HOW LOCAL ART MADE AUSTRALIA‘S NATIONAL CAPITAL

We were absolutely delighted to be invited to Canberra Contemporary Art Space last week to help celebrate the release of How Local Art Made Australia’s National Capital by Dr. Anni Doyle Wawrzyńczak (ANU Press).

The book explores how Canberra’s dual status as national capital and local city dramatically affected the rise of a unique contemporary arts scene. This complex story, informed by rich archival material and interviews, details the triumph of local arts practice and community over the insistent cultural nation-building of Australia’s capital. It exposes local arts as a vital force in Canberra’s development and uncovers the influence of women in the growth of its visual arts culture. A broad illumination of the city-wide development of arts and culture from the 1920s to 2001 is combined with the story of Bitumen River Gallery and its successor Canberra Contemporary Art Space from 1978 to 2001. This history traces the growth of the arts from a community-led endeavour, through a period of responses to social and cultural needs, and ultimately to a humanising local practice that transcended national and international boundaries.

This exciting new publication was officially launched by Helen Ennis, one of Australia’s leading photography curators, historians and writers. Her own recent landmark biography Olive Cotton: A life in photography (Harper Collins) won The University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award 2020.

Beforehand we were treated to a fascinating in conversation event with the author and art curator extraordinaire Deborah Clark, with an introduction by Alex Sloan (ACT Writers Board).