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Fernando do Campo | Artist Talk

Join us for an Artist Talk presented by Fernando do Campo, to celebrate the opening of his exhibition Siblings on Saturday 1st March 2025, 2pm – 3pm.

Since 2017, when Fernando first learnt of the curious story about house sparrows being released of the Bull & Mouth Hotel balcony Ararat, in 1867 (alongside Melbourne, Ararat is the first place where this colonial introduction occurred in Australia), the settler-colonial history of this region and its relationship to animals has entered Fernando’s practice. Due to the history of the Ararat Gallery TAMA Collection, textiles also entered Fernando’s practice as one of his many artforms when he last presented work here.

This solo exhibition continues Fernando’s exploration of archival research, fieldwork, and studio experimentation to ask what role the non-human companion plays in the formation of colonialism and nationalism. Siblings pairs together two previously exhibited bodies of work in a new installation; an archival object and colour-rule response installed at the Ararat Library in 2017, is exhibited alongside a recent collection of textile artworks that use a colour-rule system to weave together migrant history, localisms, personal narratives and family collaborations.

The six significant artworks Escarapelas Capricornianas (2024), a series of textile portraits of Fernando’s five siblings accompanied by a self-portrait, are being shown in Victoria for the first time. Fernando’s practice is informed by the knotted histories of humans and animals, critically narrating the role that sparrows have played in the Australian imagination has been a focus for over a decade.

This event is free entry, with bookings requested to help plan catering. Please scroll down to book ↓

Cassie Leatham | Artist Talk + Yarning Circle

Join us for an Artist Talk presented by Cassie Leatham on Friday 14th March 2025, 11am – 12pm.

Cassie Leatham is a First Nations master weaver and multidisciplinary artist from the Dja Dja Wurrung and Daungwurrung people from the Kulin Nation. She is a jewellery and fashion designer, bushtukka woman and cultural educator.

Cassie’s works have been acquired by National Gallery Victoria, National Australian Musuem, Koori Heritage Trust, Museum Art Gallery of Northern Territory, and the Melbourne Magistrates Courts. She has exhibited nationally and internationally.

This event is presented in conjunction with Grampians Texture.

Free entry, bookings essential. Please scroll down to book ↓

Backstrap Band Weaving Workshop with Ilka White

Experience the ancient art of backstrap weaving in this hands-on workshop with artist Ilka White. You’ll create a beautiful woven band using just your body and simple tools. Explore pattern making, learn basic techniques, and connect with a textile tradition practiced across cultures for millennia.

→ Suitable for ages 14 and over
→ Suitable for beginners
→ All materials provided
→ 12 places available

About the artist

Ilka White lives in Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung) Country, Central Victoria. Direct engagement with the natural world and a love for ‘primary’ skills inform the way she lives and makes.

Ilka taught Textile History, Weaving and Crafts in Society at RMIT University for many years and maintained a production studio before working throughout Australia as an independent artist, teacher, and facilitator. She has taken an immersive approach to making in communities and ecosystems across the continent and the Torres Strait and learned alongside traditional weavers in Indonesia, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Ilka’s work has been published and exhibited in Australia and abroad for around 30 years. She is represented in public collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria.
As a teacher, Ilka’s popular classes continue to reflect her appreciation for the potency of cloth and our responsibility as co-creators on this incredible, finite planet.

This workshop is held in conjunction with the exhibition Weaving matter: material experimentation, which runs to Sunday 16th February 2025.

Music in the Gallery | No Regrets: The Edith Piaf Story

Delivered in French and English, this spellbinding and romantic
show features classic numbers Padam, La Vie En Rose, Non Je Ne Regrette Rien along with other timeless pieces.

Nikki eloquently weaves a tale of passion, tragedy and triumph taking the audience on a musical journey through songs right from the earliest days of Piaf’s singing career, when she was singing on street corners, through to the peak of her career as the toast of Paris and New York, and finally her tragic untimely death.

A must see for lovers of all things French and “Little Sparrow” fans!

Line-up:
Nikki Nouveau (Vocals/Narration)
Stefanie Gumienik (Piano/Accordion)
Nigel MacLean (Violin)

Community Wall: Rosemary Eagle

Rosemary Eagle is an artist living and working from a home-based studio in Ararat. Rosemary’s studio is part of what used to be stables for the local baker’s horses in 1926, a rambling old building clad in corrugated iron. Her husband, potter John Eagle, also works out of the same building.

A year after moving to Ararat 17 years ago, Rosemary developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and as result can no longer walk. Coming to terms with her changed life took time but she modified her studio, keeping her etching press and focussed her time and energy on her art practice. Her studio became her sanctuary, and her art practice became a lifeline, a way to survive.

Rosemary’s work follows two very different themes; calm landscapes that reflect her longing for a safe, pain-free place, and the more expressionistic work in print and paint are often about the lived pain experience.

The Grampians (Gariwerd*), Mount Langi Ghiran**, Green Hill Lake and One Tree Hill are locations close to home that Rosemary often visits; to her they are places where time slows, and she feels in touch with nature and the senses. Rosemary intends to capture feelings evoked and moments in time in her art.

