Ararat Basketfest - Residential Workshops

Ararat Regional Art Gallery will present Douglas Fuchs’ 'Floating Forest’ from 17 February to 1 April 2012, in partnership with the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Douglas Fuchs (1947-86) was an American basket maker who came to Australia on a Craft Council of Australia Fellowship in 1981-82. The result of his residency was 'Floating Forest', a monumental fibre installation, which was presented in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and is widely credited with introducing a contemporary approach to basketry in Australia.

ARARAT BASKETFEST 2012 is a series of public programs which will augment 'Floating Forest' and broaden the context in which basketry in Australia can be appreciated, 30 years after Douglas Fuchs’ landmark installation. The program includes: a symposium, children's workshops, artist talks and associated exhibitions. There is also an opportunity for a small number of people to participate in intensive residential workshops led by Wendy Golden and Lucy Irvine.

RESIDENTIAL WORKSHOPS AT ALLANVALE

Residential workshops provide an opportunity to learn from professional makers in an immersive environment. Participants stay at the historic Allanvale Shearers’ Quarters, near Great Western. The fee is $380 (inc. GST) per person, per workshop, which includes the two day workshop, materials, twin-share accommodation (Friday and Saturday nights) and meals, including a special Saturday night dinner. Numbers are limited to 15 people per workshop and payment in advance is required to secure a place.

Wendy Golden 'Random Weave Unravelled' - 18 & 19 February 2012

The various techniques of random weaving will be taught in this two day workshop. You will be provided with dyed and natural rattan to create your own unique shaped basket. When this is formed you will be able to incorporate materials from the environment into the structure. Traditional basket weaving bases will also be shown as this can assist with shaping. While there will be material supplied for this workshop you are welcome to bring your own with which to experiment if you wish. Discussion on the identification, collection and treatment of plant materials from your environment will be included. This is a fun workshop as it provides lots of opportunity to unleash your creativity. Arrive on Friday 17 February 2012 for an artist's talk by Wendy at 5pm and the joint exhibition opening of Wendy's exhibition, Paired: Woven Forms and Floating Forest. Wendy's workshop will begin the following morning in the beautiful Allanvale surroundings.

Lucy Irvine 'Sculptural Weaving' - 24 & 25 March 2012

Over the course of this intensive workshop participants will have the opportunity to experiment with a range of materials including plaster, wire and polythene as well as materials found on site, to weave a series of evocative and thought provoking pieces. Encouraging a sculptural perspective to vessel making and weaving, this workshop offers the time for experienced weavers to develop new approaches to their practice. Equally those with no weaving or sculpting experience may enjoy the space to create without the boundaries defined between craft and art. No prerequisite skills are required. Arrive on Friday 23 March 2012 for Lucy's artist's talk at 6pm and enjoy a drink at a special preview of her exhibition, Mapless.

To receive an enrollment form or further details about these workshops or a brochure for ARARAT BASKETFEST 2012, please contact the gallery by phone on 03 5352 2836 or email: gallery@ararat.vic.gov.au For the ARARAT BASKETFEST 2012 program click here.

Walking in the Artist’s Footsteps

Gordon Morrison, Director of Art Gallery of Ballarat opened the exhibition on Friday 16 December at 6pm.


Pictured right is Eugene von Guérard's 'Mount Langi from Pleasant Creek' (1871) from the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, on display at Ararat Regional Art Gallery until 12 February 2012.

An iconic painter of colonial Australia, Austria‐born Eugene von Guérard (1811–1901) is sometimes referred to as the ‘father of Australian landscape painting’. This year the National Gallery of Victoria marked the artist’s bicentenary with a major exhibition, ‘Eugene von Guérard: Nature Revealed’. Now Ararat Regional Art Gallery will see out this celebratory year with, 'Australian Landscapes: Eugene von Guérard in the Antipodes’, an Art Gallery of Ballarat Travelling Exhibition presented from 15 December 2011 to 12 February 2012. The exhibition chronicles Eugene von Guérard's peripatetic ways through an entire set of 24 magnificent lithographs from 1866‐67 which capture some of the most remarkable and spectacular parts of South Eastern Australia and Tasmania.

Augmenting this outstanding exhibition is an oil painting of immense local significance: Eugene von Guérard’s ‘Mount Langi from Pleasant Creek’ from 1871, which is on loan from the National Gallery of Victoria. ‘Mount Langi from Pleasant Creek’ is a rare document of the early period of settlement and expansion in our region. The painting features gold mining in the foreground and a sweeping vista of the Pyrenees ranges in the distance.

It seems that ‘Mount Langi from Pleasant Creek’ depicts a view of the Pyrenees Ranges from the Big Hill Lookout in Stawell, which was then known as Pleasant Creek. However, the painting was also previously known by the title, ‘The Gold Diggings at Ararat’, until research uncovered and reinstated its original title.

The questions remains: is the painting based on a view of Mount Langi Ghiran from Stawell or from elsewhere in the region? If it is a view from Stawell, did von Guérard bring forward the Pyrenees Ranges and condense the middle ground in order to maximise the painting’s picturesque qualities? Or did he source the scene from elsewhere in the region, perhaps a little closer to Ararat, as the painting’s previous title suggests?

The local community can assist in locating and photographing the vantage point from which von Guérard sourced this image. If you think you know where this view can be found, please contact Ararat Regional Art Gallery on 5352 2836 or gallery@ararat.vic.gov.au