PUBLIC PROGRAMS

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PAST PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Writing & Concepts Lecture series: Tim Woodward

Tim Woodward presents Down the Wrong Pipe Extending on recent exhibitions in Indonesia, China and Melbourne, Tim Woodward will discuss 'aspiration' as a conceptual hinge connecting a range of contrasting yet correlative ideas in his work and writing. Commonly associated with the subjective traits of hope and ambition, this polysemous word equally relates to the act of drawing breath, the human lung and biology. Email contact@writingandconcepts.com.au or DM @writingandconcepts on IG with your questions for the live Q&A on Tuesday 16 June. TIM WOODWARD is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Producing work across the mediums of video, writing and assemblage sculpture, his creative gestures extend from the lineages of conceptual art and faith in the unrestrained potential of the imaginary. WRITING & CONCEPTS is a lecture and publication series exploring the insights that visual arts practitioners have in to their own creative and cultural practices, and provides an opportunity for them to discuss and publish these insights in a public forum. Contributors include practitioners for whom the written form is their primary professional output and practitioners whose work manifests as exhibitions or events within the domain of contemporary art. WRITING & CONCEPTS is produced by Future Tense and moderated by Jan van Schaik and Fjorn Butler. READ MORE

Artist floor talk: Sunday 9 February – 11.30am

Our current exhibition Between Appearances: the art of Louise Weaver must close this weekend! Join artist Louise Weaver on closing day for a roaming tour of the exhibition. The tour will commence in the foyer at 11.30am with a brief introduction by Melissa Keys, Curator of Between Appearances. READ MORE

PERFORMANCE – Between appearances: the art of Louise Weaver, Saturday 14 December 2pm

Between appearances: the art of Louise Weaver Dancer Michaela Pegum will activate the 1st floor Gallery performing a series of improvised movements and gestures, engaging with the art works, spaces and aural and visual elements that comprise the Between appearances: the art of Louise Weaver exhibition. Pegum's performance draws upon the changing history of the Buxton Contemporary site which was for a period a rehearsal and training space for dance. Her movements will reconceive the Museum environment as a fluid space of potential and ongoing creativity rather than solely a fixed site for finished artwork or fully realised ideas. This event is free and open to everyone. READ MORE

Italian Modern Art in the Age of Fascism book launch: Thursday 24 October, 6pm

You are cordially invited to the launch of Anthony White’s book Italian Modern Art in the Age of Fascism (New York: Routledge, 2019) This new publication, which examines the history of modern art in Italy during the rise and fall of Benito Mussolini’s fascist party, will be officially launched at Buxton Contemporary by Justin Clemens. Please RSVP by Thursday 17 October to: a.white@unimelb.edu.au Dr Anthony White is a Senior Lecturer in Art History at The University of Melbourne. He has published extensively on the history of modern and contemporary art and worked as an exhibition curator. His most recent book, co-authored with Grace McQuilten, is Art as Enterprise: Social and Economic Engagement in Contemporary Art, I.B. Tauris, 2016. READ MORE

UNTOLD @ Buxton Contemporary, Tuesday 15 October 6pm

We are very pleased to introduce UNTOLD @ Buxton Contemporary - a new series of talks by inspiring cultural practitioners from diverse fields programmed by Kade Mcdonald. UNTOLD is for people who are engaged or interested in the process of ideas that shape our surroundings and experiences. It is an adventure for the mind that exists to fuel curiosity by bringing leading creative practitioners and thinkers together with a small audience to talk, listen and share their intangible capital: knowledge, experience, histories, culture and ideas. This iteration of UNTOLD @ Buxton Contemporary will feature three high profile Indigenous women: artist and cultural leader Regina Pilawuk Wilson, award-winning writer Claire G. Coleman, and celebrated curator Hannah Presley. They will share their culture, knowledge and discoveries in an open forum with the audience, with the intention to start conversations, seed new thoughts and build collective networks and ambitions. UNTOLD @ Buxton Contemporary will take place on Tuesday 15 October from 6pm - 8pm, doors open at 5.45pm. Register your attendance HERE or contact buxton-contemporary@unimelb.edu.au Your RSVP is essential as places are strictly limited READ MORE

Public Lecture: ‘A Friend to Artists: Jim Ede and Modern Art’, Thursday 3 October 4pm

Dr Amy Tobin, Curator of Exhibitions, Events and Research at Kettle’s Yard; Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Cambridge, UK. A Friend to Artists: Jim Ede and Modern Art. This talk is an introduction to Kettle's Yard and its curator H.S. Jim Ede (1896-1990). It considers Ede's life and his relationship to Modern Art, particularly his unique understanding of the imbrication of art and life. Ede described himself as a 'friend to artists'. Dr Tobin will discuss Ede in relation to the world he created for himself through correspondence, collecting and finally curating. The talk will be followed by a conversation with Dr Claire Roberts, Associate Professor Art History and ARC Future Fellow, The University of Melbourne, regarding the friendship between Jim Ede and Ian Fairweather (1891-1974), and with Dr Sophie Mattheisson, Curator, International Art, National Gallery of Victoria. Dr Tobin’s visit to Australia and the lecture and conversation coincide with the release of Ian Fairweather: A Life in Letters (Text Publishing, 2019) edited by Claire Roberts and John Thompson. The publication includes many letters that Fairweather wrote to Jim Ede from China and the Philippines during the 1930s which are held in the archive at Kettle’s Yard, the house museum established by Jim and Helen Ede, now part of the University of Cambridge. Dr Tobin gained her PhD from ... READ MORE

