Visual Arts

HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe

About

What could our future look like if we prioritise the environment, cultural practices and social wellbeing? What will it look like if we don’t? In HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe, five diverse artists interrogate these questions.

Artists Chris De Rosa (Port Elliot), Lara Tilbrook (Kangaroo Island), Ellen Trevorrow (Meningie/Coorong), Clancy Warner (Sellicks Beach) and Laura Wills (Adelaide) are united by a strong connection to regional South Australia and artistic practices that draw attention to the interconnectivity of humans and the natural world. They are passionate advocates for collective action to achieve a sustainable future.

These newly commissions works in HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe address issues of systemic (mis)management, rising sea levels, migration policies, catastrophic fire events and ongoing colonialism. They also signal hope and offer more viable and balanced ways of being and belonging.

CURATORS + PROJECT MENTORS
Lauren Mustillo, Visual Arts Manager, Country Arts SA
Fulvia Mantelli, Director, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, SA

CURATORIAL MENTEE
Wes Maselli, artist, emerging curator and writer, based in Hayborough

PROJECT MANAGEMENT MENTEE
Michelle Dohnt, Arts Officer Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, based in Murray Bridge

Image: Chris De Rosa, Under here my dreams are made of water (detail), 2021, papier-mâché, etching, giclee print, collage, wire, glass beads, sand, studio floor debris, pigment, polymer paint, wire, tape pu foam, spray paint, silk cord, rope, dimensions variable, approx. 300 x 300 x 300 cm. Photo: Rosina Possingham.

HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe was commissioned by Country Arts SA and was the outcome of the SPUR: Regional Curatorial Mentorship (supporting mentees Wes Maselli and Michelle Dohnt). Both initiatives were developed in collaboration with Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, where the exhibtion was first presented from February – April 2022. Curated by Lauren Mustillo and Fulvia Mantelli.

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