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10 February — 24 March 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial — Sensorial LoopShowcasing the changing ideas and professional craftsmanship associated with

contemporary textile practice in Australia, Sensorial Loop makes use of both

traditional and machine technologies. Curator Patrick Snelling Artists Alana

Clifton-Cunningham, Anton Veenstra, Belinda Von Mengersen, Brook Morgan, Carly

Scoufos, Cecilia Heffer, Cresside Collette, Demelza Sherwood, Elisa Markes-Young,

Esther Paleologos, Jennifer Robertson, Julie Montgarrett, Lucy Irvine, Martha

McDonald, Meredith Hughes, Michele Elliot, Michelle Hamer, Paula Do Prado,

Rodney Love, Sera Waters, Tania Spencer, Verity Prideaux. Public Program

10 February: The Sensorial Loop: New directions in the field of textiles. With Patrick

Snelling, Michele Elliot, Cecilia Heffer, Michelle Hamer and Cresside Collette. 22

March: Contemporary artists working in textiles. With Lucy Irvine, Anton Veenstra

and Verity Prideaux.

10 February — 24 MarchJoyaviva: Live Jewellery From Across the Pacific Once upon a time, charms and jewellery acted as amulets to protect against evil.

Using innovative concepts, jewellers from Australia, New Zealand and Chile have

designed charms that respond to our hopes and fears, ranging from the threat

of earthquakes to a child’s school exam. This is a new frontier of contemporary

jewellery, drawing on the rich mix of cultures and skills across the wide Pacific

Ocean. Curator Kevin Murray Artists Australia: Roseanne Bartley, Melissa

Cameron, Jill Hermans, Caz Guiney, Jin ah Jo, Blanche Tilden, Alice Whish. New

Zealand: Jacqui Chan, Ilse-Marie Erl, Sarah Read, Gina Ropiha, Areta Wilkinson,

Matthew Wilson, Katheryn Yeats. Chile: Guillermina Atunez, Francisco Ceppi,

Analya Cespedes, Carolina Hornauer, Massiel Mariel, Angela Cura Mendes,

Valentina Rosenthal, WALKA STUDIO. Public Program 15 March: Adventures in

Live Jewellery: Kevin Murray, Blanche Tilden, Melissa Cameron and Jill Hermans.

17 February — 24 MarchHannah Pang: Double Happiness Portrait of a Chinese WeddingThe glorious textiles and intricate embroidery of a 1930s Chinese wedding in

Shanghai created by Shanghai-based designer Hannah Pang employ traditional

methods, such as the ancient weaving and dyeing techniques kesi, shibori and

embroidery. Pang’s dynamic reinterpretation of materials attracted leading fashion

designers, such as Issey Miyake and Gianni Versace. In her revival of traditional

textiles, skill and style showcased in the exquisitely detailed garments in this

exhibition, Hannah Pang seeks to establish contemporary appreciation and

application of skills that have all but been lost to 21st century China Artist Hannah

Pang. Public Program 17 February: Hannah Pang artist talk.

12 April — 9 JuneUnsafe Haven: Hazaras in AfghanistanThe photographs of former Afghan refugee Abdul Karim Hekmat make a powerful

point about Australia’s asylum seeker policy. The artist came to Australia from

Afghanistan as a refugee in 2001. Unsafe Haven documents his return in 2010 and

what he discovered about the daily life and continuing persecution of the Hazara

people. With film screenings of The Sweetest Embrace: Return to Afghanistan 2008

Dir. Najeeb Mirza; The Kite Runner 2007 Dir. Marc Forster; Afghan Women Driving

2009 Dir. Sahraa Karimi. Artist Abdul Karim Hekmat Public Program 12 April:

Artist talk with Abdul Karim Hekmat. 3 May: Panel discussion with Julian Burnside

AO QC, Abdul Karim Hekmat, David Manne, Najaf Mazari and Dr Anne McNevin.

12 April — 9 June Only From The Heart Can You Touch The Sky Drawing its title from a poem by Movlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, the celebrated 13th-

century Persian mystic poet, Only From The Heart Can You Touch The Sky focuses

on the fusion of art and poetry. Audiences are invited to appreciate the elegant

beauty of cultures which we usually see from the perspective of conflict, and

to reflect on the fact so many people who come to Australia as refugees are the

inheritors of this poetic living culture. With film screenings of Gabbeh, 1996, Dir:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Artists Khadim Ali, Ali Baba Awrang, and Mammad Aidani.