Dylan Martorell Performance: Saturday 21 September, 11am – 2pm

Join interdisciplinary Melbourne based artist Dylan Martorell this Saturday, as part of the Bauhuas Now! exhibition, as he presents a special durational sound performance activating Michael Candy’s intricate reconstruction of the Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack's Farbenlichtspiele (colour-light-play) (1923), a proto-performance machine originally designed for interactive play. Project gallery – Buxton Contemporary Saturday 21 September 2019 11am-2pm READ MORE

Art and Australia Issue Five launch ‘Brutalism’ – Thursday 19 September, 5.30pm

Join us for the launch of Art and Australia Issue Five (55.2) Brutalism 5.30pm - 7pm at Buxton Contemporary. To be launched at Buxton Contemporary by artist Mikala Dwyer, with ambient droning by VCA student Adam Gottlieb and aural chaos care of Bone Shaker. READ MORE

Dylan Martorell Performance: Friday 18 October, 1pm – 4pm

Join interdisciplinary Melbourne based artist Dylan Martorell as part of the Bauhuas Now! exhibition, as he presents a special durational sound performance activating Michael Candy’s intricate reconstruction of the Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack's Farbenlichtspiele (colour-light-play) (1923), a proto-performance machine originally designed for interactive play. Project gallery – Buxton Contemporary Friday 18 October, 1pm - 4pm Register your interest HERE. READ MORE

In Conversation: Mikala Dwyer, Justene Williams and Olaf Nicolai – Tuesday 3 September, 6pm

Please join us for an illustrated conversation exploring the influences and legacies of the Bauhaus in the work of three leading Australian and German artists: Mikala Dwyer, Justene Williams and Olaf Nicolai led by the curator of the Bauhaus Now! exhibition Ann Stephen. This conversation is made possible through the generosity of the Goethe-Institut. Olaf Nicolai is visiting Australia as part of the Bookworks exhibition hosted by Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA). Please register your attendance HERE. READ MORE

Writing & Concepts Lecture series, Patrick Hartigan, Saturday 7 September 3pm

Patrick Hartigan presents Shapes and Words Exploring the ways in which short prose and books have guided and been guided by his studio work. Tracing around Offcuts – a recently published collection of short fiction and memoir. Some pictures and words about time spent in a village in eastern Slovakia. This free public lecture is open to everyone. Please click HERE to reserve your seat. PATRICK HARTIGAN has recently published his first book (July 2019), called Offcuts. Has been the art critic for The Saturday Paper since its inception in 2014. Was awarded a Doctor of Creative Arts by the University of Wollongong in 2016. Has presented work in solo and group exhibitions across Australia and New Zealand regularly since 2004. Has work in the collections of The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; The Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland; Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne; The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and Wollongong University Art Collection. WRITING & CONCEPTS is a lecture and publication series exploring the insights that practitioners have in to their own creative and cultural practices, and provides an opportunity for them to discuss and publish these insights in a public forum. Contributors include practitioners for whom the written form is their primary READ MORE

Triadic dance of the secondaries, Performance: Sunday 18 August, 2pm

Join university alumni and current student dancers and musicians to witness a newly commissioned performance work by artist Shane Haseman titled Triadic dance of the secondaries. The performance explores aspects of the legacy of the Bauhaus which is widely recognised as one of the most influential currents in art, modern design, architecture and creative education. Performed as part of Bauhaus Now! exhibition at Buxton Contemporary, this project is one of a number of exhibitions around the globe that mark the centenary of the establishment of the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. Artist: Shane Haseman Performers: Susannah Keebler (dancer), Angela Valdez (dancer), Caroline Louise Ellis (dancer), Paul Simon Jackson (dancer), Aawa White (flautist) Triadic dance of the secondaries Sunday 18 August, 2pm at Buxton Contemporary Express your interest HERE. READ MORE

Bauhaus Now! Film Program

Model & Myth 2009 by Kerstin Stutterheim and Niels Bolbrinker The film looks at the post-World War I origins of the Bauhaus and its revolutionary influence. Through interviews and archival footage, the film provides a unique insight into the essence of the Bauhaus principles, the conflict that led to the relocation from Weimar to Dessau, the dissolution of the school during the Nazi era, the construction of Tel Aviv’s White City, and the origin of the ‚Bauhaus‘ myth in the United States. It reveals the real story behind its closing and political collusion among some members under Nazi Germany, based on accounts by alumni and archival excerpts. Former Bauhaus students tell most of the stories, recalling the phases in history. Watch the trailer HERE Screening times: 11.15AM - 01.00PM 01.00PM - 02.45PM 02.45PM - 04.15PM Education Gallery, Buxton Contemporary Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 August; Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 August; Saturday 21* & Sunday 22 September; Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 October *Saturday 21 September, special 2.00pm screening due to performance. Bauhaus World 2019 (3 parts) by Lydia Ranke Documentary about the social ideas and design principles of BAUHAUS. Filmmaker Lydia Ranke and her team travel the world to visit Bauhaus sites in Weimar, Berlin, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, New York and Mexico etc. Bauhaus WORLD (1) The ... READ MORE

Writing & Concepts Lecture Series, Autumn Royal and Lucy Van, Thursday 8 August 6pm

