Weekly News Roundup: October 4, 2024
By The Editors
Portrait of MYLES RUSSELL-COOK. Photo by Kyle Archie Knight. Courtesy Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.
Myles Russell-Cook to Lead Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Following Max Delany’s recent departure, Myles Russell-Cook has been appointed artistic director and CEO of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), a role he will begin in November. Russell-Cook joins the ACCA from the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), where he was senior curator of Australian and First Nations Art. During his eight-year tenure at the NGV, he curated notable exhibitions such as the NGV Triennial and “QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection.” One of his most anticipated projects is “The Stars We Do Not See,” a major traveling exhibition of Australian Indigenous art set to debut in Washington DC in 2025. Russell-Cook is of Wotjobaluk descent and has long advocated for Indigenous art and culture, playing a key role in driving new developments and initiatives in First Nations art both regionally and internationally. Russell-Cook’s expertise and vision are expected to “steer [the] ACCA into the next period of success and growth,” stated ACCA chair Terry Wu.
(Left image) Facade of Ames Yavuz London at Grosvenor Hill in Mayfair, London. (Right image, from left to right) Glen Ames, Ananya Mukhopadhyay, and Can Yavuz. Photos by Emma Boittiaux. Courtesy Ames Yavuz, Singapore.
Ames Yavuz to Open First London Gallery in 2025
Ames Yavuz, the first Asian commercial gallery to establish a permanent space in Australia, will open a 241-square-meter gallery in Mayfair, London, in early 2025, with Ananya Mukhopadhyay, former director of Magnum Photos and auction coordinator at Gagosian, as managing director. This marks the Singapore-based gallery’s third venue and first European expansion, adding to its existing location in Sydney. Founders Can Yavuz and Glen Ames said that “London continues to be the beating heart of the art world, and felt like a natural home for Ames Yavuz.” The new venue’s inaugural exhibition will feature Filipino artist duo Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, whose multidisciplinary work explores themes of displacement, migration, and family, and demonstrates the founders’ commitment to “present[ing] pioneering contemporary artists from the Asia-Pacific . . . in conversation with voices from Europe, Africa, and the Americas.”
Portrait of ANA ITI. Photo by Sophie Davis. Courtesy Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland.
Ana Iti Wins New Zealand’s Walters Prize
Te Rarawa artist Ana Iti has been named the recipient of the Auckland-based Walters Prize, New Zealand’s leading contemporary art award, for her steel and wood installation A resilient heart like the mānawa (2024). Inspired by the Rāwene wharf, a timber town located in the historic Hokianga harbor in Aotearoa’s North Island, the work references mānawa, native mangrove trees which symbolize Māori resilience against colonization. Iti was selected by judge Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the director and chief curator of Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt, who described her work as “great poetry [with] the ability of accessing multiple universes through the availability of a few words.” Established in 2002, the AUD 50,000 (USD 34,200) Walters Prize—named after the late Wellington-born artist Gordon Walters—is awarded every three years during the Aotearoa Contemporary triennial at Auckland Art Gallery. Works by all four finalists will be on view at the major New Zealand exhibition until October 24, 2024.
(From left to right) Portrait of Sharjah Biennale curators NATASHA GINWALA, MEGAN TAMATI-QUENNELL, ZEYNEP OZ, ALIA SWASTIKA, and AMAL KHALAF. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy Sharjah Art Foundation.
Sharjah Biennial 16 Announces Theme and Artists
On October 1, the Sharjah Art Foundation announced the theme and participants of the Sharjah Biennial’s 16th edition, themed “to carry.” Curated by Jakarta-based writer Alia Swastika, Bahraini Singaporean artist Amal Khalaf, Māori researcher Megan Tamati-Quennell, Indian-born curator Natasha Ginwala, and Turkish independent curator Zeynep Öz, the biennial will feature artworks by more than 140 participants, including over 80 new commissions by artists such as the Assam-based Anga Art Collective, Mozambican painter Cassi Namoda, and Yogyakarta-based multimedia artist Dian Suci Rahmawati. The exhibition will explore themes of identity, immigration, change, and collectivity, as it answers the question of what it means to “carry” a home, ancestors, and political formations with us. Sharjah Biennial 16 will be held across multiple venues in the Emirate of Sharjah and will run from February 6 to June 15, 2025.
Installation view of Futures Gallery’s booth at the Melbourne Art Fair, 2024. Photo by Simon Strong. Courtesy Futures Gallery, Melbourne.
Melbourne Art Fair Shares New Initiatives for 2025 Edition
Melbourne Art Fair has announced program highlights for its upcoming 18th edition, which is set to showcase 60 galleries, First Nations art centers, and 20 unrepresented Victorian First Peoples artists. Running from February 20 to 23, 2025, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the fair will feature sections dedicated to moving-image arts, large-scale installations, experimental works, and a talks program with artists and curators. Singaporean artist Dawn Ng and Auckland-based artist Yona Lee will also display new commissions, with Ng presenting a moving image work in partnership with Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art, while Lee and the New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery’s Len Lye Centre will showcase a large-scale installation composed of found objects. Other initiatives include a preview of the inaugural Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair, which is expected to coincide with the Melbourne Art Fair in 2027.
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