Littoral
Friday, 23 July 2010
The exhibition Littoral (“of the shore…”) will be opened by exhibition Curator Vivonne Thwaites this Friday 30 July at 3.30pm at the Burnie Regional Art Gallery.
This project shows how selected contemporary artists engage with the natural world to re-establish a sense of wonder for our unique ecosystem of the oceans.
“The contemporary Indigenous artists Judy Watson, Julie Gough and non Indigenous artists Toni Warburton, Aadje Bruce, Chris De Rosa and Beverley Southcott consider the predicaments of our oceans,” says curator Vivonne Thwaites, “and the contested nature of these spaces where, in the early 1800’s, two cultures encountered one another.
“The exhibition will bring forward a significant discussion regarding the art accomplished by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur on the Baudin voyage to Australia (1801-1803) while raising issues central to contemporary society – the future of species, the environment, our interaction with the natural world and the role that artists can play in these discussions.”
Vivonne Thwaites, who has had an illustrious career as a curator, including for many years at the Adelaide Festival Centre, will be speaking on the exhibition in her floortalk Saturday 31 July 2010 2pm.
A Sydney University residency in Paris at Cité International des Arts in 2006 enabled Vivonne to undertake research for this project.
The French works by Lesueur in this project have never been photographed, catalogued or captioned before. They have been in an archive in Paris for over 200 years. A selection of these works are published for the first time in the accompanying catalogue, which includes a scholarly essay by Jean Fornasiero, Associate Professor of French Studies at the University of Adelaide.
Littoral, an exhibition of national importance, first opened in Hobart at the Carnegie Gallery earlier in the year. The only other Australian gallery to host the exhibition is the Burnie Regional Art Gallery. The fragility of some of the displays makes it impossible to tour the exhibition more extensively.
Littoral will open in conjunction with two other exhibitions: Garden of Forking Paths–a d/Lux MediaArts touring exhibition and Through Botanical Eyes by Northwest Botanical Artists
Exhibition dates: Saturday 31 July – Sunday 12 September 2010
Curator Vivonne Thwaites and/or artist Toni Warburton can make themselves available for photo and interview upon request. Please contact the Gallery.
All welcome. Admission free