Autumn Royal and Lucy Van present Breaking Lines We often feel distressed and — after our pain subsides — disappointed with how the condition of psychosis and people experiencing the schizophrenia spectrum have been used in writing. The guise of ‘understanding’ illness provides cover for morbid, controlling curiosities that play into sensationalised and market-driven entertainment. Throughout this address we search for a detour, unsure if there is another way. We as the creators of this lecture also acknowledge our complicity in the value-adding cycle — and so — this is an attempt to return to and concentrate on the ethics of our representations: Our shrieks dangle over that pause, the one that you’re given when you describe your own account with what you’re living. When this description takes place outside of a film, or poem, or song, there’s always a stretched intermission — the unchosen separation between representation & reality — a messy play & I’ve lost my lines. This free public lecture is open to everyone. Please click HERE to reserve your seat. AUTUMN ROYAL is a poet and researcher based in Narrm/Melbourne. Her current research examines elegiac expression in contemporary poetry. Autumn is interviews editor for Cordite Poetry Review, editor of Liquid Architecture’s Disclaimer journal, and author of the poetry collection She Woke & ... READ MORE

Open House Melbourne: Saturday 27 July & Sunday 28 July

Join us for free talks and guided tours to celebrate Open House Melbourne AND the opening weekend of Bauhaus Now! 11.30AM Saturday 27 July: Bauhaus Now! exhibition walk-through with curator Ann Stephen and Professor Philip Goad, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and Chair of Architecture, the University of Melbourne and a contributing editor to Architecture Australia. 1PM Sunday 28 July: Fender Katsalidis Architectural tour READ MORE

Research Seminar with Dr Margaret MacNamidhe: Thursday 27 June, 6.30pm

De-Skilling in Art from Benjamin Buchloh to Howard Singerman A Research Seminar with Dr Margarent MacNamidhe 6:30 pm – 7.30 pm, Education Gallery - Buxton Contemporary In this second Melbourne seminar, Dr MacNamidhe will discuss a further part of her work in progress, a book on drawing tentatively entitled "The Desk-Bound Hand: Theories of Habit and Drawing in Modernism and After." (This seminar follows on from her seminar delivered at 1.30pm the same day at Parkville in the Art History program’s Visual Resource Centre; it is not at all necessary to attend the 1:30 seminar to come to De-Skilling in Art.) The subject of this seminar is two crucial moments in the history of the concept of "de-skilling" which continue to inform arts curricula around the world. The most recent and forceful theorization of de-skilling appears in Benjamin Buchloh's introduction to his collected art criticism (2015). He was unremittingly negative about the possibility of re-skilling, wholly assimilating it to interwar totalitarianism. Surprisingly, he was equally pessimistic about de-skilling. Singerman's book, Art Subjects, attributes the term "de-skilling" to the Australian Art & Language artist Ian Burn, as well as the American labor historian Harry Braverman. Singerman's clear-eyed conclusion is that art education needs to ensconce itself in the research university, modeling its ... READ MORE

Archie Barry: National Anthem Performance Program

BREATH MARK AND MUSCLE SONG: rest and say only what’s necessary In a series of scheduled performances, Archie Barry turns a stethoscope into an instrument for amplifying their heartbeat as percussive accompaniment to their voice. The resulting song gently yields an appreciation of the way an individual body processes asynchronous rhythms of breath and blood, love and language. Register your interest HERE. Archie Barry Archie Barry was born in 1990 in Sydney and currently lives in Melbourne. Barry holds a Master of Contemporary Art, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, 2017, and Bachelor of Art Education (Honours), College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2013. Their solo exhibitions and performances include I found this hat on the ground three years ago, performed as part of Queer Economies, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2019; Escarpment, performed as part of Unspoken Rule, Contemporary Art Tasmania, Hobart, 2019, and for the launch of Art + Australia, Issue Three (54.2): Unnaturalism, Neon Parc, 2018; Hushaby Telephone, as part of ARTBAR performance program, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2018; Lexicon of a body, performed at Anywhere & Elsewhere conference, Parsons Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA, 2018; Hypnic, performed as part of The Public Body .03, Artspace, Sydney, 2018; Time Sick Big T-Shirt, Meat Market ... READ MORE

Panel: Art, Politics and Agency, Wednesday 19 June 5.30-7pm

This panel will bring together seven artists from the National Anthem exhibition, who in addition to their roles as visual artists also work in ways to reshape and transform public, community and institutional spaces. Moderated by Andy Butler, panelists include Kay Abude, Hoda Afshar, Archie Barry, Hoang Tran Nguyen and Steven Rhall. Hosted by the Centre of Visual Art and Buxton Contemporary, this is a free event, open to everyone. However, seats are limited so bookings are essential. To reserve your place please book online HERE or contact buxton-contemporary@unimelb.edu.au READ MORE

CoVA Graduate Academy, ‘Puzzles & Problems with Art Appropriation’: 30 May, 3-5pm

Appropriation is a part of the artist's creative toolkit. When is it wrong to appropriate art? Icons patterns and objects that are part of a culture are sometimes used by art-makers and curators. They might be re-presented with or without the collaboration of permission of the source. And there may be little or no transformation of the original. Is the appropriation of Indigenous art and knowledge different from other forms of cultural appropriation? How might appreciation of contemporary Indigenous arts be different from objects that have secret or sacred significance? Is there a point where something is transformed enough to no longer require the permission of the owners? What counts as collaboration and permission anyway? Does curating always involve some transformation? When does a curator become an art-maker? Not all problems have answers but there are always good questions to be asked. This panel is different. The focus is on finding the questions on art appropriation. Add your questions in your RSVP while registering, and we will try to include them in the program. Presenters: Dr Elizabeth Burns Coleman, Dr Jaye Early, Margo Neale, Paul O-Halloran, Tiriki Onus, Professor Robyn Sloggett, Janet Turpie-Johnston. This event is presented in partnership with the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, the Centre of Visual ... READ MORE

