DADAA-KCAT Artistic and Cultural Exchange

Currently showing at the Kilkenny County Arts Office, Ireland are thirty two works created by fifteen Freight Gallery Studio Artists. The works were created as part of a 12 month cultural exchange between the KCAT Studios in Kilkenny and Freight Gallery Studios in Fremantle. The exchange program also involves professional development visits to Kilkenny by Freight Studio artists and Kilkennt artists visiting Fremantle.

BOXED: EXCHANGING VIEWS & DREAMS

In November 2005, artists from DADAA WA’s Freight Gallery Studio began exchanging boxes with artists from the KCAT Studios in Kilkenny, Ireland..Artists from the K-Cat Studio sent a large painted box containing objects ‘typically Irish’ – food, newspapers, photographs, and images of their art work. For 15 weeks Freight Studio artists responded by sending small boxes containing tastes of Australia to Ireland on a weekly basis. Artists at both Studios used the received objects as points of departure to research and develop new work . The resulting work is varied, and rich in personal and cultural nuances. At Freight, Simon Marchment researched and developed new work associated with the Eureka Stockade and the Irish miners. Judy Mary Seward initiated a colour search exploring the colours of two very different landscapes.Pauline Miles explored the differences in domestic culture. Jo Dutton responded to butterflies from Ireland by investigating moths and butterflies. Other artists explored differences in landscape and city culture. T Professional Development is an important aspect of DADAA WA’s Freight Studio experience. To deepen the artistic exchange, Freight Studio artists, Pauline Miles and Judy Mary Seward together with Freight Studios Manager, Chris Williams are spending three weeks in Kilkenny. Funded by Arts WA, Pauline and Judy will be teaching, exchanging conversation and exploring and responding to the internal and external environments of Kilkenny and attending the K-Cat Studio workshops. Chris Williams will be curating his first international exhibition,exploring and reflecting on new ways of working, and investigating the Museum of Modern Art, Dublin where Outsider Art has its own curator. Thirty two works by 15 Freight artists are currently exhibited to Ireland. Each artist prepared personal didactics that outlined something of themselves and their artistic responses to the Irish artwork and objects. VISIT THE EXHIBITION UP UNDER DOWN OVER Thursday June 8 at 5 pm, the Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, John Street, will see the opening of an exciting exhibition. Up Under Down Over is the result of an exchange project between KCAT, Callan, Co. Kilkenny and DADAA, Fremantle, Australia. The exhibition will be opened by her Excellency, the Ambassador of Australia to Ireland, Anne Plunkett. The DADAA artists’ work is based on boxes filled with typical Irish objects, collected and sent over by KCAT artists and vice versa. The exhibition features a selection of paintings, drawings, photos, prints and mixed media collages from both bodies of work. The Irish artists involved are members of the KCAT Studio. This studio supports artists with special needs in their professional development. In its Art & Study for Arts Talent) also runs a FETAC Level 5 Art Course open to students of all abilities and a Theatre Performance Course based on the same inclusive ideas. The Australian artists involved in the exchange are participants in DADAA WA’s Freight Gallery and Studio. All the artists in Freight share the common experience of living with a mental illness; this is the common thread of connectivity along with a pursuit of the arts. DADAA (Disability in the Arts. Disadvantage in the Arts Australia) is a community cultural development organization focused on the disability and mental Health communities across Western Australia, based in Fremantle, Australia. Two of the DADAA artists and a facilitator will be in Ireland during the month of June to collaborate with the KCAT artists. In November a small KCAT group will travel to Australia to take part in workshops and be at the opening of the exhibition in the Freight Gallery in Fremantle. Kilkenny Advertiser: June 7 2006

The project has resulted in an exhibition at the Freight Gallery in December 2006. Click the image above for more information.