STAGES: life in lockdown includes work by people who lived through Victoria’s lockdowns during 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Participants responded to MGA’s callout for photographs that encapsulate individual experiences of life in these lockdowns. Growing progressively throughout the course of the exhibition and resulting in an explosion of images across MGA’s Atrium Gallery walls, this exhibition documents the lived experiences of people in our community, providing a cultural record of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Curated by Stella Loftus-Hills

Held at the end of each year, the Moreland Summer Show is open to all artists who live, work, study or base their studio practice in Moreland. This year’s theme is History & Heritage, which has the potential to resonate with everyone and prompt an array of responses.

Now in its fifth year, the Counihan Gallery is pleased to present the Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award. The Award is $3000 towards the recipient’s professional practice, courtesy of Moreland City Council.

Each year one entry is selected by a panel of judges for the Noel Counihan Commemorative Art Award, a professional development package of $3000. A People’s Choice Award selected by visitors of $1000 is announced at the end of the exhibition. A Peers’ Choice Award voted for by participating artists is sponsored by Brunswick Bound independent bookstore, a book pack valued at $250.

Curated by Victor Griss

Remagine Art Prize has a focus on sustainability and the environment. Each year it has a timely and thought-provoking theme, this year’s theme is ‘Fast fashion, fast food, fast running out of natural resources’. Artists are asked to submit artworks that relate to an element of this theme.

There are three categories with $11,000 in total prize money. Categories include: Digital Art – Stills, Mixed Media 3D/Mixed Media 2D and Painting/Drawing/ Printmaking. There is also a new Youth Award (16-18 years) and the People’s Choice Award which is voted by the public.

Held in partnership with the Hornsby Art Society, the innovative art prize began in 2009 (under a different name) to showcase artworks made from reused materials. Over the past decade it has evolved to become an art prize where artists can respond to the challenges we are facing with waste, consumption and the environment.

This year’s judges are Laura Jones, Zora Regulic and Tony McDonald.

Remagine Art Prize 2021 will be on exhibition at Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, Hornsby, from 4 June to 20 June 2021, Tuesday–Sunday, 10am-4pm.

Curated by Kathryn Beattie

Held at Real Collegio, LUCCA ART FAIR is an important event in the field of modern and contemporary art which involves one of the best known Italian art cities, bringing it alive with exhibitions, meetings and other initiatives.

Although Contemporary Art in all its forms and manifestations has certainly shown considerable signs of its vitality and originality in Tuscany, here more than in any other part of Italy it has also encountered strong resistance against its distribution and appreciation because of a prejudice deriving from the undisputed heritage of medieval and Renaissance art that the region undoubtedly possesses.

Lucca Art Fair aims to give continuity to an art path which has never been discontinued, while offering a real opportunity of greater visibility to those working in the arts at a level of recognised quality, and thus fostering a new awareness on the part of the art commissioning system so that it might take on an active role in the support of art.

Lucca Art Fair aims to be an important annual event comprising meetings, entertainment, and the exchange of different experiences and knowledge, and is directed at the development of a network of both amateurs and professionals which is essential for the proper growth of the contemporary art system.

Lucca Art Fair − thanks to its partnership with recognised operators, the careful selection of participating galleries and the provision of a range of services in support of visitors, − provides the stage for the unexpected in the world of art, creating an unmissable event in Tuscany, a region which is on its way to becoming a veritable laboratory of Italian culture.

Curated by Roy Hofer & Nadja Borer

Sculpture at Scenic World, Australia’s premier outdoor sculpture exhibition, will once again transform the ancient rainforest into an outdoor gallery from April 1 – May 2, 2021.

Set among towering rainforest in the heart of the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains, Sculpture at Scenic World will capture the imagination of young and old with dozens of thought-provoking artworks from emerging and established artists. Featuring an expertly curated array of bold installations and subtle sculptures that blend in with the environment, Sculpture at Scenic World 2021 will be one to remember for everyone.

Sculpture at Scenic World has earned a solid reputation as a must-do autumn experience, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors since the event’s inception in 2011. This year’s exhibition has also been more than 12 months in the making after the 2020 event was postponed due to coronavirus.