In Conversation: Stephen Bram, John Nixon and Rose Nolan – Saturday 1 June, 11.30am

Stephen Bram, John Nixon and Rose Nolan are each known for their continued engagement with non-objective art. These three artists have a long association that was cemented at Store 5, a small yet influential artist-run space operating in Melbourne from 1989 to 1993. More recently, the artists shared a studio for a period of time. Join them for a conversation, with guest curator Linda Short, about the work they have featured in our current exhibition, A New Order, and hear their insightful reflections on each other’s practices. Register your interest HERE. READ MORE

Eugenia Lim: National Anthem Performance Program

At scheduled intervals during the exhibition, Eugenia Lim’s gold-suited Ambassador will inhabit Buxton Contemporary. Wandering through the museum, Lim’s Ambassador will respond to the space through movement – her body a living medium between the artworks, architecture and ‘anthems’. Express your interest HERE. READ MORE

FiX performance at Buxton Contemporary – Monday 13 May, 5pm

FiX is a collaborative initiative with its origins in the Victorian College of the Arts that is motivated by the untapped potential of contemporary performance. FiX invites both emerging and established artists to showcase performance-based work, providing a flexible ethos within a fixed time-frame and location. This third presentation will unfold at Buxton Contemporary, providing a platform for artists to work within and around the building and alongside the current exhibitions National Anthem and A New Order. Taking a diverse array of different forms including collaborative trials, constructed recitals and all manner of experimental processes, you are invited to witness and interact with these fluctuating scenes. This event is free and open to everyone, register your interest HERE. READ MORE

‘Surpassing Modernity’ by Professor Andrew McNamara: Public Lecture, Thursday 9 May 6pm

Buxton Contemporary, in partnership with Melbourne-based publisher Discipline, are pleased to present a public lecture by Professor Andrew McNamara, based on his recently published book Surpassing Modernity: Ambivalence in Art, Politics and Society (Bloomsbury, 2018). Over the past few decades, cultural analysis has focused on developing terms to explain the surpassing of modernity. Discussion is stranded in an impasse between those who view the term modernity with automatic disdain—as deterministic, Eurocentric or imperialistic—and a booming interest that is renewing the study of modernism. Another dilemma is that the urge to move away from, or beyond, modernity arises because it is viewed as difficult, even unsavoury. Yet, there has always been a view of modernity as somehow difficult to live with, and that has been said by figures we regard today as typical modernists. In Surpassing Modernity, McNamara argues that it is time to forget the quest to surpass modernity. Instead, we should re-examine a legacy that continues to inform our artistic conceptions, our political debates, our critical justifications, even if that legacy is baffling and contradictory. We may find it difficult to live with, but without recourse to this legacy, our critical-cultural ambitions would remain seriously diminished. Andrew McNamara teaches art history at Queensland University of ... READ MORE

In Conversation: Saturday 23 March 11:30am

DANIEL CROOKS AND DANIEL VON STURMER Join us this Saturday for a discussion with Daniel Crooks and Daniel von Sturmer, two artists featuring in our current exhibition, A New Order. Both artists have engaged and experimented with the moving image for almost two decades, as video recording technology has evolved with the advent of smartphones and social media apps. What is it like to work within this space in the current moment when the moving image is so ubiquitous? ⁣ ⁣ Following the discussion, we will walk from Buxton Contemporary to Anna Schwartz Gallery to view Daniel von Sturmer's solo exhibition, CATARACT, on until 23 March.⁣ ⁣ READ MORE

Art Anywhere Symposium: Friday 22 March 9.30am – 5.30pm

A free one-day symposium event exploring art at the outermost limits of location-specificity. Today, much artistic activity takes place well outside the limits of traditional exhibition circuits. Much of this activity is more concerned with events, actions, sites, relations and processes rather than discretely exhibitable objects. Moreover, given that some artistic projects can exist as radically spatially diffused distributions of elements, artists and audiences alike can face significant challenges associated with adequately presenting, disseminating and evaluating work of this kind. This one-day symposium will explore various ways in which artistic projects such as these might be represented and evaluated in their often-uneven transition from conception through production to dissemination (and after-life). Comprising a series of short presentations, performances and discussions featuring the work of artists, curators and other creative practitioners working well beyond the limits of established exhibition formats, this symposium event will explore dynamic contemporary artistic practices at the outermost limits of location-specificity. This event is curated by Sean Lowry (VCA, Melbourne) and Simone Douglas (Parsons School for Design, New York City) as part of an ongoing partnership between the Centre of Visual Art (University of Melbourne) and Parsons Fine Art ... READ MORE

It’s Academic: Art Publishing inside & outside the institution – Thursday 21 March 6pm

Arts publishing in Australia, and internationally, is in a constant state of flux - or crisis, depending on your perspective. This panel will consider the challenges and opportunities for both institutionally-housed and independent publications, discussing a number of Melbourne-based publications within a broader international framework. Please join CoVA for a panel discussion with Charles Esche, Rex Butler, Rosemary Forde, Helen Hughes & Camila Marambio. Chaired by Edward Colless. Each panelist will present their own publishing context while broader discussion will reflect on some of the differences between academic and popular forms of publishing about art, and what art writing might gain or lose through digital and print platforms. Professor Charles Esche is a museum director (Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands), curator and writer, and co-editorial director of Afterall - a nonprofit contemporary art research and publishing organisation based in London, at Central St Martins College of Art & Design. Esche's visit to Australia is supported by TarraWarra Museum of Art, and this event is co-hosted by CoVA, MADA (Monash University) & Buxton Contemporary. READ MORE

