Fashion, craft and design lovers are in for a treat as a plethora of exhibitions and programs showcase the best in contemporary practices across Australia.
January
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Design/Architecture: Melbourne’s major outdoor architecture commission MPavilion is filled with free events throughout the summer and fall season. January and February programs are centred around the theme Matieral Lab, to be followed by Unseen Design in March and April.
Design/Architecture: The Fox: NGV Contemporary Design Competition exhibition showcases the visionary and dynamic approaches, work and creativity of eight multidisciplinary Australian design teams. The significant cultural project will be situated amid 18,000 square metres of green space in the Melbourne Arts Precinct. Exhibition on view until 5 February.
Design: JamFactory (SA) presents French Exchange: Reflections on the JamFactory Boisbuchet Scholarships featuring recent works by five previous recipients and offers personal reflections on how their experiences at Boisbuchet have impacted the trajectory of their creative practices. The exhibition runs until 5 February. Also on view is Straight from the Heart featuring works by JamFactory Associates from their residency at Central Craft.
Craft/Design: At JamFactory Barossa (SA) is an exhibition featuring Yolŋu objects and designs, and how they can be incorporated into the everyday lives of Australians. Manymak girri’ ngarraku features new and traditional utilitarian objects by artists from Bula’bula Arts alongside works made in collaboration with JamFactory’s Furniture Studio. On view until 19 February.
Fashion: Gucci Garden Archetypes (NSW) is an immersive experience which showcases the seminal advertising campaigns envisioned by Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele, filled with plenty of iconic and insta-worthy moments. Closing soon on 15 January; free, bookings required at Sydney Powerhouse Ultimo.
Craft: Shepparton Museum of Art (Vic) presents a series of porcelain vessels by Kialla-based artist Alexis Miksad in Between Scylla and Charybdis | Amphora as part of the SAM Spotlight showcasing local creatives until 12 February. Also on view is Social ceramics with more than 100 works by over 60 ceramicists drawn on the SAM Collection, until 19 February. Free.
Craft: Handmade Universe: From craft to code and the spaces in between is on view at State Library (Vic) until 26 February showcasing the limitless scope craft offers for invention and enquiry. Free.
Textiles: Rosie Deacon presents her exuberant and wonder-filled sculptural installations made with myriad textiles and handcrafted materials in SPAGHETTI-STACK-SUFFLE-SHUFFLE at Bunjil Place Gallery (Vic) until 26 February. A curious and creative adventure for kids and adults alike.
Craft: Yeahnahnesia showcases cultural artefacts from the remote island of Yeahnahnesia, presented by the artist couple Yok and Sheryo when they chanced upon the island. The exhibition at Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) presents imagination and fictional world-building at its best. Read ArtsHub’s review; on view until 26 March.
Design: Design Tasmania (Tas) presents Brodie Neill | Resonance featuring the Tasmania-born, London-based designer with a selection of iconic works from his career-defining archive of ‘furniture formations’. On view until 26 March.
Fashion: House of Fast Fashun is part of the Midsumma X Ignite Melbourne (Vic) program – a house made of clothing and textile waste, a space for community, collaboration and self-expression. Visitors are invited to create haute couture outfits out of clothing and textile waste with a runway show at every hour on 22 January.
Craft/Design: Australian Design Centre (NSW) presents Beyond design as usual and Ema Shin’s Hearts of Absent Women until 21 January. Beyond design as usual provides a professional exhibition opportunity for students completing studies in social innovation, visual communication, photography, product design, and fashion and textiles, presented in partnership with the School of Design, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Meanwhile, in Hearts of Absent Women Shins’ soft and fleshy textile sculptures celebrate untold stories in a feminine expression of cultural rebellion.
Craft: Currently on view at Craft Victoria (Vic) are two exhibitions: It’s not just blue, a maximalist exploration of blue hues, and Nuanced Nonsense featuring Daina Sgarioto who uses punchy, satirical wit to celebrate the mundane. On view until 28 January.
Craft/Design: Hazelhurst Arts Centre (NSW) presents three exhibitions from the Australian Design Centre over summer with a focus on jewellery, object design and ceramics. Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft Prue Venables, Made / Worn: Australian Contemporary Jewellery and Profile: Contemporary Jewellery and Object Award run until 29 January.
