More than 100 entries were received for the ‘2018 HIDDEN – A Rookwood Sculpture Walk’, including entries from the United States, New Zealand and Australia-wide. From these submissions, forty-three artworks were selected and will be ‘hidden’ amongst the graves, turning Sydney’s historic cemetery into an open-air gallery. Visitors will experience an exciting and unique exhibition with a diverse selection of artworks that will include large-scale installations, a performance piece and interactive sculptures.
Neil Laredo, Balance III
To celebrate the 10th year of this outdoor sculpture walk, Rookwood General Cemeteries Reserve Trust (RGCRT) sought out artworks that responded to the exhibition’s regular themes surrounding the Rookwood site, such as history, culture, remembrance and love, in addition to applications inspired by HIDDEN’s 10th anniversary. This included notions relating to the changing role of public interaction with cemeteries over the past 10 years (such as the reinvention of ‘graveyards’ into active parklands) and/or an exploration of where we see ourselves as a community, in terms of how cemeteries could look in the future.
Curator Cassandra Hard Lawrie gives us a taste of this year’s event: ‘This year we will be exhibiting thoughtful artworks that range from an intricate exploration of 1800s graves at Rookwood using photographs to make embroidered cyanotypes, through to a large scale installation to create a field of remembrance,’ said Hard Lawrie. ‘The public will also have the opportunity to engage directly with HIDDEN, through a performance piece and several interactive works, which is also very exciting.’
Exhibiting artists for 2018 HIDDEN – A Rookwood Sculpture Walk include: Allyson Adeney, Aaron Anderson, Lee Bethel, Pamela Lee Brenner, Melinda Brouwer, Tim Bruniges and Paolo Macchia, Will Coles, Jennifer Conroy Smith, Stuart Cussons, Claudia De Salvo, Atanas Djonov, Kate Dorrough, Fraser the Razor, Lee FullARTon, Adam Galea, Genevieve Graham, Ulvi Haagensen, Olivia Hamilton, Aedan Harris, Rose Hawker, Madeleine Hayes, Hobart Hughes, Sonja Karl, Kenneth Lambert, Anne Levitch, Ad Long, Ludwig Mlcek, Tal Mor Sinay, Zara Pasfield, Peacock Gallery Maker’s Circle, Donna Turtle Sarten and Bernie Harfleet, Iris Shen, Amelia Skelton, Julianne Smallwood, Sydney Art Exchange, Linda Swinfield, Christopher Trotter, Miho Watanabe, Elizabeth West, Alison Winchester, Lisa Woolfe and Barak Zelig.
This year’s selection panel also included Sophia Kouyoumdjian, Director of Parramatta Artist’s Studios and guest-curator of Primavera 2017, and Megan Robson, Assistant Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
‘HIDDEN – A Rookwood Sculpture Walk’ is a free event and runs from 1 September to 1 October 2018 at Rookwood Cemetery, in western Sydney.