Artist floor talk: Saturday 9 February – 11.30am

Join artist Mira Gojak for a roaming tour of The Garden of Forking Paths: Mira Gojak and Takehito Koganezawa, this is the final public program for this exhibition. This tour will commence in the foyer at 11.30am with a brief introduction by Melissa Keys, Curator of The Garden of Forking Paths, this is a free event and open to everyone . RSVP HERE READ MORE

Gender + Art in Asia: Wednesday 30 January – 2.00pm

Presented by Buxton Contemporary and the School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne in association with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney and the exhibition Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue 肖鲁:语嘿. This international workshop moderated by Claire Roberts coincides with the exhibition Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue (4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney). It brings together artists, art critics and art historians to discuss the question of gender and art in China, as well as in Indonesia and Singapore. The workshop will begin with short presentations and the viewing videos and slides of performance art works by Xiao Lu, Arahmaiani, and Suzann Victor, followed by group discussion. Conversation will focus on the practice of these artists and their choice of medium as well as the reception of their work in local, regional and global contexts. Speakers will include Wulan Dirgantoro, Chloe Ho, Shao Yiyang, Xiao Lu and Xu Hong. People who wish to actively contribute to the workshop discussion or just be present are all welcome. Book online HERE. Registration is free but places are limited. Program: 14.00 Welcome, Ryan Johnston, Director, Buxton Contemporary 14.05 Claire Roberts introduces the exhibition Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue 肖鲁:语嘿 and the speakers 14.15 Xiao Lu, Daily life 14.30 Shao Yiyang, Shooting Girl: A case study of ... READ MORE

Artist floor talk: Saturday 15 December – 11.30am

Join artist Mira Gojak this Saturday for a roaming tour of The Garden of Forking Paths: Mira Gojak and Takehito Koganezawa. Commencing in our foyer at 11.30am for a brief introduction from Melissa Keys, Curator of The Garden of Forking Paths, this event is free and open to everyone . RSVP HERE READ MORE

Panel: Gender and Indonesian Contemporary Art, Wednesday 28 November, 12–1pm

Join artists Elia Nurvista, Nuraini Juliastuti and art historian Wulan Dirgantoro for a dialogue on gender and contemporary practice in Indonesian art. Introduced by Dr Danny Butt. Areas of discussion will include how the Reformasi of 1998 has shaped the formats of women’s practices within contemporary art, in relation to other historical frameworks. We will open with representation in artists initiatives, the art management sector, and how women’s issues leak into the artworks. We will move beyond representation to talk about how everyday patriarchy structures the local art scene and lastly discuss the different strategies (practiced or imagined) used to make room for conceptualising women’s issues in contemporary Indonesian art. Hosted by the Centre of Visual Art, VCA and Buxton Contemporary. - Image: Ghost in Sie Kee Gie Intersection (Natasha Gabriella Tontey, The Cautionary Tales, 2015) READ MORE

Visual Thinking Strategies Session at Buxton Contemporary: Saturday 20 October – 11.00am

Interested in find out about Visual Thinking Strategies or keen to practice your VTS skills with colleagues? Join VTS trainer, Carly Grace for a fun Saturday art session focusing on connecting with contemporary arts practice. The group will have the opportunity to experience our current exhibition, No one is watching you: Ronnie van Hout through guided VTS discussions. Artworks will be sequenced to unpack contemporary art concepts and to further understand how VTS works. Each session will include practical demonstrations in the galleries where participants will learn about the key components in this strategy. This will be followed by a discussion about how VTS can be used to make meaningful connections with contemporary Australian art. For participants who are experienced with VTS, feedback an coaching will be provided to further develop your skills. This professional learning session is recommended for people who are interested in VTS. You do not need to be an arts specialist or an educator to participate. Register here READ MORE

Watching Ronnie: Thursday 18 October – 6.30pm

Watching Ronnie Throughout September, a group of candidates in the VCA Masters program gathered at Buxton Contemporary for a convivial and intimate weekly discussion focused on the exhibition No one is watching you: Ronnie van Hout. Facilitated by curator and researcher Rosemary Forde, this collaborative study group focused on selected key works and themes apparent in van Hout's survey show, including 'Bananas: Slapstick Ronnie', 'Bad Fathers: Ersatz Ronnie', and 'Doom and Gloom: Zombie Ronnie'. Join us for our final session of Watching Ronnie: Ronnie van Hout Study Group as participants pose their responses and burning questions to the artist. READ MORE

Sheridan Palmer, ‘Disequilibrium: Presence/absence in the art of Tony Woods’: Thursday 4 October – 6.00pm

As part of the ongoing lecture series, Histories and Theories of Sound, Buxton Contemporary, with Discipline and Liquid Architecture present Dr Sheridan Palmer's 'Disequilibrium: Presence/absence in the art of Tony Woods', followed by discussion with Doug Hall AM. During the 1960s the Tasmanian artist Tony Woods (1940 - 2017) emerged as a rare talent in the Australian art scene, An advocate of modernism's pluralism, his bold figuration, vigorous abstract formalism, irregular shaped canvases that often incorporated collage and the ready-made, was a synthesis of American mid twentieth century avant-garde, Pop and counter-cultural mysticism edged with existential angst. This diversity was not so much a contradiction but a fluid enquiry into ideas that informed his analysis of visual representation. When Woods began exhibiting on the Australian mainland he acquired an impressive collector base that included the American millionaire Harold Merz, the modernist architect Robin Boyd, Bernard Smith, Lord Talbot of Malahide, with Joseph Burke and Albert Tucker as avid admirers. These connections partly explain Wood's award of Harkness Fellowship to New York in 1967 (the last given to an Australian artist) and a gurantee of a Power Institute Cité des Arts International studio in Paris; he also hosted the American art critic Clement Greenberg on his Hobart visit in 1968. To all ... READ MORE

