NEW SACRED – A JOINT ROLE EXHIBITION

This image: tomorrow, InshAllah series, 2016-2017  (Pierced copper, dimensions variable Image by Dean Beletich)                                                                                                                                                            Featured image: Title: Adorned, Wisdom, Memory and Song, 2017, video still (courtesy Adorned)

‘New Sacred — A joint role exhibition encouraging curatorial dialogue across greater Sydney, is a project that introduces the first collaborative exchange between Parramatta Artists Studios in Western Sydney and Mosman Art Gallery, located on Sydney’s North Shore. The exhibition showcases the work of nine mid-career artists who are current residents and alumni of the Parramatta Artists Studios.

With the advent of changed migration patterns, new technologies and a globalised world, a new search for values and meaning across contemporary Australia is emerging. 'New Sacred' has been developed as a reflection of this search.

The exhibition responds to Australia’s multi-faceted cultural identity and considers storytelling through ritual, cultural traditions, narratives and folklore. With a range of art media on display (installation, performance, video, painting, photography, drawing and textiles), cross-cultural conversations emerge as personal, family histories and life experiences are examined. 

The artists reflect distinct and diverse voices that speak to far-reaching social issues.

Both Mosman and Parramatta have played important roles in the development of Australian art. Both were significant sites for traditional Aboriginal cultural practices, as well as playing key roles in the earliest interaction between European and Indigenous peoples and the development of colonial art.

Mosman became the centre of the Australian Impressionism movement in Sydney and its artists later became prime instigators in the birth of Australian Modernism. Parramatta now finds itself as the centre of the development of new forms of cultural expression and both Parramatta and Mosman are active in the exploration of Australian identity in the 21st century.

New Sacred  A joint role exhibition encouraging curatorial dialogue across greater Sydney’ will be officially opened by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, Director Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, on Friday 13 July at 6:30pm at Mosman Art Gallery [Facebook]. Parramatta Artist Studios [Facebook]    The free exhibition runs daily from Saturday 14 July to Saturday 8 September 2018.