Craft: Southern Highlands printmakers present Attune: Craft in harmony at Sturt Gallery (NSW) until 29 January. The makers showcasing their work are harmoniously attuned to the poem ‘The River Songman’ by folklorist, Keith McKenry, in this inspiring exhibition of contemporary craft.
Glass: Canberra Glassworks (ACT) opens its 2023 Exhibition Program with Net Worth, featuring emerging artists Louis Grant, Jessica Murtagh, Shirley Jianzhen Wu and Madisyn Zabel. These artists bring together glassmaking traditions to explore concepts of identity, stereotypes and technology. Open from 12 January to 26 February; free.
Glass: JamFactory touring exhibition, Jessica Loughlin: of light lands at UNSW Galleries (NSW) from 15 January to 19 March. Loughlin is renowned for her innovative technical approach to kiln-formed glass, and creates ethereal works which explore her fascination with the beauty of emptiness.
Fashion: The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has partnered with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to present Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. Step inside the incredible mind of the legendary designer through over 120 garments and accessories. On view at NGV International (Vic) until 16 April; ticketed.
Design/Fashion: Kenneth Rowell: Designer for the Stage is on view at National Library of Australia (ACT) highlighting the work of the Melbourne-born painter and designer. Rowell’s costume design archive comprises of about 1,400 designs for costumes and sets, as well as notebooks, sketchbooks, programs and photographs. Until 2 April; free.
Fashion: Zampatti Powerhouse (NSW) is the first retrospective exhibition of renowned Australian designer, business leader, philanthropist and mentor, Carla Zampatti. The major exhibition features 100 outfits, including personal items from Zampatti’s estate, the Carla Zampatti Fashion Archive, the wardrobes of well-known women and the results of hundreds of responses to a public callout. On view at Powerhouse Ultimo until 11 June; free.
Read: Exhibition review: Zampatti Powerhouse
Design: Two exhibitions are currently on view until 4 March at Artisan, Brisbane (Qld): Bruce Reynolds’ SPECULATIVE ARCHEOLOGY and Steve Szell’s SZEPHYR. Reynolds presents sculptures of various texture, motif, colour and form, which upon closer examination, present complex and layered fragments of history. Szell is the founder of Szephyr Guitars, a sustainable Luthier & timber craft practice that focuses on building high quality, affordable instruments with reclaimed timbers from old furniture, demolished buildings and leftover arborist slabs.
February
Glass: From 2 February, Craft Victoria presents Interior Landscapes by leading Australian glass artists and solo exhibition Morph featuring glass artist Mark Douglass. Interior Landscapes runs until 4 March; Morph runs until 25 March.
Fashion: Adelady + Gathered Fashion Weekend (SA) is held on 4-5 February at the Torrens Parade Ground, Adelaide. The market will include up to 100 stalls full of local and Australian designers.
Craft: Mala-lukmarama (to gather together) is an exhibition of Fibre Art and Painting by the inspiring artists of Ramingining, Arnhem Land, NT. A collaboration with Bula’Bula Arts, the exhibition at Sturt Gallery (NSW) is accompanied by artist talks, weaving demonstrations and fireside storytelling, running from 5 February to 26 March.
Design: New Exuberance: contemporary Australian textile design is a major touring exhibition project reflecting on current directions in textile practice through art, design and fashion. Curated by Meryl Ryan in consultation with the JamFactory team, the exhibition presents the work of more than 30 diverse multidisciplinary creatives and includes 10 commissioned furniture pieces produced by designers associated with JamFactory. On view at JamFactory from 17 February to 16 April.
Craft: Two exhibitions are on view at Craft ACT from 2 February to 18 March: Daisy Chain and Emerging Contemporaries. Daisy Chain is a group exhibition proposed by the eight new associates of JamFactory’s associate program which seeks to develop the skills of emerging artists and designers. Emerging Contemporaries is the Craft ACT National Award Exhibition for early career artists. This exhibition plays a pivotal role in supporting and transitioning artists into professional practice and placing Australian artists in view of the national cultural collecting institutions, industry, and audience.
