Sydney Contemporary’s Talk Contemporary 2022 program

September 1, 2022

Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is supporting Sydney Contemporary’s Talk Contemporary program, as well as ‘First Nations Voices: Walk Look Listen’ at this year’s art fair.

First Nations Voices, Walk Look Listen features new videos by First Nations artists whose work is showing at the Fair, enabling the viewer to see the artist talking about that particular work, and their artistic practice in general. Sydney Contemporary collaborated with Agency Projects, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander not-for-profit organisation that responds to identified needs expressed by Indigenous cultural leaders, to produce these videos.

Talk Contemporary 2022 is a program of curated talks which explore topical ideas and controversial themes in contemporary art and culture, all presented at the Fair. Highlights include:

  • NFTs; Sizzle or Fizzle? Now that the investment potential has been exposed as precarious, has the potential on the artistic side room to breathe? Moderated by Fair Director Barry Keldoulis, speakers include Michelle Grey Champion, Arts Matter, consultant and NFT advocate, Michael Bugelli, Gallerist, Patrick Younis, NFT artist, and Dr Josh Harle, Director, Tactical Space Lab.
  • Unsolved Art Thefts: A Journey Through the Mystery and Complexities of Art Crime. Masterpieces cut from their frames, never to be seen again. The museum walls remain adorned with the desolate empty frames. A collection of works mysteriously stolen from a Sydney gallery. The whole lot spirited away and never recovered. A Dutch masterpiece goes missing from a major public gallery. Detectives have little to no clues at their disposal. Another unsolved art theft. Were these insider jobs? Crimes of opportunity? Was it organised crime gangs or something else? Welcome to the shadowy world of Art Crime, where truth is stranger than fiction. Presented by PhD candidate and academic Vicki Oliveri and moderated by Akky van Ogtrop, President, Print Council of Australia and Curator of PAPER.
  • Beyond The Sandstone Curtain: The Life and Loves of Regional Artists explores the joys and challenges of artists practicing in regional and remote NSW, with speakers including Kent Buchanan, Exhibition and Curator Officer of the Western Plains Cultural Centre; Barkindji artist David Doyle, Senior Aboriginal Health Practitioner RFDS; Michael Reid, Director Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin and Murrrundi; and Alex Wisser, Creative Director of Cementa Inc. The talk will be moderated by artist Amala Groom, Creative Producer of the Regional Artist Mentoring Program(RAMP), and followed by a special performance by country musician Jimbo Stokes.
  • Hungry Eyes investigates the current state of collecting and speculates on future directions of print, artists books and zines collections. As museums and private collectors expand their field of activity to include such things as time-based works and computer games, this talk asks what is the future for prints, artists’ books and zines once seen as the accessible, radical end of the collector’s spectrum? Speakers are Marguerite Brown, General Manager, Print Council of Australia and Robert Heather, Executive Director, Art Gallery NSW Society, moderated by Dr. Thomas Middlemost, Director, Charles Sturt University Art Collection.

Visit Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks from Thursday 8 until Sunday 11 September 2022.

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