In 2012 the ACCA Art Bar was launched in partnership with Audi, bringing new audiences to ACCA on the last Friday evening of each exhibition season. ACCA also continued to grow its public programs and explore new ways of capturing the imagination and attention of audiences. The ticketed lecture series, A Further 50 Works, was a highly successful initiative that focused on 50 iconic art works that have influenced the contemporary art world. Delivered by ACCA’s Artistic Director, Juliana Engberg, this program quickly sold out to eager audiences.
Wednesday Nights at ACCA
Wednesday nights at ACCA were held regularly during each exhibition season. Discussion focused on ideas and issues arising from exhibitions and recent developments in contemporary art. Audience participation in the discussions was invited and encouraged. Sessions included artist talks, forums, lectures, conversations and panel discussions.
In Conversation – Jeff Khan, curator and Katie Lee and Charlie Sofo, artists
21 March 2012
Held in conjunction with the exhibition NEW12.
In Conversation – Jeff Khan, curator and Kate Mitchell, Angelica Mesiti, artists
28 March 2012
Held in conjunction with the exhibition NEW12.
Guided Tour – Lunchtime defrag
30 April 2012
Guided tour/meditation session of NEW12 with Tibetan Lama, Khentrul Rinpoche.
Event – ACCA ART BAR
10 May 2012
Drinks accompanied by Fox & Sui, dreamy electro-pop band.
Talk – On Flesh
20 June 2012
A talk held in conjunction with the Berlinde De Bruyckere: We are all flesh exhibition chaired by Martyn Pedler, writer & critic with speakers: Dr Robyn Warner, meat scientist; Lance Proctor, embalmer; Dr Wendy Haslem, academic; Prof Nick Halam, psychologist and Adrian Richardson, butcher, chef and author.
Workshop – Drawing the last breath
27 June 2012
A drawing class held in conjunction with the Berlinde De Bruyckere: We are all flesh exhibition.
In Conversation – The word became flesh
11 July 2012
Dr Rachael Kohn and Dr Claire Renkin in conversation with Juliana Engberg.
Held in conjunction with the Berlinde De Bruyckere: We are all flesh exhibition.
Event – The Last Supper
18 July 2012
An evening of art, music, wine and freshly baked bread.
Held in conjunction with the Berlinde De Bruyckere: We are all flesh exhibition.
Event – ACCA ART BAR
26 July 2012
Drinks accompanied by Galapagoose, an improvised vocal and electronic sounds.
Talk – ACCA & VCA Artist Talks
9 & 14 August 2012
Artists Shahryar Nashat, Tatiana Trouvé, and Nairy Baghramian talked about their work in the exhibition, Sculptural Matter.
Talk – On À Rebours
29 August 2012
Sexologist Cyndi Darnell; writer, social commentator and co-author, Monica Dux; and psychologist, Milena Mirabelli discussed feminism, fetishism, surrealism and psychoanalysis. Chaired by Professor of Art Theory, Dr Anne Marsh.
Held in conjunction with the Pat Brassington: A Rebours exhibition.
Event – Dark Matter
5 September 2012
A late night bar and gallery opening for Sculptural Matter and Pat Brassington: A Rebours, with performance by VJs Eugenia Lim and Jessie Scott.
Workshop – Sculptural & Life Drawing
12 September 2012
Untutored life and observational drawing class held in conjunction with the Sculptural Matter exhibition
Event – Program Launch and Special Preview
10 October 2012
Official launch of the Melbourne International Arts Festival’s Visual Arts program with Artistic Director of MIAF, Brett Sheehy, Juliana Engberg and Santiago Sierra in conversation.
In Conversation – On OURSELVES
17 October 2012
Discussion with psychologist, author, comedian and disability activist, Dr Cordelia Fine; social worker, Roberta Honigman; Stella Young, psychologist; Prof Nick Haslam, Prof Rajiv Khosla and chaired by writer and critic, Martyn Pedler.
Held in conjunction with the OURSELVES exhibition.
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Education programs were devised to align with school curricular at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels as part of ACCA’s core information delivery, and by extension, its participation in growing a culturally aware and knowledgeable public. ACCA’s education programs focused on specific areas of philosophy and haptic learning at the primary levels, interdisciplinary and cross-curricular interpretations at the secondary levels, and discussion-based learning at the tertiary levels.
In 2012 ACCA’s Education Services delivered six integrated streams in its Pathways to Art:
1. Talk
ACCA’s schools program focused on haptic and kinaesthetic learning, through moving, touching and doing. Installation art provided students with a fully immersive environment to explore ideas and meaning through discussion and art making.
2. MAKE
These workshops were designed to complement ACCA’s annual exhibition program and to foster deeper engagement with exhibition content through haptic learning approaches. Children consolidated their understandings of the concepts in the exhibition and philosophical discussion by creating their own artwork to foster visual and verbal literacy.
3. Think
A ‘community of inquiry’ was the central pedagogical tool for the ‘Philosophy for Children’ program. This method introduced children to conceptual art, showing that the idea/concept is more important than the aesthetic and artistic skill, inspiring them to think creatively in order to express an idea. The approach also generated questions and encouraged students to be active listeners, learning to respect the opinions of others and work together as a group
4. ACCA Digital Delivery
ACCA e-communications substantially increased and became a major feature of public programs and access with interviews, conversation recordings, behind the scenes vision, blogs and many other programs down-loadable from the ACCA website. Sound files and video files were produced for each exhibition and posted on the ACCA website for students and general public. The ACCA Blog was launched as part of the Venice Pop Up and immediately attracted an enthusiastic readership.
5. 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.
6. 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.
Teachers’ Professional Development/Preview Evenings were exclusive viewings of exhibitions that included a tour with the curator and refreshments:
22 March 2012: Held in conjunction with the exhibition NEW12.
7 June 2012: Held in conjunction with the exhibition Berlinde De Bruyckere: We are all flesh
14 August 2012: Teachers’ preview and Arts Education Victoria Annual General Meeting held in conjunction with Sculptural Matter and Pat Brassington: A Rebours exhibitions
18 October 2012: Held in conjunction with OURSELVES exhibition.