Curated by Justin Morrissey

Susumu Matsuura (Japan) and Thomas C. Chung (Australia) present an observational study of the cultural changes caused by COVID-19. Living in separate countries, they tackle the impact of social distancing in different contexts, both in their personal lives, and in the communities around them. Their work includes photographic prints, metal sculptures, animated video art and traditional printmaking with collage.

Susumu Matsuura specialises in silkscreen printmaking, has won several awards, and has exhibited work at JR Sapporo Station ART BOX, Japan; Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan; Gallery PRÁM, Czech Republic.

Thomas C. Chung specialises in conceptual art, and has exhibited work at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Australia; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea; National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Russia; YIA Basel Art Centre, Switzerland.

Curated by Madeleine McClelland

Throughout time, humans have developed essentials for survival – tools, kits and constructions for making it out of dire predicaments alive – anticipating the inconceivable.

As the world faces the unprecedented, impacts will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt. Human lifeways and ecosystems will be changed.

Future Ready was an open call for images, ideas, words and inventions as well as survival manuals or proposals for constructions and installations – all for future readiness, whether practical, imaginative or speculative.

Future Ready will continue to invite creative and critical thinkers, including youth, to examine ideas of readiness and future solutions.

Curated by Bodil Kjelstrup

We live in a world of over-consumption. Many resources are at the edge of being exploited. Some ecosystems have already collapsed. When we look at the Charter of the United Nations, of the 17 goals of SDG‘s (Sustainable Development Goals) to be achieved by all UN member states, the forecast looks dusky.

It means we have to make any changes. Maybe the changes should be drastic and transformative? When the changes and reconstruction on our existing society occur, we cannot avoid conflict because of trade-offs between aspects of sustainability and difficulty, to balance the interests between stakeholders.

In many sectors it is said that the biggest obstacle of such change is not technical but rather a political matter. It means changes which should be possible are not realized because such change is not chosen by the majority of people or an authorized stakeholder.

Our host for the first series of exhibitions is at R-Startup Studio (RSS) – a startup incubation studio in the heart of Tokyo. The goal of RSS is to produce 2000 innovative projects with SDG’s in 7 years. They have over 50 companies working together for several projects – art, entertainment, marketing and more. Together we will dig the art scene from East to West in search of new and intriguing art.

Curated by Roy Hofer

It is important to set an example in times of the worldwide pandemic crisis and general curfew and to help promote the creativity of those who sit at home and do not know what to do with themselves and their creativity. We are currently facing involuntary quarantine and isolation. From one day to the next, you can no longer live as you have always been used to.

What does it do to humans? What happens to public space without the usual dynamic? How does it effect our cultural behavior? How does this dynamic shift into private, at home? How does it change interpersonal relationships when social distancing becomes everyday life? Do we currently live in long-distance relationships? Is the journey going inwards? What happened to the dream of freedom during the Covid-19 shutdown phasis?

We are aware that the movement of social distancing art is still in its infancy. Without a doubt, the contributions will last for weeks, months and years and gain relevance as a historical statement. Only a globally alligned, science-based approach will lead to a sustainable success in containing this highly contagious virus.

The Social Distancing Art Festival (SODA) is a project of the Arrival Room gUG. Arrival Room gUG is a non-profit organisation registered in Saarbrücken (Germany). As a cultural organisation Arrival Room promotes art projects of locals and migrants in Germany and beyond.

Curated by Eugen Georg

Ballarat International Foto Biennale is partnering with FORMAT International Photography Festival and Gallery of Photography Ireland to create a visual record of the COVID-19 crisis on Instagram.

Inspired by the 1937 Mass Observation project in Britain, Ballarat International Foto Biennale curators Shaohui Kwok and Amelia Saward invite Australians to share their photographs to build an online visual archive of this extraordinary moment in history.

2020 is becoming a hugely significant moment in time and Mass Isolation is an opportunity to find lightness, to share experiences and build our faith in humanity’s ability to survive.

Curated by Shaohui Kwok & Amelia Saward