Hobart Current is a major biennial program and exhibition showcasing contemporary artists, both leading and emerging, who work across a variety of media, including design, music/sound, performance, screen and digital arts, visual art, and writing. Curated by Chris Twite, Hobart Current: Epoch is the second iteration to be presented, with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and several public spaces across the city hosting the event until 11 February 2024.
Artist Lou Conboy in her studio. Photograph: Trish Stagg. Courtesy City of Hobart, Tasmania
With a focus on nurturing local talent, Hobart Current: Epoch’s line-up features six Tasmanian artists as well as one artist from New South Wales and two artists who live internationally: Rochelle Haley, Arushi Jain and Florence Shaw, and Tasmanian’s Tricky Walsh, Georgia Morgan, Isabella Maria Foster, Lou Conboy, Nathan Maynard, and Wona Bae and Charlie Lawler. Each artist was commissioned to create a new work centred on this year’s theme, ‘epoch’, exploring what it means to live in these interesting times, to take stock of our lives, and to step forward into a new era. The result was works that deal with the ignition of intangible moments, “infobesity,” our present and future relationship with the natural world, the coexistence of future promises and nostalgia, virtual reality, culture, ritual, and immortality, as well as a post-cringe world.
“We live in interesting times, plunged into global upheaval, shaken by local change and challenged to personally reflect,” says Twite.
Explore the city further with a range of community artworks that reflect the ‘epoch’ theme, including postcard exhibitions, digital screenings, and outdoor projections. Visit the website for viewing times.