March
Craft: The touring exhibition Dawn Beasley: Botanically Porcelain lands at the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art (NCCA) (NT) from 2 March to 15 April for its homecoming instalment. A new multimedia installation Seed joins the toured works to create an immersive gallery experience embracing a narrative of regrowth, survival, hope and resilience.
Fashion: The Melbourne Fashion Festival (Vic) returns from 3-11 March to stage the latest industry developments and creative talent across fashion, design and film. Applications are currently open for the National Designer Award and Fashion Film Festival, with the full program to be announced.
Glass: Landing at Canberra Glassworks (ACT) in March is a solo exhibition of Tom Rowley, whose practice focuses on Venetian traditions and transforms the everyday into objects of desire. Adventure Spirit runs from 9 March to 7 May; free.
Craft/Design: Fresh! 2023 is Craft Victoria’s annual exhibition of recent craft and design graduates, returning from 11 March to 29 April.
Craft/Glass: Two-Tone is a collaborative exhibition featuring two contemporary artists, Louis Grant and Madisyn Zabel, who primarily work within a glass discipline. Extending on both Grant and Zabel’s own practices, Two-Tone opens up a discourse around dualities, contrasts and material at Craft ACT from 23 March to 13 May. Running concurrently with Two-Tone is the 2022 Indigenous Artist-in-residence Exhibition featuring Krystal Hurst and Jessika Spencer; and the 2022 Artist-in-Residence Exhibition, featuring Julie Ryder, Mel Robson and Bev Hogg.
Design: Melbourne Now celebrates new and ambitious local art and design across a range of contemporary disciplines including fashion and jewellery, painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, video, performance, printmaking and publishing. The exhibition is presented by The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (Vic) and runs 24 March to 20 August.
Design/Architecture: The Asia Pacific Architecture Festival is slated to return to Brisbane (Qld) in 2023. Last year’s program included The Architecture Symposium: Co-operate, co-design, co-exist at Brisbane Powerhouse among a range of interdisciplinary talks, exhibitions, workshops and installations.
April
Jewellery: UNSW Galleries (NSW) present a major survey of Melbourne-based jeweller and maker Blanche Tilden in Blanche Tilden – Ripple Effect: A 25-Year Survey from 1 April to 4 June. Tilden has a unique approach to her materials, in particular glass, which she explores both as a material for jewellery making and deploys as a metaphor for the connections between making, industry, the wearable object and the body. This is a Geelong Gallery touring exhibition, curated by Jason Smith.
Craft: Objects of Desire is a showcase of the depth of Australia’s metalworking talent featuring Blanche Tilden, Bic Tieu, Gretal Ferguson, Virginia Sprague, Melinda Young, Nicola Bannerman, Erin Pearce, Di Appleby, Jacqui Stone, David Walker, Walter Brecely, Yvette de Mestre, Alice Whish, Tracy Hopkirk, Zvoni Hodak, and more. Open from 2 April to 21 May at Sturt Gallery (NSW).
May
Design: Bowerbird design and markers market returns to Adelaide Showground (SA) from 5-7 May to showcase a curated selection of design and handmaker products across a range of categories.
Craft: Modern Amphora presents 20 ceramic artists who reinterpret the classic vessel, exploring it as an object of utility and connection to the human experience. On view at Craft Contemporary (Vic) from 6 May to 24 June.
Fashion: Australian Fashion Week (NSW) returns to Carriageworks from 15-19 May with a showcase of runway shows featuring Australia’s preeminent design talent, talks, special events and more.
Design: CO: LAB is a culmination of a year-long Craft ACT professional development and exchange program that forges new directions in the creative industries. Artists Lisa Cahill and Peter Bollington were selected and have worked with an architect and their clients to develop a new range of lighting pieces for a residential project in Canberra. Open from 18 May to 1 July.
Design: Melbourne Design Week (Vic) shifts its festival dates to 18-28 May leading into the colder months. The festival celebrates design in an annual 11-day program of talks, tours, exhibitions, launches, installations, and workshops across Australia’s design capital. As part of the program, the Melbourne Design Fair returns from 18-21 May. The 2023 themes are ‘Transparency, Currency and Legacy’.
Design: The Big Design Market in Melbourne (Vic) returns 26-28 May with three days of shopping, food and fun at the Royal Exhibition Building.
