FORM Annual Report 2013

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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FORM Building a State of Creativity 357 Murray StreetPerth, Western Australia

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

E. mail@form.net.au T. +61 08 9226 2799 F. +61 08 9226 2250

Published by FORM Designed by Glasfurd and Walker

Our websites: www.form.net.au www.midlandatelier.com www.courthousegallery.com.au www.pilbaraproject.com www.canningstockrouteproject.com.au www.city-of-walls.com www.discoverthepilbara.com.au www.visitporthedland.com

Š 2014 All rights reserved. Copyright for the photographic images is held by the individual photographer. Copyright for written content and this publication as a whole is held by FORM. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior permission from the publisher (FORM).

CONTENTS Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Form Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2013 Achievements And Milestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Part I: Evaluating The Craft And Creative Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Part 2: 2013 Achievements And Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Regional Artistic, Community, And Place Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Midland Atelier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

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Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Board Members Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

Practitioners Engaged In 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

FOREWORD

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FOREWORD FORM ANNUAL REPORT 2013

Our continuing focus on the development and evolution of the many disciplines and materialities of craft and design over 2013 has led to exhibitions, mentorships, residencies and creative exchanges that not only brought new products and processes to the fore but tested the theories of what constitutes craft as an artistic discipline. Running in parallel to these, many of our other projects illustrated a growing commitment to the exploration of other artforms, particularly those with a special aptitude for longitudinal cultural, social or community change.

Considering this, it may seem that FORM is an organisation with many facets and faces. However these streams of projects are not entirely distinct from one another. Everything we undertake is designed to explore the synergies between, manipulate the boundaries of, and test the assumptions regarding creative disciplines, outreaches and definitions.

Land.Mark.Art looks at how craft skills might be developed and applied as a critical process in a larger artistic journey that also spans painting, design, sculpture and public art and opens up new income and learning opportunities

Returning to the subject of conclusions, 2013 also marked the end of formal programming at Midland Atelier. The decision to discontinue Midland Atelier was made because of the lack of State funding available to progress the Atelier to the level required to achieve its original vision: that of a truly interdisciplinary, inter-industry, experimental creative hub.

However Midland Atelier leaves in its wake a rich portfiolio of benchmark exhibitions, creative collaborations, new products, works acquired by major collections, and a body of research highlighting the value of and need for investment in hybrid and diverse creative enterprise.

The latter point – that of research and championing - has been a consistent one in FORM’s recent history. Since the early days of Creative Capital and Midland Atelier’s precursors, Shifting Foundations and Designing Futures, we have been driven and influenced by the challenges and conditions of Western Australia’s creative sector. At the heart of what we do lies a deeply seeded need to explore, nurture and showcase the immense benefits of sophisticated yet accessible creative development and activation to a place, a community, a region.

Artwork by Anya Brock as part of 140 Art, 2013 Photograph by Bewely Shaylor (next page)

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The Canning Stock Project came to a dynamic close after eight years, with two digital initiatives designed to propel the Project firmly into the future. At the same time, FORM was planning for the 2014 launches of the Spinifex Hill Studios, a major infrastructure and creative residency project in the Pilbara; and PUBLIC, a multi-year program that fuses contemporary and experimental artforms in the context of intercultural and intercommunity awareness, celebration and empowerment.

for artists. Pieces of Gutharragunda (Shark Bay) merges traditional Aboriginal making with contemporary techniques and outcomes in a program that also challenges the traditional one-way mentorship structure. Our award-winning programming in the State’s remote North West – the product of an almost ten-year relationship with the community – shows that the pursuit of community-led artistic engagement needn’t be at the expense of artistic excellence. Indeed, the same can be said of all of our programs, which seek, always, to establish and preserve a delicate balance between wider community benefit and true artistic excellence.

FOREWORD

Exciting beginnings, momentous conclusions. Experimental futures, excellence in tradition. For FORM, 2013 was a year defined by opposites, and also by intersection and hybridism.

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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CREATIVE OVERVIEW

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CREATIVE OVERVIEW FORM sees the transformative power of creativity as having the capacity to generate a richer community and cultural life in Western Australia. Creativity is the means by which challenges are resolved, opportunities developed and learning and growth enabled. It also contributes fundamentally to shaping distinctive ‘cultural geography’ – the elements that make a community and the place it inhabits unique and specific.

- Resource industry dependence yet an ingrained respect for the state’s environment and landscapes - Rich cultural ethnicity yet minimal cultural visibility - Rich creative capital yet a lack of infrastructure and opportunity for locally-based practitioners Our approach addresses the conditions for creativity at both a macro and micro level via an integrated strategy whereby we deliver activities as comprehensive, long-term program models which instigate change within communities, while developing outcomes with artistic excellence.

Examples of FORM’s programs of this scale and depth of process include the Canning Stock Route Project, The Pilbara Project, Designing Futures, the phased development

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- A prized sense of remoteness yet a desire for better connectivity and development

of Midland Atelier, Land.Mark.Art, and our research. From an internal organisation perspective, each program is the product of applied learning: modules within a program are adapted and evolved from previous FORM programs.

Adaptation is possible because each program is continuously monitored against a value chain process of development (outlined below).

In 2013 FORM continued its ongoing commitment to develop broader social, cultural and community enrichment through creative excellence via our long-term projects. 2013 was a year where a great deal of time was spent in the research, development, and prototype phase of development for projects that will begin to be realised in 2014. The year saw FORM deliver the concluding phase of the Canning Stock Route Project through a digital repatriation (see page XX), as well as commencing the modelling for a new multiyear project, PUBLIC (see page XX). This annual report contextualises and details the significant developments of each of our projects and programs in 2013.

Part 1 provides a contextual exploration of the creative sector and craft discipline. It articulates the grounding for FORM’s work and programming.

Part 2 reports on the achievements and highlights of FORM’s programming in 2013. With 2013 the final year of operation for Midland Atelier, the report ends with a snapshot of the achievements of the Atelier since its inception.

CREATIVE OVERVIEW

In Western Australia the cultural geography changes from region to region but generally comprises a sometimesparadoxical blend of characteristics such as:

2013 KEY MILESTONES & ACHIEVEMENTS The past 12 months have generated a turnover of nearly $6.7million and the following key achievements: in order to produce an interactive map of significant historical, natural, and cultural sites throughout Ngarluma Country in the Pilbara.

The Canning Stock Route Project concluded after eight years, with the delivery of a world-class, innovative digital repatriation model through the development and launch of Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive.

FORM was awarded the first Google grant for Indigenous mapping in Australia with Ngarluma Ngurra

An interactive mobile, tablet, and web application One Road was launched, adapted from the digital interactive exhibition centrepiece of Yiwarra Kuju.

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Port Hedland Visitor Centre underwent significant refurbishment and reopened under the management of FORM.

Construction of the Spinifex Hill Studios in South Hedland was completed, ready for launch in 2014.

FORM curated and launched 14 exhibitions throughout 2013.

Wundumurra (Sherlock River), Acrylic on canvas by Jill Churnside, 2013.

Workshops/ presentations were delivered across Australia

A suite of exhibitions were held throughout the Midland Railway Workshops and at FORM Gallery in celebration of FORM’s five years of programming through Midland Atelier.

Jimmy Poland’s exhibition toured Western Australia, opening in Denham, then on show in Port Hedland, and Perth.

2013 KEY MILESTONES

Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal Culture on the Map showcased twelve months of development with elders

Jimmy Poland, Carved Boab Nuts, Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay), Photograph by Bewley Shaylor, 2012.

Reg Sambo, Ngarluma elder at Gurnanananra, 2013. Photograph by Sharmila Wood.

Inception of PUBLIC, a multi-year program that will explore creativity as a public good. Includes development planning toward the program launch in 2014, which will showcase 45 local, national and international urban, visual and digital artists in Perth and the Pilbara.

As part of PUBLIC, research and development is begun on a pilot project for 100 Hampton Road lodging house in Fremantle with Foundation Housing, to explore curation of enhanced living and social environments that can empower residents of social housing and their communities.

FORM’s new website and fresh vface launched in December 2013: www.form.net.au

An estimated audience reach through FORM’s programs of over 80,000 (excluding online).

Over 45,000 people reached through FORM’s websites, with additional social media audiences.

4 Publications produced.

290 artists supported or engaged through programs.

Spinifix Hill Artist Studio Sculpture by Winnie Sampi, Photograph Bewley Shaylor

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9 Artists commissioned for public artworks.

FORM’s Executive Director Lynda Dorrington honoured with the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Arts Leadership Award, a national accolade for “demonstrating vision, commercial acumen and strategic thinking in engagement with business and by encouraging increased giving to the arts.” The award recognises the importance of raising business awareness of, contribution to and collaboration with the arts.

2013 DEVELOPMENT KEY MILESTONES REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE

20 Artists participated in Land.Mark.Art, with 14 commissions awarded.

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Carved dugong bone dugongs,

by Jimmy Poland. Photograph

by Bewley Shaylor.

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

NEW NARRATIVES IN CRAFT: EXPLORING CRAFT AS A CRITICAL EXPERIMENTAL PROCESS

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PART 1

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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The papers combined in this publication seek not simply to define (or to redefine) the artisan, highest-calibre practice of craft, but to consider and argue for the diverse and hybrid applications of craft in a contemporary context. The compilation of these papers comes at a time when craft, as a multi-disciplinary collective of practices within the canon of fine, visual, and applied arts, is once again subject to scrutiny at both State and national levels. Thus, many recent conversations, studies, surveys, and general research have influenced these papers and the decision to create them. An insistent thread of commonality among all these avenues of dialogue has been one that questions the preservation and progression of traditional, elite craft practice amid drastically changing cultural, economic and educational conditions. As such a sense of ‘either, or’ seems to pervade, with a general fear that ‘contemporising’ craft will come at the cost of the quality and creativity of practice itself.

As peak body for craft and design in Western Australia, as well as a leading organisation in the development and championing of inter-disciplinary, inter-community artistic excellence, FORM holds a unique perspective and point of experience. This experience recognises the absolute value of high-level, innovative, craft practice within very specific disciplines. However it also recognises an opportunity and a need for excellent craft practice – whether concept, process, or outcome – to be applied and valued outside of the traditional sphere.

This assertion does not posit the preservation or achievement of elite craft practice as something that must be sacrificed if the sector is to evolve and progress. On the contrary, it is an assertion that positions excellence as a necessary, core driver, and one that must be upheld and invested in if the sector is to truly flourish. At both State and national levels this means investment in relevant higher education and ongoing, longitudinal learning and training platforms, rather than short courses, limited (or conversely, overly generalised) study options or community workshops aimed at nurturing hobbyist engagement rather than the innovators of the future. It means more stringent benchmarks and critique. It means exploring the true essence and value of craft as a process and a tradition steeped in community and communication as much as a finite, material outcome. It means greater connectivity and communication between generations of craft practitioners in the form of dedicated mentoring, research, training and experience. And equally, it means greater connectivity and communication between the craft sector and broader, public community – championing and celebrating excellence and diversity of craft practice and creating meaningful

narratives that place achievements and processes in craft as an ingrained and crucial contributor to our culture and environment.

‘Over the past number of years, FORM appears to be one of the few remaining organisations that offer support in our field. In our own case, FORM have been most supportive of our practice both locally and internationally, by providing exhibition opportunities, promotion, catalogue production, and lecture representation at SOFA Chicago. They have also supported our successful application to DCA for a Mid Career Fellowship. All of this has been of significant assistance in our career.’ - (Tanija and Graham Carr, Interview, 2014) FORM’s programs over the last 13 years seek to advocate for and/or develop components of all of the above. Some seek to develop, benchmark or capture dynamic practice in the purest disciplines of craft practice, such as our exhibition and sector development work with senior Western Australian (craft) artists including Tanija and Graham Carr (leather and mixed media), Kevin Gordon (glass), Nalda Searles (fibre and textiles), Jon Goulder (timber) and Helen Britton (jewellery), and the best of our emerging artists. Others are programs embedded in reconnecting community with craft (and other artistic disciplines) through a process that upholds excellence and illustrates the social, cultural, and economic benefits of artistic excellence to a community. We work directly with the craft sector and its constituents, and we also work with other artistic sectors. This multi-focus – one that insists on quality of practice no matter what the discipline or audience – is something we have worked hard to achieve.

And we have done this because we recognise the synergies, opportunities, and potential for exciting, experimental outcomes when craft is considered through different lenses, when the knowledge and talent of other cultures and communities is acknowledged, shared and celebrated, when seemingly atypical disciplines are brought together into a forum that is exploratory, experiential, and mutuallyresponsive.

As a means of harnessing the above arguments, the papers encapsulated within this publication cover a working, scoping study of craft-related education and training in Western Australia, an overview of the general conditions for creativity in this State, including points of difference, opportunities and challenges, a selection of case studies exemplifying FORM’s program approach, and some direct conversations with some of our most respected, prestigious craft practitioners.

Eva Fernandez projection installation as part of Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood exhibition at Midland Atelier, 2013.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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EXPLORING CRAFT AS A CRITICAL, EXPERIMENTAL PROCESS PREFACE

FORM’s definition of craft therefore, while encompassing traditional and direct craft practices, also embraces – and prioritises – craft as a critical process that may or may not result in material craft outcomes. Excellent contemporary craft has, at its core, the technical skill and precision of fine traditional crafts. That is, objects made skilfully and

It is with this more open definition in mind that FORM has approached many of its contemporary artistic programs, strategically seeking to engage with craft practice in a way that opens up dynamic and alternative explorations of craft and how it can be applied, evolved and integrated to impart qualitative, experiential value to both the artist and the community at large. This has seen us collaborate with a highly varied range of organisations that span arts and non-arts industries, and which both directly and indirectly represent craft practice, thinking and approach. The unifying element in this equation is the level of excellence in craft and creative processes, which is critical to outcomes that are innovative, long-lasting and contribute something meaningful, truly inspiring, or useful to the world.

In this sense, the craft we advocate for is absolutely best practice– though we recognise that all artistic innovators began their love of their craft at a ground level. It is the combination of specific, skilled technical practice and the heritage of excellence it embodies, and the adaptability and malleability of craft-based processes for contemporary and innovative applications, that lies at the heart of craft’s value and ongoing potential into the future.

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This somewhat ambiguous, oftentimes less tangible concept of craft is not only an exciting but a necessary one. This is because it enables craft practitioners to explore new artistic realms and collaborations; to refine, diversify and apply their skills to experimental projects; and to tap into a wider array of income, benchmark and learning opportunities.

uniquely by hand. However contemporary manifestations and definitions of the disciplines of craft (should) prioritise craft as a critical process in a larger creative and developmental narrative as equally as they prioritise craft as a complete, object-based outcome.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

FORM’s vision over the last 13 years has evolved from a purely craft-as-object focus to exploration, research and advocacy concerning the conditions required for sophisticated creative practice to thrive in Western Australia, including, but not limited to, the disciplines of craft and design. In these 13 years we have been privileged to work with an especially diverse accord of Western Australian artists at various stages of practice, and as part of this, with many contributing curators, writers and creative entrepreneurs from Australia and internationally. While not all of these artists and creatives would cite themselves directly as craft (or design) practitioners, the practices of many are influenced by or involve refined craft skills to an extent that is critical to the end outcome of their work.

THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN CREATIVE CONDITION:

and engagement - that intend to directly address the most prominent of these.

Over the last 13 years FORM has explored, researched and identified several areas of Western Australia’s cultural and creative geography that significantly influenced the opportunities and challenges of the State’s creative sector.

In this period FORM has consistently worked to flag these issues to State government and the public while devising programs – spanning research, advocacy, development

Revisiting the subject at the beginning of 2014, most of these cultural geographies and the particular challenges that arise from them are still relevant, with minimal take-up or investment by State government. Fourteen key challenges have been described below; it is worth noting that these affect not only craft but most creative sectors in Western Australia, and that many are repeated nationally.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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KEY CHALLENGES

CREATIVE SECTOR ECOLOGY

Creative Ecology: Key Dimensions and Value

Fourteen key challenges have been described below; it is worth noting that these affect not only craft but most creative sectors in Western Australia, and that many are repeated nationally.

10. Narrow or conservative definitions of craft practice at a State level that eschew contemporary manifestations of craft and the value of craft as a critical process as much as a finite, object-based outcome; and as a specialised set of skills that can innovate within and improve other industries.

1. A lack of higher education and learning avenues for bestpractice, highly skilled development of craft and applied arts practice (both formal and informal education). This encompasses facilities and studio space; training, such as through a mentorship or apprenticeship, and which may include but ideally will move beyond any tertiary or formal education training; and a ‘community of creativity’- a culture of artistic vibrancy and activity that nurtures open dialogue, ideas, collaboration, critical peer feedback, and which is often centralised or motivated through a creative ‘hub’ or programmed physical space.

11. L ack of cultural diversity: not only diversity of demographics represented by creative/cultural organisations, but in terms of diversity in the size, scope and quantity of cultural organisations representing a city or region. For Western Australia, and probably most other states, the constant funding threat facing (and in cases the complete de-funding of) small to medium or very niche cultural organisations means that the representation of local culture becomes the predominant domain of traditional cultural institutions and models. These institutions cannot, on their own, effectively represent the breadth and fine grain of local culture.

4. C hanges to policy and legislation that directly and indirectly affect craft and visual arts practitioners (for example legislation around purchase of art through selfmanaged super funds and the Percent for Art scheme – both of which impact the income and professional opportunity potential of artists).

5. A lack of formal definition and support for hybrid or interdisciplinary craft practices in government arts funding (which leaves many multidimensional practitioners stuck between funding categories or ineligible for traditional ‘craft’ based opportunities).

6. C onnecting to the above point, a conservative funding and investment environment that is wary of innovative, hybrid, experimental or diverse projects and practices.

7. For Western Australia particularly, a persisting isolation that leaves many practitioners disconnected from international and national learning, support and critique, and benchmarking/self-evaluation despite increased digital connectivity and engagement.

8. L ack of a communications/public relations/marketing strategy that confidently, magnanimously and holistically weaves a narrative around the cultural and artistic identity of Western Australia overall, and craft specifically.

9. D irectly linking to the above, this lack of a confident, visible narrative in turn functions as a disincentive for private investment and philanthropy, and limits opportunity to develop and profile visible cultural leaders or champions at all levels, from mentors and champions within education institutions to prominent government and private advocates.

13. C reative talent drain at a statewide level that is influenced/exacerbated by all of the above mentioned issues. While it is advantageous for artists of all disciplines to travel thus broaden their creative and professional horizons, ideally these artists would retain a grounding in their home city/state, contributing to a cycle of creativity that benefits the returning or visiting artist/s as well as rising artists based locally.

14. An interesting influencer of this talent drain – and one that can work to stem the flow if harnessed and leveraged in a way that works to counter balance some of the other cited issues – is the story and appeal of the great Western Australian Landscape. The few truly dynamic, senior practitioners who do choose to work from Western Australia generally do so out of an innate need for, and connection with, the complex and vast Western Australian landscape. However the bulk of their creative businesses still operate externally to Western Australia, such as production of work, exhibitions and sales and sourcing of materials. Looking at this from another perspective, the lure of the landscape, in particular its sense of isolation, rawness and freedom, offers great incentive to attract interesting and eminent interstate and international creatives through welldesigned residency programs that benefit the local creative sector as much as the visitors.

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3. Value articulation, appreciation and measurement (both within the sector and among the broader public) that comprehensively and adequately defines the value of and appetite for craft and related creative practice.

12. A burgeoning (in terms of public popularity) Aboriginal arts industry yet minimal support and investment into development of truly collaborative, ethical and authentic Aboriginal craft and design models. Paralleling this, fundamental obstacles continue to face the larger Aboriginal creative sector, including intellectual property, funding silos, training and retention of human resources in remote communities, facility and material resource issues in remote and regional areas, ongoing cultural conflicts, and a lack of understanding of the complexities of Aboriginal culture, spirituality, society and land.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

2. G eneral liveability and affordability in select cities (for instance rent of studio spaces and on a broader level, general affordability in a region/place such as domestic rent, food and utilities); and artist incomes that remain baseline at best.

Over the past 13 years, FORM has worked to address these various challenges through responding to the needs of the creative sector and these contextual conditions to contribute to a more robust sector.

These efforts are outlined in the timeline below.

FORM’s work and programs have been and will continue to be specifically designed to address the needs of the creative

sector, working in a holistic way to support the elements for a healthier creative ecology.

TIMELINE: CAPACITY BUILDING FOR CREATIVE SECTOR Designing futures knowledge space begins

Capacity building Commences

Craftwest evolves into Professional industry body

Canning stock route project begins

Courthouse Gallery Redevelopment

Designing futures exhibition series begins

Regional programming begins newman: a creative resource

Regional programming expands to Port Hedland

Designing futures forum

Creative capital program begins

Comparative capitals research

Public: Creativity as a public good program developed Land.Mark.Art public art Development model

Canning Stock Route Project launched

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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Sector connectivity Shifting foundations Publication

Aspects of Kings Park Development

Elemental retail outlet developed

Designing futures industry Development program begins

2000

2002

2003 2004

Creative hub development

2005

Lack of sophisticated Marketplace

Creative and business skills Development needed

Informed exploration of sector renewal

Timber industry crisis - cessation of old growth logging

Need for sector revitalisation: contemporary practice growth and identification of sustainabile opportunities

Galvanising sector and Stakeholders, connecting sector International scoping/ Benchmarking Need for professional and skills Development

Midland atelier established

West end cultural precinct Revitalisation

Public art development

Energy cities research

2006 2007 2008

Creative & general Talent drain Lack of creative, cultural and social capital Need to support distinctive Cultural identity Need for aboriginal creative and opportunity Development

2009 2010

Lack of professional making Studios & training

Creative talent drain

Need for new markets, increased audiences Need for professional industry body

Spinifex Hill Art Studio Developed

The Pilbara Project begins

Rare growing market prohibitive for many artists

Aboriginal cultural mapping

West end makers markets Developed

2011

Lack of comparative data and creative/cultural conditions Benchmarking Lack of cultural infrastructure

2012 2013 Economic diversification Imperative

Urgency of cultural preservation & maintenance

Need for cultural expression & maintenance Need for public gallery and creative marketplace in northwest Need for creative sector Development in regions Lack of relevant sector data

Aboriginal & emerging artists precluded from public art field

Need to change perceptions of Pilbara

Need for cultural diplomacy

Aboriginal arts infrastructure needs

Importance of creativity to generate public good

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Rep Sta utati nd on ing (intra & inter sector)

Connectivity

Investment

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Western Australia’s geographic isolation and immense, intriguing landscape has for a long time been a strong arbiter of the State’s sense of identity, individualism and adventurism. This is particularly the case with regards to our creative identity and artistic achievements in the fields of visual art and literature, with the work of eminent creatives (both local and national) such as Tim Winton, Kim Scott, Robert Drewe, Sally Morgan, Robert Juniper and Fred Williams helping to craft an iconic artistic narrative embedded in Western Australia’s landscape. Craft has contributed equally to this narrative, yet on a scale of broad public awareness, the role of craft practice in this is arguably far less recognised. Again, this provides a case for both a State and national communications campaign around craft and its place in the social and cultural psyche of a region.

This leads to questions of isolation. At the time of writing, the challenges and potential of isolation is still very relevant for Western Australia, but in different ways, and with a contemporary set of challenges and considerations.

Technically we are less isolated from the rest of the world than ever before due to enhanced digital and transport connectivity but does that mean we are seeing benefits to the State’s creative community? Signs indicate we are not.

With regards to pure artform development, an outstanding issue for Western Australia emphasises the importance of

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A heritage of making informed by landscape; and the question of isolation face-to-face interactions between local and leading national/ international artists. This includes the need for emerging artists – or any artist wishing to remain exciting and learn more from their craft – to see and experience great artworks and objects. Online connectivity and the increased visual and communications access that comes with that is not enough.

Artists need face time with other exciting artists, they need to see what amazing work looks like in the flesh and they need the physical (rather than virtual) space in which to learn and refine the skills needed to make outstanding work.

If the above occurs then local creative communities are by default more enriched and motivated, with artists coming and going, travelling overseas or interstate, and other artists coming here. It means there is an interchangeable, mobile community that is anchored in something strong and local.

The flipside is a community that is disconnected, parochial and alienated from new research, skills, experiences and both ancient and new techniques.

The question of isolation once again shines light on funding limitations around artist travel. For Western Australia, while there is much support for artists wishing to explore their practice abroad, there is little funding dedicated to bringing interstate or international artists and creative leaders here, to this State.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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THE NATIONAL CONTEXT

Craft in the broader socio-cultural narrative All of the statements cited in the previous section are relevant to the Australian craft sector, and Australian creative sector generally. However a particular issue for the Australian craft sector, which is also articulated as a State issue, is the lack of a cohesive, highly visible presence or identity for craft at a national scale. This also ties into questions around measurement, value-definition and appreciation of craft, because value can arguably best be evidenced via the ways in which the entity in question has been ingrained into the fabric of everyday culture and society. For craft this would best be manifested in a nation-wide marketing and communications strategy that works on many levels of engagement, visibility and representation, positioning both Australia’s heritage of craft and contemporary, innovative applications securely in the broader context of Australia’s cultural and artistic identity.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

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Reconnecting community craft to elite practice A communications/visibility strategy of the type described above would ideally also reconnect community-level education and engagement with craft to elite craft practice.

This is certainly a challenge facing Western Australia, and one that is influenced by the talent drain of some of the State’s most skilled and innovative senior practitioners to other states or countries, due to reasons described earlier– such as lack of local markets and both industry and wider recognition locally, cost of living and of practice, inadequate access to facilities, resources and equipment. This means that often, a gap opens up in which an enthusiastic grassroots community of craft explorers thinking about taking their interests to the next level have nowhere to turn in terms of high-achieving champions, exacting mentors and higher-level education and development platforms.

This groundswell of enthusiasm for bespoke craft practice taps into international trends that see people, in an increasingly secular and capitalist Western world, searching for new ways to find meaning, authenticity, true sense of worth and achievement, and to connect with the essentials of humanity and life. In turn, this opens another gap of understanding - this time a lack of understanding within the public realm of what constitutes truly exciting, refined craft practice. This is because the vacancy left by sophisticated craft practitioners, who choose to relocate their practices to other shores or states or to work in relative isolation within their home state, leaves only community or mid-level craft process and outcomes as visible, accessible examples.

For the senior creatives that do remain (either in Western Australia or Australia), many cite a generational gap between themselves and their young or emerging counterparts.

Similarly, in Western Australia at least, many young creatives

practising craft and other or mixed disciplines cite a lack of state-based mentors or champions (also referenced earlier as a key issue).

This disconnection then becomes twofold - a disconnection between generations of practitioners and a disconnection between emerging or community practice and elite practice.

Why comprehensive measurement and evaluation is truly valuable A recurring theme that has arisen through FORM’s own research and programming, and discussion with craft practitioners and artists, is one of apt measurement and evaluation. Considered from both a Western Australian and national perspective, measurement and evaluation systems that effectively map, measure and articulate the value of sophisticated craft practice, and of true artistic excellence, seem to be minimal. The Australia Council has made good inroads into this at a national level with the body’s toolkit measures of artistic excellence and vibrancy. However at a State level, and perhaps more broadly, capturing true excellence and innovation in practice seems to drop away in measurement schemes that rely largely on quantitative data such as visitation, attendance and sales, and limited qualitative data that excludes break-downs of, for example, the type of sales (particularly relevant data might be private or corporate collections and state or national acquisitions) and preferences inherently limiting ratings or multiple choice systems.

Measuring the value and worth of craft and other artistic disciplines at the highest level is important because it provides ammunition for government policy and legislation while generating a groundswell of appreciation at a community or general public level. This in turn influences income and reputational opportunities for artists because an educated, artistically aware community is more likely to invest in craft and cultural product, for example through private or gallery sales of work, philanthropy, corporate investment or investment in quality public art and collection development.

In this light it seems essential that craft and design bodies look more closely at how they value their own sector and how this might be captured.

The global perspective A key element missing from the national discussion of, and examination into, contemporary craft, is that of the global perspective. This may seem at odds with the aforementioned need to devise a sound national narrative and identity for craft, but true excellence, relevance, learning and experientialism can only be achieved if embedded in an awareness of the sector at an international level.

