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Travis Vella’s To those that were missing (2018) is a medium size oil on board, a representational work, depicting four female figures in the format of a family snapshot. Three of these figures are older women clad in vintage clothing, sensible collared dresses, one in blue, one in yellow and another in red. The figures are standing
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Darwin has a strong cultural heartbeat. Its beginnings can be traced to creatives who have come and gone and to many who remain, their influence shaping our perceptions and narratives about place. There is a thirst for visual representation from artists that habituate in this place. One of these artists consummating our desire for iconography
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Fecund—Fertile Worlds is the first in Artback NT’s Spark NT Curator Program, initiated to foster art critical and curatorial practice within the NT and to provide NT artists with opportunities to showcase their work within curated touring exhibitions. It is not very often that one can prepare for an exhibition review by spending days studying
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Landscape is perhaps the most value laden of genres within which to peel back the layers of influence in post-contact Australian history. Landscape in Australian art history and in particular “pastoraphilia” as the leitmotif of Australian nationhood and identity, mitigated the harsh historical realities and made palpable the strange and un-picturesque landscape for European eyes.
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In the last two years two opportunity shops have emerged in Darwin. One in its main mall and one on Knuckey street. That alone is of significance. But, what does it tell you when a two dollar shop in a town’s centre closes down? Darwin artist, critic and barrister Koulla Roussos has recently been taking photographs of the
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The Darwin Festival has failed local visual artists. Spending money on a roving class of interstate creatives and acts is capital that gets drained from the local culture making economy. There is no substantial quota for local engagement, there is no compulsion that local creatives get engaged and employed. The current festival model fails to connect
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“… Do not let us despise the word. After all it is a powerful instrument; it is the means by which we convey our feelings to one another, our method of influencing other people. Words can do unspeakable good and cause terrible wounds.” Sigmund Freud, The Question of Lay Analysis. There are many forms of
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