Books and ideas
Does Gender Matter in Art, Sydney Contemporary
Does gender matter in art? For the past 30 years, art collective the Guerrilla Girls have exposed inequality in the art world in the hope of encouraging change. In 2013 they looked at the number of female artists exhibited in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art compared with the number of female nudes portrayed, and found that fewer than 3% of artists in the Met’s modern art section were women, and 83% of the nudes were female. Their conclusion was that the only way for women to get into the museum was to get naked.
Not much has changed. In this panel event, actor Rachel Griffiths, Artspace director and curator Alexie Glass-Kantor, artists Emma Price and Liam Benson, and Mona curator Jarrod Rawlins discuss the gender difference in the art world, and how the situation could be improved.
- Does Gender Matter in Art will be discussed at Talk Contemporary, as part of Sydney Contemporary art fair at Sydney’s Carriageworks on 10 September
Music
A Drone Opera
What do you get when you combine opera with drone technology? Simple: A Drone Opera. Melbourne and New York-based experimental artist Matthew Sleeth combines the two polar opposites in a new multimedia performance.
The performance sees drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, cease to be a theoretical – and much debated – concept. Audience members will hear and feel their rotations in North Melbourne’s darkened meat markets, as opera singers dance around the drones, backed by a new sound score, laser light design and moving image.
- A Drone Opera is on at Meat Market, North Melbourne, from 10 to 13 September
Film
Black Hole, Environmental film festival
Australian documentary Black Hole explores the tensions between the coal industry, a local community and corporate responsibility. Set in north-west New South Wales, it tells of a local push to save the Leard state forest from Whitehaven’s Maules creek coalmine. The film tracks the first acts of civil disobedience, the rising up of farmers, doctors, religious leaders and environmentalists, who unite to save the endangered woodland forest.
Black Hole’s Melbourne-based film-maker, Joao Dujon Pereria, will take part in a panel discussion on the opening night of the Environmental film festival in Canberra, followed by a screening of the documentary.
- Black Hole screens at Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra, on 11 September
Music
Gang of Youths
Sydney’s Gang of Youths will play at Brisbane’s Bigsound, a two-day stop on their much anticipated national tour. The long-haired, bearded boys have made post indie rock cool again, belting out anthemic battle cries with themes that run a little deeper.
Frontman David Le’aupepes was 18 when his girlfriend was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and he often draws on the experience for his heartfelt lyrics. These are ramped up with pounding drums, heavy bass and guitar riffs from bandmates Joji Malani, Jung Him and Max Dunn.
- Gang of Youths will play at Bigsound, Brisbane, which runs from 9 to 11 September
Fashion
In Conversation: Jenny Kee, Linda Jackson and Romance Was Born
Actor Nell Schofield looks at what makes Australian fashion notable internationally when she hosts a conversation with designers Jenny Kee, Linda Jackson, Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales.
Fashion forerunners Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson began working on a unique Australian dress in the 70s. They hope for one that went beyond fashion trends, that was informed by Australia’s cultural and geographical landscape, and Indigenous heritage.
Romance Was Born in 2005 after Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales met at East Sydney Technical College. The pair launched their debut collection at Australian fashion week in 2007, and they have consistently returned to Australian fauna and flora for inspiration. As part of Sydney design festival, they’ll discuss Australia, art and fashion with Kee and Jackson.
- Jenny Kee, Linda Jackson and Romance Was Born in Conversation will take place at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, on 9 September