EMPHASISING THE ISSUE OF EDUCATION

In preparing this paper, and as a preliminary follow-up to previous research initiated by FORM (through triennial business planning and also specifically Shifting Foundations, 2003, Comparative Capitals, 2008, Energy Cities, 2010 and From the Atelier: Workshopping the Value of Creativity and Design, 2010) FORM undertook a sweep survey of craft training and facilities in Western Australia. The survey shows that the education gaps touched on earlier in this paper have proved particularly relevant as a critical issue severely impacting the health and growth of the sector in this State.

While the survey is at the time of writing a working study, the detail it reveals is concerning, not simply because it emphasises the widespread closure or downsizing of key facilities, with limited replacement, but because the issues it raises are issues flagged by FORM over more than ten years– and which have not been addressed in this time by relevant State departments.

The latter point in particular highlights the tension, discussed earlier, between community or grassroots craft programming and high-level craft training and practice, and points to an increasing trend that sees the two distinct areas of practice blurred into one, rather whitewashed and undervalued idea of what constitutes craft. This trend unfortunately enables the perception that high-level craft training, practice and showcasing can be interchanged with community level craft with no consequence to the health, quality or prestige of the sector.

When looking at the re-appropriation or closure of tertiary and technical facilities in Perth the outlook may not seem especially grim as most appear, at cursory glance, to have been replaced or supplemented with similar alternatives.

However closer examination of the details of facilities and training courses reveals subtle differences that have the potential to hugely impact the quality of the sector.

Diminished practical studio time prerequisites and equally, diminished or abolished theory studies for example both negatively impact the learning potential of students. Similarly,

Credenza by Nick Statham for Woodside, 2012, photograph by Eva Fernandez

fully equipped studios offer little learning potential if there is limited permanent staff to facilitate not simply the use of equipment but to encourage and demand refinement and innovation in technique. In another crucial example, staff cuts have been standard across institutions, which limits the quality and length of teacher-student time, and in many instances permanent teaching staff have been replaced with sessional staff at entry level classification. While it can be argued that a rotation of sessional or casual staff might be beneficial for the diversity of learning experiences and interactions of the student, in reality the potential of highquality, sustained teacher-student mentoring is diminished as there is little scope for investment in professional relationship-building. The lack of honourary or long-term teacher positions for established, skilled practitioners also provides another (reputational and economic) disincentive to senior practitioners wishing to practice from this State, while directly impacting the connectivity and intergenerational learning potential afforded to emerging practitioners.

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‘The number and scale of studio facilities in Western Australia (and nationally) has been eroded over the past decade. Prior to this, numerous options existed for practitioners in Western Australia who wished to pursue a craft. These included tertiary institutions, technical schools, private art schools, arts centres, local council programming as well as artist-run shared studio facilities. In recent years many of these institutions have closed, while others have shifted focus to ‘community’ focused programming, rather than formal training.’ 1

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Even in draft form the research validates common perception that Western Australia has steadily lost the majority of its craft and applied arts training and facility outlets over the last ten years:

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FORM’S PROGRAM MODELLING: Responding to the Western Australian Condition

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Nick Statham and Alex Fossilo at work on the Wesfarmers Level 12 commission, photograph by Michelle Taylor

FORM’s programming over the last 13 years has been designed as a direct response to the issues of education and ongoing learning, mentoring and quality creative interaction.

In 2002 FORM published Shifting Foundations, a research and strategic document that critically examined the conditions affecting craft and design practice in Western Australia. This was quickly followed in 2003 by the Designing Futures forum, exhibition series and ‘knowledge hub’, all of which looked at alternative models for the diversification, evolution and refinement of craft and design-based skills.

In 2004 FORM began the Designing Futures industry development program, a hands-on mentoring program that brought small clusters of specially-selected Western Australian designers and makers together in a sustained training program facilitated by respected and dynamic senior practitioner mentors. The years immediately following this encompassed a strategically curated schedule of exhibitions, creative skills development programs and industry collaborations designed to lift the level of craft and design awareness in Western Australia, provide higher benchmarks, and facilitate a more exploratory, investigative level of design thinking, interaction and learning for practitioners.

In 2005, again driven by pressing issues influencing the socio-cultural fabric of Western Australia, FORM, while continuing existing craft and design development, began to focus its successful program modelling on broader issues, specifically Aboriginal craft and design development and

the value of creative excellence to the broader community, from metropolitan to remote and regional Western Australia.

This led to the gestation of the multi award-winning Canning Stock Route Project and early precursors, such as Cultural Strands, Woven Forms, Seven Sisters and Jason Tinker Returns to Country. In this time FORM also began what has become almost a decade of community and artistic engagement in North Western Australia, building community relationships and leveraging creative and cultural opportunity with significant long-term outcomes and legacies, including most recently the launch of the Spinifex Hill Studio, a multimillion dollar interdisciplinary studio space in the Pilbara region. The regional program has proven a successful case study for what can be achieved when genuine, sustained community engagement is combined with an unwavering commitment to artistic excellence in process as much as outcomes.

In 2008 FORM formally launched Midland Atelier. A natural evolution of Designing Futures and a response to research listed previously, Midland Atelier was envisioned as a physical, interdisciplinary creative studio hub complemented by a strong program of creative development adapted from Designing Futures and related artistic engagement. In its five years of formal operation, The Atelier facilitated many successful outcomes, including groundbreaking public art and bespoke design, critical writing and research, quality mentoring to Western Australian designers, makers and artists, international and interstate creative residencies, and

However in late 2013 FORM made the decision to close Midland Atelier after realising that its ultimate vision – that of a truly interdisciplinary, inter-industry hub that initialised new and experimental practices – could not be achieved because essential funding could not be raised through State government. This was despite the offer to State government of matched funding from Federal government, and a multimillion dollar private education investment that was declined by State government.

Despite the closure of Midland Atelier, FORM’s commitment to experimental, exceptional craft and design remains active. Launched in 2009, FORM’s Land.Mark.Art program offers an apt example of what can be achieved when craft is integrated as a critical process into interdisciplinary creative development with groundbreaking outcomes. Land.Mark.

Art offers a conduit for urban, regional or remotely based Aboriginal artists to participate equitably with their peers in the creation, development and production (both by hand and machine-enabled production) of artistic work. The model has interdisciplinary practice at its core, and works with visual artists such as painters or illustrators to explore and develop their two-dimensional work into large-scale three-dimensional work, such as sculpture and public art.

The program differs from others because the artists are not only involved but have creative ownership and control of every stage of the process, from concept development through to model making and final manufacture. Because Land.Mark.Art is a development program, hands-on learning and training is essential. However even this process is one of true collaboration and two-way mentoring, with industry

facilitators learning equally because the structure is open, responsive and conversational.

‘Although Western Australia’s built environment has few examples of Aboriginal design or public art, thanks to Land.Mark.Art, several commissions have already been undertaken in sites across the State. The program is creating a space for a high quality Aboriginal public art that provides income streams and employment while also being a source of cultural pride, renewal and identity.’ 2 Meanwhile, FORM’s explorations of craft within - and as - digital practice have resulted in the Mira: Canning Stock Route Project Archive and Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal culture on the map - two Aboriginal digital projects designed

by FORM in collaboration and consultation with Aboriginal elders, artists and communities, and knowledge-questing partners such as Google Earth Outreach and the University of Berkeley.

Projects such as these embody the potential of, and synergies between, craft, design and alternative disciplines such as digital practice, public art, or even non-arts industry.

But more pertinently, these projects highlight how the synthesis of craft and non-traditional disciplines can effect change for a larger good. In the example of Mira, Ngarluma Ngarra and Land.Mark.Art this ‘larger good’ means unprecedented interactive, accessible insight into, and both understanding and celebration of Aboriginal culture. And there are many more examples around us, all of them with infinite potential. They only need vision, investment, cohesive strategic planning, and the right conditions for creativity to grow and thrive.

ELISHA BUTTLER

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new work acquired by state and national collections. Midland Atelier also inspired innovative, multidisciplinary exhibitions that explored and blurred the distinctions between disciplines, industries and audiences including Made in Midland (2006), Signs of Change: Jewellery Designed to Make a Better World (2010), Divergence: Photographs from Elsewhere (2012), Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) and Paper Cotton Leather Flowers Wood (both 2013).

Opening of Pieces of Gutharraguda, Jimmy Poland, 2013.

Photograph by Carolyn Karnovsky. (previous page)

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Block Two, Midland Railway Workshops.

Photograph by Christian Fletcher.

OPPORTUNITY AREA: PROGRAMMING WITH AN ABORIGINAL FOCUS

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There is growing recognition and appreciation of the creative and cultural contribution of the contemporary Aboriginal visual arts and craft sector to the Australian economy,1 yet obstacles continue to impede Aboriginal artists’ ability to sustain a creative practice. These obstacles include access to training and skills development; limited opportunities for arts development (particularly design and craft) in new media to diversify income streams; absence of adequate infrastructure, spaces, venues or other enabling environments to assist in the fabrication of work along with lack of access to materials and resources; high cost of touring, presentation and promotion Aboriginal art forms from the regions; poor investment and simplification of the inter-disciplinary and inter-relationship between forms of creativity, heritage and intangible forms of cultural expression (song, poetry, story) and craft and ongoing infringement of Aboriginal cultural rights and intellectual property.

Working in some of Western Australia’s most regional and remote areas over the last eight years has enabled FORM direct insight into the realities of these obstacles. Crucially, it has also emphasised a need for responsive cultural and artistic programming that nurtures and leverages Aboriginal talent in a way that is culturally appropriate, based on immersive, tangible learning and experience, sustains a longitudinal focus and has best practice at its core.

Operating both in parallel, and as a precedent to this, is FORM’s background in the development, research and championing of high-level, experimental craft and design, through initiatives such as Shifting Foundations, Designing Futures and more recently, Midland Atelier. A niche sector of Australian visual arts, the disciplines and future of craft and design (and arguably, craft in particular) have undergone much analysis, evaluation and (re)interpretation at a national level in recent decades. Through this FORM has recognised that some of the most fundamental traits of excellence in craft practice are not only worth preserving but have incredible, adaptive aptitude for strengthening and progressing the opportunities of craft – and other arts – practitioners. These traits are bound in a refined, meticulous and often very specific process of technical skill and the handmade and in this way they also possess great potential to improve or enhance aspects of other, non-arts industries; for instance digital technology and architecture, both industries that demand both technical precision at the finest level and the capacity to be inherently useful, thus connected, to the end-user – people.

Natasha Nelson, Spinifex Hill Artist.

Photograph by Bewely Shaylor.

For the Aboriginal arts sector, FORM’s programming in this field has shown particularly positive outcomes, especially when the program combines critical, skilled craft processes with other arts disciplines, and which play to the natural systems and complexities of Aboriginal life and culture.

Early programs in FORM’s Aboriginal creative development timeline all prioritise a whole-of-community, very place and culture-specific approach that works with the needs and layers of the Aboriginal people and communities involved while remaining responsive to sudden and fluid changes in environment and circumstance. Jason Tinker Belongs to Country/Mukurru Karrimara Ngurraramartaji (2006) was FORM’s first bilingual Aboriginal project, and was delivered almost entirely inside the prison where artist Jason Tinker was held at the time. Later, FORM adapted the model to the Strong from the Inside Out program (2009-12), delivered inside Greenough Regional Prison. While both were predominantly visual arts focused, their structure shared some of craft practice’s key, less tangible cultural characteristics – specifically communication, knowledgesharing and articulating and strengthening connection to landscape or Country through a process of refined, hands-on making. Following on from Jason Tinker, Seven Sisters: Fibre Works arising from the West, and the Woven Forms, Clever with our Hands and Cultural Strands/Woven vision suite of projects were more directly craft-oriented, but as with the visual arts programs, successful through their recognition of the value of craft-based processes and means of approaching the development and sharing of creative work.

Arguably FORM’s landmark Aboriginal creative project, The Canning Stock Route Project (2006-2014) brought together the learnings, potential and relationships of previous projects in a format that was truly interdisciplinary, inter-generational, inter-cultural and always bound in the strength of community learning and respect. The success of particular nodes of The Canning Stock Route Project paved the way for Land.Mark.

Art (launched 2009); Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) (2013), Mira: Canning Stock Route Project Archive (2013), Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal culture on the map (2013) and the Spinifex Hill Studio development (2014).

The most recent and ongoing of these programs are outlined as case studies below. Exploring links between cultural identity, art and design, and spanning digital practice, jewellery and public art, these programs seek to alleviate some of the challenges faced by urban and regional Aboriginal artists by exploring the potential and opportunities inherent in inter-disciplinary, experimental and hybrid practices. Craft as both a critical process and a model for learning is central to all of these programs.

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LAND.MARK.ART

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Just being here has made me think further about my work...These workshops are amazing. Having people, the designers, who can see things in your work that you wouldn’t think of, a different way of looking at things, from different angles...It’s just exciting and important having Noongar culture recognized.2

Artist Sharyn Egan in residence at Urban Art Studios, Brisbane. Photograph courtesy of UAP.

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Land.Mark.Art enables industry mentors to work alongside urban and regionally-based Aboriginal artists, helping them transition their skills from painting and 2D work into design and 3D disciplines which are relevant, but not limited to public art projects. The program, developed by FORM in collaboration with Urban Art Projects, offers culturally appropriate public art training and design services, and responds to the growth of opportunities in public art projects as a result of large scale infrastructure developments taking place in both the Perth metropolitan area and in the Pilbara.

Western Australia’s built environment has few examples of Aboriginal design or public art, but through Land.Mark.Art, several commissions have already been undertaken in sites across the State. The program is creating a space for a high quality Aboriginal public art that provides income streams and employment while also being a source of cultural pride, renewal and identity.

Esther Quintal’s shade structures at the new Spinifex Hill Studios, South Hedland. Photograph by Bewely Shaylor.

Land.Mark.Art immerses artists into the design process, from initial conceptual work through to the stages of exploration, refinement and model making, fabrication and the final product. Artists are introduced not only to new

materials (including clay, plasticine, polystyrene and wire in mould and model making) but also to a range of techniques to weave, bend, fold, pattern, and shape these materials into new forms to create maquettes of their work.

Workshop at the Spinifex Hill Studio, 2013.

Photograph by Greg Taylor.

Whilst Land.Mark.Art enhances design thinking and design approaches to artistic production, the program also encourages the development of a 3D practice that places Aboriginal cultural values and traditions at the centre of artistic development, encouraging different avenues of creative expression that promotes the ongoing celebration and transmission of Aboriginal heritage in our public spaces.

Land.Mark.Art is premised on developing a fair partnership that respects Aboriginal cultural rights, and honours the connections between Aboriginal design, heritage and traditions. Furthermore, Land.Mark.Art presents the chance for artists to express, interpret, remember and connect with culture while accessing income streams from public art opportunities. Though the fabrication process is undertaken by non-Aboriginal enterprises due to the requirements of producing large-scale public art, and the lack of appropriate facilities in Western Australia, this is a design collaboration based on an ethical model which ensures benefits are returned in a meaningful way to the community.

In 2013 FORM made a major leap forward in the organisation’s ability to deliver the Land.Mark.Art model in the Pilbara, having secured essential funding and land on which to build a new studio facility in South Hedland.

BHP Billiton and Royalties for Regions have enabled FORM to provide a centre not only as a permanent base for Aboriginal artist to paint but with a dedicated studio for the development of 3D works.

Concept design workshop

Design development workshop

Documentation

Fabrication

Installation

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Artist Peter Farmer talks about his work in a Land.Mark.Art development workshop at Midland Atelier. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

Land.Mark.Art development progression with Wendy Warrie (top) and Ann Sibosado (below).

Start up workshop

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During 2013, 20 Aboriginal artists from across the Pilbara took part in the Land.Mark.Art program with 14 new artwork commissions for projects across the Pilbara.

PIECES OF GUTHARRAGUDA (SHARK BAY)

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‘We have developed a way of working together during this time and formed our own terms of communication which are unique to the evolution of the mentorship. Sometimes we make notes in pen or draw small sketches on brown paper to plan our day in the studio together. These paper conversations are also historical markers that denote elements of Jimmy’s stories in Shark Bay and reminders of themes that will be conveyed in bone, shell and metal.

At times we sit in silence as we make. The longer we work together in our transportable studio the fewer words we use.

Our hands say more as we communicate to each other with small pieces of metal and bone, manipulating the copper into delicately curved forms and engraving the shapes of scales in to the surface of pearl shell. I make small objects and jewellery alongside Jimmy as he makes and we reflect on the making process, an opportunity that is only realised in the silence of our actions.’ Helena Bogucki 3

whilst providing an opportunity for both Aboriginal and nonAboriginal audiences to gain insight into life in Shark Bay. Contained in Jimmy’s objects are the energy locked into the hand-made process, and there is an ongoing relationship and interaction between object, material and the environment.

Through his carvings and jewellery, he creates a conversation and dialogue with and about Shark Bay: an insight which is intense and intimate.

The partnership between Helena and Jimmy in turn influenced Helena, leading to her ‘Shipwrecked’ series, demonstrating that the connections and creative exchange facilitated by these projects can have unintended and multiple outcomes.

Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) is an exhibition designed and developed by FORM featuring the works of Jimmy Poland, an 85 year old Malgana man who lives and works in Shark Bay. The exhibition presented the outcomes of Jimmy’s program of mentoring undertaken with Helena Bogucki, an independent contemporary jewellery designer.

The exhibition was designed to demonstrate the link between Jimmy’s craft practice and the broader social, cultural, economic and historical events that have shaped Shark Bay and Denham, through the inclusion of historical objects, photographs and archival material illustrating the connection between Aboriginal craft practice and place.

The mentorship bridged the divide across age and background. It also overcame the challenges faced by practitioners living in regional areas by flying Jimmy to Perth where he worked at Western Australia’s first creative industries hub, FORM’s Midland Atelier based at the Midland Railway Workshops. Helena also flew north to undertake a series of one on one workshops in Shark Bay. Jimmy takes pleasure in being around new ideas and young people; at the Midland Atelier he connected with the young designer-makers who worked from The Pattern Shop furniture and 3D design studio, forming relationships, sharing knowledge and skills. An organic process of exchange emerged, providing a valuable network for Jimmy and his practice. Jimmy created new objects using techniques and materials (such as copper moulding and welding) that were introduced to him through the project.

This unique artistic development process supported and guided by FORM has allowed Jimmy to tell his stories of place in new mediums, articulating his cultural identity,

Jimmy Poland talks about his work at the opening of his exhibition at FORM Gallery. Photograph by Carolyn Karnovsky.

33 EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR Carved dugong bone dugongs in nylon nets, by Jimmy Poland. Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

DESIGN & DIGITAL MAPS

Mira: Canning Stock Route Project Archive and Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal culture on the map are FORM’s Aboriginal digital projects. They demonstrate the potential of design and the creative use of data and technology to challenge the way we view and interact with Aboriginal cultural values. These two projects were presented in an immersive exhibition which opened in November, 2013. Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal culture on the map creates a participatory and immersive map that was developed as a response to the Ngarluma elders’ of the Roebourne area wish to document and record intangible cultural heritage. The Ngarluma Tharndu Karrungu Maya Ltd partnered with FORM to sponsor the project, demonstrating their commitment to strengthening Ngarluma culture and empowering people to build a positive future through bolstering and revitalising Ngarluma cultural practices.

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FORM worked in collaboration with Ngarluma anthropologist, Andrew Dowding, whose concept of a digital map emerged as a platform to document Ngarluma knowledge for future generations, whilst giving an insight to the non-Aboriginal audience into Ngarluma history, experience and way of seeing country in the Pilbara. In addition to Andrew and the Ngarluma elders, the project involved film-makers, photographers, software developers and writers, building an exhibition that showcased objects of material culture, books and paintings alongside digital content articulating the range of Aboriginal forms of creative expression.

Kayesha plays with a phone in Balgo during CSR Repatriation workshops, 2013. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

FORM became the first Australian organization to be a recipient of the Google Earth Outreach grants program for Aboriginal content. The grant rewards organizations with outstanding mapping ideas to support the technical development of maps. The Ngarluma Ngurra map animates and embeds the cultural traditions and histories of Ngarluma people into Google Earth (which lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, and terrain). Through film content, photography, visual graphics, and text embedded into the map, non-Aboriginal people are able to gain an understanding of complex cultural values, knowledge and visual aesthetics communicate.

The project presents a new model for the creative use of data and technology to engage a younger generation of Aboriginal people and the public in an active dialogue. It translates Aboriginal knowledge, stories and histories about place into a compelling experience that uses digital mapping as a point of access for visualizing Aboriginal cultural values.

Mira: The Canning Stock Route Project demonstrates design which fuses cultural preservation, heritage, and Aboriginal cultural protocols with new approaches to database

Arts Law solicitor Delwyn Everard and interpreter Katie Darkie talk through the repatriation agreements with Paruku IPA artist Anna Johns, 2013. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

Screen shot of Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive.

Both projects work across interactivity and multimedia experiences. The project curators work at the frontier of digital design, collaborating with Aboriginal people to translate stories and histories into digital forms that have the potential to change how we consider and interact with remote environments. In conjunction with the Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal Culture on the map, and Mira, FORM also developed the Canning Stock Route iOS app for mobile devices. It is based on the award-winning One Road multimedia interactive, the signature piece of the Yiwarra Kuju exhibition.

Operating in the same realm is the Spinifex Hill Studio development, completed early in 2014 and located in the predominantly Aboriginal Pilbara locality of South Hedland.

Spinifex Hill Studio takes the program modelling of the abovementioned projects into a physical, dedicated space for the exploration and making of both three-dimensional (i.e. craft, design and public art) and two-dimensional (painting, illustration) artistic practice. Significantly, the Studio does not function to simply facilitate learning and artistic excellence within these two loosely-defined disciplinary areas, but to provide opportunities to explore the relationships, synergies,

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The online repository has been designed with FORM following extensive consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders. Currently, there is no nationally coordinated approach to the archiving and preservation of digital creative material, so Mira is a world-first in archiving creative and cultural content. Mira allows far reaching community access, and enables multiple users to access the archive at any time. It also ensures that schools and the general public are able to access public layers of the archive for research and general use. Through exploring innovative approaches to information spaces Mira connects people with information in new ways, enabling the complexity of Aboriginal knowledge to be illustrated through clear and accessible online communication language. serendipities and potential between the two - a place where the lines of definition, application and experimentation can be, and are deliberately, blurred. Continuing the highly beneficial theme of inter-generationality and inter-culturality, FORM’s programming through the Studio is not targeted squarely at either Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal people, but designed to foster a truly open, receptive, thorough and collaborative creative and cultural dialogue.

What all of the programs and projects cited in this paper share, is a structure that facilitates and enables a community of making, sharing, learning and exploration.

This open, community format is inherent to Aboriginal culture and learning, and was as much long before contemporary painting and visual art became the mainstream manifestations of Aboriginal culture and artistic practice. Craft originally was - and still is - a critical enabler of this type of dialogue and engagement for Aboriginal people. It is a format that can likewise enhance the creative and critical processes of non-Aboriginal artists and makers.

SHARMILA WOOD

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development, design and technology. Mira brings together the incredible breadth of cultural content gathered on the Canning Stock Route Project since 2006, including hundreds of hours of High Definition footage, over 250 oral histories and interviews, over 20,000 photographs, and a range of other curatorial and research materials. In addition, the archive houses and preserves some extremely valuable traditional cultural content and skills in a digital form that enables remote Aboriginal communities to access their invaluable cultural and intellectual property electronically.

For example, the 2008 Ngumpan workshop performed and recorded four dances, one of which, Kaningarra, was revived for the first time in many years. Performing Kaningarra and the other dances introduced many young Aboriginal people into these ceremonies for the first time, which meant that skills associated with making traditional dress and ornament were both practiced and recorded for future generations.

Also, workshops such as the Ngurra carving workshop in 2007 and the Kunawarritji workshops in 2008 produced a huge array of traditional wood carving and fibre works, of which over 30 were collected by the National Museum of Australia, and the making of which was recorded and housed archivally in Mira for the benefit and education of future generations of Aboriginal people.

CHALLENGE AREA: BENCHMARKING CRAFT TRAINING AND FACILITIES WESTERN AUSTRALIA This is a brief, working overview of the current state of facilities and training available to individuals who wish to establish a professional craft practice in Western Australia.

For the purposes of this preliminary overview, the term ‘craft’ is used to denote the disciplines of ceramics, studio glass, jewellery, fibre/textiles, and fine wood. Due to the lack of published information available via tertiary institutions, much of this paper has been compiled from interviews with practicing artist and academics, and as such it is a working study only.

This inquiry argues, along with most studies into craft training,1 that three factors have traditionally been necessary to become such a specialist practitioner: - Facilities: regular, affordable access to a studio space with the facilities to support such a practice.

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- Training: apprenticeship with an experienced practitioner is a necessity in order to gain the specialist hand-skilling necessary to practice a craft. Such skills can take decades to develop to the point where one can act as such a mentor.

- Community of practice: a competitive and sustainable practice needs to be informed by ideas, and driven by exchange with and support from a community of peers.

Traditionally this community would be fostered through tertiary institutions – you may graduate as one of several ‘ceramics graduates’ – however the restructuring of tertiary art schools away from the major/minor system and toward generic Bachelor of Arts (BA) means that this is no longer possible. The lack of a three-year specialist degree in craft disciplines is something that the Jam Factory has helped to address with its Associate Program, but that Western Australia is yet to remedy.

This document will discuss these three factors in relation to Western Australia in early 2014, and in the context of an era in which the traditional discipline-focused definition of craft is in question.

It is commonly accepted that the number and scale of studio facilities in Western Australia (and nationally) has been eroded over the past decade.2 Prior to this, numerous options existed for practitioners in Western Australia who wished to pursue a craft. Tertiary institutions included art schools at Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University (metropolitan and regional campuses) and the University of Western Australia. Technical schools were in operation at Central, Midland, Subiaco, Rockingham, and

numerous regional campuses. Western Australia also had a number of private art schools such as Claremont School of Art and Dwellingup School of Fine Wood), arts centres such as Fremantle Arts Centre, and local council programming.

Also in operation were artist-run shared studio facilities, such as ceramicist Fleur Schell’s purpose-built home studio, which she ran as a residency studio for visiting artists and group classes during the early 2000s.

In recent years many of these institutions have closed, while others have shifted to ‘community’ focused programming, rather than formal training. Claremont School of Art, for example, which previously offered a Diploma of Fine Art that could incorporate ceramics or jewellery, reopened after closing in the early 2000s, but now only offers short courses.

Fremantle Arts Centre has expanded its programming, but again, the focus is on short courses, rather than extended training with a surrounding conceptual framework. The Dwellingup School of Fine Wood, which provided a diploma in fine wood craft and furniture design for 16 years, closed in 2011.3 This closure was partly offset by FORM’s Midland Atelier, which offered a similarly well-equipped studio and a mentorship structure (as well as jewellery studios for three years), however this facility closed in 2013 after five years of development when funding could not be secured to retain and expand the studio.4 ‘The conditions for fine craft development are in a fragile position here. Teaching of craft at the highest level simply does not exist here in W.A. Formal mentoring is in a similar state … The word Craft is rarely seen except amongst the hobby fraternity … very rarely do practitioners refer to themselves as makers of craft anymore. They are artists.5 The shifting nature, and severely reduced funding6,7,8 of the tertiary system has seen university art schools in Western Australia move toward generic bachelor degrees with a few focused electives, rather than the traditional degree in visual arts with a dedicated major and minor in practice-based disciplines. While the shift toward generic BAs has allowed art schools to remain open and operational to some extent, there is no doubt that a degree that provides the conceptual framework and skill development necessary to produce an internationally competitive practitioner no longer exists in Western Australia.9 The choice of some institutions to absorb particular craft areas into their design faculties, rather than their art schools, has seen the subsequent loss of particular facilities and

The following list of major craft studio facilities and the state of training is a working list based on information currently available through university and TAFE websites, student services departments at those institutions, and interviews with professional practitioners and tertiary staff members.

ECU used to offer numerous streams within its visual arts major comprising painting, print media, textiles, sculpture, and electronic arts and design (2005). Consistent financial constraints on the university has seen significant restructuring rather than outright closure. Facilities at ECU for glass, ceramics, and textiles continue to exist but in a much truncated form.

ECU’s fibre and textiles stream was once firmly positioned within the craft sector, and offered the now famous Edith Cowan University Bush Camp, which began in 1988 and was coordinated by textiles lecturer Elsie van Keppel.

