Craft VictoriaOpens a new horizon for Australian craftThe South Project is a four-year program designed to 'build a cultural highway' linking artists, cultural workers and organisations from across the southern hemisphere. It leads to a Festival of the South for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2008. The Festival will put craft – both indigenous and contemporary - at the forefront of a changing world. The south is a region yet to be fully realised and Australia has the potential to play a positive role in enabling cultural and economic exchange across thesouthern hemisphere where economic growth has increased to an average of 5% across southern countries. For craft, the south is an untapped treasure. Countries like Brazil, Chile, South Africa and Indonesia have a rich diversity of indigenous skills and designs. Australia has its own Indigenous craft, as well as contemporary craft heritage, and its practitioners are adept at working with traditional artists from other cultures. Craft Victoria has shown that craft can be a lingua franca that connects people of different backgrounds. Through artist exchanges, touring exhibitions, forums and workshops, the South Project promises new opportunities for Australian craftspersons to develop a southern identity that is creative and forward-looking.
Nalda Searles, threads and fibres workshop, artist from western Australia - South 1 (July 2004) In July 2004 Craft Victoria organised the first South Gathering. Nine exhibitions, eight workshops and five satellite events across the city of Melbourne focussed on the creativity that can bond individuals, generations, communities and nations of the southern hemisphere. Craft Victoria's own exhibition drew a record number of visitors (2,134). The major symposium attracted 350 craft practitioners, artists and writers from sixteen different southern countries to discuss what they might do together as artistic and cultural collaborations. 'The rediscovery of the common' emerged as a strong theme for craft residencies to be established in South Africa, remote Western Australia, Melbourne, Shepparton, Fiji, New Zealand and Brazil. Additional residencies and international partnership projects are being negotiated. |
The South Project has begun a dialogue about progressive art production away from the epicentres of the established art world, positioning the countries of the south as vital cultural and artistic capitals. This has sparked discussions about new product development and branding that identifies craft from southern latitudes.
Michael Pose and Jumaadi, Indonesian grass puppet weaving workshop - South 1 (July 2004) Kevin Murray, director of Craft Victoria states, "VACS funding provides Craft Victoria with the opportunity to 'build a cultural highway' that links this great southern land with other southern countries. This is a highway that promises opportunities for our craftspersons and designers, challenging them with the task of forging a new identity from the rich abundance of creativity, skills and materials in our own southern region. The core of the South Project is $40,000 annual VACS funding. Already, this has generated an additional $180,000 annual funding through university, diplomatic and philanthropic sources, such as the Myer Foundation and the Gordon Darling Foundation. The commitment of VACS funding allows us to plan for similar gatherings for presenting Australian craft in an international context: at Te Papa Museum in Wellington, 2005; in Santiago in 2006 and in Johannesburg in 2007."
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Member organisation of Craft Organisation Australia are supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments