Following on from the success of earlier tours, ACCA once again took a group of art lovers to the Biennale of Sydney for the third consecutive time. The weekend included an intensive guided tour of Biennale highlights and other art destinations in Sydney. In July ACCA also took a small, guided tour to the Venice Architecture Biennale.
With the appointment of new staff in ACCA’s education area there was considerable growth in primary education and public programs. This included new program initiatives specifically for primary schools and expanded public programs activity including the Wednesday evenings talks series. For primary school students ACCA offered two free and newly tailored programs: MAKE an artist-guided practical art making workshop using contemporary materials, and THINK which involved fun philosophical collaborative discussions about contemporary art.
‘Look Who’s Talking’ and ‘In Conversation’ evenings
ACCA’s popular “Look Who’s Talking’ program continued with free Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon talks by artists, curators and social commentators linked to the exhibition program. A special ‘in conversation’ evening event coincided with each season, with ACCA’s Artistic Director and curators talking with exhibiting artists about their work.
Thematic talks and walks
ACCA also programmed a wide range of talks and activities to complement exhibition content. These include a night-time tour of Melbourne General Cemetery to coincide with Mortality as well as a panel discussion at the Melbourne Town Hall investigating theoretical and artistic concepts of heaven. Another panel discussion included psychiatric and theatrical responses to Gestures and Procedures, featuring Dr. Edwin Harari.
ACCA Art Tours
Following on from the success of earlier tours, ACCA once again took a group of art lovers to the Sydney Biennale, for the third consecutive time. The weekend included an intensive guided tour of biennale highlights and other art destinations in Sydney. In July ACCA also took a guided tour to the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Multicultural Art Program (MAP)
ACCA’s specially devised series of workshops for recently arrived young people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, including refugees, took place in February and December. Funded by the Scanlon Foundation, and in partnership with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, MAP provided opportunities for young people new to Australia to participate in an immersive art experience across a variety of forms of visual arts, theatre and dance, Initiated, presented and managed by ACCA, each program included sessions by collaborating partners Chunky Move, St Martins Youth theatre and ACCA over several weekends.
Sound and Video Files
Sound files were produced for each exhibition and posted on the ACCA website where they were accessed by students and the general public.
Education
In 2010 ACCA’s Education Services delivered five integrated streams of experience:
1. Talk: Guided exhibition viewing and discussion.
ACCA’s core discussion based education program. Through discussions led by trained teachers in gallery spaces students had the ideas and concepts of contemporary art unpacked in a way that was relevant to their school curriculum. Talk was a free program for all primary and secondary students.
2. Make: Contemporary art materials based workshops.
ACCA’s core practical based education program for school students and teachers. Free artist guided practical art making workshops using contemporary materials were designed to complement ACCA’s annual exhibition program to foster deeper engagement with exhibition content.
3. ACCA Digital Delivery
ACCA produced digital resources for students and teachers to compliment each exhibition season. The downloadable online digital resources broaden both student and teacher knowledge of contemporary art through sound file interviews with artist and a range of art professionals.
4. Infocube
Infocube functioned as a communications kiosk and research facility for students and teachers, providing access to archived digital information about artist and exhibitions at ACCA. Relevant support material, in the form of video, image, text and sound files was uploaded prior to each exhibition.
5. ACCA Art Partners
ACCA worked in partnership with philanthropic organisations to provide the following targeted learning programs linked with the pathways to Art program:
ACCA’s successful and growing Go Program supported the participation of students who attend lower socio-economic schools. The program improved access for students who may otherwise not have the opportunity to gain a significant cultural experience through the provision of free bus transport to and from ACCA.
Arts immersion: Starting Points provided regionally based Year 9-12 students from Government schools with an immersive arts experience across the forms of visual arts, theatre and dance. Sessions were hosted in collaboration with Malthouse Theatre and Chunky Move.
The ARTCONNECT9 program in collaboration with the Victorian Arts Centre continued to provide Year 9 level students and teachers from Victorian regional government schools with ‘pathways to Art’ learning experience.
PROGRAM DETAILS
In Conversation – Juliana Engberg in conversation with curator Hannah Mathews, artists; Lou Hubbard and Alicia Frankovich and exhibition design collaborator; Sonia Simpfendorfer
16 March 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition NEW010.
In Conversation – Juliana Engberg and Vogue Living editor; David Clark in conversation with curator Hannah Mathews, artists Lou Hubbard and Susan Jacobs, and collaborators Sonia Simpfendorfer and Danielle Midalia
22 April 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition NEW010.
Keynote Lecture – Dr Carolyn Barnes
9 June 2010
Dr Carolyn Barnes addressed the art practice of Peter Cripps, providing an historical overview of his groundbreaking practice of minimal-conceptualism. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
In Conversation – Peter Cripps and Peter Tyndall, artists
16 June 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
In Conversation – Sue Cramer in conversation with artist Peter Cripps
30 June 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
Talk – Mirror, Mirror on the wall; Masato Takasaka, artist
11 July 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
In Conversation – Rebecca Coates in conversation with artist Peter Cripps
14 July 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
Talk – Artist-Curator, Curator-Artist
18 July 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution the directors of Y3K gallery and Rebecca Coates discuss the fundamental difference between artist and curator.
Forum – Bauhaus in the middle of the street: minimalism in design today
24 July 2010
Susie Attiwill, Norbert Loeffler, Warren Taylor, and Shane Murray discuss minimalism in design today in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
Talk – Lessness; Dr Justin Clemens, Art Critic
25 July 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Towards An Elegant Solution.
In Conversation – Bianca Hester, artist and Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director
9 August 2010
Held in conjunction with the private viewing of Bianca Hester’s Please leave these windows open overnight to enable the fans to draw in cool air during the early hours of the morning.
Talk – Anastasia Klose and Tony Schwensen, artist
11 August 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Gestures & Procedures.
Talk – Lucy Gunning, artist
25 August 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Gestures & Procedures.
Talk – Mike Parr, artist
8 September 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Gestures & Procedures.
In Conversation – Bianca Hester and Spiros Panigirakis, artist and collaborator
15 September 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Please leave these windows open overnight to enable the fans to draw in cool air during the early hours of the morning.
Talk – Three Responses to the Exhibitions
22 September 2010
Series of three talks given by Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director, Dr Edwin Harari; Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, and Sean Cubitt; Professor of Media and Communications, held in conjunction with Bianca Hester and Gestures & Procedures.
Forum – Nathan Coley, artist
27 September 2010
Artist, Nathan Coley, spoke about his public art program Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens, joined by a panel of speakers, responding to the question ‘is heaven in the hereafter or the here and now?’
Venue: Supper Room, Melbourne Town Hall
Talk – Catherine Deveny, serial pest
13 October 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens.
Talk – Robert Buckingham, creative founder Melbourne Fashion Festival
10 November 2010
Held in conjunction with the exhibition Heaven Is A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens.