Australia-Korea Foundation: 2012-13 grant round now open

The Australia-Korea Foundation 2012-2013 grant round is now open and will close on April 2, 2012 at midnight (EST-Sydney time)
Objectives
The objectives of the Australian-Korea Foundation are to:
- Increase public awareness of Australia in Korea, and of Korea in Australia, and the importance of the bilateral relationship
- Develop partnerships in areas of shared interest in the bilateral, regional and global context
- Increase Australians' capacity to effectivbely engage with Korea. 

In 2011-12, funding priority will be given to projects and programs that strengthen Australia's relationship with Korea through people-to-people engagements across a diverse range of sectors.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU to the arts community of the NT and beyond for your wonderful (and overwhelming) response to AsiaDesk!! 
In reply to the information flowing in from Alice and the wider Territory I've expanded my blog to say Northern Territory. Thanks to everyone for your contributions so far - please keep them coming!
Fiona

“OCHRE AND INK”, a documentary film

Ochre and Ink recently won the Special Jury Prize at FIFO (Film Festival Oceania) in Tahiti, after screening at the Guangzhou International Film Festival in China.

Ochre and Ink tells the extraordinary story of Chinese artist Zhou Xiaoping, and his inspiring and sometimes controversial 23 year collaboration with Aboriginal artists in outback Australia.

Trained as a traditional Chinese brush painter in Anhui Province, Xiaoping arrived in Australia in 1988 knowing almost nothing about the country. On a whim, he travelled to the heart of the outback, where he was surprised to see Aboriginal people for the first time. He became fascinated by their art and culture, and they welcomed him into their communities where the artists showed him their techniques of painting with ochre on bark.

Now Xiaoping is visiting the famous artist Johnny Bulunbulun and his family in Arnhem Land, working on paintings for a major exhibition to be held in Beijing, on the theme of the 300 year trade in Trepang (sea cucumber) from the Aboriginal people of northern Australia via Macassan traders to China. 

Johnny is keen to travel to China for the exhibition, but tragedy strikes before he can make the journey.

Ochre and Ink is a story about friendship and art that crosses boundaries and breaks the rules. 

Writer/Director/Producer: James Bradley

Producer: Rachel Clements

Director of Photography: Murray Lui

Sound Recordist: David Tranter

Editor: Karen Johnson

Sound Designer: Liam Egan

Composer: Caitlin Yeo

Copyright Nirvana Films and Yellow Mountain Films

Produced with assistance from Screen Australian, Screen Territory, Screen NSW

Broadcasters ABC1 and NITV

For more details, contact:

Rachel Clements

Brindle Films Pty Ltd

PO Box 5188

Alice Springs  NT  0870

Ph: 0414-484-472

E: rachelclements@ozemail.com.au

META-META calling for expressions of interest

Meta-Meta  A retreat for intercultural practitioners
11th to 15th June 2012, Jogjakarta, Java, Indonesia

Meta-Meta is a retreat for practitioners in community cultural development, intercultural and socially engaged practice. Mid-career professionals working across Australia, Indonesia and South-East Asia will meet with other intercultural innovators who work across faiths, genders, nationalities, economies, sexualities, cultures of origin, generations and abilities.

You have the opportunity to submit an expression of interest to be considered for invitation.

Opportunities Page On Asia Desk

The newest addition to Asia Desk is an Opportunities page. To find information and links to funding, residencies, job vacancies and more head to 'Opportunities'.

Welcome to Asia Desk!

Welcome to the first post of Asia Desk NT. This is a blog site designed to promote Asian arts events happening in Darwin, and to network artists and arts orgs of the Northern Territory with artists throughout Asia.


At Arts Desk you'll find regular updates on local performances, exhibitions, events, workshops, and visiting Asian artists. There'll also be articles, funding opportunities, image libraries, and the chance to make your own contributions.


Asia Desk is a voluntary service, driven by my interest in Asian arts. While I'll aim to keep the site as up-to-date and interesting as possible, I'd love to hear from the local community to help make this a dynamic service.


Stay tuned for the beginning of a new adventure....

Fiona

Darwin Artist, Katie Saunders, reflects on her residency in Beijing

In June-July 2011 I spent two months in Beijing as part in the Huantie Art City Artist in Residence program through 24HR Art & Asia Link.

Being a regional artist based in Darwin, it was an amazing experience just to be exposed to the vast, incredibly vibrant and at times overwhelming art scene in a city like Beijing.

Everyone's experience in a residency is completely different. I didn't have an agenda when I was there & simply enjoyed the 2 months of studio time with the aim of beginning the development process of a new body of work. To just let the city itself, its people and culture to wash over me was an important part of my process. The studio felt very isolated at first but it's so close to 798 & Chao Chang Di art districts, being a 5minute bike ride from those areas was enough for me. Every now & then I'd get a bit of cabin fever & have to remind myself that I was actually in Beijing! So I'd head out to see a monastery or temple or both in a beautiful park. After a while the perceived isolation of the studio location became a blessing, as Huantie Art City is probably one of the quietest areas in all of Beijing & a great place to work.

Being disposed to hanging out in the studio, cooking a lot at home was the order of the day. Early on in my stay there I went for a bike ride to clear my head & see what was around us & happened across a nearby village/town with a fantastic fresh produce market and delicious street food in the mornings and evenings for snacks. This town, Hei Chao, was a noisy, smelly and refreshing discovery to the antiseptic lack of sound and movement in Huantie Art City but the contrast of the haves and have nots was startling and disturbing to say the least. While people queued at night with large kettles to get their hot water not 500 metres away is a new polo club being built along side a retirement village for the super rich complete with swimming pool, golf course and guards out the front to keep out the riff raff. Such are the anomalies in Beijing, every time I walked out of the gate of the residency the place blew my mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the residency. I was challenged in so many ways, and as is the way with any international residencies challenged in the most unexpected manner. In 2004 I spent a year in China as an English teacher in Guangdong province so didn't feel too overwhelmed culturally but the art scene was incredibly overwhelming for me and greatly influenced my work.

Among the frenzied advancement towards capitalism there is a booming contemporary art scene, where artists are just as much of a product as their work and the market is king. The art, like everything else in Beijing is BIG. And there’s a lot of it.  Two months of exposure to the new wealth on display, the sheer quantity of art and the levels of consumption that goes with the sudden influx of funds in Beijing left me with sensory overload, like I’d eaten too much and needed to lie down to digest but what I’d just consumed was sticking in my throat. I didn’t feel so good. So, naturally I felt the need to pull back, lighten the palette and try to counter-balance too much with what might be too little.

(excerpt from artist statement for Banquet exhibition).

This experience has culminated in a solo exhibition Banquet at 24HR Art, Darwin, 10 February -10 March 2012.