Celebrating contemporary jewellery and objects, ‘Radiant Pavilion’ returns with a wide range of events across various Melbourne venues from 7 to 15 September. As the largest Biennial of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, ‘Radiant Pavilion’ brings together artists, theorists, and collectors from around the world for nine days of exhibitions, talks, performances, roving events and installations.
Drawing on the creative community of contemporary jewellery makers in Melbourne, this year’s festival covers a range of practices from national and international artists and is also offering two exciting mentorships for early career practitioners for the first time. One for a curator to be mentored under Australian curator Kate Rhodes and present the exhibition ‘Insistent Gestures’ during the festival. And the other is for a writer to be guided by Dutch writer Liesbeth den Besten, which will culminate in a published work in Metalsmith magazine.
Matilda Nona, Eucalyptus ring, 2018, silver. The Indigenous Jewellery Project 2. Photograph: Melinda Young. Courtesy the artist and Radiant Pavilion
Festival highlights include: ‘The Indigenous Jewellery Project’ (IJP), Peanut Gallery – this is the first survey exhibition of the IJP, a nation-wide Australian contemporary jewellery project working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned art centres and artists across Australia.
‘Insistent. Gestures’ at RMIT Gallery featuring artists Kazumi Nagano (JP), Yong Joo Kim (KR), Chen Chun Tai (TW), Cyrus (Wai-Kuen) Tang (HK/AU), Yu Fang Chi (TW/AU), brings the work of five artists who live, work, or were born in Asia together to explore personal narratives, diasporic identity and the use of repetition.
Chun Tai Chen, Scenery in mind, 2012, paper, 28 x 25 x 9cm. Insistent Gestures 6. Courtesy the artist and Radiant Pavilion
‘PELAGIC’ at BLINDSIDE featuring artists Liv Boyle, Sara Retallick, Dr Jennifer Lavers, utilises material collected by Lavers during a research expedition to the remote Henderson Island in the South Pacific. This unique collaboration brings together sculpture, jewellery, science and sound, exploring site-specific ecologies under pressure.
‘Meaning(less)ness’ by Susan Cohn is a performance talk about the meaning of objects in our lives. Prompted by the 2016 Danish Jewellery Legislation that any assets over 10,000 Kroner ($2,000AUD), be confiscated by border authorities to subsidise the upkeep of people seeking asylum.
‘Understory’ by Cara Johnson at Domain House, Royal Botanical Gardens is a solo exhibition drawing on Johnson’s research into the way people manage plants and the landscape, explored through form, material and making processes, with reference to the Victorian Rare and Threatened Species collection in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
‘Hang on to a dream’ by Lucy Sarneel (NL) presented at Gallery Funaki is a solo exhibition by one of the Netherlands’ most renowned jewellers showcasing new works exploring personal identity, Dutch cultural history and the magic collision of elements in the everyday.
Visit the Radiant Pavilion website to view the full list of events including details for the Launch Party on Saturday 7 September, 6-10pm.