Writing & Concepts Lecture Series, Alicia Frankovich: Thursday 27 September – 6.00pm

Exoplanets: interior and exterior possibilities In this free public lecture Alicia Frankovich will address multiple embodiments that look at human and non-human entities, to imagine new and other worlds. She will address microscopic bacteria including probiotic water kefir, sugars and the female karyotype. WRITING & CONCEPTS is a public lecture and publication series designed to explore the potential of writing as both a process and an outcome. Contributors include practitioners for whom the written form is their primary professional output and practitioners whose work manifests as exhibitions or events within the domain of contemporary art. Alicia Frankovich (New Zealand, 1980) lives and works in Berlin and Canberra. She has a BVA in sculpture from AUT, Auckland (2002) and an MFA from Monash University (2016). She is a recipient of the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship at The Australian National University. Frankovich is one of the leading artists of her New Zealand generation, known for her performances, sculptures, videos and her enquiry into exhibition situations, that engage viewers within exhibition formats. She is currently short-listed for the Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße, one of Germany's most important young art prizes. Recent shows include: 2018: After Blue Marble, KUB Billboards, Kunsthaus Bregenz (solo), 2017; Atlas of ... READ MORE

In Conversation: Tuesday 25 September – 5.30pm

Jumaldi Alfi and Ugo Untoro are leading Indonesian artists and members of a dynamic art community based in the central Javanese city of Yogyakarta. Join the artists for a conversation about their work and contemporary Indonesian art and culture, with artists Jon Cattapan (Director, Victorian College of the Arts), Sally Smart (Vice Chancellor's Fellow) and curator Natalie King (Enterprise Professor) from the University of Melbourne. This event signals the launch of a three-year project between Indonesian and Australian artists, with a residency program and associated events. The program is hosted by the Victorian College of the Arts and the Centre of Visual Art, and supported by the Australia Indonesia Arts Forum and Project 11. READ MORE

Response Talks: Thursday 13 September – 6.30pm

Join us on Thursday 13 September at 6.30pm for three insightful 20-minute artist and writer response talks. Each speaker will address specific works by Ronnie van Hout featured in his major solo exhibition No one is watching you. Artist Masato Takasaka will explore notions of the artwork as a 'cover version' in relation to van Hout’s Hold that thought, Salazopyrin (2008) and his embroidered band member wanted posters. Writer and artist Sophie Knezic will discuss somnambulism in relation to the work Paul (2014) and writer and art historian Anna Parlane will explore the influence of Robert Morris as evidenced in van Hout's major installation titled BED/SIT (2008). READ MORE

‘Into The Void’ Film Screening: Thursday 6 September – 6.00pm

Into the Void (2014) Directed by Margaret Gordon 6.00PM Prescreening conversation between, artist Ronnie van Hout, director of Into the Void Margaret Gordon and independent curator, Angela Brophy 6.30pm Screening of Into the Void (Running time 70 mins) Education Gallery, level 1, Buxton Contemporary As part of the public program for our current exhibition, No One is Watching You: Ronnie van Hout. Buxton Contemporary is screening Into the Void (2014) a documentary directed by Margaret Gordon. Formed in the late 1980s by art school friends, Into The Void holds a unique place within the New Zealand city of Christchurch’s underground music and social scene. The film explores the individual art practices of the various band members, examines their evolving 25-year-long relationship and their connection to the city itself. WATCH THE TRAILER Featuring: Ronnie van Hout, Jason Greig, Mark Whyte, Dave Imlay, James Greig, Paul Sutherland Director: Margaret Gordan DOP: James Ellis, Dave Perry Duration: 70 minutes Seats are limited. RSVP HERE or email buxton-contemporary@unimelb.edu.au READ MORE

Tony Garifalakis book launch: Thursday 23 August – 6.00pm

Buxton Contemporary is delighted to host the launch of Mutual Assured Destruction Tony Garifalakis The Centre of Visual Art and Surpllus invite you to celebrate the launch of Mutual Assured Destruction, held in the foyer of Buxton Contemporary 6-8pm Thursday 23 August. Tony Garifalakis’s practice over the past two decades has examined social relations and the semiotics of power. His work particularly engages the ways in which the meaning of signs, symbols and images might be ascribed, conveyed or transformed, and how conventional notions of hierarchy and status might be undermined or subverted. Garifalakis calls into question social, political, artistic and religious systems of belief – as well as the institutions that uphold them – through a range of strategies that include amplification of the signifiers utilised by those institutions themselves, subversive juxtaposition of image and text, and the deployment of dark, incongruous humour. Garifalakis evokes and interrogates a diversity of imagery and phenomena, including but not limited to religious iconography, death, cults, New-Age spiritualism, conspiracy theories, gun culture, and Hollywood Satanism. Mutual Assured Destruction is the first major book on Garifalakis’s work. This 236-page volume, edited by Brad Haylock and Stuart Geddes, and designed by Geddes, gives a comprehensive insight into ... READ MORE

What is Performance Art? Australian Perspectives Book Launch: Thursday 16 August – 6.00pm

