3 January 2014

Emerging & Experimental arts grants announced

A robot opera, a game show and a curated exhibition of live art in a mine are some of the projects to benefit from $400,000 in funding from the Australia Council for the Arts.
The Emerging and Experimental Arts Peer Assessment Panel has awarded the prestigious Creative Australia New Art grants - Creative Development, and Production and Presentation. The Emerging and Experimental Arts section established in May 2013 provides funding to artists exploring and experimenting with new forms and processes of making art, including hybrid arts and cross-disciplinary practice such as art/science. Australia Council Director Emerging and Experimental Arts Andrew Donovan said the Creative Australia grants would help artists from a wide range of disciplines create and present cutting edge new work to audiences. The Creative Development grant enables artists to develop their concept over one year, Mr Donovan said. The Production and Presentation round supports previous recipients of the Creative Development grant to produce and present their new experimental art project to Australian audiences. Eight artists have been funded in the Creative Development category, including Wade Marynowsky (Randwick, NSW) Kirsty Boyle (Tamworth, NSW), FKP (Cherrybrook, NSW), and Nancy Mauro-Flude (South Hobart, Tas). Robots as art is the focus for two recipients, with Wade Marynowsky using his grant to develop prototypes for an outdoor opera featuring robots, sound and light and Kirsty Boyle will test ideas for an interactive robot performance installation, Mr Donovan said. FKP will work on an experimental curatorial art project set in a quarry in NSW, while Nancy Mauro-Flude will develop a large-scale multi-user 3D game using gaze interaction. The other artists to receive grants in this category were: David Burraston (NSW), Oron Catts (WA), Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski (NSW) and William McClure (NSW). Two artists have been successful in the Promotion and Presentation category Keith Armstrong (Bardon, Qld) and Tristan Meecham (Melbourne, Vic). Keith Armstrongs project is a series of dynamic installations and site-specific interventions controlled by environmental cycles, providing the audience with a unique sensory experience, Mr Donovan said. The work will be shown in regional and city centres around Australia, including Queensland Museum, Kickarts in Cairns, Melbourne Museum and Bundanon near Nowra, NSW. Tristan Meechams innovative project focuses on the game show and will be an experiment in social engagement created through performance and participatory art. It will explore materialism, games and reality TV and he will be giving away his own belongings as prizes. It will be held during the Festival of Live Art, which has also received support from the Australia Council, in March this year, hosted by Arts House in Melbourne. For more information on the Australia Councils emerging and experimental arts grants go to: http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/artforms/experimental-arts

Media contact Karen Smith 02 9215 9030 | 0498 123 541 k.smith@australiacouncil.gov.au

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The Australia Council for the Arts is the Australian Governments arts funding and advisory body