This camp continued until 2008, with John Parkes taking over from van Keppel in 1995. The textiles camps ended in 2008, and this closure can be seen as ECU moving its textiles stream closer to the design and industry based fashion and garment stream, and away from a context that emphasises conceptual and artistic practice. With textiles firmly positioned as garment, ECU offers a studio equipped accordingly: screen printing, dyeing and fabric manipulation processes, cutting tables, domestic and industrial sewing machines, overlockers, and dressmaking stands.

Contextualised in this way, it is difficult to find evidence of an actual artistic textiles-based practice present within this stream of the visual arts at ECU. Currently, limited ceramics facilities exist within the School of Education that continues to offer one introduction to ceramics unit for future teachers. However, while these facilities are, in theory, able to be used by a visual arts student, it is extremely difficult to locate the presence of a dedicated ceramics stream within the art school at ECU. There are no units devoted to ceramics, and no dedicated ceramics studio within the visual arts building.

In terms of glass, ECU continues to offer studio glass facilities. The university advertises that is has a variety of kilns and glass blowing tools, and that students are able to learn fusing, slumping, mould-making, casting, and basic cold-working techniques. Students therefore are not able to learn glass-blowing, and as of 2014, while ECU advertises a specialist studio glass stream, there is only actually one unit of study devoted to glass, and it is a unit that is oriented toward design rather than a conceptual arts practice.

While some wood and metal working studios exist within the education building, ECU currently employs no dedicated technicians to train or even facilitate students in their use, and therefore ECU cannot be seen to be currently producing practitioners in these fields.

West Australian Jeweller Claire Moody in her studio

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‘We feel that the state of craft in WA is in decline. If the opportunities and support are not there it is hard for the discipline to thrive. Despite recent boom economic times, Perth has seen many high profile commercial galleries close. Opportunities are disappearing, not growing.’10

Edith Cowan University (ECU)

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training that previously formed a key part of the discipline in question. For example, Curtin University’s Textiles Department, which incorporated skills such as printmaking, dyeing, weaving, knitting, lace-making and shibori, and equipment such as screen printing facilities, 3D scanners, knitting, sewing and overlocking machines, was closed in 2011. Elements of the department have since been absorbed into the design stream, but with a much stronger orientation toward fashion and garment, and the loss of those techniques listed above.

Curtin University of Technology

Claire Morgan

Prior to 2010, the Bachelor of Visual Arts at Curtin University of Technology offered students a degree where they could choose from a number of majors including painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, clay and glass, jewellery, and 3D design in addition to a Diploma in Contemporary Indigenous Art.11 During this period, students also chose a minor area of study from the above disciplines, along with dedicated theory and drawing classes. As of 2010, the major/ minor system was replaced with two majors: Fine Arts, and Art and Design Studies (which comprises of art theory and drawing). Within the art major, there is now no theory at all, and all students must complete a standard first year.

Some facilities remain, including textiles and woodworking equipment, however the majority of staff members within the art school are now sessional, largely postgraduates and recent graduates, without substantial careers and skill-bases informing their teaching.12 Curtin currently operates no ceramics or glass facilities: while equipment exists it is not currently installed and functioning.

There is some textiles equipment available, but no textiles staff, and the fashion stream is largely non-studio-based.

Jewellery and 3D design is still running, with a maintained studio and limited technical staff, but no permanent jewellery lecturers that would foster a research culture around this discipline. The wood and metal workshop also has an equipped studio offering fairly comprehensive equipment, as does the sculpture studio, however with severely curtailed technical staff that could offer students assistance in skill development, these facilities do not currently work toward developing an artist with a dedicated practice within these fields of making.

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University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia, within the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts, currently advertises four main fields of study: Landscape Architecture, Architecture, History of Art, and Integrated Design.

Therefore, while art still exists at the University of Western Australia, it is no longer possible to enroll in a Bachelor of Visual Art. This shift reflects the broader trend toward generic arts degrees, and while UWA offers a number of broadening units that may incorporate some elements of studio practice, it effectively no longer operates an art school in the traditional sense.

Central TAFE Central Institute of Technology currently houses the State’s best-equipped studios and broadest offerings in the teaching of craft techniques. Its course offerings include a Diploma & Advanced Diploma of Visual Art and Craft (including ceramics, but not glass), an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery Design, and a Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Fashion and Textile Design (largely focused on garment and fashion).

Additionally, Challenger TAFE offers some short courses in arts and crafts, and Rockingham TAFE offers some ceramics and has a studio. However, Polytechnic West stopped

offering any visual arts and crafts courses at the end of 2013, which meant that TAFE no longer offers any courses through their facilities, including the Midland centre that constituted the main opportunity for students wishing to pursue a craftbased certificate or diploma outside of the city centre.

Although it is generally recognised that Central TAFE offers the best chance at learning traditional craft skills, all the professional practitioners interviewed agreed that it was not a substitute for the more traditional degree in visual arts with a major focusing on ceramics, studio glass, fine wood, jewellery, and fibre and textiles. Technical colleges, while they may be able to offer skill development, do not formally participate in a research culture and do not offer honours and postgraduate programs that give emerging practitioners the crucial time they need to develop their research and practice. As such, technical colleges cannot be said to fill the gap of the closure of training facilities in traditional craft that Western Australia has seen in the last decade.

Fremantle Arts Centre Fremantle Arts Centre continues to offer a number of short courses, which utilises facilities on their premises and employs some very experienced makers as instructors.

They offer courses in jewellery, ceramics, and fashion and textiles, but again with a short-term rather than practicebased format. A short course in ceramics will not produce a practitioner capable of exhibiting at even a State Gallery level, let alone an artist with an internationally competitive practice.

Training

Conclusion

In line with ongoing changes to the tertiary system, the majority of studios accessible via learning institutions are now run by sessional staff, with numerous long-term academics and heads of department taking redundancies since the late 2000s: as of 2011 it was estimated that around 60 per cent of university staff were sessional employees.

This compares to an average of around 25 per cent in the overall workforce.13 In this climate, much of the training that students enrolled in any training facility, particularly in the arts, is likely to be carried out by a teacher on a short term contract and in a position of intense employment insecurity,14 and the tertiary sector has found it extremely difficult to retain teachers in the arts with the skills to teach traditional craft-based disciplines at all.15

In summary, it is difficult to see how the current state of craft training and facilities in Western Australia has the infrastructure necessary to produce a practitioner able to exhibit and contribute to craft-based object making nationally and internationally. As much as this would require a level of skill that Western Australia does not currently have the facilities and degree structures to teach, it would also require a community of conceptual challenge and rigour that is not currently fostered in the dialogues that surround contemporary Western Australian practice. Whether or not some initiative, one such as Midland Atelier, can forge strong enough connections between the disparate facilities and practitioners that currently exist to produce a stable enough environment to produce excellence in practice remains to be seen. Regardless, since the developments described in this report have occurred over more than a decade, it seems that faith in the ability of traditional discipline and studio based training to restore excellence in artistic object-based practice is naïve at best. Significantly, the Ministry of Arts website refers to three reports that frame its current approach to the arts and creative practice in Australia: while the 2002 report17 goes to some length to define contemporary craft practice in Australia, the reports from 201118 and 201319 seem to ignore craft practice, and the issue surrounding training and facilities discussed in this report, entirely, focusing instead on the broader field of the creative industries. What would be needed is some redefinition of craft practice, and a thorough-going survey into the conditions that are necessary to produce such a practice that can both contribute and compete internationally.

Community Beyond the erosion of skills-dissemination, the abolition of the major/minor system has also meant that the emergence into a ‘craft community’ that traditionally followed graduation from an art school is less likely to happen. Community and artist-run groups such as the Jewellery and Metalsmiths Group of Australia and the Ceramics Arts Association of Western Australia Inc. are still running; however without the support of tertiary departments to spread awareness and encourage new memberships, such groups are not wellpositioned to expand or evolve as they have done in the past.

TRAVIS KELLEHER

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An alternative for emerging practitioners is to undertake a formal or informal mentorship with a practitioner with the facilities that would make this possible. Western Australia currently houses some of the world’s leading craft disciplinarians including the internationally-recognised Sandra Black (a world authority on pierced porcelain), Tanija and Graham Carr (leathercraft and other media), Pippin Drysdale (glazed porcelain), and Kevin Gordon (copper-wheel glass engraving) and Nalda Searles (fibre sculpture and basketry).

However, many of the artists are themselves reliant on the scattered facilities available in Western Australia, and do not operate from a position of enough security to mentor in anything much more than an informal capacity.

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‘I think you need the conceptual development alongside the practical development …You can conceptualise all you like, but if you haven’t got any basic skills then you’re not going to be able to ... but universities are the wrong place to come and learn how to throw. It’s just going to take you a lot of hours, and a lot of time, and we don’t really have the backup technical support staff to help you ... it’s just the wrong match for somebody who wants to learn basic skills at a university. In fact, your question about Helen Britton, [about whether we have the facilities to produce a practitioner of that calibre], no, you’re not ever going to get somebody who is a really cutting edge, professional person, aware of international trends, making a contribution to that discussion, that dialogue. That’s not going to happen if you’re picking up a couple of hours of jewellery classes on a Wednesday afternoon.’16

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OPPORTUNITY AREA: CRAFT IN THE POST-INDUSTRIAL ERA ART AND CRAFT

But since the 1960s there has been an ongoing revision of craft aimed at establishing it as an autonomous practice that is neither entirely non-functional (art), nor entirely functional (traditional craft and manufacture). In other words, a craft that is at the interface of the functional and the aesthetic and exploring how we make sense of the world. As Howard Risatti comments, ‘we must find a way to go beyond simply looking at craft objects as things that have function or are made of certain materials…we must begin to see and recognise them in the sense of comprehending them by grasping their essence.’

The word ‘function’ is somewhat problematic. It is more useful to make the structuralist distinction between the practical function and the aesthetic function, because individual objects (be they paintings on canvas, or chairs) will foreground one function over the other without entirely dispensing with the other function.

Hence, a painting foregrounds its aesthetic function, although it may also serve some practical function, such as filling wall space. On the other hand, while a chair foregrounds its practical function (its utility), it will hopefully also be a beautiful object to look at. Objects of utility (chairs, tables etc.) can, over time, take on more of the character of art because they take on a patina or memory and so evoke an emotional response akin to art. But this is not true of a new object and, anyway, is only true of that limited number of objects which manage to survive with an extended useful life as they are passed on to new owners or future generations.

Craft as traditionally foregrounded the act of making, while fine art as tended strongly to disguise the process of making and emphasise the experience of the finished product. But,

The Autonomy of Craft Sensing that craft was being marginalised and losing relevance, many craftspeople have pushed their practice towards fine art. Risatti, however, points out that craft runs the risk of being absorbed into either design or art, and so lose its relevance.

This is the risk. The opportunity, however, is to forge a new autonomy for craft in the post-industrial era. Craft needs to continually re-define its place in the modern world and go beyond the preoccupation with materials and techniques: even though crafting and the exploration of materials and making techniques will remain at the heart of craft.

The opportunity for craft is to occupy the interface between art, contemporary and traditional materials and techniques, and design. Through this autonomy it can re-affirm it relevance and, in its own unique way, provide an expression of human values and explore what it means to be in this world, just as the fine arts have always done.

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Traditionally, craft has been focused on materials and techniques (materiality) and on hand-crafted, one-off objects.

Its emphasis on utility did not, of course, deny beauty, but nor did it allow for the meaning and personal engagement that art provided. In other words, it did not serve any purpose outside its own utility.

once again, this is a moveable feast: craft products may also disguise the act of making, while paintings or sculptures may deliberately foreground the process (through gestural marks or texture).

Case Studies These two case studies, Helen Britton and Penelope Forlano, epitomise the evolving face of craft. While both practices are distinctive, they also share some important characteristics: the combination of new technologies with traditional skills, the exploration of new materials and re-exploration of traditional materials, engaging with the ‘consumer’ in an active dialogue about values and meaning, and working within a professional discipline which involves research and development, rigorous work schedules, credible business plans and sophisticated strategies for bringing their products together with potential markets.

PAUL MCGILLICK

Image from Flora Obscura series, Eva Fernandez, 2013.

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Debate about the nature of craft and its relationship to art has been going on since R.G. Collingwood’s The Principles of Art (1938), which essentially argued that the creativity of art lay in the fact that the artist did not know what the outcome would be at the beginning and that the viewer’s emotional response was likewise not pre-determined. Craft, on the other hand, was prescribed from the beginning and lacked the creative engagement of art.

CASE STUDY Helen Britton Artist/Jewellery-maker

Helen Britton had a very traditional art school education in Newcastle, Sydney and Perth. In Western Australia she developed her art practice focussed on jewellery, but is now based in Munich, Germany, the ‘epicentre of jewellerymaking’, from where she conducts an international career.

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Although she says she does not have a problem calling herself a craftsperson, Britton prefers to call herself an artist.

Hence, she is very representative of contemporary craft practice, exploring the territory between art and craft – a territory with constantly shifting borders. Not surprisingly, her practice is extensive and highly varied.

‘I am not a designer. I don’t design things and have them made. And I don’t work in the way a designer works where they do product research and produce a product for a particular market. The way my practice works is very much the way an artist makes work. It is quite independent of external concerns. In other words, I am not a jeweller where I make jewellery. I don’t make commissions, And I don’t make particular kinds of work – wedding rings and so on– [because] that would make me a jewellery designer. A lot of artists are very good craftspeople and a lot of craftspeople are very good artists. I think these are terms which have become a lot more flexible and, in a way, no longer that important.

‘But, of course, when it turns around and becomes a way of disempowering an organisation that is looking at supporting people that come from a very strong craft practice or where craft practice is the base of their work or they identify themselves as craft practitioners, then I think you really do need to retain the term and I don’t really have a problem calling myself a craftsperson.’

Britton had extensive and intensive training in art schools.

This was, she says, a very traditional fine art education which sadly, is no longer available in Australia. But it equipped her with knowledge, skills and a discipline which now enables her to earn a living through her work – which is very broadbased with all the different aspects feeding into and off one another.

‘I come from a fine art background. I studied in the good old days before HECS. I started art school when I was 17. I had a long course of study and a very thorough, old-fashioned art school training where I learned to draw, learned about perspective, learned how to mix paint and learned about colour – all those fundamentally important [skills] which are now almost non-existent in art school education in Australia because of the cuts to education.

‘So, I came from a very thorough basis which gives me an incredible flexibility in my work – because I understand materials very well and have that very good basic training which is an incredible treasure. I started in Newcastle in NSW, then I went to Sydney College of the Arts where I studied printmaking and painting. Then I drove around Australia (I was about 20) and ended up in Western Australia and decided to go back to art school and went to Edith Cowan University. Then I did Honours and my MFA at Curtin University – a research Masters Programme which led me to a post-graduate diploma at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich, the epicentre for contemporary jewellery. This is an academy set up 200 years ago specifically to train artists and it is one of the few academies of fine arts which has within its programme a jewellery class. So, it looks at jewellery practice from the perspective of an investigation into jewellery which does not concern itself with design and production or with standard notions of jewellery.

‘I was in Kalgoorlie teaching for Edith Cowan University and there happened to be a fantastic goldsmithing studio there at the time with a guy who happened to know quite a lot about international contemporary art jewellery which is a kind of whole niche in its own right and I just became really fascinated. When I lived in Australia I was exhibiting, of course – drawings, graphic work, printmaking, jewellery, objects. And I still do exhibitions. I don’t make only jewellery.

I have large exhibitions of drawings, paper objects, jewellery, sometimes film – at the moment I have a huge installation where I am being sponsored by Märklin, the model train maker here in Germany, for a particular event, I have built an entire ghost train. I am doing a bit of everything, but jewellery is the linchpin of everything here. But it is a very broad practice.’

The cross-disciplinary and investigative nature of Britton’s work exemplifies the new craft practice. While, like traditional craft, it is grounded in skills and knowledge of materials, like art it does not know the end at the beginning.

Rather, it is exploratory, experimental and involves a constant, recursive critical process. An important result of this process is the making of objects which engage the ‘consumer’ in generating meanings from the work.

‘I have an idea and I get involved in a particular investigation.

It is fairly direct. Whilst drawing is a very important part of my work and I describe some of my work as folded drawings, it is very direct. So, I never make an exact drawing of the piece and then make it. I often draw directly on to the metal or have an idea for a construction and have to make drawings to solve and stabilise the construction.

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Awkward Beauty artwork, necklace by Helen Britton, garment

by Justine McKnight and photograph (background) by Michelle Taylor. Photograph by Michelle Taylor. (previous page)

Helen Britton in residence at Midland Atelier, 2011.

Photograph by Michelle Taylor.

Britton has issues with the way students are prepared in their education. These issues are universal, but in her view especially applicable to Australia, and Western Australia in particular. The issues include the lack of a sense of vocation, lack of useable skills, and lack of professional discipline. Part of the problem, she says, goes back to the misconceived amalgamation of vocational institutions with universities.

As a result of this there has been a destructive conflation of training and credentials.

‘I was very fortunate to study when I did in Australia. I had marvellous teachers. You know, when I was art school, we had 13 hours of drawing a week. You had to be there at 9 in the morning and you’d finish being taught stuff at 5 in the afternoon. Then you’d go on and work into the night getting stuff done. Now, students are lucky if they have 13 contact hours a week across the entire spectrum. It is so inappropriate. I had great teachers. Some of them were dreadfully old-fashioned, but I really learned how to draw, how to understand space. It was a very wellgrounded experience. It gives me so many possibilities as a practitioner.

‘We get a hell of a lot of kids coming through our studio.

We have quite a big collaborative studio. We have two other artists and people always want to come here and help us. But they have no idea of anything much. Some come through and they know how to use Photoshop of something, which is handy. But it is really a concern for me, particularly because I have always been involved in education, I get invited to schools all over the world to look at the work or

‘I would suggest that the art schools become independent of the universities immediately. They don’t have to comply to the number crunching that a business course or a law course has to do. They need to be well-funded and very selective.

They need to go back to training people really well. The processes that an artists needs is something quite complex and subtle. It takes a long time to train an artist well. I can compare it to some of the old European schools and they do actually work and the people who come out of these schools become professional artists and live from their work. This is something we are denying young Australians.

It is incredibly important to have mentors or role models. I try to provide that here myself. We have people coming in on a fairly regular basis to either assist us or talk to us. But I don’t want to teach or to become an academic. I do see my role as a professional artist as being also a role model and talk to young people about what is important and how to manage.’

Britton earns a living from her work, partly because of the training described above and partly because of the way she has developed a vocational discipline. But she also represents a new model for the contemporary craftsperson, one which continues to embody the traditional designer/ maker, but one which is totally contemporary in its approach, its use of technology and in its global orientation.

‘I live from my work and have done for a number of years and my work is fairly uncompromised. I am not making work and thinking “Maybe I can sell this”. Until I established myself, I did have good day-jobs and I encourage people to realise that that’s a reality, to take their time. You have to be disciplined and organised, pace yourself and also be very connected. I survive because I work internationally – the idea that one can rely on a local market is ridiculous. I have seven galleries worldwide and those galleries are also active internationally. They will be representing my work in Paris or New York or London where there will be these art events or fairs. And, of course, you have to meet their requirements if you want to work with them.’

PAUL MCGILLICK & HELEN BRITTON

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‘The work is often quite thematic, so I have done different kinds of projects in different parts of the world where I have particular preoccupations with geography, history, particularly in terms of materiality, how materials move around, particularly in relation to jewellery Then I go and investigate the place and do a lot of photography, talk to people, make drawings and I might continue that body of work for ten years. There is a particular body of work where I have been working with these old German glassblowers in the remote middle mountains of the former Eastern Germany and I have been going and visiting them since 2001. I have made three or four major exhibitions of that work internationally. It is an ongoing kind of obsession, really.’

talk to the students and some of them are really good. But the Australian institutions are really lagging, particularly in Western Australia.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

It is quite organic. And I usually develop fairly big groups of work all at once. So, I have an idea for an exhibition for a particular body of work and I will start making all of the pieces more or less simultaneously.

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CASE STUDY Penelope Forlano Artist/Fine Wood Perth-based Penelope Forlano trained in interior design and architecture and has worked as a design practitioner since 1997. She worked as a academic at Curtin University in Perth for ten years and now works closely with her husband, Glen Oldfield, in a composite manufacturing business, Composite Components, which is closely connected to her practice.

Forlano designs and makes furnishings which, while functional, push the limits of functionality towards pure

aesthetics. In some of her work, she actually does go beyond functionality with seemingly crafted objects which are actually works of art.

In her investigation of the liminal space between art and craft, Forlano exemplifies contemporary craft practice.

Hers is a practice based on research and experimentation involving the use of new materials and manufacturing technologies. At the same time, Forlano’s work embodies

‘From there I have begun experimenting as a maker myself and in conjunction with other makers, whether they are a craft practitioner, or in standard fabrication industry, or R&D fabrication.

‘I was an academic at Curtin for ten years as well, so I was always on that research side of it, looking at testing new things – what can we create, how do we create it and what does it mean. So, now I am focussing on how we can use digital fabrication techniques and digital modelling in new ways of making to create objects that can engage the consumer in a way that they may be able to co-create or co-participate in how something is conceived and how something is constructed.

‘My husband’s field is composite components and we’ve worked together on a bunch of things. We both started our careers about twenty years ago and we started working together ten years ago in a commercial sense. I get exposed to a lot of that industry technology and I then look at ways of applying it to my industry, because architecture always lags behind in that sense, because it is tested more in industrial design applications before it gets to the larger scale of architecture.’

An important aspect of Forlano’s practice is pushing into the domain of art where objects take on meaning because, as a result of their enhanced aesthetic dimension, they engage the consumer ─ in the same way that a work of art engages the viewer, in a two-way conversation which generates meaning. But Forlano aims to take the notion of engagement further ─ as well as taking the idea of customisation further by involving the client in the conceptualisation, development and fabrication of the product.

‘Our direction now is creating highly customisable design. So, rather than mass production, it is highly customisable. It starts to bridge that gap between art and design. It integrates hand craft and digital fabrication. In my architectural background you get the brief and then

‘I am looking at those issues, but also at how people can interact with the work in some way that it becomes more meaningful. How can we make that story a little bit more explicit, a little more personal.’

Forlano sees the educational process as crucial and the current system as inadequate. Her solution is, on the one hand, to recover what has been lost in design and architecture education: the intertwining of institutional instruction with practical, real world experience. On the other hand, she thinks the system needs to embrace the changing technological landscape and its potential for design and learn to adjust to the speed of technological change.

‘One of the problems is that the education system is moving too slowly and it is not keeping up with technology.

So, I do think that with technology moving so fast, more integration with industry would be helpful. You can do this through shared research projects. For example, I can see lots of opportunity with the research and development my husband does, that someone working with the materials and understanding how it’s made and all that stuff, which is what architects used to be trained in years ago, then they’d have a better understanding of how to design. But now they can’t even use a drill. I’m always trying to push my students in that direction and there are lots of opportunities if you look hard enough. But it’s very hard for industry to afford to take on someone for six months. We also need links with industry to have labs and properly equipped workshops, with the suppliers of the equipment so that designers can use and design for these machines.’

PAUL MCGILLICK & PENELOPE FORLANO

Terrain table by Penelope Forlano, 2010, photograph courtesy of the artist

Spinifex Hill Artist Wilarra Barker at work.

Photograph by Beweley Shaylor. (next page)

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‘I come from a design background, trained as a designer, not a maker. My husband (Glen Oldfield) is a maker – not in an area of the arts. His work is R&D-based, [for example] if you have a company trying to develop something [where] they have the engineering, but don’t know how to make it. My husband does things which are complicated to make and he uses all different sorts of materials. I was interested in how his new ways of making can be applied to design, and taken out of the industrial area and into the architectural and the domestic. We have worked together for about ten years in research and development for design practice. So, using new technologies, new materials, new ways of making ─ to create objects. I have made furniture which uses aerospace technology and materials. Then I became more interested in using more traditional materials with new technology, say, with furniture, using wood in new ways, sometimes as composite, sometimes just with new machinery.

you have to tease out of the client what it is that is at the core, whether it is in their belief system or values or whatever to really evoke something that is meaningful to them. But in furniture and objects, because of this mass production approach, there is a loss of that individuality and customisation, so I am looking at how digital fabrication and customer participation can bring individuality to an interior product. And, of course, that interior product ends up becoming more of an art object than a consumer object.

I end up looking at memory, meaning or the story of the person or the family, so that it becomes more than just an object. And hopefully something that reveals something that we would not otherwise know about. In that sense, it evokes the same issues that art does. It makes people think.

It is not just an injection-moulded, polypropylene stool.

EVALUATING THE CRAFT & CREATIVE SECTOR

an ongoing critical agenda concerned with the modern consumer society – and examining issues of ethics, integrity and meaning in the conceptualisation and manufacture of products. Trained as a designer, architect and interior designer she explores product design within a spatial dimension.

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PART 2

Building on FORM’s extensive and ongoing evaluation of the needs of the craft, design and creative sector, it’s programming aims to address gaps in the creative ecology, build on opportunities and highlight ways forward to a stronger Western Australian creative and cultural life.

The following section demonstrates the outcomes of 2013 programming, with several programs pointing the way forward for further development over the coming years through initiatives such as PUBLIC and Aboriginal Digital Futures.

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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

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PUBLIC

A multi-year program that will explore creativity as a public good.

While this program does not become visible until 2014 the planning, funding and development is drawn from the convergence of several threads of FORM’s work over several years building on learnings from Creative Capital and our research, City of Walls and regional programming, highlighting how concepts initially trialled through other programs can mature into a strategic engagement of considerable duration.

PUBLIC (def): something ‘of the people; of or done for the state’.

PUBLIC embraces diversity and prioritises community.

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PUBLIC celebrates the capacity of the arts, culture and creativity to bring substantial benefits for enhanced community environments, individual and public wellbeing.

Not only is art important for cultural expression, identity, inspiration, innovation and artistic value, it has much to bring to the cultural, social and economic lives of our cities and towns, generating vibrancy, interaction, attractiveness and community building. Inspired by its original Latin definition, it is egalitarian, accessible, and democratic in concept. It reasserts the principle that art is for everybody, and that if done well, can be a catalyst for community enrichment.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

2014 will see the launch of PUBLIC with a celebration of urban art across the city that will bring to Perth and WA leading international, national, and local urban, visual and digital artists to create an iconic cultural event.

With a multi-tiered approach, the collective PUBLIC program will deliver place activation of a different nature.

The outcomes will create an increased recognition of the importance of the public realm and use of our shared spaces as integral components of building social and creative capital for Western Australia.

The multi-year program encompasses four components in its first year, each targeting different community demographics but linking together to form a cohesive, diverse program, and aiming to catalyse outcomes for longer term public benefit.

In 2014, PUBLIC will encompass:

Mural by ROA in Johannesburg.

Photograph courtesy of the artist.

Mural by 2501. Photograph courtesy of the artist.

La Herencia, by Saner. Photograph courtesy of the artist. (top)

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Public: Art in the City

100 Hampton Road

A celebration and exploration of urban, visual and digital art will see works created by leading artists, internationally and locally, bringing to life our city’s public spaces through creativity. The city’s walls and spaces will be transformed with street art, projections, installations, and public events, activating under-used city spaces and creating an exciting cultural experience for Perth. The artwork and activation sites will be focused on the 2 main axes of the city centre - linking the Perth CBD to Northbridge via William Street, and along Murray streets laneways. Taking place over two weeks in April artists will be invited to create site specific commissions and temporary installations that will reflect or enliven their surrounds.

As part of re-imagining social housing engagement, FORM will work in collaboration with Foundation Housing at the 190 resident lodging house, 100 Hampton Road, Fremantle. FORM will be leveraging the world-class talent from PUBLIC to assist in curating enriched living and social environments that can empower residents and their communities. Along with significant murals that will be created by these artists, a program of resident and community engagement will seek to build increased sense of place, pride and confidence, increased social connection and participation, and improved perceptions of social housing. The project is hoped to result in learnings that can be applied in other social housing settings.

Remed mural in Kiev.

Photograph courtesy of the artist.

