelltown Arts Centre in 2022, The Burwood Art Prize in 2023 and The Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize in 2023. Annabelle’s work has been acquired by The National Art School Archive and The City of Sydney Art Collection among others. Annabelle was recently published with her article Image Transfer and The Virtual Gaze in The Print Council of Australia’s IMPRINT Magazine. She has taught at numerous institutions including The National Art School, UNSW Art and Design, Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios and Bankstown Arts Centre.

Talk Details

In 1965, between five hundred thousand and one million Indonesian leftists–in particular members and associates of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI)–were killed or forcibly disappeared by the military and other right-wing forces. Until today, discussion of these events remains heavily suppressed.

Rangga Purbaya (b. 1976) is a visual artist from Yogyakarta and co-founder of the Ruang MES 56 art collective. In this talk, he will discuss the collective practice of MES 56 as well as his life and practice as an artist confronting the legacies of 1965. As well as discussing the impacts of 1965 on Indonesian society today, Rangga will explore the intersection of culture and activism and ask: how can art resist ‘official’ histories?

Indonesian artist Rangga Purbaya gave an insightful talk and facilitated a lively Q&A with lots of pertinent questions and comments from the audience.

This event was presented in partnership with Asia Pacific Solidarity Network (APSN)

Click the link below to listen to an interview with the artist featured on SBS (in Indonesian).

Images courtesy of John Cruthers

To celebrate the opening of Ghosts from the Past: Ipeh Nur & Enka Komariah, 16albermarle Project Space held an artists talk, hosted by Malcom Smith, artist and co-founder of Krack! Studios in Yogjakarta. In Malcolm’s introduction of the artists, he spoke about Ipeh and Enka’s work from the perspective of contemporary art in Yogjakarta and it’s connections to Indonesian society and politcs. The artists then provided a very insightful talk on their works and the historical and cultural context in which the work are situated.

Following the talk, Mr Veti Kurnia Buana, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Sydney came to officially welcome and open the exhibition to 16albermarle followers and members of the Indonesian community.

Ghosts from the Past is a joint exhibition by Ipeh Nur (b 1993) and Enka Komariah (b 1993). On display are artworks rooted in research-based projects concerned with historical narratives and memories. The centrepiece is Rumah Yang Yahud (A Cool House), a collaborative installation including drawings, paintings and building scaffolding measuring 300 x 400 x 400 cm. The installation reflects the process of rethinking and rebuilding Indonesia as a national identity, in the context of the post-Pacific War and the country’s independence. The artists explore the persistence of violent histories through speculative narratives, as responses to their absence in the official historiography. 

Ghosts from the Past reveals how a younger generation of Indonesian artists articulates their perspectives on the path of their country’s history. The linking of speculative history with artistic research has not only contributed to the current debates on contemporary artistic practices and their possibilities, but it can also be an alternate way of looking at the past in our complex present.

More information about the artists and artworks can be found here

On Saturday 4 March 2023, 16abermarle Project Space presented a talk with Sydney-based Myanmar activist Mon Zin and Australian unionist and activist Kate Lee, moderated by Dr Susan Banki.

February 2023 marks two years since the Myanmar military attempted a coup d’état, initiating a GEN-Z led revolution that has now come to be known as the Spring Revolution. Currently, Myanmar is facing a refugee crisis, with more than two million people displaced, thousands of political prisoners, including the country's most prominent leaders, and an intensifying civil war. Those politicians and thought leaders who evade arrest have established a parallel government overseas backed by the international community, and with the support of the Myanmar diaspora. This National Unity Government has opened an office in Canberra, Australia, signifying early signs of legitimacy for the parallel government in the Asia Pacific. Similarly, the Myanmar diaspora in Australia has become a significant source of financial support for refugees and freedom fighters.

Art has long played an important role in Myanmar's political movements, serving as a powerful tool of cultural expression and a way to quickly move a message. The works currently on display in Fighting Fear II: It Goes Without Saying are especially important as they provide a context for Myanmar's Generation Z to find identity and form their own value systems. These works by the Myanmar artists set a backdrop for our public program Myanmar in Australia: Fighting for Freedom in the Homeland, a conversation between a Myanmar activist from the Sydney Myanmar community, and an Australian activist, to explore and share knowledge on how we can work in solidarity to help the people of Myanmar fighting for freedom in their homeland.

More information about the artists and exhibition can be found here

Watch here.

16albermarle Project Space was excited to invite four Asian art specialists with experience working in feminist theory and methodology to a panel discussion. Moderated by curator Jennifer Yang, the panel addressed the slipperiness of the concept of a “contemporary Asian women’s art” and the challenges which surround building feminist curatorial and research strategies around it. How is feminist theory translated and transformed as it travels across contexts? What transnational connections and affiliations may be drawn? And what can feminist practice look like, beyond the question of inclusion/exclusion?

Recorded 25/09/2022

Connecting to Indonesia

A seminar for artists and curators

3pm  John Cruthers, Welcome and opening comments

After three decades as an adviser, collection curator and collector, John opened 16albermarle Project Space in mid 2019 to present contemporary southeast Asian art to Australian audiences.

3.10pm Emily Isabel Taylor, The Australia/Indonesia visual art relationship

Emily is an artist and gallery manager at 16albermarle Project Space.

 3.30pm  Malcolm Smith, A decade in Jogja

Sydney born Malcolm was a founding member of the KRACK! Printmaking studio, which offers facilities, a local network and a residency program. Malcolm will speak about starting KRACK, surviving as an artist in Indonesia and getting the most out of your time there as a visitor. 

  4.00pm   Leyla Stevens, Bali hai – residencies in Bali and elsewhere

Leyla is an Australian/Balinese artist and researcher who works predominantly within moving image and photography

4.20pm  John Cruthers, the Australia Indonesia Arts Forum 

This recently formed association aims to bring Australia and Indonesia closer together through the visual arts. Its activities include residencies, exhibitions and an annual art study tour to Indonesia.

  4.40pm  Q & A followed drinks

Artist talk: Mark Titmarsh
Saturday 10 October 2020, 2.30-3pm

Mark Titmarsh worked as a painter and super-8 filmmaker in Sydney in the late 1980s. He will talk about his painting Advanced DefJam 1987 within the context of his film and painting practice and Sydney post-modernism of the period. He will also discuss the work of two other artists in Re/production – Ian Burn and Tim Johnson.

Artist talk: Tim Johnson
Saturday 10 October 2020, 2.30-3pm

Join us for a walk through of Exhibition #3 Re/production Australian Art from the 1980’s and 1990’s with Fiona McIntosh followed by talk by Tim Johnson.