*The Grampians National Park is part of the Gariwerd Aboriginal cultural landscape.
**Langi Ghiran (Lar-ne-jeering (Langi Ghiran) is from the Djab Wurrung language meaning ‘home of the black cockatoo’)

Fernando do Campo | Siblings

Since 2017, when Fernando do Campo first learnt of the curious story about house sparrows being released off the Bull & Mouth Hotel balcony Ararat, in 1867 (alongside Melbourne, Ararat is the first place where this colonial introduction occurred in Australia), the settler-colonial history of this region and its relationship to animals has entered Fernando’s practice. Due to the history of the Ararat Gallery TAMA Collection, textiles also entered Fernando’s practice as one of his many artforms when he last presented work here.

This solo exhibition continues Fernando’s exploration of archival research, fieldwork, and studio experimentation to ask what role the non-human companion plays in the formation of colonialism and nationalism. Siblings pairs together two previously exhibited bodies of work in a new installation; an archival object and colour-rule response installed at the Ararat Library in 2017, is exhibited alongside a recent collection of textile artworks that use a colour-rule system to weave together migrant history, localisms, personal narratives and family collaborations.

The six significant artworks Escarapelas Capricornianas (2024), a series of textile portraits of Fernando’s five siblings accompanied by a self-portrait, are being shown in Victoria for the first time. Fernando’s practice is informed by the knotted histories of humans and animals, critically narrating the role that sparrows have played in the Australian imagination has been a focus for over a decade.

Fernando do Campo (b. Mar del Plata, Argentina 1987) is an artist and academic based between Brisbane and Sydney. He is Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at UNSW Art & Design, Sydney. Since 2015, he has also produced work as the HSSH (House Sparrow Society for Humans). Fernando’s practice engages the histories of animals and plants via anthropomorphism, speculative fiction and archival research to produce multi-disciplinary exhibitions and projects. The global south and the legacies of colonialism and modernism that hold these narratives are a focus for both his research and his material studio explorations.

Fernando has presented solo exhibitions in Australia and the USA, and group exhibitions internationally. He is a Sir General John Monash Foundation Scholar, the first artist to ever receive this prestigious award for emerging Australian leaders to study abroad, which he used towards completing an MFA at Parsons School of Design, New York. He completed his PhD at MADA, Monash University in 2022 and was Artist-in-Residence at the State Library of NSW 2021-22. In 2025 Fernando will be presenting at the Melbourne Art Fair, with the Barnett Newman Foundation in New York, and undertaking a Thinker-in-Residence at the Taronga Conservation Society Australia (affectionately known as Taronga Zoo). Fernando is represented by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Sydney.

Painted Fabric Hanging workshop with Kate Dorrough

Friday 12th July 2024
10.30am – 1pm (10.20am for a 10.30am start)

Inspired by the textile artworks by mother and daughter artists, Heather and Kate Dorrough, create your own individual fabric hanging. This school holiday workshop is designed for intergenerational families and loved ones to all participate working alongside and inspiring one another, each child and adult creating their own textile wall hanging.

Using collaged fabric and paper on a fabric backing, hand sewing with an addition of sequins and beads. Learn how to sew with a needle and thread and how to build up a collage different elements resulting in a magical layered textile work ready to take home and hang on the wall. A fun explorative workshop for the whole family.

 

This workshop is aimed at children aged 7 and over, who are comfortable engaging in a 2 hour creative activity, and would be ideal for family groups of a ratio of one adult and up to two children.

 

→ Suitable for ages 7 and over
→ All children must be accompanied by an adult
→ 20 spaces available

 

Free entry, bookings required. Please scroll down to book ↓

Weaving Play with the Australian Tapestry Workshop

Tuesday 9th July, 10.30am – 1.30pm

Try your hand at weaving with weavers from the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Play with a range of colourful materials including wool offcuts, recycled fabric and paper and experiment with different combinations of these materials to create your own mini woven piece.

This is a friendly drop in session – come in for as little or long as you like!

→ Activities available for ages 5 and over
→ Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult
→ Free entry, no bookings required

 

Spring School Holiday Drop In Session x Ararat Library: Collage Story Craft

Collage Story Craft Drop-In Session
Wednesday 25th September, 2pm – 4pm

Join us at the Ararat Library for hands-on crafting fun for children of all ages! We warmly welcome all families to pop into the Gallery and get creative.

Using reclaimed magazines, children can create their
own surprising collage works to narrate a story of their making.

This is a friendly drop in session – come in for as little or long as you like!

→ Activities available for all ages
→ Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult
→ Free entry, no bookings required
→ Location: Ararat Library

A Drawing Station will also be available in the Ararat Gallery TAMA foyer from Saturday 21 September to Sunday 6 October 10am – 4pm every day.

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Ararat Rural City Council acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we live and work, the Eastern Maar, Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia, Jupagulk, and Wadawurrung peoples, and recognise their connection to the land and waterways. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.