Public: Art in the Pilbara

Telling Aboriginal stories: in collaboration with international artist Jetsonorama, participating in PUBLIC, FORM will be working with Banyjima, Innawonga and Nyiyaparli people who lived and worked on pastoral stations to record, preserve and curate their personal histories, traditional stories and reflections. The project is a platform for the communities to tell and share their stories through recordings and photography, curated into large scale art installation. Senior community members have endorsed this project to address the urgent need to record the stories of elders and younger people through engaging with an international artist with linkages to the Navajo people in North America. The project will communicate Indigenous experience, perspective, and cultural values in this region to a wider audience. “It’s my hope that a stronger sense of self and collective identity is nurtured through the images which thereby strengthens the community.” – Jetsonorama

The Symposium Leading experts from around the world and the nation will share their understanding on the role of arts, culture and creative placemaking in shaping our urban spaces and community lives. The Symposium will facilitate a dialogue in Perth on creative placemaking and generating vibrancy in urban environments, engaging insights from around the world to benefit transformations taking place locally.

These initiatives and outcomes will continue to evolve as the program extends over the next 3 years.

Public

Social Housing

The Symposium

Confirmed artistic talent converging in Perth and WA in 2014 for PUBLIC include:

2501 (Italy) Abdul Abdullah (Perth) Abdul Rahman Abdullah (Perth) Alexis Diaz (Puerto Rico) Amok Island (Perth) Beastman (Sydney) Casey Ayres (Perth) eL seed (France) Ever (Argentina) Gaia (USA) Jordan Seiler + Heavy Projects (USA) Hyuro (Argentina) Jaz (Argentina) Jetsonorama (USA) Ian Strange (Perth) Kyle Hughes-Odgers (Perth) Lucas Grogan (Melbourne) Maya Hayuk (USA) Nathan Beard (Perth) Nigel Bennet (Italy) Phlegm (UK) Phibs (Sydney) Pixel Pancho (Italy) Reko Rennie (Melbourne) REMED (France) ROA (Belgium) Saner (Mexico)

ROA mural in Atlanta.

Photograph courtesy of the artist.

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Enlivening the town centre: artworks will be created for Port Hedland’s mainstreets in Port to activate these spaces and engage the community. A collaboration of leading artists will create murals for vacant shopfronts or spaces to enliven under-utilised spaces. In South Hedland, internationally renowned artist Reko Rennie will work with youth of the region to create artworks for the town centre.

Art in the Pilbara

Art in the City

Stormie Mills (Perth)

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

The residency component of PUBLIC will take selected PUBLIC artists into the Pilbara to experience this unique Western Australian region and create artworks for community outcomes. Two key parts of this residency component will include

CITY OF WALLS

In 2013 City of Walls continued to develop, as FORM delivered several Pilbara residencies, a dynamic body of work at 140 William Street in the heart of the city, and began securing essential funding for the delivery of PUBLIC, a major multi-year program which will see a wide array of local, national and international artists collaborating in Perth and the Pilbara in 2014.

Artwork by Phibs for 140 Art, 2013.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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Joseph Boin at work as part of 140 Art, 2013. Photograph by Jean Pierre Horre.

This work builds on the 2011 launch of the City of Walls initiative, exhibition by internationally regarded urban artist ROA along with a series of significant public wall works, and 2012’s Living Walls exhibition and murals program. These projects contribute to FORM’s work promoting a dialogue around the role of art in urban and place activation.

The delivery of 140Art and the Pilbara residencies present initial stages of artist and public engagement, creating opportunities for the local creative sector, in the lead up to PUBLIC 2014.

Pilbara Residencies In 2013, FORM facilitated two residencies in the Pilbara as part of its ongoing activation of the West End in Port Hedland.

The first artist engaged was Amsterdam-born and now Perthbased artist and graphic designer Amok Island, whose work has a consistent marine and coastal theme and employs a highly stylised and designed aesthetic.

In May 2013 Amok Island created a Port Hedland-inspired diptych for either side of the entrance to the Visitor Centre.

His brief was to try to reconcile the landscape of the Pilbara with the industrial features of Port Hedland, as well as utilising a colour palette that was sympathetic to the redevelopment of Wedge Street. Amok Island also spent

Ian Mutch in front of his work for 140 Art, 2013.

Photograph by Jean Pierre Horre.

a number of days transforming a shipping container by painting a mural of one of signature stylised fish. The result of this aesthetic transformation was to help to harmonise the existing shipping container with the gardens surrounding the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery.

Anya Brock in front of her work for 140 Art, 2013.

Photograph by Jean Pierre Horre.

In October 2013 FORM engaged Phibs to complete a residency in Port Hedland. Phibs is one of Australia’s foremost street artists. He has been practicing for over 15 years and was one of the pioneers of street art in Melbourne: Fitzroy is sometimes called “Phibsroy”, referencing his visual legacy in the area.

As part of his residency Phibs was commissioned to create a unique work on the back of the Visitor Centre, in order to enhance its visual appeal, add to the landscape of contemporary art in Port Hedland’s West End, and create a visual link between the Courthouse Gallery and the Visitor Centre. During the period of his residency, Phibs also participated in the West End Markets as a visiting artist, delivering a casual lecture and a painting demonstration.

Phibs’ engagement with the residents of Port Hedland stimulated interest, especially among younger residents.

Both Phibs and Amok Island have been engaged again for participation in FORM’s 2014 program, PUBLIC.

140 Art, 140 William commissioned by Cbus

140 Art, as well as delivering both aesthetic outcomes and street level engagement for the precinct, also functioned as research and sector engagement in the lead up to PUBLIC. FORM’s use of social media strategy, establishing of grassroots relationships with local street artists and bloggers, and its ability to expose its existing members and core audience to art’s ability to enrich public spaces in the city will all prove invaluable in the roll out of PUBLIC in 2014.

‘Working with FORM on the 140 Project was possibly the closest to a perfect job an artist can get’. Anya Brock, 2013 ‘The 140ART project was an incredible experience. It was a pleasure to partner with FORM and to create art alongside some incredibly talented Australian artists’ pieces that reflected both the 40 William complex, and also the individual businesses that each artist was partnered with.

For me personally - creating a hand lettered design for Tartine Café was a great collaboration and something that I look back on with a real sense of accomplishment’.

Andrew Fraser, 2013

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Joseph Boin (Western Australia)Andrew Frazer (Western Australia)Ian Much (Western Australia)Phibs (New South Wales)Rebecca Wetzler (Victoria)Anya Brock (New South Wales, Western Australia)Amok Island (Western Australia) Michelle Leslie (Western Australia)

Phibs at work as part of 140 Art, 2013.

Photograph by Jean Pierre Horre.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

FORM were engaged as the public art consultants on 140 William Street to bring together artists who would create artworks on site for both tenanted and vacant spaces while the site was being redeveloped. Since the artworks were mostly created on the store front windows of the businesses being developed, FORM engaged with a number of artists who already had a relationship with 140 William Street, and furthermore sourced eight new artists to engage with the site:

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PUBLIC ART FORM’s mandate to bring research and strategic thinking to unlock creative potential, generate economic opportunities for artists, and build social engagement and cultural expression within communities is perfectly served through the organisations’ public art program. Over the past several years FORM has carefully built a portfolio of projects that meet this broader agenda and which have the potential to leave a significant cultural legacy for Western Australia.

In 2013 FORM made significant advancement in establishing the resources and infrastructure required to deliver an exemplar public art program. The appointment of two architects to FORM’s existing team of project managers, curators and place strategists brings a holistic suite of expertise to better service, manage and delver public art commissions.

In addition, the establishment of a dedicated 3D facility within the Spinifex Hill Studios in South Hedland provides the much-needed physical infrastructure required to deliver professional development programs like Land.Mark.Art, providing better access to commissioning opportunities for artists living in regional and remote communities.

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Christian Fletcher’s Salt Lake artwork installed as part of Perth Airport art program. Photograph by Carolyn Karnovsky.

FORM was approached to join a number of multidisciplinary project teams in 2013 specifically for the organisation’s ability to bring a fresh perspective on how culture and creativity can shape our physical environment. Through this process FORM has encouraged a new dialogue on how artists and the creative process can play an important role in shaping the vision and cultural DNA of new development projects in Perth and the regions.

In 2013 FORM delivered public art consultancy services to clients including: Perth Airport Mirvac St John of God Hawaiian Investments Cbus Hassell Brookfield Multiplex Arup

Shade structure artwork by Sonya Edney in development.

Photograph courtesy of Urban Art Projects.

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9 artists were commissioned for Perth based public art projects with a total of 179 engaged through the Expression of Interest and Concept Design stages.

Over the past year FORM has delivered a range of sophisticated public art projects which are physical expressions of the heritage, culture and identity of Aboriginal artists that makes metropolitan Western Australia, and the Pilbara, so unique and is an integral part of preserving, protecting and celebrating Aboriginal culture.

The first Land.Mark. Art workshop in 2013 was held in January with Noongar Artists; this was followed with a further session in February at the Midland Railway Workshops which explored development of artwork for a major new development project in Perth. Each artwork is an expression of heritage and Aboriginal cultural values connected with Perth (in particular the connection to the Swan River), Noongar culture and Noongar history.

Over the course of the year FORM facilitated a total of 9 Land.Mark.Art workshops, including: Spinifex Hill Artists Esther Quintal and Winnie Sampi both were commissioned to create artworks for the new Spinifex Hill Studio in South Hedland. Esther worked with the facilitators to create an organic pattern based on a previous drawing which was translated by laser cutting into a series of canopies, offering a shaded walkway within the new Studio complex. Using her paintings of cockle shells as an inspiration, facilitators worked with Winnie to develop a large sculptural work which creates a private contemplation space within the gardens of the new studio. Both artworks were installed on site at the end of November 2013.

At the end of November 2013 FORM facilitated a Land.Mark.

Art workshop in South Hedland with 12 artists from various locations across the Pilbara including Tom Price, Roebourne, Port Hedland, and Warralong. The aim of the workshop was to investigate unique patterns that would be translated into 11 shade structures commissioned by the Pilbara Regional Council. These shade structures are to be located in rest stop locations throughout the Pilbara. 10 of the artists were commissioned for their final designs, which will be installed in early 2014. This workshop facilitated an exchange between Pilbara Aboriginal artists that encouraged sharing, and knowledge transfer.

In 2013, 20 Western Australian Aboriginal Artists participated in Land.Mark.Art including 14 from Regional Western Australia Lance Chadd/ Tjyllyungoo Sharyn Egan Brett Nannup Laurel Nannup Peter Farmer Troy Bennell Esther Quintal ] Winnie Sampie Jill Churnside Wendy Warrie

Ann Sibosado Willurra Barker Susie Rowland Selena Brown Irene Coffin Sonya Edney Maggie Green Eileen Charles Gail Cox Juanita Lyndon

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In 2013, Land.Mark.Art workshops and outcomes were developed and demonstrated in Perth, the Pilbara, and Brisbane. The program enables industry mentors to work alongside urban and regionally-based Aboriginal artists, helping them transition their skills from painting and 2D work into design and 3D disciplines which are relevant, but not limited to public art projects. Land.Mark.Art is seeking to address the obstacles faced by Aboriginal artists in competing for public art projects, several commissions have already been undertaken in sites across the State.

The program is creating a space for a high quality Aboriginal public art that provides income streams and employment while also being a source of cultural pride, renewal and identity.

Having created a woven tunnel form and developed a playscape concept during the first Noongar Land.Mark.

Art workshop, in July 2013 Sharyn Egan travelled to UAP’s Brisbane Studio to work directly with the playscape designers to develop her concept further. Here, Sharyn designed a playscape layout and with the help of the fabrication team, explored material and colour options to upscale her small woven form. In the duration of the workshop, Sharyn and the team produced a 1:1 scaled model of a section of her form.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

Land.Mark.Art

PILBARA STORIES

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‘The exhibition was brilliant; it brought me to tears seeing all those different types of people making their lives in the Pilbara, a great glimpse into Port Hedland’. – Visitor to Pilbara Stories at the FORM Gallery Pilbara Stories launched simultaneously in Perth at the FORM Gallery and the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery in February 2013. Over 9500 people attended the show during its three month duration. There were over 100 subjects photographed and interviewed for Pilbara Stories, more than half identified as Indigenous people and those from linguistically and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

The photographic and social documentary project captured stories of people living in Port Hedland and surrounds to celebrate the diverse heritage, individuality and experiences of everyday life in the Pilbara with a focus on Port Hedland and surrounds.

Over two years FORM supported leading international photographers Martin Parr (UK), Bharat Sikka (India), Ketaki Sheth (India) and Annet van der Voort (The Netherlands) to develop this multi-perspective and globalising encounter with the region. Landscape has been a persistent theme in the history of representing the Pilbara. In Australia’s cities we often see the Northwest as a wilderness; distant and remote. Through artistic and creative engagement, Pilbara Stories created a special intimacy between the Pilbara and the rest of the country, cutting across the divide between the regions and metropolis.

The exhibition was curated by FORM in collaboration with Devika Daulet Singh, Director of Photography, Photoink.

To accompany the exhibition FORM produced a 244 page publication featuring 100 photographs and stories of participants, which were written collaboratively and approved by each subject. The publication also included essays by Francois Hebel, Director of Les Recontres d’Arles Photography, Franc; Dr Nonja Peters, Director of History of Migration Experiences (HOME) Centre, Curtin University, Perth Western Australia; Devika Daulet-Singh, Director of Photography, Photoink, New Delhi; Liv Lewitschnik, Monocle Hong Kong Bureau Chief, Hong Kong and Peter Nagy, Director, Gallery Nature Morte, Berlin/New Delhi.

An iOS app was developed which functioned as an exhibition guide and included images, background text on each subject and a number of audio stories and photographer interviews that were recorded to lend the audience a greater insight into the people who had been photographed. There were over 700 downloads of the iOS app, and this digitization of the project serves as a lasting digital database for the project.

As part of the exhibition’s public program Justin McArdle, Digital MA Digital Producer presented a talk on emerging digital platforms and how mobile platforms can take the viewer beyond the traditional gallery experience. Additionally John Elliott spoke to a group in FORM Gallery about his experiences photographing in the Pilbara and the people he came to know and respect throughout this work.

This project represented the next iteration of The Pilbara Project ongoing initiative to expand understanding of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, its diversity, richness and potential.

Pilbara Stories Key Media (selected)

David Hooper, Port Hedland.

Photograph by Martin Parr.

‘Images of the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia typically focus on the landscape, showing a place of rugged beauty – a dusty, dry, inhospitable place where huge rocky outcrops burst from the rich red soil and there isn’t a soul in sight. However, in a new exhibition titled Pilbara Stories, cultural organisation FORM and BHP Billiton asked photographers from overseas to turn their lenses on the people of the region to convey a different story. What they encountered was a population of warm, friendly people who all had very different stories to tell’. – Simone Henderson-Smart, Skywest Inflight Magazine ‘Cosmopolitan. Vibrant, Inspired. It’s the Pilbara- but not as you know it- revealed in landmark exhibition

by FORM. The Pilbara is best known for mining and industry, but West Australian creative organization FORM is giving it a new face- or rather lots of faces.

Pilbara Stories features portraits of locals by leading international photographers Annet ban der Voort, Bharat Sikka, Ketaki Sheth and Martin Parr’.

– Jessica Matthews, SCOOP Editor Art Monthly Australia Summer 2012/2013, ‘Bharat Sikka’s photo essay on the Pilbara’ Sharmila Wood Scoop, Pride of the Pilbara, Jessica Matthews The West, Pilbara made me inventive, Mark Scott

7.30 Report, 8th February 2013

Merv Stanton, Port Hedland.

Photograph by John Elliott

Chelsea Churnside, Wickham.

Photograph by Ketaki Sheth. (far left) Khalisah Bickford, South Hedland.

Photograph by Annet van der Voort.

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ABC Northwest, Radio February 15th, 2013

Eva Jane Hawke, South Hedland.

Photograph by Bharat Sikka

Artists at rest after workshops as part of Pilbara Artists Camp, De Grey Station. Photograph

by Sam Bell. (next page)

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRAMMING

Vogue India, Double Exposure, February 2013, Anindita Ghose

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2013

OVERVIEW The dedicated regional programming and development that has occurred in Port Hedland and the Pilbara over the past nine years has seen the creative community thrive and grow, as well as major investment made in the physical infrastructure to support a diversifying town.

FORM currently operates three major community facilities in the Pilbara: the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Banger’s Bungalow Business Centre, and the newly refurbished and re-oriented Port Hedland Visitor Centre. 2014 will also see the addition of the Spinifex Hill Studio in South Hedland.

In 2013 the newly refurbished Port Hedland Visitor Centre opened to the public, the construction of the Spinifex Hill Studio commenced, and the Courthouse Gallery continued its rich program of exhibition and creative development opportunities. The West End Markets continued to thrive and grow in 2013, with further professional development being offered to local makers to expand and promote their emerging businesses online. Further workshops were offered to photographers, lomographers and visual artists through camps and courses.

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FORM’s Pilbara work extends beyond Port Hedland, with projects like Pilbara Stories, professional development programs like Land.mark.Art, and cultural maintenance projects like Canning Stock Route Project and Ngarluma Ngurra.

FORM’s regional programming is driven by its aims to leverage creativity as a catalyst for cultural and community development toward a more dynamic, resilient Port Hedland and Pilbara region. FORM works through partnerships to achieve a unique level of community engagement, activation and economic diversification outcomes through creative economy, building on the unique cultural identities and landscapes of the region.

- Economic capital: “The produced means of production like machinery, equipment and structures, but also nonproduction related infrastructures, non-tangible assets, and the financial assets that provide command over current and future output streams.” In this case, we refer to the development of means for community to generate income, employment and have access to support services and infrastructure that enable local economy.

- While the Natural Capital of the Pilbara – the “renewable and non-renewable resources…as well as environmental assets that have amenity and productive use, and are essential for the life support system” - is pre-existing FORM’s programs also explore ways to leverage advantage from or complement the natural capital for enriched community environments.

Together FORM’s broad offering of programming and events, cultural maintenance and community infrastructure provides long term benefits for the human, social and economic capital of Pilbara communities. It is the diversity of combined activities that ensures that the Pilbara’s cultural environment becomes versatile, inclusive, and resilient. The true benefits of much of this work are in the long term capacity building of the programming as a whole, beyond individual projects.

2013 Regional Program Highlights Launch of the refurbished Visitor Centre under FORM’s management in April 2013 Completion of the off-site construction of the new Spinifex Hill Studio facilities, which will be opened in early 2014

FORM has been established in the Pilbara and greater North Western Australia for close to nine years, working directly with Indigenous and non- Indigenous communities to catalyse opportunities for capacity building that go beyond individual projects. FORMs programming works on developing 3 of the 4 main capitals that influence the conditions and success of places:

An extensive professional development program was delivered to the micro-businesses that have emerged out of the West End Markets: Gathered – the Pilbara’s marketplace will be launched in 2014

- Human capital: This is defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as “the knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals that facilitate the creation of personal wellbeing.” This relates to individual capacity building.

Pilbara Stories, major exhibition resulting from a series of International Residencies, launched in Port Hedland and Perth

- Social capital: The “networks, together with shared norms, values and understanding that facilitate co-operation within and between groups.” As well as relating to the creation of networks, this involves development of platforms for transactions and interactions to occur.

7 exhibitions launched at the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery featuring work by 120 artists

David Dare Parker in Broom for P.H.otography Camp, Photograph by Sam Bell

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PORT HEDLAND COURTHOUSE GALLERY

As the only not for profit run gallery between Gallery between Kalgoorlie and Broome, the role of the Courthouse Gallery goes well beyond just being a hanging space for regional artists. The programming nurtures talent residing within the Pilbara and surrounding regions, stimulates the development of an informed and appreciative audience while trying to ensure influences from further afield find fertile soil and flourish.

Since 2008 FORM has managed the Courthouse Gallery, redeveloping the physical space and implementing exhibitions, artistic development, and public programs that aim to enrich and illuminate the cultural experience of the Pilbara region. The gallery has been at the centre of FORM’s programming in the Pilbara, providing a place where the broader community can access and engage with the creative aspects of their local community as well as the rest of the country.

The gallery provides important opportunities not only for local artists to showcase their work, but for artists and the general community to have access to cultural expressions from outside of the region, enriching the experience of the local creative industries.

The 2013 exhibition program delivered a diverse array of local, national and international talent.

Artist May Chapman with family in front of her painting at the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery. Photograph by Sam Bell.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

August

David Freedman

Rising Dust This photographic exhibition showcased the outcomes of the three-day P.H.otography camp in 2012 at the Robe River Rodeo. This series of work tells the stories of this iconic Pilbara event through the eyes of the 22 participants and their mentors.

Lillian Frost, John Elliot, Samantha Bell, Leahne Rowley, Claire Paddison, Bev Johnson, Frank Argaet, Elaine Argaet, Nadia Bullock, Pia Thornett, Alison Newbold, Seide Ramadani, Stuart Bell, Paul Cunningham, Leisa Melvey, Simon Phelps, Andy Taylor, Bewley Shaylor, Craig Rowles, Sarah Carless, Erana Hadfield, Rebecca Bailey, Ian Filleul, Alice King, Kathryn Abbott, Graham Reimers

Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) This exhibition of Jewellery and objects was the outcome of a multi-year mentorship development undertaken by Malgana elder Jimmy Poland with leading Western Australian jeweller Helena Bogucki.

Through carefully handcrafted objects and their accompanying oral histories, Poland shares his personal stories of life in Gutharraguda (Shark Bay).

This exhibition toured Western Australia with an accompanying catalogue in 2013, see page XX.

Jimmy Poland, Helena Bogucki

A Place for Us A Place for Us drew upon Hayley Welsh’s background in Scientific and Natural History, illustration and children’s book design. Each painting was accompanied by a short story, all of which were available in a limited-edition publication. The exhibition was also paired with a series of ‘character development’ workshops with the Port Hedland community.

Hayley Welsh

2013 Hedland Art AwardsA true highlight of the regional arts calendar, the Hedland Art Awards yet again boasted a rich prize pool and strong regional artistic talent in 2013.

Over 80 artists from the Pilbara, Kimberley, Mid West and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia.

These awards are a key opportunity to see and celebrate the cultural and artistic growth of regional Western Australia.

The award recognises excellence across varied mediums with prizes for painting, works other than painting, Aboriginal and non-Indigenous works, artists under 25 and three-dimensional works.

Pilbara Stories This exhibition turned a lens on the diverse people of Port Hedland and surrounds. Pilbara Stories was the outcome of a number of artistic residencies that took place in 2012 with photographers from India, United Kingdom and Australia. The exhibition was accompanied by a publication and an app for iOS, and was shown at FORM Gallery simultaneously, see page XX.

Approximatly 4,700 visitors to the exhibitions in total National artists exhibited alongside 23 locals

Over 400 people attended opening night Nearly 5,500 visitors to the exhibitions in total Two exhibition catalogues published

Judges: Dr Ben Joel – academic, visual artist Carly Lane – curator Nigel Hewitt – visual artist

For a full list of prize winners see pg XX/below.

February

Nearly 450 people attended opening night

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June

Pastels in a Harsh Landscape Local artist David Freedman exhibited a collection of Pilbara landscapes created in pastels. The medium allowed him to mirror the intensity of the colours of this distinctive landscape.

John Elliot, Martin Parr, Bharat Sikka, Ketaki Sheth, Annet van der Voort

150 entries received for the award 87 artworks were hung Prize pool of $65,000 Over 500 people attended opening night Approximately 8,500 visitors to the exhibitions in total

Over 500 people attended opening nightApproximately 3,000 visitors to the exhibitions in total One original short film was launched

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HEDLAND ART AWARDS WINNERS Most Outstanding Work ($20,000) Marianne Penberthy, Ferrous Solution (textile) Best Work by an Aboriginal Artist ($15,000) Nora Nungabar, Martumili Artists, Kunawarritji (acrylic on canvas) Best Work by a non-Indigenous Artist ($15,000) Claire Beausein, Mantle (found metal, shell, wire) Kathy Donnelly Judges’ Award ($5,000) Andrew and David Wood, Wet Mess (installation, conceptual)

‘This is an excellent initiative, with the results speaking for themselves. This photographic output in the workshop is of a consistently high standard. Loved this exhibition, I think it should tour!’ – Visitor to Rising Dust exhibition at the Courthouse Gallery ‘Thank you for providing cultural experiences to Port Hedland. It is nice to see that Port Hedland is more than a man’s mining town, and is moving towards being a great family town with different cultural experiences for all.’ – Visitor to the Hedland Art Awards at the Courthouse Gallery ‘The Courthouse Gallery is my favourite place – not just for the art aspect but it is the only place in town I like to buy gifts for friends (and for me).’ – Pilbara resident, survey response.

Best Work in a Medium Other than Painting($1,500) Greg Taylor, Yandy is a cry for your mother or lost lover (ink on paper) Best Three-Dimensional Work ($1,500) Diana Boyd, Relatum (mixed media) Best Work by an Artist Under 25 Years Old ($1,000) Howard Holder, Krackens Treasure (pen and ink on paper) Encouragement Award ($500) Taylor Nowers, Splash of Salt (ink on paper)

Visitors to the Courthouse Gallery during Pilbara Stories. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Robe River Rodeo, from Rising Dust.

Photograph by P.H.otography participant Craig Rowles.

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People’s Choice Award ($500) Helen Ansell, Lyrebird, (acrylic on canvas)

ARTIST CAMP

The Artist Camp is a regular part of FORM’s creative development program, aimed at fostering enhanced technical and artistic skills for Pilbara community members, and through this, increasing opportunities for alternative creative industries to emerge. The 2013 workshop program aimed to assist creative and artistic development leading up to the Hedland Art Awards.

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25 beginner and established artists from across the northern Pilbara joined mentors Isobel Maccaulay and Louise Joesbury at De Grey Station for two days of intensive practice-based learning. Joesbury ran a workshop session in watercolour painting and ink work, while Maccaulay taught embellishment and dying techniques in textiles and natural fabrics. Throughout the weekend, participants and mentors ventured to new locations around De Grey Station to draw inspiration from the landscape and learn how to capture nature using often unfamiliar mediums of creative practice.

The skills and knowledge imparted by Joesbury and Maccaulay was targeted at general artistic development and exposure to new mediums, as well as aiming to impart skills and enthusiasm. Each year, FORM offers the local community artistic professional development opportunities in the lead up to the awards with the aim of continually improving and expanding the Hedland Art Awards as a demonstration of the true creative talent and potential of the Pilbara region.

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

‘I learnt new techniques and was inspired by both Louise and Izzy, who were great teachers. Both artists were very generous and shared so many ideas and tips, making it a great learning experience. I love the possibilities.’

– Artist Camp Participant Watercolour workshop at Pilbara Artist Camp. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Watercolour workshop at Pilbara Artist Camp. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Workshop during Pilbara Artist Camp. Photograph by Sam Bell.

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REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

Watercolour workshop at Pilbara Artist Camp. Photograph by Sam Bell.

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P.H.OTOGRAPHY CAMP

FORM’s annual P.H.otography program (title referencing Port Hedland as the home of the program) has been running since 2007. It has proven to be successful and a highlight in the creative development program through its ability to simultaneously build professional-level creative skills, and cultural engagement on a broader scale.

Cable Beach. Photograph

by Paul Parrin.

The 2013 P.H.otography Program prepared emerging and experienced photographers for an immersive weekend at the Shinju Matsuri Festival in Broome. This fifth season of P.H.otography brought skilled mentors from a range of photographic styles to Port Hedland to run workshops with 22 participants over two weekends in September.

For the first, introductory weekend mentor Bo Wong ran workshops at the Courthouse Gallery focusing on honing the participants’ technical and creative practice in photography.

Participants did basic exercises to practice using the manual setting on their digitals SLRs including experimenting with shutter speed, aperture and film speed.

‘I found it very helpful being able to have access to the mentors. Every workshop I learn new things as a result of this contact. It's great to meet and be in contact with other keen photographers in the region.’

– P.H.otography Participant.

P.H.otography participant in Broome.

Photograph by Sam Bell.

Paul Parin giving instruction to P.H.otographty participants in Broome. Photograph by Sam Bell.

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P.H.otography workshop.

Photo by Paul Parin.

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

Shinju Matsuri Festival in Broome. Photograph by Sam Bell.

It was the following weekend that gave participants the opportunity to gain ‘in the field’ experience with mentors Paul Parin, David Dare Parker, and Bo Wong in Broome.

