Image: Installation view: The Guildhouse Collections Project: After the Fall, featuring Kate O’Boyle, There’s something about Mary, Mother wound, 2022, digital video, colour, sound, image; PPE COVID gowns, cotton thread, 450.0 x 900.0 cm, photograph Sia Duff.
The Guildhouse Collections Project with Flinders University Museum of Art
- Research within FUMA’s Australian Political Poster & Print Collection.
- Responding works curated into an exhibition in the FUMA Gallery
- Open to individual artists or/and artist teams
- $7,500 (excl gst) artist fee per artist or artist team*
Guildhouse and Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) in partnership proudly launch the 2024 – The Guildhouse Collections Project – supported by Arts SA.
We invite individual artists and artist teams to apply to research and develop new ambitious work in response to FUMA’s Australian Political Poster & Print collection. The project will culminate in both a curated exhibition in the FUMA Gallery and a printed catalogue, as a part of SALA 2024.
A propositional title and rationale provided by FUMA Collections Curator Nic Brown – The Disquiet – is a reflection on the alternative cultural movements and political activism of the 1970s documented in FUMA’s Australian Political Poster & Print Collection. Artists have opportunity to access the collection and curatorial professionals from December 2023, with a mixture of both remote and in-person research continuing in early 2024.
Successful artists or artist teams, will research and develop major new work in parallel, not necessarily in collaboration, allowing an in-depth and broad response to the collection and curatorial theme. Each individual artist or each team will receive an artist fee of $7,500. For expanded curatorial context see rationale by FUMA Collections Curator Nic Brown below.
Further information will be available via a Q & A at FUMA, Bedford Park, with FUMA and Guildhouse staff unpacking frequently asked questions and the opportunity to view a selection of the Australian Poster & Print Collection. Details available soon.
*an artist team receives a total artist fee of $7,500 (ie team participants split the fee)
About Flinders University Museum of Art
FUMA is custodian of some 8000 Australian and international works spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, making it one of the largest public collections of art in South Australia. FUMA serves the University and wider community as an academic resource and dynamic site of cultural and intellectual exchange through its cross-disciplinary and collaborative projects, exhibitions, education and public programs.
FUMA have a proud and active history of opening their extraordinary and diverse collections to contemporary artists. Importantly, these endeavors have provided significant professional development opportunities for emerging and established artists while activating FUMA’s collection in innovative new ways. FUMA staff have also benefited from working in close consort with contemporary artists, whose insights and resultant new works have helped open its visual art holdings to new audiences.
The selected artists will be hosted by FUMA and provided access to its collection, supported by its staff in the research and development of new work and exposed to new audiences through the presentation of this work.
Guidelines:
Objectives
One of Guildhouse’s key objectives is to promote contemporary visual art, craft and design. The Guildhouse Collections Project provides a unique opportunity for Guildhouse to promote our members to broad, new and diverse audiences.
The core aims of the project are to:
- promote public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of visual art, craft and design
- provide economic and artistic opportunities for creative professionals
- offer professional development opportunities for visual art, craft and design practitioners
- develop new and diverse audiences for participants
Curatorial Rationale
The Disquiet
Curated by Nic Brown
The Disquiet reflects on the alternative cultural movements and political activism of the 1970s documented in FUMA’s Australian Political Poster & Print Collection. It proposes second-wave feminism’s catchphrase, ‘the personal is political’, to explore a sense of uneasiness, anxiety and restlessness in relationship to the complex and urgent issues of our times.
Using this mantra of personal experience and FUMA’s political posters as a point of departure, artists might consider ecological, political, social or cultural concerns as a means to politically agitate, or alternatively, to provide meditations on hope for the future.
Artists involved in the project will use the political posters, and their agendas, motivations and artistic processes as a starting point for a new major work. By viewing and researching key works from the poster collection over a series of visits to FUMA, and engagement with FUMA’s Collections Curator and guest curators, artists will draw out connections that resonate with their practices and develop works in response to the collection.
In 2024, The Disquiet will succeed the FUMA exhibition, Politics, Posters & PAM, curated by Catherine Speck, Judith Adams and Nic Brown, and provide a contemporary counterpoint to its focus on the 1970s Adelaide collective, the Progressive Art Movement (PAM).
About the Australian Political Poster & Print Collection
The Australian Political Poster & Print Collection represents key figures and collectives in Australia’s mid-late 20th century print history and helps chart the evolution of contemporary printmaking practices in this country. More than this, the collection is an important historical document reflecting the concerns of Australians between 1960 – 1990, including First Nations land rights, gay and civil rights, as well as anti-war, anti-nuclear, environmental and second-wave feminism issues.
Artists in the collection include Toni Robertson, Chips Mackinolty, Pam Debenham, Byron Pickett, Marie McMahon, Angela Gee, Alison Alder, Jane Amble, Julia Church among many others. Collectives include the Anarchist Feminist Poster Collective, Earthworks Poster Collective, Harridan Screen Printers, Jill Posters, Redletter Press, Tin Sheds, Another Planet Posters, Progressive Art Movement and the Hole In The Wall Gang and more.