Public Program 12 April: Khadim Ali artist talk; 10 May: Panel discussion with

Dr Mammad Aidani, Neil Grant, Pooya Mehman Pazir and Dr Gay Breyley. 17 May:

Gabbeh an analysis, Mammad Aidani; 7 June: Carpets and poetry in the Persian

world: Susan Scollay.

MAIN IMAGE UNSAFE HAVEN: HAZARAS IN AFGHANISTAN Abdul Karim Hekmat, Out Of School, photograph (detail) 2010. 1 SENSORIAL LOOP: 1ST TAMWORTH TEXTILE TRIENNIAL Lucy Irvine, The Traveller 2011, irrigation pipe, cable ties, steel, rust proof paint. 180 h x 110 w x 200 d cm. Photo. Lou Farina. 2 JOYAVIVA: LIVE JEWELLERY FROM ACROSS THE PACIFIC Ilse-Marie Erl, A Handful of Luck (silver charm) 3 HANNAH PANG: DOUBLE HAPPINESS PORTRAIT OF A CHINESE WEDDING Hannah Pang with The Bride’s Dress, 2011, handpainted gradation silk organza, hand cut and embroidered. Photo: Mark Ashkanasy 4 ONLY FROM THE HEART CAN YOU TOUCH THE SKY Khadim Ali, Untitled ‘the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart’ (detail), 2008, opaque watercolour on wasli paper, 55.2 x 35.6 cm. 5 Khadim Ali, Untitled, ‘the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart’ (detail), 2008, opaque watercolour on wasli paper. 68.6 cm x 55.9 cm. 6 Ali Baba Awrang, Untitled, Siamask (siya masha) drawing on handmade wasli paper, red, brown and black ink. 40 x 29 cm. Photos: Mark Ashkanasy.

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RMIT Gallery Exhibition Program 2012

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8 29 June — 25 August YULYURLU Lorna Fencer Napurrurla This first major exhibition of well known Warlpiri artist Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer

Napurrurla (c.1924–2006) traces her development as a highly original artist and

highlights her importance as a master painter within the Lajamanu region and

within the broader framework of central desert art movement. It is one of the

few curated solo exhibitions dedicated to a female desert artist, and shows the

artist’s exuberant and innovative approach to traditional Warlpiri imagery.

Presented by Artback NT Arts Development and Touring in conjunction with Mimi

Aboriginal Arts and Crafts. This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia,

an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing

funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural

material across Australia. Curator Margie West Artist Lorna Fencer Napurrurla

Public Program 29 June: Margie West, curator talk.

29 June — 25 August Stars of the Tokyo Stage: Natori Shunsen’s kabuki actor printsAn inspiration to artists for centuries, kabuki draws on Japan’s rich folklore,

literature and history, as well as violent, romantic and scandalous events, to present

lavish dramatic performances. This exhibition from the National Gallery of Australia

reveals the dynamic world of Japan’s kabuki theatre through superb actor portraits

created by artist Natori Shunsen (1886–1960) in the 1920s and ’30s. A selection of

spectacular kabuki robes further illustrates the extravagance of the theatrical form.

Curator Lucie Folan, National Gallery of Australia Artist Natori Shunsen Public

Program 26 July: Lucie Folan, curator talk.

29 June — 25 August Kindness/Udarta: Australia-India Cultural ExchangeCelebrating 20 years of the Australia-India Council’s successful program of cultural

exchanges between Indian and Australian visual artists, writers and musicians.

This exhibition provides a tangible record of 20 years of the AIC cultural exchange

program. Tours: Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, Australia High

Commission, Canberra and RMIT Gallery. Curator Suzanne Davies Artists More

than 117 writers, visual artists and musicians including Thomas Keneally, Alexis

Wright, Les Murray, Robyn Beeche, Callum Morton, Jenny Watson, Haku Shah,

Giriraj Prasad, Nalini Malani, Seema Kohli, Bharti Kher, Shilpa Gupta, Subodh

Gupta, Pradyumna Kumar and Ranbir Singh Kaleka. Public Program 16 March:

Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, music performance by Sandy

Evans and Adrian Sherriff from the Australian Art Orchestra, with Guru Kaaraikkudi

Mani’s Sruthi Laya Ensemble; Literary discussion with authors Kiran Nagakar and

Christopher Kremmer. 2 August: RMIT Gallery: Indian cultural celebration.