For 43 years the Shinju Matsuri Festival has celebrated the cultural diversity and unique make-up of Broome. The mentors guided the participants through shoots at the festival’s opening celebrations, Cable Beach, Grantham Point and Town Beach. Bo Wong advised participants on taking flaneur style portraits at the festival. Paul Parin gave technical advice on landscape photography at dusk and dawn and ran impromptu night shoots with advice on long exposures and David Dare Parker expounded on his experiences as a renegade photojournalist. Together the mentors offered a rich array of expertise to the participants.

LOMOGRAPHY The P.H.otography program in 2013 also encompassed the exploration of lomography – a practice using toy-like film cameras with plastic lenses in a ‘shoot from the hip’ style.

Designed for all levels of experience, including first-time lomographers, these kinds of workshops are a great outlet for introducing new community members to creative practices and form an important accompaniment to the larger scale, professional skill development workshops like the P.H.otography camps.

Mentor, Matt Biocich, ran two workshops with 26 participants encouraging new and unconventional ways of thinking about photographic practice. In the first workshop participants received a Diana Mini + Flash camera and film which will lead into an introductory session of using the camera and creating a range of filters and effects.

Participants worked on both solo and group shoots in this interactive workshop which also included an evening shoot to explore the many facets of using flash in Lomography.

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The second workshop gave participants the opportunity to enhance their techniques through a more advanced look at the Diana camera, sharing photographs captured at the first workshop, and creating their own film.

Matt Bioich teaching lomography.

Photograph by Sam Bell.

Lomography light demonstration.

Photograph by Sam Bell.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE MENTORS

Louise Joesbury

Biocich graduated from a Bachelor of Design Photography and Creative Advertising and has since been creating images and working in photography professionally in proficient, conceptual, architectural and commercial work environments. With a trusty Lomo camera in his hand, it's Matt's favourite pastime to create instant works of art with analogue experimentation.

Joesbury is a Perth based artist, having studied a Bachelor of Fine Art at Curtin University, she has emerged as a contemporary painter specialising in acrylics, oils, water colours and mixed media. The use of water colours and ink to create paintings showcasing natural objects and their place within the environment has allowed Joesbury’s works to give the viewer a unique glimpse of Australian landscapes, living forms and objects.

Isobel Maccaulay

Paul Parin

Maccauly is the Perth based fashion and textiles designer behind the label pinchandspoon. The signature style of pinchandspoon is natural, raw and organic. It is honest reflection of Isobel’s heritage, upbringing and personal influences throughout her life. This is shown through her use of imagery, natural fibre materials and the neutral tones in her work.

Paul Parin has developed his photography skills and technique through his sheer passion for the environment.

He has developed a deeper appreciation of nature’s intrinsic design which has given him the insight and understanding to stop and look a little more closely; take in all that the surroundings have to offer and allow the photograph to speak for itself.

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Matt Biocich

Wong’s work is a combination of biographical and observational photography, mining the complex existence we share with each other and the earth to create diverse bodies of work with a distinctive style. She has had numerous solo shows and commissions in Perth, Melbourne and Norway and has released two self-published books. Her work has been exhibited from the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra to laneway installations in Melbourne and many publications in between.

A Nikon-Walkley Award winning photographer, David Dare Parker has photographed for a multitude of national and international publications throughout the Middle East, Europe and Australasia. Publications include LeMonde, Stern, L'Express, Focus, Australian Geographic, The Bulletin, The New York Times and TIME Magazine. David was one of the co-founders of REPORTAGE, a Director of FotoFreo Photographic Festival, a Nikon-Walkley Advisory Board Member and is currently an Ambassador for Nikon Australia.

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David Dare Parker

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Bo Wong

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WEST END MARKETS

In 2013 FORM delivered four West End Markets which, in total, catered to an audience of over 16,000. Each market offered more than 35 micro-businesses of the Pilbara the opportunity to promote and sell their handmade crafts and goods to a growing audience of local and visiting customers.

Hedland’s Big Cake Bake, resident artist demonstrations, live aerial acrobatics, cooking studios and live local and touring music were just some of the feature entertainment that was on offer at the 2013 series of markets.

In order to counter the challenges of prohibitively expensive retail spaces, difficulty of employment for parents and spouses to industry workers, and the lack of local product, FORM developed and launched the first makers’ markets in the region in 2010. We now operate four markets per year in Port Hedland’s West End with over 40 stallholders, attendance greater than 4,000 for each market, and more applicants for each market than there is capacity to take. This community event represents an important opportunity for local economic growth and diversification.

These markets are accompanied by extensive creative, business, product, and marketing skills development for current and potential stallholders. The markets support businesses which are centred on regionally sourced or created product, keeping production, distribution and sales income in the local economy.

Phibs doing a painting demonstration at the West End Markets. Photograph by Sam Bell.

“The West End Markets are a joyful, positive, cultural experience that brings community together, provides entertainment and music for young and old, is a fabulous tourist attraction, provides an outlet for locally grown and made products and increases everyone's awareness of the diverse, gifted and talented nature of the multi-cultural people who live in Port Hedland.”

Port Hedland resident, survey response.

Community Survey At the June 2013 West End Markets FORM conducted a survey to gauge the importance of the Markets, West End revitalisation projects and the needs of the community. Of the responses: 99% of people said that the West End Markets are a positive addition to Port Hedland The Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Visitor Centre, West End Markets and Silverstar Cafe were listed as the top attractions drawing people into the West End. 25% of people had come to the West End Markets because a friend had told them about it When asked what they enjoy most about the West End Markets some popular comments were: ‘Quality produce and presentation sets them apart. Provides something different and brings people together.’

‘Handmade, quality products. Beautiful setting.’

‘The diverse and yummy food and the whole ambience.’

Renee Hay’s stall at the West End Markets. Photograph by Sam Bell.

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West End Markets, Port Hedland.

Photograph by Sam Bell.

WEST END STALLHOLDER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT To develop new economic pathways for the microbusinesses arising out of the West End Markets FORM implemented a program designed to take small arts businesses into the online environment. The resulting program of workshops took place in 2013 in the lead up to the launch of on an online directory of businesses with e-commerce capability – Gathered: the Pilbara’s Marketplace (launching early 2014). This program was funded through the Department of Commerce.

‘I found the workshop well worth it.

I now want to go forward and set up an Etsy shop for myself and focus on promoting my art.’

Stallholder development participant

During 2013, in preparation for this initiative, FORM ran workshops for business owners in online retail, business brand development, photography and styling, social media promotion and marketing, and small business foundational skills. The micro-businesses were supported with the provision of branding and design agency expertise for creating customised brands and logos for each participating business.

Stallholder at the West End Markets. Photograph by Sam Bell.

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The 2013 business development workshops included: Etsy Australia, the world largest online community of independent businesses specialising in handmade items, facilitated a workshop covering the creation of an Etsy page, an introduction to social media promotion and online marketing.

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Photographer Bewely Shaylor and stylist Isabel Macaulay were invited prior to the June West End Markets to give a workshop in the importance of photography and product styling and how they impact the development of online enterprises.

Marketing agency Breadbox were engaged to facilitate a workshop focusing on brand identity and assisting the participants in developing a unique brand that would represent their business on the Gathered website.

The Cruise Ready Workshop, facilitated though the Port Hedland Visitor Centre engaged mentor Vilma Rovedatti, the Sales and Marketing manager for Cruise and Maritime Voyages Australia to give an overview of servicing the cruise ship market and leveraging on-board marketing opportunities.

Di Boyd at her stall at the West End Markets. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Food stall at the West End Markets. Photograph

by Sam Bell.

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PORT HEDLAND VISITOR CENTRE

In late 2012 FORM was contracted by the Town of Port Hedland to redevelop and manage the Port Hedland Visitor Centre, with the mutual aims of improving tourism, visitor services, and growing cultural tourism for the town and broader region.

FORM embraced the opportunity to manage the Port Hedland Visitor Centre with the knowledge that, by linking it with the Courthouse Gallery, a great deal could be achieved in the area of cultural tourism for Port Hedland and the Pilbara.

Inside the Visitor Centre before refurbishment.

A new fit-out and business plan was undertaken by FORM in 2013, with the new-look Visitor Centre re-opening in April 2013 with Level One Tourism Accreditation achieved shortly after – the only tourism facility to achieve this level of accreditation in the region. The outcome of this pairing is a merged offering that provides a unique point of difference making for a rewarding visitor experience, whilst also establishing Port Hedland as a desirable, rewarding, and ultimately fulfilling place to live and work.

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Some of the standout features of the refurbishment include: - Larger break out areas which capitalise on and enhance the natural lighting

BEFORE

- A feature wall illustration by Future Shelter based on a photograph of the historic and notorious SS Koombana, docked in Port Hedland complemented by a range of customised merchandise also designed and manufactured

by Future Shelter.

- Extensive seating areas so that visitors can relax and plan their journey in comfort with access to WiFi internet connection - Provision of new tiling, vanities, and feature lighting and mirrors in the bathroom The Visitor Centre infrastructure development continues FORM’s ongoing efforts to revitalise and improve the landscape and amenity of Port Hedland’s West End precinct, making it a safe, attractive and inclusive place for the whole community.

Phibs Mural in Port Hedland’s West End. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Entrance to the Port Hedland Visitor Centre, with shade canopies designed by Ann Sibosado. Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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Inside the refurbished Visitor Centre.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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Inside the refurbished Visitor Centre.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

PROGRAMMING AND CULTURAL TOURISM

Accompanying the physical upgrades to the Visitor Centre is a commitment to enhance the visitor experience through programming, tours, printed guides and a wide array of retail offerings.

In 2013 FORM worked to deliver the following key objectives: - Development of visitor services - Development of tourism product in the form of visitor activities and experiences (such as Indigenous arts and culture experiences, gallery and retail offerings, tours, cruise ship markets etc) - Development of local tours, initiating tour development, contracting operators, promoting and booking tours

West End Markets.

Photograph by Sam Bell.

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Port Hedland: A Discoverer’s Journal

- Development of branding, marketing and online presence for the Port Hedland Visitor Centre to assist visitor information - Development of promotional and information brochures, maps, visitor guides and other collateral to enhance visitor experience and attraction - Development of initiatives, publications, websites and materials to change perceptions of the Pilbara region and attract attention and visitation Through its 2013 program the Port Hedland Visitor Centre has created not only a more engaging hub for tourists visiting the regions but created facilities and infrastructure to enable greater engagement by residents.

A key part of the Visitor Centres initial offering to visitors was a suite of printed materials, designed to give a fresh and alternative look at Port Hedland and the surrounding areas.

These printed materials included:

The Discoverer’s Journal provides a guided historical journey through Port Hedland’s oldest built precinct, providing visitors with a rich trove of information in order to understand and appreciate the curious and marvellous history and personality of the town. There is journaling space to for tourists to chart their personal journey through this iconic area.

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Over 2000 copies were circulated to visitors in 2013.

2 Days in Port Hedland

The 2 Day Guide to Port Hedland provides visitors with a breakdown for what to do if they are briefly passing through the area and want experience the best it has to offer. It featuers recommendations for cultural and natural highlights of the local area as well as providing suggestions for the best places to eat, sleep and walk while in town.

Over 2,500 copies were circulated to visitors in 2013.

5 Days in Port Hedland

The 5 Day guide to Port Hedland gives a broader range of activites and options for visitors able to spend some more time in the region surrounding Port Hedland. It gives suggestions for rich regional experiences including gold fossicking in Marble Bar, visiting an operating cattle station to the north, fishing spots, aerial tours of the region and an adventure to Karijini National Park.

Over 1,500 copies were circulated to visitors in 2013.

Hedland Town Map

A redesigned an updated comprehensive map of Port and South Hedland which gives visitors an easy guide to finding local accommodation, historical attractions, Arts and Culture, attractions, amenities and facilities.

10,000 copies given away to visitors and locals.

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As part of FORM’s management of the Cruise Ships we delivered: - Special Cruise Ship markets – providing local residents the opportunity to promote and sell their products to a substantially increased and different market.

- Custom bus tours of the Port operations and the town’s local history -4 tours have been customised for cruise ship visitors, andparticipation in these tours doubled over the year, demonstrating a growth in the reputation of the Visitor Centre programming - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery guided exhibition tours – as part of the aim to integrate the Visitor Centre and the Gallery’s operations to promote cultural tourism, the Courthouse Gallery offers tours to the visiting cruise ship passengers, giving them a sense of the rich culture of the Pilbara.

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- Spinifex Hill Artists painting demonstrations – consistently popular with visiting passengers, a number of the Spinifex Hill Artists took up their usual painting practice in the Courthouse Gallery and were available to talk to visitors about their practice.

As of 2014 there will be a new suite of activities on offer for cruise ship passengers, including tours to the new Spinifex Hill Studio facilities as part of an arts and culture tour.

Additionally, in order to maintain and develop Port Hedland business’s engagement with the growing cruise ship market, the Visitor Centre along with Tourism WA and the Town of Port Hedland ran two professional development workshops targeted at this market in 2013. The Cruise Ready Workshop and Welcoming Cruise Passengers to the West workshop provided insights into how businesses could benefit from successfully servicing the cruise market, including information on contracting with tour operators and on-board marketing opportunities. 25 local businesses benefitted from attending the workshops, the highest attendance for such workshops in WA’s regional areas. Businesses participating in the stallholder development workshops (pg XX) were encouraged to attend, as the influx in cruise ship passengers visiting Port Hedland are a new type of consumer for local artists and craft practitioners.

Since its launch in April 2013 the Port Hedland Visitor Centre attracted nearly 12,000 people resident in, or visiting, Port Hedland.

Visitor Centre ‘s First Creative Residency Amok Island While in residence in the Pilbara Amok Island took to the port, beaches and mangroves to get a full picture of the wonders of Port Hedland. Based on this experience FORM commissioned him to create custom graphic signage framing the entrance to the Port Hedland Visitor Centre. The result was a diptych that playfully celebrates the trains, boats, reptiles and marine life that share this unique space.

Commissioned work by Amok for Visitor Centre entry signage.

www.visitporthedland.com.au (launched 15th Feb) – visitation of 14,459 www.discoverthepilbara.com – visitation of 6,553 www.thepilbaraproject.com – visitation of 10,859 www.courthousegallery.com.au – visitation of 6,519 Social media reach across all FORM’s regional Facebook platforms in excess of 134,000

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Furthermore, like the Visitor Centre itself, the website aims to encourage people to explore the surrounding areas and destinations and, as such, has a strong focus on what there is for tourists to discover in the region. This section includes information about the Pilbara’s stunning National Parks as well as surrounding coastal and inland natural and cultural highlights, directing people to our neighbouring Visitor Centres. Across FORM’s range of online presences created, the reach for promotion of new perspectives and attractors

for the region through the creative lens is substantial, with a combined audience of 38,390 in 2013 and additional social media reach.

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Additionally, as part of the launch of the new-look visitor centre, FORM produced an accompanying website to promote Port Hedland as an attractive and accessible tourist destination. The new website showcases current local highlights as well as providing practical advice about the things to see and do in Port Hedland. It also features an interactive map which plots all of the local attractions and services onto a zoomable map.

SPINIFEX HILL ARTISTS During 2013 the design, development and construction of a much needed and highly anticipated studio facility was undertaken. For the Spinifex Hill Artists this means a permanent, purpose built home from which to operate. It also provides access to a much wider number of Aboriginal artists in the region.

The Spinifex Hill Artists, initiated by FORM in 2008, provides free and holistic professional development for Aboriginal artists in Port Hedland. It was established to strengthen the operational and artistic capacity of a viable Aboriginal art centre and provides visual arts and craft services to Aboriginal artists based in and around Port Hedland.

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Accompanying the daily program of arts development in 2013, FORM offered a varied schedule of workshops to expose artists to new mediums and develop existing skills.

Eleven professional development workshops took place in 2013 across various mediums and practices.

Regular mentors Helen Ansell and Sara Barnes offered five development workshops in which they continued their professional development program with the artists. Ansell and Barnes explored further skills in colour mixing, sketching, and planning, as well as incorporating weaving and other craft-based skills into their program. Both Louise Joesbury and Lucy Papila conducted watercolour workshops with the Spinifex Hill Artists, which were welcomed and embraced by the artists, resulting in some high level outcomes from a number of artists.

FORM continued to offer the Spinifex Hill Artists professional development and commission opportunities through the Land.Mark.Art program (see page XX). Land.Mark.Art aims to bring better economic, creative and cultural opportunities to Aboriginal artists in Western Australia. As a result of the 2013 series of workshops with Spinifex, eight artists were awarded 11 commissions for the Pilbara Regional Council, South Hedland Youth Hostel and the new Spinifex Hill Studios.

The Spinifex Hill Artists also continued their regular community engagement through market stalls, school visits, open days, painting demonstrations for cruise ships and a monthly newsletter distributed to relevant local stakeholders.

Eighteen artworks were entered into regional and statewide Art Awards with thirteen selected and exhibited. One artist was selected to participate in the Revealed showcase in Perth. 2013 showed great financial improvement for the

Spinifex Hill Artist Maggie Green in front of her artwork. Photograph by Sam Bell.

Spinifex Hill Artists, with an increased number of sales leading to a growth in revenue for the artists.

The new studios herald a new era for SHA and will assist existing members to refine their practice while also attracting local and international artists to the facilities. Spinifex Hill Artists have traditionally been a painting group but the new program will diversify into other mediums.

SHA artist Wilarra Barker.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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SHA artist Ann Sibosado.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

2013 MILESTONES FOR THE SPINIFEX HILL ARTISTS 30 workshop sessions were offered in watercolours, weaving, public art concept and design development, and visual arts development.

5 artists attend the 2013 Revealed Showcase in Perth and participated in the Revealed Marketplace art markets and skills development workshops. Ann Sibosado was selected to exhibit her work in the Revealed exhibition at Central Gallery, Perth18 artworks entered into regional and state-wide Art Awards.

13 artworks selected and exhibited.

Artwork by SHA artist Winnie Sampi.

8 artists were awarded 11 public artwork commissions as a result of Land.Mark.Art workshops.

Spinifex Hill Artists hosted a Land.Mark.Art workshop with artists from across the Pilbara to develop a series of public artworks for across the region.

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SHA artist Max George.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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SPINIFEX HILL STUDIO

A significant painting and creative studio, the regular home of the Spinifex Hill Artists, it will have kitchen, bathroom, wet area, and substantial storage facilities and the capacity for greater numbers of artists to be accommodated during the five day a week operation.

A dedicated studio for three-dimensional practice, housing specialist jewellery and craft equipment, while being fully self-contained with bathroom, kitchen, office, and storage facilities. Land.Mark.Art development programs and artist residencies can take place in this facility without disrupting the regular operations of the Spinifex Hill Artists.

A caretaker’s residence, providing accommodation for the Studio’s manager as well as occasional visiting guests.

The new Spinifex Hill Studio.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

The Spinifex Hill Studios under construction.

Spinifex Hill Studio is set to become an arts and cultural centre for the north west, providing not only a centre of excellence for artistic development, and a source of pride for the surrounding community, but also a boost to the local economy through increased cultural tourism, co-ordinated by the town’s Visitor Centre and Courthouse Gallery.

The studio will offer occasional programs throughout the year that will benefit the broader creative community of the Pilbara, whilst remaining the regular and permanent home of the Spinifex Hill Artists.

The Spinifex Hill Studio is designed by TR Homes. The development of the studio was made possible by FORM’s Principal Partner BHP Billiton, the Federal Government and the Department of Lands.

The new Spinifex Hill Studios.

Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

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There will be three buildings on the ground at Hedditch Street:

The 3D studio in particular will provide extended professional and financial opportunities for the Spinifex Hill Artists. Each year the artist group is exposed to professional development in the practice of three-dimensional work through FORM’s Land.Mark.Art program. This usually coincides with Public Art opportunities which FORM actively seeks out for one or more artists to be commissioned to deliver a substantial piece of public art. Shade structures, sculptures and children playground equipment designed by Spinifex Hill Artists have already been installed in numerous site in Port and South Hedland. With a dedicated space for the design and delivery of large-scale public art and architectural projects, the Spinifex Hill Artists will have more opportunities to develop and respond to arising public art projects in new and existing developments in the Pilbara.

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In 2013 construction began on the first purpose-built artists’ studio in Port Hedland. After five years of working in a temporary and shared space, the Spinifex Hill Artists will have their own studio in early 2014 – offering great professional opportunities whilst also making room for new members to join the group.

ABORIGINAL CRAFT & DIGITAL FUTURES Overview

Ngarluma Ngurra

Over 2013 FORM has presented three significant digital projects that were catalysed and created in collaboration with Aboriginal communities, in line with the opportunity to expand Aboriginal craft, design and digital representation outlined in Part I. Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal culture on the map, the One Road app and Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive are innovative digital platforms for cultural maintenance, heritage, preservation and celebration of Indigenous knowledge that have been developed collaboratively in remote and regional Australia in partnership with Aboriginal communities. These projects were contextualised through a series of exhibitions, publications and mentoring programs focused on development of Aboriginal craft and design practice .

‘Aboriginal Culture on the Map I want to leave this story on tape for the next generation, so that they know the story of this place’. – Reg Sambo, Ngarluma Elder.

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FORM’s commitment to maintaining cultural identity and the robustness of Aboriginal communities is reflected in these projects, as we build opportunities for employment, social interaction and intercultural exchange through investment in Aboriginal cultural and creative projects that support community livelihoods and wellbeing.

In 2013 Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal Culture on the Map, was presented at FORM Gallery in conjunction with Canning Stock Route Digital Futures Project, opened on November 8th, by Google representative Jen Kovnats and over 500 people in attendance. The exhibition was an outcome of a collaborative project with the Ngarluma community over a year, funded through the Ngarluma Tharndu Karrungu Maya Ltd. The exhibition evolved from exploration of the intergenerational transmission of Ngarluma culture and tradition through arts, with a focus on tabi- the Ngarluma poetry and song tradition - translated in paintings by artist Jill Churnside. Jill’s father was a renowned song man and poet whose songs were recorded in the 1960’s and 1970’s

by Carl von Brandenstein.

The final phase of the project’s development resulted in creation of a digital map. In 2013 FORM became the first Australian organisation to be a recipient of the Google Earth Outreach grants program for significant and new presentation of Aboriginal content. The resulting Ngarluma Ngurra map embeds the cultural traditions and histories of Ngarluma people into Google Earth.

Designed by FORM in partnership with Google Earth software developer and Andrew Dowding, the map is a powerful way of visualising Aboriginal cultural values.

It functions as a platform for embedding content which provided an immersive and interactive exhibition display in the FORM gallery space, allowing users to fly through Ngarluma Country and drop into sites where film,

Filmmaker and advisor Curtis Taylor and Rhianna Pezzaniti document the CSR repatriation workshop with Mangkaja Artists.

Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

During 2013 three field trips were undertaken with Ngarluma elders to over 70 sites across Ngarluma country that the elders had identified as having significance for recording and archiving. More than just a naming of sites with Ngarluma names, the digital platform allowed depth and detail to be embedded into the map, with over 70 sites filmed, where possible in Ngarluma language with English subtitles. There were four key themes these places related to, which formed the key for the map: Waterholes, Bush Tucker, Historic Sites and Cultural Sites.

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‘There are times in a season when the Country is literally blooming with reds, blues, and pinks that are vivid and very bright. At other times, the Country is turning brown and yellow, and I transfer what I see onto my canvas. It depends on when, and at what time I’m painting Country, if the Country is alive, or when the Country is fading.’

photographs, text, illustrations and paintings could be viewed in expanded pop-up windows.

‘We hope the next generation are well educated in regards to Country, that they keep Aboriginal culture alive. When Aboriginal people walk on the land, the land is happy.’

–Geoffrey Togo

Geoffrey Togo The creation of a digital map, archive, and mobile and web application reflects how innovation can forge new frontiers for Indigenous groups across Australia, the world’s oldest living culture. New technologies provide a way for the knowledge and wisdom of these cultures to find different forms of expression, at the same time demonstrating that Aboriginal people know the landscape as a space embedded with complex cultural and spiritual values, one which they managed through practices evolved over millennia.

Ngarluma Ngurra was exhibited alongside the outcomes of the Canning Stock Route Digital Futures Project and together they demonstrate the innovation that emerges through collaboration, and the exciting outcomes that emerge when ancient culture and new technology intersect.

Rhianna Pezzaniti shows Warlayirti Artists the One Road app in development in Balgo.

Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

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Paintings by Jill Churnside, developed through professional development workshops FORM facilitated with Urban Art Projects, were exhibited and supported by recorded interviews of Jill discussing the work and her father’s tabis.

The paintings represent Ngarluma country from an aerial perspective. In her painting, Wundumurra (the Sherlock River) Jill captures the sinuous lines of this river. In contrast to the imagery that is visible through satellite cameras, her aerial view radiates a warmth and familiarity with Ngarluma Country. As Jill explains, she uses colour to reflect her sensory experience of Country.

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CANNING STOCK ROUTE PROJECT

These outcomes of the Canning Stock Route Digital Futures Project were launched at FORM Gallery in conjunction with Ngarluma Ngurra: Aboriginal Culture on the Map. The exhibition of the Digital Futures Project brought together the incredible breadth and wealth of cultural materials gathered throughout the project into a digital repatriation model that will enable remote Aboriginal communities to access their invaluable cultural and intellectual property digitally and in their own communities.

CSR Project team in Balgo for repatriation workshops. Photograph by Curtis Taylor.

Paruku IPA artist Veronica Lulu with her extended family in Mulan. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

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2013 saw the culmination of the Canning Stock Route Project through the repatriation of the vast repository of cultural materials gathered through the project since 2006. This repatriation took the form of three main activities: a number of repatriation workshops in April and May, the creation of One Road: Canning Stock Route Project app for iOS and web, and the creation of Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Digital Archaeology.

Paruku IPA artist Veronica Lulu with her extended family in Mulan. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

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After its national tour through 2011 and 2012 Yiwarra Kuju toured for the final time to be shown at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane in 2013.

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REPATRIATION WORKSHOPS

In April and May 2013 the Canning Stock Route Project team conducted repatriation workshops in communities across the Kimberley and in Wiluna in the Mid West. These workshops enabled the team in collaboration with the art centre staff, artists, and their communities to finalise the frameworks for repatriation of project materials.

Developing a protocol-based archiving system through these workshops to establish a new digital repatriation model required an extensive approvals process and a rigorous approach to Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), since much of the repatriated material would ultimately be freely available online for the world to access.

As such protocols have not previously existed, new legal and ICIP frameworks developed with ArtsLaw and Freehills have been created with a view to best practice.

During a week-long trip through the Kimberley the CSR Project team, along with Arts Law senior solicitor Delwyn Everard and cultural advisor and filmmaker Curtis Taylor, met with over 70 artists from Bidyadanga, Broome, Fitzroy

Crossing, Balgo, Mulan, and Billiluna. In May the CSR team travelled to Wiluna to meet with the Birriliburu Artists at Tjukurba Gallery.

During the meetings one artist and participant spoke about the importance of the project: ‘We started this project a long time ago ... because it was the 100th anniversary of the stock route and there were no photos and no stories of our people in any books, no names of our grandfathers and fathers who were drovers and cookies on the stock route and that’s why we started this project, so that their names would be in the book. And when I die, I want my grandchildren to see me on the internet for this project.’

CSR Project team discuss the repatriation process with Mangkaja Artists in Fitzroy Crossing. Photograph by Mollie Hewitt.

ONE ROAD Throughout 2013 FORM worked with Lightwell to develop One Road, an app that captures the stories of the Canning Stock Route Project. The application repurposed the design and content from the digital centrepiece of Yiwarra Kuju exhibition for web and iOS devices. One Road launched on October 1 2013 via a targeted online and social media campaign that was carried out by Hatched, a Perth-based digital experience agency.

Using Alfred Canning’s hand-drawn 1910 map as its interface, One Road transports users along the stock route and brings the cultural, artistic, and social features of the Country to life, visiting the repurposed wealth of stories, short films, paintings, and animated features from the original interactive.

One Road is downloadable from iTunes for the price of A$1.99, and the app was also made available as a web-based free version. All profits generated from the app continue to be returned to the participating art centres and project partners.

The travel information includes desert first-aid, travel preparation, Aboriginal language lessons, relevant well and water quality data, camping locations, and interchangeable aerial and historical maps. It also includes instructions for ways to respectfully travel through this Country, and where it is and is not appropriate to diverge off the route.

Screen Shots of iOS app One Road: Canning Stock Route Project.