About the Politics, Posters & PAM exhibition
Politics, Posters & PAM, is curated by Catherine Speck, Judith Adams and Nic Brown and will be presented in the FUMA Gallery in 2024. The exhibition will precede The Guildhouse Collections Project, The Disquiet, and the exhibitions will act in the manner of call-and-response.
Politics, Posters & PAM surveys the activity and impact of the 1974-1977 Adelaide collective, the Progressive Art Movement (PAM). PAM artists, including Ann Newmarch, Mandy Martin, Robert Boynes, Pamela Harris and Andrew Hill, documented the vibrant, political climate of Adelaide during the 1970s, specifically the Union movement, inequities between class and privilege, and anti-nuclear/anti-war and anti-American/pro Australian independence concerns.
Scope of activity at the Flinders University Museum of Art
The Guildhouse Collections Project 2024 at the Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) will involve artists or/and artist teams who will respond to the collection and produce major new work for display that relates to the Australia Political Poster and Print Collection.
The project will commence in December 2023, with the exhibition open 22 July 2024 – 13 September 2024 (included as part of SALA).
The following activities will be undertaken by the selected artists / artist teams:
Research, development and production of major new work will be undertaken over an extended period. This will enable the selected artist/s to produce well considered, high quality creative outcomes that reflect their extensive engagement with FUMA. The activities undertaken during this period will include:
- consulting and interacting with specialist FUMA and Guildhouse staff
- accessing collection works relevant to their area of interest
- developing and producing ambitious new work appropriate to their research
Both FUMA and Guildhouse feel it is essential that selected artists take full advantage of this research opportunity in order to produce innovative and complex work that thoroughly engages with their area of interest.
The Exhibition
The new work produced will be exhibited at the Flinders University Museum of Art, Bedford Park in an exhibition specifically curated to feature both works from the Australian Political Poster and Print Collection and major new work made by the artists. The manner in which this new work is displayed will be negotiated between the artist and FUMA staff in consultation with Guildhouse.
Documentation
Guildhouse will commission professional documentation of the new works for the purpose of the catalogue; further promoting the artist, their work and the program.
Public Programs
A program of artist talks and academic and community engagement activities will be developed in support of the program. These activities should relate to the ideas and creative processes associated with the project and be appropriate for Flinders University students and the wider community, with the primary aim of engaging visitors in activities that offer new insights into the University’s collection and fostering appreciation and understanding of the visual arts, craft and/or design.
Activity ideas may develop from the artist’s research, observation and/or creative practice and will be presented in negotiation with Guildhouse and FUMA staff.
Evaluation
Guildhouse will conduct an evaluation process of the project to gain important information about the success of the program outcomes. Participating artists will contribute to this process by producing a short report at the end of their project.
Project Dates
Monday 25 September – Applications open
Monday 30 October, 9am ACST – Applications close
Late November 2023 – Successful applicants notified
December 2023 – Successful applicants begin research
22 July 2024 – 13 September 2024 – Exhibition open (as part of SALA Festival) at FUMA, Bedford Park
How to Apply
Complete your online application form via the “APPLICATION FORM” button on this page.
Proposals must include:
- A completed application form, including your personal details, project details, and a brief description of the project (30 words or less).
- A project outline (maximum 1 page only at 11pt font), including a brief description of your practice, your motivation for applying to the project responding to FUMA’s Australian Political Poster and Print Collection, submitted as PDF.
Please note, the project is intended to provide participants with the opportunity to undertake a period of research and development of major new work and thus it is not anticipated that applications include details of the work to be produced. - A current CV (maximum 2 pages) submitted as PDF.
- A biography (maximum 250 words)
- A PDF or PowerPoint of six (6) high quality images of recent work with artwork details, including title, date, medium and dimensions. (If applying as a team, four images per artist are allowed). *Applicants are asked to re-size their images to screen size before creating the PDF or PowerPoint. Find an online resizer here.
Selection Process
Eligibility
- The Guildhouse Collections Project 2024 is open to artists/artist teams who are financial members of Guildhouse – Accredited or Community. For more information on becoming a Guildhouse Accredited or Community member go to: http://guildhouse.org.au/membership/.
- Please note, students enrolled in study for the duration of the program are ineligible to apply.
Selection Criteria
- Artistic Merit;
- Strength of research and project proposal, including your interest in working with FUMA;
- Potential for engaging FUMA students and visitors through visual art, craft and/or design;
- Capacity to deliver the project proposal outcomes to a high standard of craftsmanship and in a professional manner.
Short Listing and Final Selection
- Proposals that best meet the selection criteria will be shortlisted by Guildhouse.
- Final selection will be made by a selection committee comprised of representatives of the FUMA and Guildhouse.
- Short listed applicants will be required to attend a short interview with the selection committee. Times and dates to be advised.
- Successful artists will be notified by late November 2023.
Artist Fees
- Selected individual artists or artist teams will be paid a total fee of $7,500 (ex. GST).
Book a One-on-One appointment to discuss your application
Artists are strongly advised to discuss their proposals with Guildhouse staff before making an application.
Book a 30 minute Zoom or phone appointment with Guidlhouse Artistic Programs Manager Samantha Faehrmann to discuss your application using the link below.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Monday 30 October 2023, 9am