Craft: Sturt Pottery celebrates 70 years of groundbreaking practices and those who have left their marks in Terra Nova: 70 years of breaking ground at Sturt Pottery (NSW). Featuring Les Blakebrough, Paul Davis, Hiroe Swen, Steve Williams, Owen Rye, Susie McMeekin, Fleur Schell, Greg Daly, Malcolm Greenway, Jann Kesby, Clare Ellis, Simone Fraser and more. Open from 28 May to 16 July.
June
Design: Design Show Australia will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Vic) from 15-17 June. The major trade event showcases interior design and architecture. Pre-registrations open.
Fashion/Design: Arts Centre Melbourne’s Australian Performing Arts Collection opens to the public in June 2023. Historically significant performing arts costumes and objects, ranging from Kylie Minogue’s gold lame hot pants to Dame Nellie Melba’s La Traviata bodice will be on view in a new space designed by Melbourne-based Williams Ross Architects.
Design: The Finders Keepers market will be held in Sydney (NSW) from 16-18 June and in Melbourne (Vic) from 7-9 July. The annual markets bring together local makers and designers to discover new innovations and support small and micro creative businesses.
July
Craft/Design: Craft ACT presents group exhibition Exuberance and Eliza-Jane Gilchrist Uncommon from 6 July to 26 August. Exuberance showcases 16 contemporary Australian craft practitioners, designers and artists to examine the concept of exuberance through colour and materiality, as well as the politics of the hand-stitched.
Craft: Curated by master weaver, Liz Williamson, Transform – Cloth Reimagined presents textiles that have been given a new life at Sturt Gallery (NSW). Open from 23 July to 10 September.
Fashion: Cairns Indigenous Art Fair‘s annual program presents a major fashion performance celebrating local and nationally-recognised First Nations designers (Qld). CIAF’s 2023 theme is ‘Weaving Our Future: Claiming Our Sovereignty’, with more details on the program to be announced.
August
Fashion: Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair’s (DAAF) Indigenous Fashion Projects present the return of signature Country to Couture runway showcase from 11-13 August (NT). Program to be announced later in the year.
Craft: Renee So’s idiosyncratic practice in ceramics and textiles is inspired by art history, museum collections and popular forms of gendered symbolism. It is distinguished by its embrace of traditional crafts, cross-cultural thinking, and underlying sense of the comedic and persistent feminist worldview. From 18 August to 19 November, UNSW Galleries (NSW) presents So’s first major exhibition in Australia, Provenance with over a decade her artmaking alongside newly commissioned works. Also on view is David Sequeira: History & Infinity featuring the artist, curator and academic who uses languages of colour, space and geometry to intervene and rethink the narratives of art.
September
Craft: Running from 7 September to 21 October at Craft ACT are two touring exhibitions: Drawn by Stone, which brings together artists who utilise the ceramic medium to interrogate contest histories, and Island Welcome, which explores contemporary jewellery as an invitation to bring attention to asylum seeker issues.
Craft: Florescence: Spring-themed vase and flower show celebrates spring at Sturt Gallery (NSW) with a joyful group show featuring ceramicists, floral artists and painters, including Hiroe Swen, Helen Fuller, Paul Davis, Chrystie Longworth, Jann Kesby, Lissa de Sailes. Open from 17 September to 12 November.
October
Craft: October at Craft ACT will present two final exhibitions for 2023: Spoon Theory and 2023 Craft ACT Members Exhibition. In the first Elizabeth Curry presents an exhibition of spoons crafted to abstractly represent some of the emotions experienced by a person living with an invisible illness, in this case autism. Based on the concept of Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino, each spoon will be crafted from scratch and represent an emotion felt by the artist herself. More details will be announced for the Craft ACT annual members exhibition later in the year. Both exhibitions open from 26 October to 9 December.
November
Craft: Sturt School for Wood will present its 2023 Graduate Exhibition from 19 November to 10 December, showcasing the designers and makers of the future.
December
Craft/Design: The Southern Highlands contemporary textile artist Natalie Miller joins acclaimed furniture designer Adam Goodrum and Sturt graduate Moea Vonsy among other collaborators for Pop – Design that packs a punch!. The exhibition celebrates the colourful explosion of contemporary craft expression, running at Sturt Gallery from 8 December to 4 February 2024.