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One Road forms part of the broader Canning Stock Route Digital Futures project which has the dual purpose of repatriating the project materials to the participating communities, as well as protecting and promoting the project materials through digital platforms. In 2013 the national tour of Yiwarra Kuju was concluded at the Queensland Museum, and the exhibition was dismantled: in light of this One Road is a means of enhancing the accessibility and extending the life of the exhibition for ongoing use by communities, schools, tourists, and the general public. Furthermore, of the 250 Aboriginal participants involved in the Canning Stock Route Project, only around 50 were ever able to travel to see the exhibition; as a result the adaptation of its digital centrepiece is a means of making the exhibition content and collection available to those who made it possible, in the long-term.

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MIRA CANNING STOCK ROUTE PROJECT ARCHIVE

Aboriginal documented culture is frequently removed to institutions in major cities, where communities can face significant challenges in accessing it. The potential of this removal to impact the transmission of cultural knowledge between generations is high. Since the outset of the Canning Stock Route Project FORM has been committed to returning the cultural materials recorded, generated, and collected over the life of the project to participating art centre communities.

Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive (http://mira. canningstockrouteproject.com/) is at the heart of the Canning Stock Route Digital Futures Project, and has been developed as a collaboration between FORM and the University of California Berkley’s Center for Digital Archaeology. Mira is a groundbreaking tool for preserving and sharing the Project’s invaluable cultural materials. More than a mere archive, it is a digital storytelling platform, which allows users to engage with the people, stories, events, histories, and artworks that have defined the Project.

profit from their use. The development of this comprehensive legal framework has ensured that the rights and requests of our participants and contributors have been recognised, while also allowing the archive to continually and directly benefit the communities who have created it.

The full set of digital project materials will be soundly archived with rich associated metadata, and will be housed in iVEC supercomputers in Western Australia, supported by an archival host, available via Mira, and returned to communities on hard drives for offline use. Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive is an effective, flexible, and robust solution to repatriation of intangible cultural heritage in the long-term.

‘Mira, as well as being one of the deepest archives of Indigenous cultural content in the world, is also a living place where communities, digital curators and technology meet to redefine the practice of digital preservation into a model that can serve Indigenous groups worldwide.’

– Dr Michael Ashley, Chief Technology Officer, Centre for Digital Archaeology, University of California, Berkley, 2013

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Mira offers comprehensive search functionality and delivers specific features and benefits for users from participating communities. When signed in, community users have access to all of their community’s materials, which they are able to add to, edit, and control. Furthermore, each individual can create their own ‘collection’ of items within the archive, which will then be saved under their user profile. These community functions make Mira a comprehensive tool for learning, sharing, and contributing to culture and community life. They also ensure that the archive is monitored and adapted by the owners of the Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property included in the archive.

As in Mukurtu (the open source software on which Mira is based), access to content in this archive is based on a set of cultural protocols which have been determined by numerous approvals workshops and best-practice permissions.

Mira also offers the potential to deliver ongoing financial benefits to remote communities. The general public, schools, and institutions can request licences to use public content from the archive. These licences will align with the Project’s Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Protocols, and 90% of the profits generated from commercial projects will be returned directly to the participating art centres.

Underpinning the CSR Digital Futures Project is an innovative legal framework, developed with the Arts Law Centre of Australia and Herbert Smith Freehills, which, rather than solely protecting Aboriginal contributors’ rights to their cultural knowledge, also allows them to share in the collective materials generated throughout the project and

Screen shots of Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive.

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‘Just like the old people, we are dreaming. We have a new dream with technology. We’re using the newest technology with the oldest culture.’ – Curtis Taylor, 2010

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PIECES OF GUTHARRAGUDA (SHARK BAY)

The exhibition is the outcome of FORM’s mentorship development program which paired leading West Australian jeweller and artist Helena Bogucki with Jimmy Poland. The mentorship begun in 2010 has allowed Jimmy to tell his stories of place through new materials and techniques, whilst Helena has also been influenced by the experience of spending time with Jimmy and in Shark Bay; this is evident in her new series or works entitled ‘Shipwrecked Jeweller.’

‘The days Jimmy and I spent working from our portable studio at the Midland Atelier and meeting the resident designers created a new dialogue to share our collective experience of making and storytelling during the mentorship.

Engaging in this type of environment and meeting other contemporary jewellery makers in Perth were both rare opportunities for anyone working in regional Western Australia. The knowledge and the tales of the designers that we gathered about materials, tools and skills are as beneficial as the pearl shell and boabs that we started collecting at the beginning of this creative expedition. Our conversations continue and our hands will keep recording the stories of this journey.’ Helena says.

Pieces of Guttharaguda (Shark Bay) presented an opportunity for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal audiences to gain insight into life in Shark Bay through the lens of the 86-yearold Malgana elder. Jimmy has been carving pearl shell, emu eggs and boab nuts for many years – a skill that was passed down from his father to him; he sources materials that are found locally, these reflect not only a sense of place, but also his ability to utilise the resources that are available to him. The incorporation of organic materials reflects not only

In the 88 page catalogue which was produced in conjunction with the exhibition, Jimmy’s nephew and the Project Cultural Advisor, Darren Capewell (Capes)wrote about his traditional homeland of Gutharraguda, which means ‘Two Waters’.

‘Jimmy’s stories and jewellery making are a part of our Indigenous cultural history and traditions, which in turn promotes education, understanding and respect.....they are all a unique piece of this spirit country that represents the landscape he grew up in.’

The publication contained a series of edited and transcribed stories about Jimmy’s life, entitled, My home is My Story a series of recorded stories that Project Consultant Sarah Trant recorded with Jimmy in Shark Bay.

‘Mind blowing beautiful- loved it- Congratulations’.

– Joanna Brown

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The show tells the story of Malgana artist Jimmy Poland through material culture and a range of historical sources.

Whilst the exhibition focuses on the artistic practice and journey of this well known and senior community member, the exhibition also traces the broader social, cultural, economic, and historical events that have shaped Shark Bay and Denham, in Western Australia’s picturesque Gascoyne region, through the inclusion of historical objects, photographs and archival material.

Jimmy’s spirit of innovation, but also his Aboriginal identity.

Jimmy’s carved pearl jewellery brings together the past and present; illustrating the convergence of Shark Bay’s pearling economy, Malay and Aboriginal heritage and histories.

‘Amazing exhibition! Well thought out and beautiful.’

– Devina McPherson ‘This is fabulous- more of it!’

– Mandy Loton

Detail of Copper and Steal Sea Eagle by Jimmy Poland. Photograph by Bewley Shaylor.

Paradox Exhibition works y ROA, photographs

by Bill Shaylor, 2011 (next page)

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The Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay) exhibition opened at the Rose de Freycinet Gallery Shark Bay World Heritage and Discovery Centre in Denham before touring to the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre, Carnarvon; the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery and FORM Gallery, Perth. Over 5000 people saw the exhibition over a total of 120 days.

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2006 - 2013 OVERVIEW

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Executive Summary While 2012 marked the seventh year of FORM’s broader partnership with the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA), 2013 marked the fifth year of the Midland Atelier studio hub. As such, it provided an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the last five years through a programme of exhibitions and an award-winning publication and documentary. This programming celebrated the Atelier’s legacy and provided an opportunity to showcase a range of unique creative outcomes that have not previously had wide public exposure, including contributions from international designers, photographers, jewellers, street and visual artists.

2013 also saw the completion of the Pattern Shop studio’s largest group commission, for Woodside, through interior design firm MKDC. Sadly, the close of 2013 will also marked the end of FORM’s partnership with the MRA and finalisation of Midland Atelier, with FORM stepping away from the studios in November after numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure sufficient funding for the expansion of the facility. The MRA has also returned to review the overall site masterplan and intentions for the site.

This progress report details the key events and milestones achieved by FORM and our resident and visiting creatives throughout 2013, and lists an overview of selected key programming highlights delivered throughout the Atelier’s lifespan.

Alex Fossilo working on the Woodside commission. Photograph by Eva Fernandez, 2013.

Woodside commission in progress.

Photograph by Eva Fernandez, 2013.

Midland Atelier Profile and Vision Midland Atelier was Western Australia’s first creativity and design hub, occupying a cluster of the original heritage-listed buildings within the greater Midland Railway Workshops site.

The Atelier comprised: - The Pattern Shop studio for bespoke furniture and object design, home to full-time and visiting artists and designers. (see page 6) - The Midland Atelier design commission program, primarily linked to the Pattern Shop studio. (see page 7) - An Exhibition Program, comprising exhibitions developed through the Atelier and exhibited on site, in FORM’s Perth CBD Gallery, and at interstate venues. (see page 8)

Midland Atelier was always intended to be a multi-artform creative hub, incorporating additional studios for mediums including public art, industrial-scale casting, Indigenous art and digital media. Sadly however, five years of intensive work toward the further development of the studio has ultimately proven fruitless. Despite the countless hours devoted by FORM’s team toward fundraising for the expansion of the Atelier, FORM was unable to deliver a partnership that was supported by state government and will be drawing the Atelier to a close. On a brighter note, the space will be repurposed and continue as independent practitioner studios through the MRA. However, it is unlikely that the bespoke furniture sector that once breathed life into the spectacular heritage buildings will survive, given the lack of a support structure to secure commissions and feed the ongoing development of a design culture.

- The Midland Atelier International Creative Residency program, which hosted artists and designers from a range of disciplines and locations. (see page 12)

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Opening of Faultline, FORM Gallery, photograph by Matt Biocich

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- Other artistic and community programming, such as artists’ talks, masterclasses, workshops, industry events, community events and engagement. (see page 14)

2013 AT A GLANCE Midland Atelier 2013 is a landmark year for Midland Atelier encompassing the fifth anniversary of the initiative, the delivery of its largest commission, and the closure of the facility. Artists in residence and guest designers undertake work on site in the lead up to the fifth anniversary exhibitions, including Eva Fernandez, Penelope Forlano, Susan Flavell and Nalda Searles, and the Atelier welcomes back past designers including Adam Cruickshank and Henry Pilcher, to participate in the shows.

January - Brown Bag artists’ talks are presented by Midland Atelier visiting artists Helena Bogucki and Jimmy Poland, for FORM staff, Pattern Shop designers and invited guests - Midland Atelier designer-makers are in production for the Woodside Commission

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- Products and artworks in design and prototype development for the Midland Atelier exhibitions

March - Midland Atelier designer-makers are in production for the Woodside Commission - Products and artworks in design and prototype development for the Midland Atelier exhibitions - Midland Atelier exhibition and catalogue development

April - Filmmakers Amelia Phillips and Daniel Gallagher document the final stages of the Woodside commission for their Midland Atelier 2008-2013 documentary - Completion of Woodside commission, the Pattern Shop’s largest and final commission - Products and artworks in development for the Midland Atelier exhibitions - Midland Atelier exhibition and catalogue development ongoing

- A substantial OHS review of the Atelier undertaken by FORM in 2012 is finalised and implemented

May

February

- Filmmakers Amelia Phillips and Daniel Gallagher undertake a series of interviews with Pattern Shop designers, FORM staff, artist-in-residence Eva Fernandez and former Workshops employee Kevin Mountain, for their Midland Atelier 2008-2013 documentary

- 5 February: Atelier Manager Kara Pinakis is selected as winner of the FORM/Rugs Carpet & Design rug design competition run through the Atelier, with Curator Andrew Nicholls as runner-up - 20-22 February: Land.Mark.Art Noongar workshop is held in the Nurses’ Post, featuring 5 leading Noongar contemporary artists and numerous members of the FORM team along with architects, designers, and curators - Midland Atelier designer-makers are in production for the Woodside Commission - Products and artworks in design and prototype development for the Midland Atelier exhibitions - Federal funding for The Foundry concrete flooring and studio partitioning confirmed unsuccessful (Submission to RDAF Round 4)

- Midland Atelier exhibition and catalogue production ongoing

June - 13 June: Opening of From the Atelier and Faultlines and launch of accompanying documentary and catalogue at FORM Gallery - A foreword by Richard Muirhead, Chairman, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority is published in the catalogue - Kieran Kinsella, CEO, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority opens the exhibition speaking to an audience of over 400 people - Awkward Beauty exhibition inspired by the Midland Railway Workshops and produced as a result of a Midland Atelier residency tours to Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Victoria, and is showcased over a month to an audience of 2087.

August

- Midland Atelier documentary is showcased on the Perth Cultural Centre big screen

- 24 August: Midland Atelier 2008-2013 catalogue wins a number of Western Australian Printing Industry Craftsmanship Awards: Book printing – offset limp bound; Booklets, catalogues and magazines; and the overall 2013 Kodak ‘Best of Category’ Award

- 4 July: Opening of the Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood exhibition at Midland Atelier - Richard Muirhead, Chairman, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority. A opens the exhibition speaking to an audience of over 400 people - 7 July: Artist’s floortalks at Midland Atelier by Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood exhibitors for audience of approximately 60 members of the Friends of the Art Gallery of Western Australia - 21 July: Artist’s floortalks at Midland Atelier for approximately 100 visitors, by Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood exhibitors for the final day of the exhibition

September - 5 September: RELICS, REMNANTS & REMAINS, the new works originally shown as the ‘Leather’ component of the Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood exhibition re-shows at FORM’s Murray Street Gallery for an inner-city audience - 8 September: The MRA hosts a Heritage Open Day at the Midland Railway workshops. FORM re-shows the From the Atelier exhibition and screens the Midland Atelier 2008-2013 documentary in the Pattern Shop and Water Tower respectively, for the day for the day, for an audience of over 8,000

- 31 July: Updates are made to the OHS System and additional induction workshop held for all staff and designers

October

- Midland Atelier documentary film is showcased on the Perth Cultural Centre big screen

- 31 October: FORM ends its partnership with the MRA in October 2013, officially closing the Midland Atelier

Anonymous sculpture by Eva Fernandez, 2013, photograph courtesy of the artist

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The exhibition is profiled in international media through Art Forward

PATTERN SHOP HIGHLIGHTS Midland Atelier The Pattern Shop was home to Midland Atelier’s wood, furniture and 3D object design studio, accommodating up to 15 local, national and international designers on a permanent and visiting basis. Pattern Shop Studio residents in 2013 included Technical Coordinator Mark Elbin, Guy Eddington, Alex Fossilo, Daniel Hood, Tim Leaversuch, Brianna Russell and Nick Statham. In addition, temporary guest designers’ spaces were provided for Jon Goulder, Warren Hayes, Philipp Rinkens, Nathan Day and Penelope Forlano throughout the year.

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The highlight of 2013 for the Pattern Shop was the delivery of the studio’s largest ever commission (Woodside, through MKDC), a fitting end to the studio’s nationally-regarded commissioning programme.

MKDC Woodside Interior with Midland Atelier designs insitu, photograph ©Robert Frith – Acorn Photo, 2013

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Woodside

MKDC Woodside Interior with Midland Atelier designs in-situ, photograph ŠRobert Frith – Acorn Photo, 2013

In September 2012, interior design firm MKDC engaged Midland Atelier in a large-scale commission involving an extensive design phase to create a family of loose and fitted furniture.

The project incorporated side tables, credenzas, meeting tables, coffee tables, reception consoles and a wall sculpture. The design direction was led by Alex Fossilo with Daniel Stewart Hood playing a key role in the delivery

of the project, however it involved the majority of the workshop team from start to finish in a truly collaborative process. The pieces were made primarily from solid Marri, Jarrah and elements of Blackbutt, all Western Australian woods, as requested by the client. The commission was staggered in two stages and the job was completed in April, 2013.

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Midland Atelier

2013 EXHIBITION PROGRAM Midland Atelier In celebration of the fifth anniversary of Midland Atelier, FORM presented a suite of three exhibitions in 2013, each focusing on a different aspect of the Atelier’s programming.

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Opening at FORM Gallery, Murray Street on Thursday 13 June, 2013, From the Atelier showcased Work by Adam Cruickshank, Guy Eddington, Penelope Forlano, Daniel Stewart Hood, Tim Leaversuch, Andrew Nicholls, Henry Pilcher and Nick Statham. Featuring work by current and past designers in residence, From the Atelier showcased some of the best contemporary interior and lighting design to emerge from the Atelier’s Pattern Shop furniture studio since 2008.

Faultlines: Two Artists in Karijini featured work by Nick Statham and David Trubridge. Perth-based artist Statham joined with iconic New Zealand designer and Midland Atelier visiting resident mentor Trubridge, to present a range of contemporary designed objects inspired by the imposing landscape of Karijini National Park. The exhibition was an outcome of FORM’s Midland Atelier International Creative residency Programme and represented the culmination of two years of development, collaboration and mentorship.

Opening at Midland Atelier, Yelverton Drive, Midland on Thursday 4 July, 2013, Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood presented a series of sitespecific installations by Tanija and Graham Carr, Eva Fernandez, Susan Flavell, Nalda Searles and The Pattern Shop studio.

In celebration of the Atelier’s fifth birthday, FORM commissioned new works by these of leading Western Australian artists, all whom have personal or professional links to Midland. Each artist was allocated a site within the Atelier to respond to, along with a specific material, in reference to the first five traditional anniversary gifts.

The exhibition showed until 21 July, 2013 and was viewed by 1,000 people over a run of only 10 days.

From the Atelier installation.

Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2013. (top) Faultlines installation (detail of David Trubridge’s Tipu light). Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2013. (middle)

These exhibitions showed until 29 August, 2013, and were accompanied by the launch of the 240 page retrospective catalogue Midland Atelier 2008-2013 and the short documentary film Midland Atelier 2008-2013. The catalogue won multiple print awards at a national level.

The exhibition was seen by over 2,000 people and received extensive national and international media coverage (see below Media and Promotion section).

In addition, From the Atelier was shown as a backdrop to the MRA’s Heritage Open Day festivities on Sunday 8 September with designers and staff present to share the exhibition with over 8,000 people.

Faultlines installation (view of Nick Statham’s works).

Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2013.

Tania and Graham Carr’s Leather installation in the Midland Railway Workshops’ Powerhouse as part of Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood. Photograph by Bewley Shaylor, 2013.

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Works from From the Atelier, clockwise from top left: La Lyonnaise Chaise Lounge by Nick Statham, Desk 2 by Guy Eddington and The Unforgotten console by Penelope Forlano. Photographs by Eva Fernandez, 2013.

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CREATIVE RESIDENCY PROGRAM Midland Atelier Western Australian photographer and artist Eva Fernandez continued her extended residency at the Midland Railway Workshops during early 2013, producing two new bodies of site-specific work for the Midland Atelier 2008-2013 exhibition programme, with funding from the Western Australian Department for Culture and the Arts.

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Fernandez spent around seven months researching and photographing the works on site. She initially requested to have access to the Elements Store for her residency, drawn to the wooden building’s ramshackle and fragile appearance.

Upon beginning work on site however, she quickly became fascinated by the challenge of documenting the huge collection of wooden patterns that were stored in Block 2 in preparation for auction. The result was two bodies of work for the fifth anniversary exhibition programme: I was immediately attracted to The Elements Store because of its interesting structure. It is a unique building that stands alone and appears quite different to the others as it is constructed of wood and is quite small in comparison to the other brick structures on site. The textures of peeling paint and disintegrating wood panels reveal its age and give it immense character. The fact that it is also quite abandoned and somewhat neglected gives it a stillness and haunting atmosphere.

New Zealand-based designer David Trubridge returned to Western Australia in June, 2013 for the opening of the Midland Atelier 2008-2013 exhibition programme, the culmination of his mentorship of designer Nick Statham, which had been ongoing since 2011. While in Perth he delivered a lecture for design students at Central Institute of Technology and interviews with The West Australian newspaper and ABC radio. He and Statham presented artists’ talks in FORM Gallery for an audience of 100 guests prior to the exhibition opening, which additionally allowed him to launch and sign copies of his newly published monograph, David Trubridge: So Far. Also working from the Atelier in the lead-up to the fifth anniversary programme was local designer and academic Penelope Forlano, whose stunning The Unforgotten console was a highlight of the From the Atelier exhibition.

Meanwhile, exhibiting artists from the Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood show installed their works on site during early July, including sculptor Susan Flavell who spent several cold days in the Workshops’ Foundry building creating her huge cardboard sculpture of Cerberus.

...Block 2 contains a plethora of visual feasts. At first it overwhelms with its sheer width, breadth and height. Then you start to notice all the amazing contents that are housed there. It was difficult to commence work because it was so overwhelming that your eyes don’t know where to rest. I was very attracted to the stacks old patterns that have been stored in an irregular manner on palettes.

Each pattern, having been meticulously handmade by the industrial craftspeople of a bygone era, appears an artwork in itself. As they are stacked together with their muted tones of reds, yellows and blues, they make striking compositions which resemble the work of Modernist artists.

- Eva Fernandez, 2013 Filmmakers Amelia Philips and Daniel Gallagher undertook several weeks on site at the Midland Railway Workshops during April and May creating their documentary to accompany the Midland Atelier 2008-2013 exhibition programme. This included interviewing former workshop timekeeper Kevin Mountain and artist-in-residence Eva Fernandez in addition to FORM staff and Pattern Shop designers.

Image from Flora Obscura series, Eva Fernandez, 2013.

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS Midland Atelier Public programming, artists’:

Advocacy, VIP Engagement and Tours

- A FORM Land.Mark.Art workshop for Noongar artists was held in the Nurses’ Post in February. The three-day programme was designed to enable the artists to share and express cultural knowledge, gain exposure to and understanding of art and design development processes, public art development considerations and the public art market.

Throughout the partnership, FORM has continued to advocate for the Midland Railway Workshops site and Midland Atelier development. This has included a range of activities from promotion, showcasing the site and lobbying key decision-makers formally and informally, to building the network, encouraging understanding of the aims for the site with guided tours, meetings and written proposals, and through to hosting and informing VIPs and stakeholders. FORM has hosted and discussed the site with many stakeholders, including State and Federal Ministers, Senators, advisors, investors, potential funders or partners and industry representatives. Selected stakeholder visits in 2013 have included:

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- From the Atelier and Faultlines opening night (13 June, 2013): Evening event at FORM Gallery. The exhibition was formally opened by Helen Carroll, Manager, Wesfarmers Arts Corporate Affairs and Kieren Kinsella, Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, and attracted 600 guests. The opening was preceded by artists’ talks in the gallery by David Trubridge and Nick Statham for approximately 100 guests.

- Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood opening night (4 July, 2013): Evening event incorporating five site-specific installations utilising various buildings within the Midland Railway Workshops. The exhibition was formally opened by Richard Muirhead, Chairman, Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority and Senator Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia. The event attracted 450 guests, and was covered in the following week’s social pages in The West Australian. The opening was preceded by a site tour for Senator Ludlam.

- Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood public program, (7 and 21 July, 2013): Artists’ talks were held for the Friends of the Art Gallery of Western Australia and for the closing day of the exhibition, featuring exhibiting artists Eva Fernandez and Nalda Searles.

- Senator Scott Ludlum and his policy team (meetings, tour of site, briefings for the Senator to advocate the project at the Federal level) - Representatives from the EMRC team to inform their Regional Digital Strategy development - Explor, a digital consultancy headed by former Premier of Tasmania, Hon. David J. Bartlett who along with Director Peter Croger are assisting the EMRC with digital strategy - Department for Culture and the Arts - Hassell architects and designers - Adrian Fini - Department of Commerce - Woodside executive team and executive personnel tours - The British Council

- MRA Midland Railway Workshops Heritage Open Day: FORM re-showed the From the Atelier exhibition and Midland Atelier 2008-2013 documentary for the event and Pattern Shop designers and artists-in-residence Adam Cruickshank, Eva Fernandez and Tim Leaversuch, as well as FORM Atelier team members Andrew Nicholls and Kara Pinakis, were on hand to speak with members of the public.

- The Brown Bag artists’ talk series continued in early 2013 with visiting artists Helena Bogucki and Jimmy Poland presenting talks on their art practices for FORM staff, Pattern Shop designers and invited guests in January.

- Pieces of Gutharraguda, a significant exhibition of jewellery and objects by Jimmy Poland was also showcased in the FORM Gallery, the culmination of 18 months of development for the artist through an extensive mentorship with jeweller Helena Bogucki. Many of the mentorship workshops were hosted at the Midland Atelier.

Artist’s talk by iconic New Zealand designer David Trubridge, at the Faultlines exhibition opening.

Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2013.

Artist’s talk by photographer Eva Fernandez in her Wood installation, on the final day of Paper, Cotton, Leather, Flowers, Wood. Photograph by Andrew Nicholls, 2013.

Other Facilitated Opportunities In addition to activities that FORM directly undertakes, the organisation has also assisted in connecting other organisations with the site, or facilitating opportunities that could be beneficial for the MRA’s aims for the site. FORM has regularly connected the MRA with potential opportunities for events, filming, and other projects with profile building and activation potential.

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In 2013, for instance, FORM facilitated filming within the heritage buildings toward a design program, positioning the site as a source of inspiration for creative students. FORM has facilitated student visits and projects associated with the site. FORM also discussed with the MRA an opportunity for a major arts and design exhibition event to be developed and hosted from the Midland site every 2 years, however at the time this opportunity was declined.

2008-2013 HIGHLIGHTS Midland Atelier

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Pattern Shop resident designers, 2008-2013 - Jon Goulder (Australia): Senior Designer: 2008–2010; Head of Workshop, 2010-2012 - Malcolm Harris (Australia): Technical Manager, 2008-2011 - Axel Ardeois (France): Intern, 2009 - Helena Bogucki (Australia): Resident jeweller, 2008-2011 - Camille Claude (France): Intern, 2010 - Adam Cruickshank (Australia): Resident designer, 2008-2011 - Nathan Day (Australia): Resident designer, 2012–2013 - Guy Eddington (Australia): Intern, 2010-2011; resident designer, 2011-2013 - Mark Elbin (Germany): Resident cabinet maker and technical assistant: 2012-2013 - Alex Fossilo (Fosax) (Australia): Resident designer, 2010-2013 - Warren Hayes (Australia): Resident designer, 2011-2012 - Daniel Stewart Hood (UK/Australia): Intern, 2011; resident designer (2012-2013) - Jessica Jubb (Australia): Resident jeweller, 2008-2011 - Tim Leaversuch (Australia): Resident designer (2011-2013) - Bethamy Linton (Australia): Resident jeweller, 2008-2011 - Claire Morgan (Australia): Intern, 2009–2010; resident designer, 2011-2012 - Carrie McDowell (Australia): Resident jeweller, 2008-2011 - Henry Pilcher (Australia): Intern, 2009 - Philipp Rinkens (Australia): Resident designer, 2012 - Briana Russell (Australia): Intern 2008 -2011; resident designer 2012-2013 - Andrew Shaw (UK): Intern (2012 – 2013) - Nick Statham (Australia): Guest designer, 2010; resident designer, 2011-2013 - Michelle Taylor (Australia): Resident photographer, 2010 - 2013 - Jack White (United Kingdom): Intern, 2011-2012 - Tim Whiteman (Australia): Guest designer, 2008 - Alistair Yiap (Australia): Resident jeweller, 2008-2011

Artists/designers-in-residence and visiting creatives 2006 - Jon Goulder (NSW, Australia): Furniture and design - Marina Lommerse (WA, Australia): design and development mentorship 2007 - Julie Blyfield (SA, Australia): Jewellery - Andrew Brewerton (UK): Glass, creative hubs - Jon Goulder (NSW, Australia): Furniture and design - Khai Liew (SA, Australia): Furniture and fine wood - Marina Lommerse (WA, Australia): design and development mentorship

Midland Atelier designers Alex Fossilo and Nick Statham at work on the Wesfarmers Level 12 commission.

Photograph by Michelle Taylor, 2010.

