Syndicate: Southern Exposure

[Syndicate admin <syndicate@v2.nl>]

From: "Kevin Murray" <kdmurray@bigpond.com>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 12:20 AM
Subject: Southern Exposure

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

Currently online at www.craftvic.asn.au/south is Southern Exposure, a brief
survey of craft and related practices across the bottom of the world (minus
the Chileans). Southern Exposure is a series of web pages with images (and
captions) from condensed recent travel through Hobart, Dunedin, Wellington,
Wanganui, Auckland, Johannesburg, Mpumalanga, Cape Town and Durban. The
travel was supported by the Craft Leadership Fund of the Australia Council
and my patient colleagues at Craft Victoria.

The purpose of travel was to see if there was any potential for dialogue
between the three countries. Most roads out of Australia lead north, and
there is relatively little opportunity -- apart from sport - to develop
cultural exchange with those on our own latitudes. In maintaining a
horizontal conversational thread, I found there were some powerful voices to
be heard and distinctive work to be seen. I hope some of the recorded
interviews will find their way onto radio this year.

The common issues include:

Do indigenous materials have a relevance to contemporary craft practice?
In what way can urban artists use the craft skills of rural women?
How can white artists use the designs of people who are native to their
region?
What design best suits the environment of the south?
What role does Australia play in the minds of those living in South African
and New Zealand?

In such a short time, I only met a sample of artists and heard about many
others whose work might connect well with others along the same latitude.
The challenge now is to find ways of bring these people together and open
lines of dialogue.

The Southern Exposure site will continue to grow. If you have any relevant
material or links, please send them to me. There are some parts, such as the
Tri-Nations table, that could do with input. It would be interesting to
gather perspectives from the South Africans and New Zealanders who now call
Australia home. Once it has gathered enough interest, and the company of
those travelling along parallel paths, then it seems possible for a southern
focus to look for a home in a main event. Such an event promises to add
something new to the dense cultural networks that have evolved with the
Asia-Pacific and Europe - an event that gives meaning to the peculiar
condition of living 'downunder', at the bottom of the world.

Kevin

__
Kevin Murray
Craft Victoria
31 Flinders Lane
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
ph +61 3  9326 7862 or 9326 5204
fax +61 3 9326 5212
kmurray@craftvic.asn.au
www.craftvic.asn.au


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