14 September — 17 November Experimenta: Speak to MeThis exhibition is the 5th International Biennial of Media Arts and explores what it

means to be interconnected in the age of digital media. Curator Abigail Moncrieff

Artists Including newly commissioned work by Australian artists Christopher

Fulham, Jess MacNeil, Katie Turnbull and Wade Marynowsky. Selected Public

Program 14 Sept: Senior Student Seminar with exhibiting Australian and

International artists; 15 Sept: Artist and Curator talk; 27 September: 11 & 25

October: 8 Nov: Experimenta Speak Up! media art and contemporary culture; 3

Oct0ber: Abigail Moncrieff and artist Katie Turnbull as part of Victorian Seniors

Week; 17 Sept: 8, 15, 22 & 29 Oct: 5 & 12 Nov: Media Tykes for pre schoolers.

7 December — 9 March 2012 New Olds: Design Between Tradition and InnovationMany of the design motifs that are depicted as “new” actually derive from an

historical context and existing idiom of one country or culture but represent a new

interpretation of traditional forms. The exhibition explores the international and

complex nature of this discourse in contemporary design, with works inspired by

historical references and symbols ranging from deer antlers to the cuckoo clock,

traditional porcelain, Baroque objects and the more recent history of Bauhaus and

Memphis. Developed by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA) and presented

in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australien Curator Volker Albus Artists

45 designers and studios from Europe and USA Public Program December 7:

Volker Albus Curator talk.

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7 KINDNESS/UDARTA: AUSTRALIA-INDIA CULTURAL EXCHANGE Robyn Beeche, Vrindavan 1989, photograph. 8 YULYURLU: LORNA FENCER NAPURRURLA Lorna Fencer Napurrurla, Warna (Snake) – Lover Boy 1997, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 180 x 180 cm. Courtesy of the Laverty Collection, Sydney. 9 STARS OF THE

TOKYO STAGE: NATORI SHUNSEN’S KABUKI PRINTS Natori Shunsen, Japan 1886–1960, Matsumoto Koshiro VII as Umeomaru in ‘Sugawara’s secrets of calligraphy’ 1926, from the series Collection of creative portraits by Shunsen, woodblock print; ink and colour on paper, 38.2 x 25.9 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 10 EXPERIMENTA: SPEAK TO ME Shih Chieh Huang (Taiwan), EX-DD-06 (installation view), 74 square metres, mixed media, 2006 11 NEW OLDS: DESIGN BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION Blow Away Vase, 2009, porcelain vase, Ø 26, H 30.5 cm, Series, Moooi BV, Netherlands. Photo © Maarten van Houten, Netherlands.

RMIT Gallery is Melbourne’s most vibrant public art and design gallery.

Exhibitions explore all aspects of visual culture: Australian and international fashion,

architecture, fine art, craft, new media and design technology. RMIT Gallery plays

an important role in professionally profiling outcomes in interdisciplinary teaching

and research at RMIT University. Free public lectures, seminars and events – hear

artists, curators and leading visual arts professionals talk about their work and

contemporary culture.

RMIT Gallery is prominently and centrally located at 344 Swanston Street,

Melbourne, near the intersection with La Trobe Street. Diagonally opposite

Melbourne Central Railway Station, the gallery can also be reached by trams

travelling on Swanston and La Trobe Streets, including the City Circle tram.

Limited parking is available. Melways reference; 2F E1.

RMIT Gallery www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery344 Swanston Street Melbourne Australia 3000 GPO Box 2467 Melbourne 3001

Tel: + 61 9925 1717 Fax: + 61 9925 1738 Email: rmit.gallery@rmit.edu.au

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Check website for regular updates on public programs, special events and news.

Gallery hours: Monday–Friday 11–5 Tursday 11–7 Saturday 12–5.

Closed Sundays and public holidays. Free admission. Lift access available.

Below: RMIT Gallery façade. Photo: Mark Ashkanasy.