2008 - Julie Blyfield (SA, Australia): Jewellery - Jon Goulder (NSW, Australia): Furniture and design 2009 - David Bielander (Switzerland/Germany): jewellery - Helen Britton (Western Australia/Germany): jewellery - Matthew Harding (Victoria, Australia): sculpture and public art - David Trubridge (New Zealand): furniture, environmental and public art 2010 - David Bielander (Switzerland/Germany): jewellery - Helen Britton (Western Australia/Germany): jewellery - German Jauregui (Colombia): furniture and industrial design - Takeshi Lue (SA, Australia): Jewellery - John Quan (SA, Australia): Jewellery - Nick Statham (New South Wales, Australia): furniture design and fine wood work - David Walker (WA, Australia): Jewellery 2011 - David Bielander (Switzerland/Germany): jewellery - Helen Britton (Western Australia/Germany): jewellery - Charles Landry (UK): Creative cities and hubs - Justine McKnight (Perth, Western Australia): garment design - Jimmy Poland (Shark Bay, Western Australia): jewellery and objects

2013 - Tanija and Graham Carr (Perth, Western Australia): leather and sculptural objects - Eva Fernandez (Perth, Western Australia): photography and installation - Susan Flavell (Perth, Western Australia): Sculpture - Penelope Forlano (Perth, Western Australia): furniture design - Daniel Gallagher (Australia): Filmmaker - German Jaregui (Colombia): intern/resident

In addition, numerous site visits were undertaken between 2008-2013 by various members of the international art and design community, and ‘Brown Bag’ talks were held on an occasional basis for Midland Atelier residents and FORM staff. These talks comprised presentations by various FORM staff members and associates, visiting creatives and Pattern Shop designers speaking on a topic of their choice. These included presentations by the following creatives: Helena Bogucki, jewellery designer; Rebecca Eggleston, General Manager at FORM; Susan Flavell, visual artist; Penelope Forlano, designer; Alex Fossilo, Pattern Shop designer; Jon Goulder, designer; Daniel Stewart Hood, Pattern Shop designer; Sohrab Hura, photographer; Carolyn Karnovsky, General Manager at FORM; Tiernan Kelly, Director of Film City Glasgow; Tim Leaversuch, Pattern Shop designer; Andrew Nicholls, visual artist and Curator at FORM; Jimmy Poland, Indigenous maker; Sarah Tierney, CEO of ZoneFutures; Adele Winteridge, Director of Foolscap Studio (interdisciplinary design studio); Sharmila Wood, Curator at FORM.

Artists in residence Heleb Britton and David Bielander in the Midland Railway Workshops’ Nurses’ Post.

Photograph by Michelle Taylor, 2011.

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2012 - John Elliot (Australia): Photography - Eva Fernandez (Perth, Western Australia): photography and installation - Penelope Forlano (Perth, Western Australia): furniture design - Adam Goodrum (NSW): Furniture and design - Sohrab Hura (India): Photography and multi-media projection - Tiernan Kelly (Scotland): Director, Film City Glasgow - Jacob Lehrer (Perth, Western Australia): contemporary dance - Alexander Loterzstain (QLD): Furniture, objects and design - Martin Parr (UK): Magnum Photographer - Jimmy Poland (Shark Bay, Western Australia): Jewellery and objects - Ketaki Sheth (India): Photography - Bahrat Sikka (India): Photography - Sarah Tierney (Scotland): International digital media entrepreneur - Annet van der Voort (Netherlands): Photography

- Amelia Philips (Australia): Filmmaker, - Jimmy Poland (Shark bay, Western Australia): Jewellery and objects - Nalda Searles (Perth, Western Australia): Textiles and scupture

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- ROA (Belgium): urban/street art - Gilbert Rochecouste (VIC, Australia): placemaking - David Trubridge (New Zealand): furniture, environmental and public art

MIDLAND ATELIER ANNUAL OVERVIEWS 2012

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2012 sees an audience of over 5000 visit Midland Atelier to view a programme of international photography presented by FORM and FotoFreo during March and April. Major Pattern Shop commissions include boardroom furniture for Minter Ellison, furniture for architecture firm UDLA and numerous private commissions for residential dwellings. Visiting creatives include designers Adam Goodrum (NSW), Alexander Loterzstain (Qld) and David Trubridge (New Zealand), and photographers Sohrab Hura (India), Martin Parr (UK), Ketaki Sheth (India), Bharat Sikka (India) and Annet van der Voort (Netherlands) as well as John Elliot (Qld), who takes portrait photography of Pattern Shop designers for the upcoming Midland Atelier 2008-2013 exhibition programme.

Designer Penelope Forlano and Indigenous maker Jimmy Poland take on guest designer roles at the Pattern Shop throughout the year.

Extensive digital media sector outreach and network development continues, including extensive surveying of the digital media community needs, demand and updated information on the sector and business profiles.

Extensive examination of digital media sector needs around Australia and comparable business models are analysed.

Comprehensive business planning, a business case, financial modelling, project management plans including risk, quality and procurement plans are refined and developed for The Foundry Digital Media Hub. A widespread campaign is developed and rolled out to raise support for The Foundry Digital Media Hub including a website, resulting in stated support of over 1,000 digital media and creative community representatives in addition to extensive formal letters of support including bipartisan endorsement. Special Minister for State Gary Gray is briefed and champions the project federally, with additional support from two State Senators.

FORM hosts two international leaders in the digital media field in residencies of 3 months each. Tiernan Kelly, Director of Film City Glasgow, and digital innovator and entrepreneur Sarah Tierney each provide assistance and strategic guidance in refining and developing planning for the Foundry Digital Media Hub. Tiernan and Sarah also assist with advocacy and sector engagement.

FORM commissions internationally regarded creative industries expert John Knell of the Intelligence Agency, UK to visit and assess the Atelier and the Foundry Digital Media Hub plans, and contribute a paper toward business planning.

This advocates the value of creative hubs for economies.

FORM also commissions a business case assessment and

appraisal from ACIL Tasman, which affirms the value of the creative hub for Midland and Foundry Digital Media Hub. Connections for the Atelier and Hub are developed with: Academy of Interactive Entertainment, Chinese media delegates, X Media Lab, Department of Commerce, the Australia Council, Governor Stirling Senior High School, Australian Institute of Architects, Arstcape Toronto, The Edge, Project Factory, SBS Online, Centre for Creative Industries in Sydney, Digital Sydney, Smart Services CRC, Eveleigh Railway Workshops site and Carriageworks, ABS Innovation, ABS multimedia, Fishburners Studio, Pushstart, Sydney Film Festival, Centre for Creative Industries QUT, Creative Enterprise Australia, Hoodlum, Ryerson Digital Media Zone Canada, Film City Glasgow, Wasps Artists Studios Scotland, The Tron Glasgow, The Tramway Glasgow, The Arches Glasgow, MakLab digital centre Glasgow, Digital Hub Scotland, Creative Clyde Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Transport Museum Glasgow, International Creative Entrepreneurs Scotland, Creative Scotland.

A major revised funding submission of $12.8 million to the Regional Development Australia Fund Round Two is developed. A subsequent submission of $1 million is made to Regional Development Australia Fund Round Four, for the basic flooring and partitioning of the Foundry to facilitate a stage one multi-disciplinary studios use, allowing for future growth and development.

Installation by Bharat Sikka as part of Divergence at the Midland Railway Workshops’ Block 2. Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2012. (top) Pattern Shop designer Alex Fossilo with his once upon a time when the pigs chewed lime... installation at the Midland Railway Workshops’ Water Tower. Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2012. (bottom)

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Leading national designers Adam Goodrum and Alexander Loterzstain mentor the Atelier’s designers.

Western Australian photographer and artist Eva Fernandez begins her seven-month residency at the Midland Atelier.

Exhibition Programme Highlights Divergence: Photographs from Elsewhere Exhibition programme Block 2 and the Powerhouse at Midland Railway Workshops 15 March-15 April, 2012 Featuring: over 70 international photographers Presented by FORM in partnership with FotoFreo, Divergence, Photographs from Elsewhere is a monumental showcase of contemporary photography by over 70 artists based in 15 countries. Viewed by an audience of approximately 5,000, the project transforms the Midland Railway Workshops into a panorama of images demonstrating photography’s unique ability to communicate across cultures, connect diverse people, create debate and stir emotion.

once upon a time when the pigs chewed lime..

The Water Tower at Midland Railway Workshops 15 March – 15 April, 2012 Featuring: Alex Fossilo (Fosax) In conjunction with Divergence, Pattern Shop designer Alex Fossilo presents his first solo exhibition, once upon a time when the pigs chewed lime... in the Water Tower studio adjacent to the Pattern Shop, “a multidisciplinary foray into the exploration of process” supported by the Western Australian Department for Culture and the Arts.

Also in conjunction with Divergence, choreographer-inresidence, Jacob Lehrer premiers Beat That in the Midland Atelier Foundry Building. The work is the outcome of his Strut Dance 2012 SEED residency in early 2012. Two performances take place during the Divergence open day, on Saturday 17 March, for an audience of approximately 100 guests.

Installation by Sam Harris as part of Divergence at the Midland Railway Workshops’ Block 2.

Photograph by Matt Biocich, 2012.

The Awkward Beauty exhibition shows at the Australian National University Gallery; the National Gallery of Australia acquires a work from the collection.

Programming Highlights Design industry event for 70 guests is held at the Pattern Shop, featuring artists talks by Pattern Shop designers and artists-in-residence, Adam Goodrum, Jon Goulder, Alexander Loterzstain and Nick Statham.

St John of God Hospital private event hosted for over 50 guests, with presentations showcasing the Midland Railway Workshops site and significance, and Midland Atelier.

Building and OHS audits are undertaken by the MRA and FORM.

Major Commissions St. Bartholemew’s House: Jon Goulder and Daniel Stewart Hood St. Bartholomew’s House commission is installed.

MKDC for Woodside: Pattern Shop studio (2012-2013) Interior design firm MKDC engage Midland Atelier in a large-scale commission involving an extensive design phase to create a family of loose and fitted furniture. The project incorporates side tables, credenzas, meeting tables, coffee tables, reception consoles and a wall sculpture. The design direction is led by Alex Fossilo with Daniel Stewart Hood playing a key role in the delivery of the project, however it involves the majority of the workshop team from start to finish in a truly collaborative process. The pieces are made primarily from solid Marri, Jarrah and elements of Blackbutt, all Western Australian woods, as requested by the client.

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Choreographer Jacob Lehrer began his three-month residency in the Foundry building at Midland Atelier.

David Trubridge undertakes another short residency at Midland Atelier, furthering his mentorship of Nick Statham.

A high-run publicaton is produced for Divergence and associated programming, for broad distribution. The program includes a profile of the Midland Railway Workshops, Midland Atelier and a section promoting the surrounding neighbourhood and local businesses. The publication includes MRA’s logo and acknowledgement.

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Residency Highlights

2011 Annual Overview

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Major residency projects by international visitors culminates during 2011 in the form of innovative exhibitions, and the Pattern Shop’s largest commission to date, Wesfarmers Level 12, is completed early in the year. Local garment designer Justine McKnight and photographer Michelle Taylor undertake an extended collaboration with jeweller Helen Britton, culminating in the nationally-touring Awkward Beauty exhibition, while a residency is held in the Pilbara for Taylor, the Pattern Shop’s Nick Statham and Adam Cruickshank, design writer Paul McGillick, New Zealand’s David Trubridge and FORM’s Carolyn Karnovsky. During 2011 the jewellery studios at Midland Atelier are closed to allow for the expansion of the furniture and design studio in response to the Pattern Shop’s expanding commission programme. This includes commissions for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the Australian Institute of Management by Pattern Shop designer, Tim Leaversuch.

Surveying of the digital sector and creative community is undertaken to continue to inform business planning and feasibility of the addition of a digital media hub to the creative hub. Full operational and financial plans are developed for the creative industries hub including a digital media facility in collaboration with Reliance Consulting. Architectural plans are developed for the Foundry, and landscaping between the buildings. In addition to ongoing fundraising efforts and private sector proposals, a major $12.8 million funding submission to Regional Development Australia Fund Round One is undertaken. An extensive funding submission is also developed and submitted to the federal Suburban Jobs Fund on behalf of the MRA. Full business planning and financial planning is developed for the Mainline facility to redevelop the Elements Store and surrounding area into an Indigenous design studio and metal working facilities. Architectural plans are developed for the Elements Store and additional new-build metals foundry. A $3.65 million funding submission to Royalties for Regions infrastructure fund is developed for the Mainline facility.

FORM continues to engage and develop the digital community, business and educator connections with the site. For example, FORM supports the X Media Lab event in April and tours key VIPs, digital sector representatives and potential funders through the site including John Margherities and a host of Chinese film and media delegates. Key stakeholders including Ministers Brendon Grylls and John Day are again toured through the site.

View of Awkward Beauty exhibition in the Midland Railway Workshops’ Pattern Shop studio. Photograph

by Michelle Taylor, 2011.

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Exhibitions Programme Highlights

Artists-in-residence, jewellers David Bielander (Switzerland/ Germany) and Helen Britton (Western Australia/Germany) complete their 3-month summer residency NSW-based designer Nick Statham relocates to Perth to take on a Lead Designer role at the Atelier

Awkward Beauty

New Zealand’s David Trubridge begins another residency at Midland Atelier focused on the mentorship of Pattern Shop designers Nick Statham and Adam Cruickshank.

Featuring: Helen Britton, Justine McKnight, Michelle Taylor

Belgium-based street artist ROA begins a three-month residency with FORM, setting up a studio at the Atelier. His residency additionally incorporates a research trip to the Pilbara and culminated in an exhibition.

View of Awkward Beauty exhibition in the Midland Railway Workshops’ Pattern Shop studio. Photograph

by Michelle Taylor, 2011.

The Pattern Shop at Midland Railway Workshops 7 October – 4 November, 2011

Awkward Beauty grew out of Helen Britton’s Midland Atelier residency in 2010-2011, comprising Britton’s jewellery, McKnight’s garments and Taylor’s photographs, created in response to the Railway Workshops site. Britton and McKnight each created five works, then swapped them and responded to the other’s with five new ones. The ten collaborative works were then photographed by Taylor in sites around the workshops. The exhibition tours to Canberra in 2012 and Melbourne in 2013.

Awkward Beauty catalogue produced profiling the Midland Railway Workshops site and heritage, including Midland Redevelopment Authority logo and acknowledgement.

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Residency And Designer Highlights

Building a Steak of Creativity

Wesfarmers Level 12

The Pattern Shop at Midland Railway Workshops

Completion and installation of Wesfarmers Level 12 fitout.

7 October – 4 November, 2011

St. Bartholomew’s House reception furniture:

Featuring: David Bielander and Michelle Taylor

Jon Goulder and Daniel Stewart Hood (2012)

Building a Steak of Creativity is the outcome of David Bielander’s Midland Atelier residency, showing alongside Awkward Beauty in the Atelier’s Pattern Shop. The exhibition comprises an installation developed in collaboration with Michelle Taylor, whose large-format photographs (depicting various locals who Bieldander had met during his time in Perth) provide a background for the new jewellery works and objects he created in Midland.

Lynne Evans, former CEO of St. Bartholomew’s House, commissions the Atelier to design a large, integrated reception desk and waiting area seating for the new St Bartholomew’s building in Lime Street, East Perth. The project is a design collaboration between Jon Goulder and Daniel Hood, a finely designed and constructed reception desk and seating arrangement completed and installed in August 2012.

Paradox

Other Programming Highlights

FORM Gallery, Murray Street, Perth

A Behind the Scenes public event is hosted to provide the broader community with an insight into the Midland Railway Workshops site, the heritage and history of the site, and a preview of the City of Swan Heritage Precinct design commission. The event attracts over 150 people and features presentations and tours by previous site workers including Timekeeper Kevin Mountain and Pattern Maker Ross Moreton alongside Midland Atelier designers Jon Goulder and team.

FORM develop and hosts a second community engagement and placemaking workshop inviting the community to participate in shaping the vision and actions to enhance the town centre and Midland Railway Workshops site with the Midland Redevelopment Authority and local government.

The workshops are facilitated by internationally regarded experts Charles Landry, a leader in Creative Cities, and Gilbert Rochecouste of Village Well. The workshops are well attended and produce positive engagement. Workshop reports are produced documenting outcomes.

22 October, 2011– 13 January, 2012

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Featuring: ROA Paradox is the outcome of ROA’s 2011 residency. ROA utilises furniture and objects from the Workshops to create an interactive, maze-like installation in FORM’s Perth Gallery. Extending ROA’s trademark aesthetic to encompass Western Australia’s native fauna, the exhibition challenges the commonly-held conflation of urban/street art with illegal graffiti in Perth.

Major Commissions City of Swan Heritage Precinct Public Art Project: Alex Fossilo (2010-2012) The City of Swan commissions Midland Atelier to design and produce a sculptural benchseat and wall installation for the newly redeveloped Midland Heritage Precinct courtyard that encompases the old Midland Courthouse and the old Water Supply Office. These buildings have been restored and are adjacent to the Midland Public Library, the space in between consisting of hard landscaping. Alex Fossilo, one of the Atelier’s key talents, designs and constructs the piece.

Pattern Maker Ross Moreton discusses his time in the Pattern Shop as part of the ‘Behind the Scenes’ public event. Photograph c/o FORM.

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2010 Annual Overview

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Numerous commissions are undertaken throughout the year; in addition to key projects for Wesfarmers and the City of Swan, these include a sculpture in the Newman town centre for the Shire of East Pilbara by jeweller Jessica Jubb and door handles for St. George’s Cathedral by Bethamy Linton, a lighting commission by Tim Whiteman for DLA Phillips Fox through Woods Bagot and private furniture commissions by Jon Goulder and Nick Statham. Visiting creatives include jeweller David Walker and South Australian designers Takeshi Lue and John Quan, along with a three-month residency by internationallyrenowned jewellers David Bielander and Helen Britton.

Funding proposals are developed and fundraising across private sector and government is undertaken.

Residency And Designer Highlights Internationally renowned jewellers David Bielander (Switzerland/Germany) and Helen Britton (Western Australia/ Germany) return to begin a three-month residency at Midland Atelier. Their residency focused on the development of new works for their individual exhibitions (launched in 2011), as well as a mentorship with local jeweller Bethamy Linton and the development of an industry needs and opportunities scoping manifesto linked to Midland Atelier’s studio planning.

Other artists in residence during 2010 include furniture and industrial designer German Jauregui (Colombia), and designer Nick Statham (NSW, Australia), who goes on to become a permanent resident designer in the Pattern Shop in 2011.

Exhibitions Programme Highlights 11:12 FORM Gallery, Perth 4 February – 28 March, 2010 Featuring: Jon Goulder 11:12 showcases works developed by Jon Goulder during his first two years as Senior Designer at the Pattern Shop.

This landmark collection of new works exhibits alongside some of the icon pieces that helped establish his reputation nationally, during his early career. The exhibition results in acquisitions by the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Wesfarmer Arts, among many others. Selected works from the series additionally tour to Melbourne for the national Wesfarmers conference in 2012.

Major catalogue produced, From the Atelier, with articles from international leaders in the design field, and a Foreword

by Kieran Kinsella, CEO, Midland Redevelopment Authority.

14 design commissions are won over the year.

Wefarmers Level 12: Jon Goulder and Adam Cruickshank with the Pattern Shop (2010-2011) Following the success of the Level 7 commission for Wesfarmers, Woods Bagot commissions Midland Atelier to work on the company’s executive Level 12. The project is led by Jon Goulder and Adam Cruickshank, with all Pattern Shop designers involved and working collaboratively. The finished fit-out is a showcase for innovative corporate design, incorporating large scale reception consoles and a suite of furniture including occasional chairs, coffee tables, a credenza, as well as a large seatscape designed by Jon Goulder which forms part of the Wesfarmers collection.

Other Programming Highlights FORM develops and hosts the first community engagement and placemaking workshop inviting the community to participate in shaping the vision for the town centre with the Midland Redevelopment Authority and local government, urban redevelopments taking place and the Railway Workshops site. The workshops are facilitated by internationally regarded experts Charles Landry, a leader in Creative Cities, and Gilbert Rochecouste of Village Well.

The workshops are well attended and produced positive engagement. Workshop reports are produced documenting outcomes.

Acquisitions Eight Midland Atelier works are acquired by public and private institutions, indicative of the level of artistic leadership in the outcomes produced.

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A study on the potential of the digital media sector for Midland and the creative precinct is commissioned from business consultant Reliance Consulting.

Major Commissions

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Midland Atelier’s brand and logo are commissioned and established. A website is developed profiling the studios, site vision, the designer-makers, and site heritage. The website also includes a section promoting the site and surrounding property and investment opportunities for the MRA.

2009 Annual Overview

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Numerous commissions are developed at the Pattern Shop studio throughout the year, including furniture for Lotterywest designed by Adam Cruickshank, and board room furniture for the Town of Port Hedland and lobby screening for the Richardson Hotel by Malcolm Harris. Visiting and exhibiting creatives include artists Emma Davies (Victoria) and Lisa Jones (UK/NSW) who both participate in exhibitions at exhibition at FORM Gallery, in the Perth CBD.

The Designing Futures jewellery cluster program of workshops and mentoring hosted at Midland Atelier and through the site results in an exhibition of works by Western Australian jewellers inspired by the Railway Workshops site.

Residency And Designer Highlights

Leading international jewellers based in Munich, Helen and David Bielander, undertake sector scoping and develop a manifesto for the West Australian jewellery sector, at the start of their residency at the Atelier.

Matthew Harding (Victoria, Australia): sculpture and public art

Research is commissioned through the Eastern Regional Metropolitan Council on regional data, needs, and economic profiling to inform feasibility assessments of creative industries hub planning. Funding proposals are developed and fundraising is undertaken. $500 million of investment is brought to the table through FORM’s engagement of Raffles University with the Midland Railway Workshops site. Raffles University proposes to purchase large tracts of the site, develop a creative and design focused university and associated student accommodation, and anticipates bringing 10,000 students to the area. Premier approves and announces the investment and development. Project is subsequently rejected by State Government Education portfolio.

Artists in Residence:

David Trubridge (New Zealand): furniture, environmental and public art

Exhibitions Programme Highlights Illicit Making: Seven designers and Midland Atelier FORM Gallery, Murray Street, Perth 30 April - 5 June, 2009 Featuring: Helena Bogucki, Claire Brooks, Kim Christian, Emma Davies, Jessica Jubb, Bethamy Linton and Claire Moody Illicit Making tells the stories of the Atelier - its history, its physical, bodily construct, its sum and components - through work by six Western Australian jewellers and an installation

by Victorian artist Emma Davies

Matthew Harding at work in the Pattern Shop. Photograph

by Ross Swanborough, 2009

Installation view of Illicit Making exhibition.Photograph

by Ross Swanborough, 2009

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2008 Annual Overview

Midland Atelier is formally established as a collective of designers based in the Pattern Shop and Nurse’s Post, as part of the partnership between FORM and the MRA, and embarks upon its first major commission. Designing Futures cluster mentorship by Jon Goulder and design academic Marina Lommerse takes place throughout the year.

Major commissions Wesfarmers level 7: Jon Goulder and Malcolm Harris

Wesfarmers Level 7 commission (detail) by Jon Goulder and Malcolm Harris.

Photograph by Victor France, 2008.

Wesfarmers Level 7 commission

by Jon Goulder and Victor France.

Photograph c/o FORM, 2008.

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Wesfarmers and architectural consultants Woods Bagot engage FORM to provide two furniture pieces for their new reception space. The furniture is designed and manufactured

by Malcolm Harris and Jon Goulder, representing the Atelier’s first major corporate commission. The works become the first pieces of contemporary design to be acquired for the Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art.

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Midland Atelier is formally established as a collective of designers based in the Pattern Shop and Nurses Post, as part of the partnership between FORM and the MRA, and embarks upon its first major commission. Designing Futures cluster mentorship by Jon Goulder and design academic Marina Lommerse takes place throughout the year. Development work toward an exhibition of jewellery works resulting from the Designing Futures jewellery cluster begins. Glass education and study courses throughout the state are shut down closing off the WA pipeline of talent, and funding is declined for glass facilities. As a result, and in alignment with the MRA revised masterplan, development focus is shifted to fine wood and furniture, and other media.

Funding proposals are developed for the studio. Pattern Shop extensions and Nurses Post upgrade are undertaken and completed.

2007 Annual Overview FORM finalises extensive Strategic Planning and Visioning for the MRA. FORM continues to work with the MRA to assess the feasibility of site and building uses, and exploration of funding opportunities for studio development is begun.

Designing Futures programming to develop skills and capacity of designer-makers is extended to jewellery and other media in addition to fine wood and furniture design.

Programming is delivered through the Midland Railway Workshops site, connecting the creative sector with the spaces. Mentors Marina Lommerse, Jon Goulder, FORM staff and expert guest mentors from around the country work to develop and support emerging talent through these workshops. Residents include renowned designer and maker Khai Liew and jewellery mentors such as leading practitioner Julie Blyfield.

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Creative sector and key stakeholder network development continues to be undertaken and increased. Extensive further scoping, surveying and consultation is undertaken with the glass community to result in a business plan for glass facilities at the site.

Andrew Brewerton, leading international glass and creative industries expert based in the UK, undertakes site visits and provides critical input into site plan development.

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Exploration of funding opportunities is begun for studio development.

Exhibition Programme Highlights: Khai Liew FORM Gallery Featuring works by leading Australian fine wood and furniture designer and maker, and mentor to Midland’s Designing Futures participants.

Systema Naturae FORM Gallery Featuring glass works by leading Western Australian artist, Kevin Gordon, as part of the engagement with the Western Australian and national glass community. A small catalogue brochure was released. (Exhibition launched late 2007 and showcased into 2008) Made in Midland exhibition at FORM Gallery.

Photograph by Czar photodesign, 2006

2006 Annual Overview FORM works with the MRA to undertake research, development, stakeholder network development and surveying to assist scoping of potential opportunities for the activation of the Midland Railway Workshops site as part of the broader Midland urban redevelopment. Strategic visioning and planning is undertaken.

Key members of the Designing Futures program are part of the Riches of Isolation exhibition, a showcase of Western Australian design talent at the prestigious Salone Satelite at the Milan Furniture Fair, Italy with a visitation of over 200,000 people from around the world.

Light fittings by Malcolm Harris from Made in Midland exhibition.

Photograph by Czar photodesign, 2006.

Riches of Isolation Salone Satellite, Milan, Italy 5-10 April Riches of Isolation FORM Gallery 28 April Made in Midland FORM Gallery 25 August Featuring work by the Designing Futures Midland Cluster of designer-makers, mentored at the Midland Railway Workshops and inspired by the site.

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New work produced through the Designing Futures fine wood and furniture cluster is showcased in a resulting exhibition, Made in Midland at FORM Gallery. Significant outcomes for designers include grants raised to further their artwork and design practices, commissions, collaborations between designers, further exhibition invitations from other galleries and substantial profile.

Exhibition Programme Highlights:

Made in Midland booklet produced profiling the Midland Railway Workshops site and heritage, including Midland Redevelopment Authority logo and acknowledgement.

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FORM’s Designing Futures programming to develop the skills and capacity of the fine wood and furniture sector is delivered at the Midland Railway Workshops site.

Mentor Marina Lommerse, a leading interior designer and educator, is employed to work with FORM staff to facilitate development for a group of designer-makers in periodic intensive workshops over the course of a year. Additional experts in various fields are invited in as guest mentors to support designer-makers through these workshops, including award-winning Australian designer Jon Goulder.

OUTREACH

Membership

Online and Social Media Outreach

FORM’s 2013 membership strategy focused on broadening our base of members to further include curators and our Pilbara practitioners and supporters.

A key part of FORM’s digital outreach in 2013 was the development and release of the new FORM website.

Designed and developed by Perth digital agency Humaan, the new FORM website aims to give clarity and flexibility to the communication of FORM’s varied programming. The new site maps our projects through their relation to one another and groups them according to their core purpose. It also offers direct access to the organisation’s events, news items, and general information. FORM members have their own hub in the new FORM website, with a list of special offers, social media connections and access to membersonly publications.

In 2013 FORM launched a new category of membership, providing Public Liability insurances to Curators and Installers. This was introduced to address the increase in Practitioner Members who were extending their practice to include installation and curation of art exhibitions and projects.

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The alignment of the Courthouse Gallery’s Friends of the Gallery program with FORM’s formal membership structures in 2012 had a dual purpose; to increase general awareness of FORM’s Port Hedland based programming, and to service the existing Courthouse Gallery’s Friends of the Gallery program to attract and retain regional members though a variety of membership benefits. Throughout 2013, regionally based members grew to represent over half of FORM’s membership base.

FORM Members enjoyed a number of exclusive events in 2013 including:

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- An artist talk with Malgana maker Jimmy Poland, in an intimate preview to the Perth opening of his exhibition, Pieces of Gutharraguda (Shark Bay).

- A program of lunchtime floor talks as part of the Pilbara Stories exhibition included Justin McArdle, a Digital Producer who provided an insight into emerging digital platforms can transform a traditional gallery experience.

