Project Description
This exhibition showcases the excellence of innovative community arts and cultural development practice that has been supported by Community Partnerships at the Australia Council for the Arts.
Curatorial Statement
The Australia Council for the Arts proudly presents Symbiosis: Living through Art.
This exhibition showcases excellent and innovative community arts and cultural development projects supported by the Community Partnerships section of the Australia Council for the Arts.
Symbiosis is the interaction between two different organisms living in close proximity, with both benefiting from this interaction and sustaining the relationship. The projects in this exhibition are the outcome of the creative interaction between artists and different communities. Our title, Symbiosis: Living through Art, describes this process of art making through dialogue, interaction and the sharing of experiences to create meaningful artistic and cultural work.
Culture is the culmination of a nation’s intellectual and artistic expressions created and nourished by all. Art has always played an integral role in shaping culture. Community arts and cultural development sustains the connection between art and people and is the embodiment of a community’s creative production. The process of creating art is shaped by artists and communities working together and sharing stories – creating that which defines our culture.
In this exhibition, we bring together recent screen-based work, new writing, music, theater and visual arts projects that have been co-created by artists working in collaboration with diverse communities around Australia.
The themes explored include celebrating women’s resilience in the face of violence and rape, emerging music, happiness, culture in harmony with nature, storytelling, farming communities, connecting identities through art making and Muslim women artists working around themes of migration, identity, and self-determination. The communities collaborating with the artists in this exhibition represent different cultural backgrounds and urban, regional and remote areas.
The results of these symbiotic relationships are groundbreaking. Through the mutual process of self-exploration and raw expression, high-quality artistic outcomes emerge. That is living through art.