Power Publications and Buxton Contemporary invites you to join us for the Melbourne launch of What is Performance Art? Australian Perspectives To be launched by Edward Colless, Head of Critical and Theoretical Studies, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. This event will bring together a dynamic discussion chaired by Edward Colless, with Adam Geczy, Mimi Kelly, Sean Lowry, Hannah Mathews, Jill Orr and Mark Shorter. Light refreshments will follow the panel discussion in the foyer. Those attending the book launch will receive a 20% discount off RRP. RSVP HERE. ABOUT THE PUBLICATION What is Performance Art? Australian Perspectives brings together texts from Australia's most prominent theorists in the field together with major exponents of performance art themselves, creating a critical archive, and dialogue, that stand as central document of Australian performance art’s first fifty years. Performance art in Australia now has a long and rich history that until only recently has been situated within the larger narrative of Australian art. It is a practice that has engaged with important issues of the self and being and remains at the epicentre of expressions of gender, politics and the nature of communication itself. Transient in nature, performance art is also mobile, economical and elastic. Unlike other Australian traditions (such as ... READ MORE

Artist floor talk: Saturday 11 August – 11.30am

Unnerving, intriguing and amusing Ronnie van Hout’s tableaux explore the powerful sensations of the contemporary human condition. Join renowned artist Ronnie van Hout and academic and author Dr Russell Smith this Saturday, 11 August at 11:30am, as they discuss the major new exhibition No one is watching you: Ronnie van Hout exploring ideas in van Hout’s practice, art and culture. READ MORE

Melbourne Art Week, Ronnie van Hout talk: Friday 3 August – 11.00am

Talks with Buxton Contemporary: Ronnie van Hout 11am - 12pm Friday 3 August Buxton Contemporary artist Ronnie van Hout will discuss his expansive career with Pip Wallis, Curator of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria. Timed to coincide with the unveiling of Ronnie van Hout's new commission at Melbourne Art Fair and taking place in the intimate surrounds of Buxton Contemporary, currently home to a major solo survey of van Hout's practice, No one is watching you: Ronnie van Hout, curated by Melissa Keys. 'Talks' is presented in association with The University of Melbourne, Learning Partner of Melbourne Art Week FREE - Bookings essential, click HERE. READ MORE

Absolute Humidity Book Launch: Thursday 2 August – 10.30am

Buxton Contemporary, in partnership with Asialink Arts and Melbourne Art Fair 2018, will officially launch, Absolute Humidity, a new limited edition volume edited by Brisbane-based curator and writer Tess Maunder. Absolute Humidity, is a publication and research project that collectively engages with the conditions that many artists are working under today; trans-national relationships, ecological threats, exploitation, anxiety, sovereignty, politics, identity, disputed territories and the shifting weather. The book brings together key voices from the region from Jakarta to Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai, from Hong Kong to Dubai, to discuss these conditions are more. Contributors include: Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Angela Tiatia, Ayesha Jatoi, Bahar Behbahani, Bonita Ely, Brenda L. Croft, Brian Robinson, Chantas Fraser, Drew Kahu'āina Broderick, Elisa Jane Carmichael, Gulf Labor, Hitman Gurung, Ho Rui An, Joy Lehuanani Enomoto, Karrabing Film Collective, Lantian Xie, Léuli Māzyār Lunaʻi Eshrāghi, Liu Yujia, Lucreccia Quintanilla, MAP Office, Okin Collective, Prasad Shetty, Raqs Media Collective, Ravi Agarwal, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rupali Gupte, Sid M Dueñas, Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Taloi Havini, Tintin Wulia, Tita Salina, Trevor Yeung, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Zheng Bo. Peer Review: Katina Davidson, Kittima Chareeprasit, Léuli Māzyār Lunaʻi Eshrāghi, ... READ MORE

Open House Melbourne: Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 July

We are excited to participate in our first Open House Melbourne weekend, join us for free talks and guided tours with Buxton Contemporary staff and leading architects, Fender Katsalidis at 11am and 1pm on both days. 11AM Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 July No one is watching you: Ronnie van Hout exhibition introduction 1PM Saturday Architectural tour with Karl Fender, Founding partner of Fender Katsalidis. 1PM Sunday Architectural tour with Wuff Keeble, Associate Director & Sarah Hurst, Architect at Fender Katsalidis. READ MORE

Antipodean Perspective Book Launch: Thursday 26 July – 6.00pm

Monash University Publishing and Buxton Contemporary are delighted to invite you to the launch of Antipodean Perspective: Selected Writings of Bernard Smith Edited by Rex Butler and Sheridan Palmer Bernard Smith (1916-2011) was unquestionably one of Australia's greatest humanist scholars and its finest art historian. His European Vision and the South Pacific, 1768-1850 (1960) was a foundational text of post-colonialism, and in Australian Painting (1962) he set out the definitive history of Australian art to that time. Antipodean Perspective: The Selected Writings of Bernard Smith presents twenty-six art historians, curators, artists and critics, from Australia and overseas, who have chosen a text from Smith's work and sought to explain its personal and broad significance. Their selections reveal Smith's extraordinary range as a scholar, his profound grasp of this nation's past, and the way his ideas have maintained their relevance as we face our culture. About the Editors and Launcher: Rex Butler is an art historian who writes on Australian art and teaches in the Faculty of Art and Design and Architecture at Monash University. Sheridan Palmer is an art historian, curator and author of the biography Hegel's Owl: The Life of Bernard Smith. Greg Lehman is a Tasmanian Indigenous scholar whose current work is an examination of the visual representation of ... READ MORE