John Elliot, an Australian photographer, writer, creative producer and documentary maker spoke about his time chronicling the northwest during his long time engagement with the Pilbara Project.

Members were also offered a free download of the One Road: Canning Stock Route Project app.

Social media continued to be a core means of connecting with FORM’s audiences. Throughout the year FORM saw a significant increase in online interaction and audience growth. In 2013 FORM’s Facebook followers nearly doubled, reaching on average 330 people daily.

Case Study Social media and digital promotion was a key component of the promotion of the Canning Stock Route Project app and digital archive. In collaboration with Perth digital media agency Hatchd, FORM launched a targeted digital promotion strategy around the release of the One Road app and Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive. As a result of this campaign the follow outcomes were achieved: Over 65,000 people were reached on Facebook with the launch of the One Road application.

The Canning Stock Route Project Facebook page doubled its page likes in just over a month.

FORM’s Facebook page followings jumped with a 25% increase in likes in just over a month and one post reached nearly 20,000 people in one day.

Over 3,000 visits were made to Mira Canning Stock Route Project Archive, with visitors spending an average of over eight minutes on the site – an incredibly high average.

Marketing

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Social media continued to be a core means of connecting with FORM’s audiences. Throughout the year FORM saw a significant increase in online interaction and audience growth.

In 2013 FORM’s Facebook followers nearly doubled, reaching on average 330 people daily.

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FORM’s media strategy centres on building and maintaining strong professional relationships and networks with key media in the print, social, and digital spheres. Relationships connecting media contacts with the relevant programmers and managers within FORM are leveraged through a regular output of print and online branding and programming material. This material, which includes project publications, brochures, online and social media campaigns, website development, and staff contribution to select panels, events, symposiums and presentations, is also distributed to FORM’s database consisting of members, project audiences, and other business, government and industry contacts.

PUBLICATIONS 2013 saw FORM deliver a series of high quality publications and short films to accompany our exhibitions and programs, some of these included: Pilbara Stories was published in February to accompany the dual exhibition by five highly regarded photographers from India, United Kingdom, and Australia as they turn a lens on the people of the Pilbara. The 229 page full colour publication features the portraits of Pilbara residents alongside stories in their own voices. These works and stories are framed by essays by FORM curator Sharmila Wood, Director of Les Recontres d’Arles Photography Francois Hebel, historian and academic Dr Nonja Peters, curator Devika Daulet-Singh, Monocle’s Liv Lewitschnick, and Gallery Nature Morte Director Peter Nagy.

MIDLAND ATELIER

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‘I was originally born in Port Hedland and came to Marble Bar when I was eight or nine – now I am 32. I have four children.

Since those days the people have changed and moved away... I’ve got my Dad and sister here and most of the town is family... I like the heat before the rains come, and when the rivers start running I like to go down to the Coongan River sometimes.’ – Nicole Dhu, Marble Bar resident ‘My first job in the Pilbara was in the Port Hedland library...

Like a priest in a confessional, I heard the life stories of sailors, nurses, truckers, miners, and police officers. Often they would complain about the town, or complain about having to leave it. The demure waitress from the Japanese restaurant would sit on the kids’ chairs in the play corner chatting loudly and rolling mountains of cigarettes. A towering tattooed South African man in filthy overalls gave me regular lectures on the social organisation of termite mounds.’ – Pier Kelly, Port Hedland resident An 87 page publication Pieces of Guthurraguda – Jimmy Poland: Jewellery and Objects was produced to accompany the Jimmy Poland’s touring exhibition of the same name.

The catalogue featured a series of Poland’s oral histories alongside opening remarks by Darren Capewell and Sarah Trant and essays by Sharmila Wood, and project mentor Helena Bogucki.

‘We used to go out the bush with our mum and grandmother. Lagoon or somewhere up the corner towards the Little Bluff. On weekends we’d carry all our stuff up. We had a cart in those days and we used to pull the cart over the lagoon, when we used to go there for a picnic. We used to make damper and cook kangaroo tails in the ashes; they taught us how to make fires.’ – Jimmy Poland, craftsman ‘We have travelled up and down the coast of Western Australia between Perth and Shark Bay with our studio essentials to document Jimmy’s stories in the work that he makes. Via the air and land we have gathered copper, bronze, silver, bone, shell, and wood to make contemporary jewellery

and objects that share his history and the mentorship.’

– Helena Bogucki, mentor and jeweller As part of the Midland Atelier 2008 – 2013 fifth anniversary program, a substantial retrospective catalogue was released on FORM’s programming at the Atelier for the past five years. The 240 page, large format publication featured works by the exhibiting artist as well as looking at the history of artistic engagement in the studios. The publication features numerous focus pieces and interviews with practitioners who have been involved with the studios, as well as a series of essays including: Living by Design by Dr Paul McGillickRe: Midland Atelier

by Elisha ButtlerMidland Railway Workshops by Andrew NichollsThe Pattern Shop by Helen Carroll FairhallClosing Thoughts by Kara Pinakis ‘What is required are future oriented programs which build the competitiveness beyond the resources boom and which restore balance in our economies. This will not happen as a result of political rhetoric, but only as a result of coordinated and comprehensive strategies for innovation. Innovation will not happen without a national design strategy and a national design strategy will not work if it is not effectively devolved to state and local constituencies.’ – Dr Paul McGillick, editorial director, Indesign Publishing – Living by Design In addition to the publication the Midland Atelier program of exhibitions was accompanied by a short film about the studios, the Railway Workshops, and their past and current operations. The film Midland Atelier 2008-2013 was produced

by Amelia Phillips, with cinematography by Daniel Gallagher.

Accompanying FORM’s final exhibition of 2013 was a 112 page publication called Ngarluma Ngurra. Along with the exhibition of the same name this book records and protects the stories, histories, and knowledges of Ngarluma Country, in northern Western Australia. Charting the stories and places that are central to Ngarluma elders, this book provides a tangible result of this research to accompany the digital map. The book also includes framing essays from writer and historian R.D. Wood, FORM curator Sharmila Wood, and Google Earth Outreach Founder and Manager Rebecca Moore, along with an interview cultural heritage anthropologist Andrew Dowding. ‘... Google Earth and Google Maps have been becoming more popular. As of today more than a billion people have downloaded Google Earth. More than a billion people use Google Maps every month. They are available in more than forty languages, on devices from laptops to cell phones.

This seems to have fostered a new era of ‘geo-literacy’, democratizing access to satellite imagery and mapping’.

– Rebecca Moore, Google Earth Outreach

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‘The seeds for the project really emerged from my experience working with Ngarluma elders. These people are part of a generation who walked or rode horseback all over their Country – they didn’t use vehicles, and they have an intimate knowledge of the land because of that. These elders communicated to me that they would like to create a way to show how they are attached to places and how culture is related to these places in their Country.’

– Andrew Dowding, anthropologist

BOARD MEMBERS REPORT

Principal Activities

Proceedings on Behalf of the Association

The principal activities of the entity during the financial year were: - Perth & Midland Atelier: Creative Engagement

No person has applied for leave of Court to bring proceedings to which the association is a party for the purpose of taking responsibility on behalf of the association for all or any part of those proceedings. The association was not a party to any such proceedings during the year.

- Regional Artistic Capacity - Aboriginal Design & Artistic Development There were no significant changes in the nature of the principal activities during the financial year.

Indemnifying Board Members

Operating Results

FORM’s Association Liability insurance include coverage of Board Members during the 2013 financial year. No indemnities have been given during or since the end of the financial year for any person who is or has been a Board Member or auditor of the association.

The surplus for the year amounted to $1,020 233.

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Environmental Issues The association’s operations are not regulated by any particular or significant environmental regulation under the Commonwealth, State or Territory.

BOARD MEMBERS REPORT

Significant Changes to State of Affairs In the opinion of the Board Members there were no significant changes in the state of affairs of the entity that occurred during the financial year under review not otherwise disclosed in this report or the financial statements.

Adoption of Australia Equivalents to IFRS The association’s financial report has been prepared in accordance with Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Board Member Benefits No Board Member has received or become entitled to receive, during or since incorporation, a benefit because of a contact made by the association or a related body corporate with the Board Member, a form of which the Board Member is a member or a company in which the Board Member has a substantial financial interest.

Significant Events after the Balance Date No matters or circumstance have arisen since balance date which significantly affected or may affect the operations of the association, the results of those operations or the state of affairs of the association in the financial years subsequent to the year ended 31 December 2013.

Likely Developments and Expected Results The continuing success of FORM in building creative capacity within regional and urban Western Australia is dependent upon grant income from the Department for Culture and the Arts, the Australian Council for the Arts and the Western Australian State Government as this core funding provides a stable foundation to employ staff on an ongoing basis. The Board Members do not foresee any major changes in the direction of the association which will significantly impact on the entity not otherwise dealt with in this report.

Annual Financial Statements The 2013 Annual Financial Statements are contained in a separate document and are available upon request.

Board Member

Expertise

Office

Tania Hudson Director Words Communications Consultancy

Communications & Branding, Social Impact

Chairperson (Appointed October 2011)

Lynda Dorrington Executive Director FORM

Business, Visioning & Marketing

Ex-Officio (Appointed November 2000)

Jarod Stone Chief Operations Officer Warburton Group

Corporate Financial Advisory Consultant

Treasurer (Appointed June 2009)

Adam Zorzi Director Australian Development Capital

Property Investment

Board Member (Appointed June 2009)

Derry Simpson Head of Planning 303

Communications Strategy

Board Member (Appointed June 2009)

Peter Lee Director HASSELL

Architecture, design and place activation

Board Member (Appointed August 2011)

Elisha Buttler Curator/Writer FORM

Cultural strategy, artistic planning, editorial management and communications

David Stewart Director Wrays Legal

Legal, IP

Board Member (Appointed 2013)

Paul Chamberlain philanthropist & investor

Philanthropy, investment

Board Member (Appointed 2013)

Stedman Ellis COO Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA), Western Region

Management, general strategy

Board Member (Appointed 2013)

BOARD MEMBERS REPORT

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Secretary of the Board (Appointed August 2011)

PRACTITIONERS ENGAGED IN 2013

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PRACTITIONERS ENGAGED IN 2013 Kathryn Abbott, photographer, Western Australia Tim Acker, photographer, consultant, Western Australia Jon Aitcheson, artist, Western Australia Jessie Alberts, artist, Western Australia Vera Anderson, artist, Western Australia Helen Ansell, artist, Western Australia Frank Argaet, photographer, Western Australia Elaine Argaet, photographer, Western Australia Sohan Ariel Hayes, digital artist, Western Australia Michael Ashley, digital archaeologist, United States of America Rebecca Bailey, photographer, Western Australia Freda Bajrovic, photographer, Western Australia Willarra Barker, artist, Western Australia Sara Barnes, artist, Western Australia Callum Battilana, artist, Western Australia Ruth Battle, performing artist, Western Australia Katarina Bavcevic, maker, Western Australia Claire Beausein, artist, Western Australia Samantha Bell, photographer, Western Australia Stuart Bell, photographer, Western Australia Dr Ben Joel, artist and academic, Western Australia Troy Bennell, artist, Western Australia Narelle Bettini, artist, Western Australia Jakayu Biljabu, artist, Western Australia Kaye Bingham, artist, Western Australia Matt Biocich, photographer, Western Australia Helena Bogucki, jeweller, Western Australia Hanson Boxer, artist, Western Australia Diana Boyd, artist, New South Wales Glenys Brady, artist, Western Australia Anya Brock, artist, Western Australia Selena Brown, artist, Western Australia Nadia Bullock, photographer, Western Australia Biddy Bunwarrie, artist, Western Australia Victor Burton, artist, Western Australia Diane Campbell, artist, Western Australia Marcus Canning, artist, Western Australia Leonie Cannon, artist, Western Australia Sarah Carless, photographer, Western Australia Tanija Carr, leather practitioner, artist, Western Australia Graham Carr, leather practitioner, artist, Western Australia Anne Carr, artist, Western Australia Lance Chadd (Tjyllyungoo), artist, Western Australia Robert Champion, artist, Western Australia May Chapman, artist, Western Australia Nancy Chapman, artist, Western Australia Doreen Chapman, artist, Western Australia May Chapman, artist, Western Australia Alan Charles Coffin, artist, Western Australia Eileen Charles, artist, Western Australia Jue Chong, designer, Queensland Craig Chook Pickett, artist, Western Australia

Jill Churnside, artist, Western Australia Jeannie Churnside, contributor, Western Australia Keith Churnside, contributor, Western Australia Evelyn Clancy, artist, Western Australia Daniel Clifford, designer, Queensland Janelle Cockayne, photographer, Western Australia Irene Coffin, artist, Western Australia Selina Comeagain, artist, Western Australia Rubeena Councillor, artist, Western Australia Gail Cox, artist, Western Australia Ned Cox, artist, Western Australia Lois Cox, artist, Western Australia Catherine Creswell, artist, Western Australia Colin Crocker, photographer, Western Australia Adam Cruickshank, designer, woodworker, Western Australia Paul Cunningham, photographer, Western Australia David Dare Parker, photojournalist, Western Australia Katie Darkie (interpreter and translator) Devika Daulet-Singh, curator, writer, India Nathan Day, designer, woodworker, Western Australia Jennifer Dickens, interpreter, Western Australia Rupert Dickerson, artist, Western Australia Benson Dickerson, artist, Western Australia Shyla Dickerson, artist, Western Australia Rupert Dickerson, artist, Western Australia Jukuja Dolly Snell, artist, Western Australia Bessie Doonday, artist, Western Australia Andrew Dowding, anthropologist, Western Australia Anna Duffield, maker, Western Australia Donna Dugue, maker, Western Australia Keriana Eaglesome, artist, Western Australia Guy Eddington, designer, woodworker, Western Australia Sonya Edney, artist, Western Australia Sharyn Egan, artist, Western Australia Mark Elbin, woodworker, Western Australia John Elliot, photographer, Queensland Inger Espersen, maker, Western Australia Deborah Evans, artist, Western Australia Katie Evans, artist, Western Australia Peter Farmer, artist, Western Australia Eva Fernandez, photographer, Western Australia Sam Field, videographer, Western Australia Ian Filleul, photographer, Western Australia Amanda Firenze Pentney, artist, Western Australia Susan Flavell, sculptor, artist, Western Australia Christian Fletcher, photographer, Western Australia Jenny Forbes, artist, Western Australia Penelope Forlano, artist, designer, Western Australia Alex Fossilo, woodworker, designer, Western Australia Melissa Foster, artist, Western Australia Claire Foti, maker, Western Australia Partukala Frank Gordon, artist, Western Australia Patricia Franklin, artist, Western Australia

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Samantha Maher, artist, Western Australia Fran Maher, maker, Western Australia Janelle McCaffrey, artist, Western Australia Jose McPhee, artist, Western Australia Lynette Mead, artist, Western Australia Trish Melenewycz, photographer, Western Australia Leisa Melvey, photographer, Western Australia Renae Mercer, artist, Western Australia Mary Meribida, artist, Western Australia Barbara Merrit, artist, Western Australia Gemma Merrit, artist, Western Australia Juwarji Mervyn Stree, artist, Western Australia Justin Mitchell, artist, Western Australia Donald Moko, artist, Western Australia Rebecca Moore, Google Earth Outreach founder, writer, United States of America Ian Much, artist, Western Australia Tom M첫ller, artist, Western Australia Peter Nagy, writer, India Brett Nannup, artist, Western Australia Laurel Nannup, artist, Western Australia Natasha Nelson, artist, Western Australia Alison Newbold, photographer, Western Australia Andrew Nicholls, artist, Western Australia Neil Nicholson, artist, Western Australia Chris Nixon, artist, Western Australia Dr Nonja Peters, writer, historian, Western Australia Jukuja Nora Tjookootja, artist, Western Australia Melissa North, artist, Western Australia Taylor Nowers, artist, Western Australia Amy Nuggett, artist, Western Australia Nora Nungabar, artist, Western Australia Marissa Oliver, artist, Western Australia Charmaine Orange, artist, Western Australia Claire Paddison, photographer, Western Australia Lucy Papalia, artist, Western Australia Rebecca Parfitt, contributor, Western Australia Paul Parin, photographer, Western Australia Martin Parr, Magnum Photographer, United Kingdom Dawn Pascoe, performing artist, Western Australia Dr. Paul McGillick, writer, Western Australia Marianne Penberthy, artist, Western Australia Nyangkarni Penny K-Lyons, artist, Western Australia Simon Phelps, photographer, Western Australia Tim Phibs, artist, New South Wales Amelia Phillips, filmmaker, Western Australia Albert Pianta, artist, Western Australia Henry Pilcher,designer, Western Australia Andrea Pindan, artist, Western Australia Jimmy Poland, artist, Western Australia Emma Porter, graphic designer, Western Australia Hanson Pye, contributor, Western Australia Esther Quintal, artist, Western Australia Seide Ramadani, photographer, Western Australia Nada Rawlins, artist, Western Australia Graham Reimers, photographer, Western Australia Kitty Richards, artist, Western Australia Peta Riley, artist, Western Australia Craig Rochford, artist, Western Australia Julie Rose, maker, Western Australia Taku Rosie Tarco, artist, Western Australia Susie Rowland, artist, Western Australia

RACTITIONERS ENGAGED IN 2013

Andrew Frazer, artist, Western Australia Jim Fredericks, contributor, Western Australia David Freedman, artist, Western Australia Lillian Frost, photographer, Western Australia Daniel Gallagher, filmmaker, Western Australia Bill Gardiner, artist, Western Australia Noel Garlet, artist, Western Australia Amanda Gaterell, maker, Western Australia Suzanne Gaylard, maker, Western Australia Max George, artist, Western Australia Dan Gladden, artist, Western Australia Jon Goulder, wood designer, Western Australia Andrew Gray, artist, Western Australia Maggie Green, artist, Western Australia Erana Hadfield, photographer, Western Australia Matthew Harding, artist, Victoria Samantha Haslam, maker, Western Australia Renee Hay, artist, Western Australia Francois Hebel, writer, France Brittany Herwig, artist, Western Australia Nigel Hewitt, artist, Western Australia Pansy Hicks, artist, Western Australia Howard Holder, artist, Western Australia Jay Hollywood, designer, Western Australia Aimee Honeycombe, photographer, Western Australia Amber Hooke, photographer, Western Australia David Hooper, artist, Western Australia Kyle Hughes-Odgers, artist, Western Australia Amok Island, artist, Western Australia Sharon Jack, artist, Western Australia Ben Jackson, artist, Western Australia Jarran Jan Billycan, artist, Western Australia Lesley Jean Kelly, artist, Western Australia Louise Joesbury, artist, Western Australia Anna Johns, artist, Western Australia Bev Johnson, photographer, Western Australia Ann-Maree Johnson, maker, Western Australia Nancy Judiamiah, artist, Western Australia Mayarn Julia Lawford, artist, Western Australia Bernadette Kate Tindall, artist, Western Australia Anabelle Kay, musician, Western Australia Caroline Keil, photographer, Western Australia Siobhan Kelley, artist, Western Australia Gabriel Khaw, photographer, Western Australia Alice King, photographer, Western Australia Rebecka Kingdom, artist, Western Australia Annette Kogolo, interpreter, Western Australia Jon Kuiper, artist, Western Australia Daisy Kungah, artist, Western Australia Graham Lands, artist, Western Australia Carly Lane, curator, Queensland Tim Leaversuch, woodworker, designer, Western Australia Edwin Lee Mulligan, artist, Western Australia Laurence Leroux, artist, Western Australia Michelle Leslie, artist, Western Australia Liv Lewitschnik, writer, Hong Kong Miranda Long, artist, Western Australia Veronica Lulu, artist, Western Australia Kaiden Lynch, artist, Western Australia Juanita Lyndon, artist, Western Australia Dylan Lyneham, artist, Western Australia Isobel Maccaulay, textile artist, designer, Western Australia

14 6 RACTITIONERS ENGAGED IN 2013

Craig Rowles, photographer, Western Australia Leahne Rowley, photographer, Western Australia Betty Rupe, artist, Western Australia Brianna Russel, woodworker, designer, Western Australia Maxine Ryder, artist, Western Australia Anita Ryder, artist, Western Australia Reg Sambo, contributor, Western Australia Winnie Sampie, , artist, Western Australia Violet Samson, artist, Western Australia Valda Sasar, artist, Western Australia Nike Savvas, artist, Western Australia Nalda Searles, artist, fibre and textiles practitioner, Western Australia Karina Semmeler, maker, Western Australia Chondelle Sesar, artist, Western Australia Valda Sesar, artist, Western Australia Kelley Shannahan, digital archaeologist, United States of America Bewley Shaylor, photographer, Western Australia Miriam Sheridan, photographer, Western Australia Ketaki Sheth, photographer, India Bea Shinner, graphic designer, Western Australia Bonnie Short, artist, Western Australia Ann Sibosado, artist, Western Australia Bharat Sikka, photographer, India Kathy Simpson, artist, Western Australia Jasmine Sleepman, maker, Western Australia Frank Smith, contributor, Western Australia Ricky Smith, contributor, Western Australia Amanda Smith, maker, Western Australia Naomi Stanitzki, artist, Western Australia Nick Statham, woodworker, designer, Western Australia Kelly Stegmeyer, artist, Western Australia Daniel Stewart Hood, woodworker, designer, Western Australia Geoffrey Stewart, artist, Western Australia Helena Stokes, artist, Western Australia Flynn Talbot, artist, Western Australia Andy Taylor, photographer, Western Australia Curtis Taylor, filmmaker and cultural advisor, Western Australia Michelle Taylor, photographer, Western Australia Greg Taylor, artist, Western Australia Murrungkurr Terry Murray, curator and interpreter, Western Australia Phyllis Thomas, artist, Western Australia Terra Thomas, digital archaeologist, United States of America Pia Thornett, photographer, Western Australia Bernadette Tindall, artist, Western Australia Elizabeth Toby, artist, Western Australia Elena Toffalori, digital archaeologist, Italy Geoffrey Togo, contributor, Western Australia

Putuparri Tom Lawford, artist, cultural advisor, Western Australia David Trubridge, wood designer, New Zealand Vincent True, contributor, Western Australia David Tryse, Google developer, Republic of Ireland George Tuckerbox, artist, Western Australia Lisa Uhl, artist, Western Australia Annet van der Voort, photographer, The Netherlands Jo Veder, maker, Western Australia Alannah Walker, designer, Queensland Ross Wallace, photographer, Western Australia Wendy Warrie, artist, Western Australia Mags Webster, writer and poet, Hong Kong Hayley Welsh, artist, Western Australia Rebecca Wetzler, artist, Victoria Monica Whisputt, artist, Western Australia Margaret Whitehurst, artist, Western Australia Bruce Wiggin, artist, Western Australia Shelley Wightman, photographer, Western Australia Lena Willalang, artist, Western Australia Annette Williams, artist, Western Australia Gera Woltjer, artist, Western Australia Bo Wong, photographer, Western Australia R.D. Wood, writer, Victoria Andrew Wood, artist, Western Australia David Wood, artist, Western Australia Molly Woodman, artist, Western Australia Brett Zonke, artist, Western Australia

Faultlines exhibition, FORM Gallery, 2012; Geo Series by Nick Statham. photograph

by Matt Biocich Jimmy Poland with one of his bronze dugongs. Photograph by Helena Bogucki. (next page)

REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

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END NOTES

Page 25 1

ee Travis Kelleher, Benchmarking Craft and Training Facilities in Western S Australia, FORM, 2014.

Page 29 2

See Sharmila Wood, Programming with an Aboriginal Focus, FORM, 2014.

Page 39 10

Page 40 11

(Curtin Student interview, 1995-1999).

12

ommonwealth of Australia, Department of Education, Employment C and Workplace Relations. (2011). The Australian academic profession in transition: Addressing the challenge of reconceptualising academic work and regenerating the academic workforce. Retrieved from http://www. cshe.unimelb.edu.au/people/bexley_docs/The_Academic_Profession_in_ Transition_Sept2011.pdf

Page 30 1

Report of the Contemporary Visual Arts and Craft Inquiry, 2002.

Page 32 2

Interview: Sharyn Egan

Page 34 3

Interview: Helen Bogucki

Page 41 13

ibid.

14

ommonwealth of Australia, Department of Industry. (2011). Higher C Education Base Funding Review: Final Report. Retrieved from http://www. innovation.gov.au/highereducation/Policy/BaseFundingReview/Documents/ HigherEd_FundingReviewReport.pdf

15

ustralian Council of University Art and Design Schools. (2011).

A The Australian Higher Education Base Funding Review: Visual and Performing Arts Disciplines. Retrieved from http://www.innovation.gov. au/highereducation/Policy/BaseFundingReview/Pages/Library%20Card/ Submissions/AtoF/Australian_Council_of_University_Art_and_Design_ Schools.aspx

16

T. Snell, (personal communication, March 5, 2014)17 ibid

17

ommonwealth of Australia, Attorney-General’s Department, Ministry for C the Arts. (2002). Report of the Contemporary Visual Arts and Craft Inquiry.

Retrieved from http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/Report_of_the_ Contemporary_Visual_Arts_and_Craft_Inquiry.pdf

Page 38 1

2

ll of the major studies cited in this report and all practitioners A interviewed reinforced this point.

3

xe falls on heritage centre, school. (May 18, 2011). Retrieved from http:// A mandurah.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/Axe-falls-onheritage-centre-school/7591490/

4

ee Elisha Buttler, Exploring craft as a critical, experimental process, FORM, S 2014

5

N. Searles, (personal communication, February 24, 2014)

6

ee Australian Learning and Teaching Council. (2011). Studio teaching S project. Retrieved from http://www.studioteaching.org/

18

7

ustralian Council of University Art and Design Schools. (2011).

A The Australian Higher Education Base Funding Review: Visual and Performing Arts Disciplines. Retrieved from http://www.innovation.gov. au/highereducation/Policy/BaseFundingReview/Pages/Library%20Card/ Submissions/AtoF/Australian_Council_of_University_Art_and_Design_ Schools.aspx

ommonwealth of Australia, Attorney-General’s Department, Ministry for C the Arts. (2011). Creative Industries, a Strategy for 21st Century Australia.

Retrieved from http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/creative-industries/sdip/ strategic-digital-industry-plan.pdf

19

ommonwealth of Australia, Attorney-General’s Department, Ministry for C the Arts. (2013). Creative Australia. Retrieved from http://creativeaustralia. arts.gov.au/assets/Creative-Australia-PDF-20130417.pdf

150 END NOTES

ee Australian Learning and Teaching Council. (2011). Studio teaching S project. Retrieved from http://www.studioteaching.org/

T., & G. Carr, (personal communication, February 25, 2014)

8

ommonwealth of Australia, Department of Industry. (2008).

C Review of Australian Higher Education Report. Retrieved from http://www.innovation.gov.au/highereducation/ ResourcesAndPublications/ReviewOfAustralianHigherEducation/Pages/ ReviewOfAustralianHigherEducationReport.aspx

9

See Ted Snell’s interview.

THANK YOU

FORM wishes to thank each and every person, organisation, agency and company mentioned in this annual report, whose varied and valuable contributions to an array of FORM projects over 2013 has shaped what has been a productive and successful year.

FORM’s corporate partnerships in particular not only provide us with new opportunities and better solutions, but encourage the broader business sector to think differently about the way they contribute in the communities with which they do business.

Principal Partner

Supporting Partners

Gallery Partners

140 Art

Wesfarmers Arts

Arts Law

Amelia Park Wines

Centre for Digital Archaeology, University of California, Berkley

Boom Sherrin

Department of Commerce

Environmental Industries

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet: Office for the Arts

ESS Compass Group

Department of Regional Development and Lands

Hedland First National

Foundation Housing

Hedland Home Hardware & Garden

Google Earth Outreach

Horizon Power

Herbert Smith Freehills

Inline Engineering

Landcorp

Liberty Industrial

Lotterywest

Little Creatures Brewing

National Museum of Australia

Mirvac

Ngarluma Tharndu Karrungu Maya Ltd

North West Telegraph

Pilbara Development Commission

Onsite Rentals

Pilbara Regional Council

Port Hedland Port Authority

Tourism WA

Scott Print

Town of Port Hedland

The Butcher Shop

Urban Art Projects

THANK YOU

151

Major Partners

MIDLAND ATELIER

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MIDLAND ATELIER

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REGIONAL ARTISTIC, COMMUNITY, & PLACE DEVELOPMENT

154