Compiler

William Yang, Reconciliation march June 2000, Sydney, still from the performance Shadows.Photo by Heidrun Löhr. Visit Yang’s Shadows tour blog at mappinternational.wordpress.com

Washington

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin?

Greetings, AMA readers, from Washington D.C., America’s living monument to culture and the arts. What better way to spend the last 90 days of ice-cold winter than by exploring the many fabulous collections, exhibitions and public programs offered by this city? Offerings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Katzen Arts Centre, National Gallery, and Smithsonian Institutions kept the winter blues at bay. With spring around the corner, a new round of temporary exhibitions and projects have come into the spotlight – a number of which involve Australian arts and visual culture.

Embassy culture

A note on the cultural team here at the Embassy of Australia. Jane Scott, Director of Cultural Relations and former Director of Monash Gallery of Art, replaced Ron Ramsey in July 2007. I have taken leave from the National Gallery of Australia to become the new Cultural Relations Project Manager, replacing Maryanne Voyazis. Ian Whitney has been with the Embassy’s cultural team since July 2006. Forthcoming embassy shows include Utopia Batiks from the Holmes à Court Collection, F!NK Design, and work by David Stephenson.

You’re fired

Currently on display at the embassy (until 4 April) is High Fired: Diana Williams ceramics, a remarkable series of deeply personal and technically brilliant works by this Australian artist. Inspired by traditional ceramic techniques and a personal connection to the Australian military, the works presented in High Fired originated at a time when Williams was seeking to understand the impact of the military on her family. Through her unique and evocative work, Williams adapts a medium that is simultaneously robust and fragile, historic and contemporary. She uses symbols from the natural world such as the lotus flower, the cocoon and bogong moth to suggest honour and courage, as well as the cycles of nature and regeneration.

Out of the SHADOWS

Performing at seven venues throughout North America last month, William Yang presented his powerful and moving monologue, Shadows. Following the Federal Government’s recent apology to Australia’s Stolen Generations, this work has a new ending. Yang says: ‘To me reconciliation is a conversation where the actions of the past are acknowledged and a resolution sought. This day we acknowledged the shadows of the past, and moved towards hope for the future.’ Through words and images, Yang investigates the parallel stories of an Australian Aboriginal community and the story of German migrants in South Australia. Working in a slide-show format, Yang presents his own photographs alongside found images, building a compelling and poignant dual narrative. The strength of this work is Yang’s capacity to allow the viewer access to the lives of others without a sense of intrusion or judgement. Running through the work is a lightness of heart and a thread of humour and hope. The performance is supported by an impressive original score and vocals by Australian musician Colin Offord.

Contemporary Jewellery at the Renwick

One of the most intimate of the ‘Smithsonians’ is the Renwick Gallery, Washington’s first art museum (dating from 1859) and a space dedicated to the display of craft and decorative arts. Showing 14 March to 6 July, Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewellery from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection draws from the rich holdings of over 800 objects donated by Drutt to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 2002. Drutt’s passion for collecting contemporary jewellery began in the mid-1960s, and this exhibition includes some 300 objects from some 21 countries, including works by Australian artists Robert Baines, Carlier Makigawa, Margaret West, Sieglinde Karl-Spence, Mark Bishop and Hazel Smith. On 12 April, Robert Baines will speak at the exhibition symposium, A Grand Passion: Global Perspectives on Contemporary Art Jewellery.

Papunya Tula in the USA

Following the recent presentation of Our Way: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Lockhardt River, our neighbours at the The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia present Virtuosity: the Evolution of Painting at Papunya Tula from 1 April to 9 August. Drawn from the collection’s rich and unique holdings, this exhibition, curated by Museum Director Margo Smith, includes a number of rare works from the early 1970s.

Tell us your news! In addition to exhibitions in our neck of the woods, Melbourne-based photographer Matthew Sleeth has an exhibition, Ten Series/106 Photographs from 7 March to 15 May 15 at the aperturefoundation, New York City … If you have a forthcoming project in the USA, please keep us in the loop via Cultural.relationsUS@dfat.gov.au