Artist floor talk: Thursday 12 July – 6.30pm

After an introduction from Melissa Keys, curator of No one is watching you, join artist Ronnie van Hout and Russell Smith, Lecturer in Modernist Literature and Literary Theory at Australian National University for a roaming tour of the exhibition. READ MORE

In conversation: Thursday 21 June 6.30pm

Buxton Contemporary artist Marco Fusinato will be in conversation with Francis Plagne, a musician and writer from Melbourne. Marco and Francis will be discussing the ongoing performance series, Spectral Arrows, and its iteration at Buxton Contemporary as well other elements of Fusinato's practice. Spectral Arrows, an improvised long-duration performance for guitar and mass amplification was presented for the first time in Melbourne at Buxton Contemporary on Saturday 9 June 2018. “…tormented metallic sizzle” “a single-minded focus on the possibilities of distortion and massive volumes” Marco Fusinato explores the idea of noise as music, using the electric guitar to improvise intricate, wide-ranging and physically affecting frequencies. In Spectral arrows, Fusinato arrives at the venue when it opens for business, sets up his equipment facing a wall and proceeds to play until the end of business hours. Fusinato presents himself here in the guise of a worker, clocking on and unceremoniously clocking off at the end of the working day, refusing to allow the behind-the-scenes mystery of rehearsals and preparations to lend an aura to the performance, and affirming the deskilled ethos of his work. An ongoing series of performances, Spectral arrows was first presented at the Glasgow International in 2012 and had since been performed in museums and theatres worldwide. ... READ MORE

Marco Fusinato Spectral Arrows performance: Saturday 9 June

Spectral Arrows, an improvised long-duration performance for guitar and mass amplification will be presented for the first time in Melbourne at Buxton Contemporary on Saturday 9 June 2018 11AM - 5PM. “…tormented metallic sizzle” “a single-minded focus on the possibilities of distortion and massive volumes” Marco Fusinato explores the idea of noise as music, using the electric guitar to improvise intricate, wide-ranging and physically affecting frequencies. In Spectral arrows, Fusinato arrives at the venue when it opens for business, sets up his equipment facing a wall and proceeds to play until the end of business hours. Fusinato presents himself here in the guise of a worker, clocking on and unceremoniously clocking off at the end of the working day, refusing to allow the behind-the-scenes mystery of rehearsals and preparations to lend an aura to the performance, and affirming the deskilled ethos of his work. An ongoing series of performances, Spectral arrows was first presented at the Glasgow International in 2012 and had since been performed in museums and theatres worldwide. Fusinato also performs regularly in the experimental music underground, frequently releasing music related artefacts on numerous international labels. Marco Fusinato is an artist and musician whose work has taken the form of installation, photographic reproduction, performance and ... READ MORE

In conversation: Thursday 7 June – 6:30pm

Buxton Contemporary artist Mikala Dwyer will be in conversation with Phillip Adams, founder and Artistic Director of BalletLab. READ MORE

Tessa Laird Book launch: Thursday 31 May – 6.30pm

Help us launch Bat from the Animal Series written by Tessa Laird! Please join the author at Buxton Contemporary to celebrate. Bat inspired cocktails will be served in the foyer and copies of the publication will be sold for $20 (cash only). Free book goes to the best bat costume! Speakers: Tiriki Onus, Edward Colless, and Norie Neumark, with MC Su Baker. Bats have been misunderstood and maligned in the West for centuries. Unfair associations with demons have seen their leathery wings adorn numerous evil characters, from the Devil to Bram Stoker's Dracula. In Bat Tessa Laird challenges preconceptions about these amazing animals, combining fascinating facts of bat biology with engaging portrayals of bats in mythology, literature, film, popular culture, poetry and contemporary art. She also provides a sobering reminder of the risks bats face worldwide, from heatwaves and human harassment to wind turbines and disease. Illustrated with incredible photographs and artistic representations of bats from many different cultures and eras, this celebration of bats contains much to enthral converts and sceptics alike. About the Author Tessa Laird is Lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies at the School of Art, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Tessa was a noted New Zealand art critic for over twenty years, where she founded two important art ... READ MORE

In conversation: Thursday 24 May – 6.30pm

Esteemed artists John Meade and Sanja Pahoki will engage in conversation about the work of Pat Brassington, whose artworks are included in our current exhibition The shape of things to come, curated by Melissa Keys. No bookings necessary, entry is always free and complimentary wine will be served in the foyer before and after the conversation. READ MORE

In conversation: Thursday 17 May – 6.30pm

Dr Jan Bryant, senior lecturer in Theory of Art & Design at Monash University and Tamsen Hopkinson (Ngati Kahungunu), an artist from Aotearoa based in Narrm, Melbourne will be speaking about the work of Nicholas Mangan, whose artworks The mutant message and Untitled #10 are included in our current exhibition The shape of things to come. No bookings necessary, entry is always free and complimentary wine will be served in the foyer before and after the talk. READ MORE

In Conversation: Thursday 10 May – 6.30pm

Buxton Contemporary artist, James Morrison will be in conversation with Julia Powles, Educations Manager at Heide Museum of Modern Art. READ MORE

emaj Journal launch: Thursday 3 May 6:30pm

Help us launch the tenth edition of emaj! Please join the editors for a drink in the Buxton Contemporary foyer to celebrate the tenth edition of the electronic Melbourne art journal. emaj was co-founded by our director, Ryan Johnston in 2005, who will launch the edition along with current editors, Giles Fielke, Dr Helen Hughes and Paris Lettau. READ MORE

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