This week’s opportunities
Awards:
yapang Emerging Art Prize
It’s the last chance to enter the yapang Emerging Art Prize for emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia, administered by the Museum of Art and Culture. It offers a $15,000 acquisitive prize pool, with selected artworks exhibited at MAC from 29 July to 17 September 2023.
Applications close 22 June; learn more and apply.
Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023
Artists at all career stages practising in expanded fields of sculpture, including public installation, new media, performance, sound-based and socially engaged practices, are invited to enter the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture. The main prize is valued at $60,000 alongside professional development opportunities. An augmented reality (AR) exhibition will showcase four finalists’ works at Federation Square from 1-15 November 2023.
Entries close 3 July; learn more and enter.
Victorian Premier’s Design Awards (Vic)
The Victorian Premier’s Design Awards recognise and reward the talent and innovation of Victorian designers and architects, and Victorian businesses that use professional design to drive their success and economic growth. The awards are open to designers, architects, design studios and businesses based in Victoria across eight design categories – architecture, product and industrial design, communications design, fashion, digital and service design, design strategy, and projects by tertiary design students.
Entries close 21 July; learn more and enter.
Nature Conservancy Australia Nature Writing Prize 2023
The seventh biennial Nature Writing Prize is open for entries, with $7500 offered for the winning essayist. Submissions between 3000 and 5000 words are eligible, with the theme ‘Writing of Place’. This year’s judges are essayist and editor Ashley Hay and writer and environmental historian Cameron Muir.
Submissions close 28 July; learn more and submit.
Sutherland Shire Literary Competition
Local residents with a flair for the written word, as well as budding bards from further afield, are once again being called upon to enter their best literary creations in this year’s Sutherland Shire Literary Competition. Entrants will be vying for prizes of $1000 and $500 for those submissions selected by judges as the top picks across competition categories including ‘Rhyming Poetry’, ‘Free Verse Poetry’ and ‘Short Stories’.
Entries close 31 July; learn more and enter.
Professional development:
Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre (BREC) Artist Retreat (WA)
BREC is hosting its biennial Artistic Retreat from 1-3 September for artists from the South West and Great Southern regions. The opportunity offers attendees the time and space to develop performance-based concepts, consider new collaborations and explore cross-art form possibilities. Up to 20 artists (16 projects) will have the opportunity to work with five mentors from across Australia and various disciplines to guide the development of projects with a distinctive WA identity, build their capacity as an artist and create artist networks.
EOIs close 30 June; learn more and apply.
Want more? Visit our Opportunities page for more open competitions, prizes, EOIs and call-outs.
This week’s winners
Visual arts:
Shea Kirk’s portrait of friend and fellow artist Emma Armstrong-Porter, titled Ruby (left view), has won the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize. ‘Over the past six years I have been inviting people over to my home studio to sit in front of simple backdrops and make portraits,’ Kirk says. ‘This portrait is of my now good friend Emma, which we made together during our first meeting. I wanted to create the idea of the body as a record. We are our faces as much as we are our limbs, extremities, our nooks and crannies. The self and sense of a person in a portrait for me is often thought of more than just a face and hands, it’s an essence of the whole.’ Shea Kirk takes home $30,000 cash from the National Portrait Gallery and $20,000 worth of Canon equipment thanks to Imaging Partner Canon Australia. Renae Saxby was awarded the Highly Commended prize for her work Bangardidjan (2022), a photo of proud Kine, Rembarrnga, and Dalabon women Cindy Rostron on the road in remote Central Arnhem Land. Saxby received a ColorEdge CG2700S 27-inch monitor valued at almost $4000 courtesy of EIZO.
Performing arts:
A dynamic group of Australian songwriters and composers have been announced as the recipients of the 2023 APRA Professional Development Awards (PDAs). The 2023 PDAs showcase music creators across multiple disciplines, from Telenova’s Angeline Armstrong for popular contemporary, to pianist, composer and improviser Sophie Min, screen composer Luna Pan, Country and Americana artist Georgia Delves (Georgia State Line) and music theatre honouree Vidya Makan. This year, three First Nations songwriters are honoured through the NATSIMO (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office) category awards: Yirrmal (NATSIMO General), Jem Cassar-Daley (NATSIMO Youth) and Andrew Gurruwiwi (NATSIMO Senior). Find the full list of 2023 PDA recipients.
The Arts Centre Melbourne’s debut disability arts festival, Alter State 2022 was recently acknowledged for its contribution to community and sector at the 40th annual Green Room Awards. Alter State involved over 100 Deaf and Disabled artists in more than 60 performances, conversations, films and workshops. Training and workshops led by Arts Access Victoria improved best practice and supported a digital program, with 35% of the program accessible online. The announcement comes after the appointment of Jodee Mundy OAM joining as Creative Producer, Access and Inclusion for future Alter State festivals. Mundy says: ‘Recognition from the creative industries makes this a real win globally, and that Alter State is a major Deaf and Disabled arts festival in Australia and Aotearoa/NZ. It’s critical to remember that this festival is disability-led, which is a huge leap. This has come from decades of advocacy by Deaf, Disabled people and their allies.’ View the full list of 40th Annual Green Room Awards nominees and recipients.
The inaugural John Truscott Artist Award was jointly awarded to Genevieve Lacey and Erkki Veltheim for Consort of the Moon, and Amber McCartney for Tiny Infinite Deaths at the conclusion of Melbourne’s RISING festival. These two works were chosen as the festival events that best embodied the commitment of John Truscott to originality, excellence in production values and memorable audience engagement. Consort of the Moon was like ‘a poignant call from the ancients’ while McCartney displayed ‘extraordinary physicality’ in Tiny Intimate Deaths. The award honours the former Artistic Director of Melbourne International Festival of the Arts (the precursor to RISING), John Truscott, and his legacy of celebrating the city. The prize money of $10,000 will be split between the winners.
Emerging theatre maker Kyron Weetra is the new Artist in Residence at State Theatre Company South Australia. Weetra – who most recently worked as a writer on State Theatre Company South Australia/ActNow Theatre’s online theatre project Decameron 2.0 – will work with and receive mentorship from various artists and develop a new commission for the Company during his 12-month residency. A proud Narungga/Saxon clan man, Weetra comes to the Company following residencies at ActNow Theatre and Carclew, where he had the opportunity to travel to Yorke Peninsula and learn Narungga language. This work will help inform his commission, for which he will receive dramaturgical support and creative development.
‘Through my discussions around my language journey with Artistic Director Mitchell Butel, I have been sparked by the notion of developing a semi-autobiographical play that incorporates the Narungga language,’ Weetra says. ‘My aim in learning language is to live and champion the culture of my ancestors, to raise awareness of the ancient cultures that make up this land and to breathe these old words into the minds of the young to keep alive these frequencies that were aimed to be destroyed. I feel like this opportunity with State Theatre Company South Australia is a perfect way to put some of the first few tangible markers upon the path I am now on.’ The residency has been made possible by Arts South Australia through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander grants program.
Writing and publishing:
Penguin Random House Australia has announced Jade and Emerald by Michelle See-Tho as the winner of the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize. With her work chosen from nearly 300 submissions, See-Tho says, ‘I was already speechless that I’d been shortlisted, so when I found out I’d won it was a dream come true! I’ve worked really hard on this novel, and to be recognised by a huge publisher like Penguin is beyond rewarding.’ Jade and Emerald is the story of a lonely girl who forms an unlikely bond with a rich hedonistic socialite. The friendship strains her already fraught relationship with her strict mother. This year’s judging panel included Meredith Curnow, Publisher and Kathryn Knight, Senior Editor from PRH Australia; Sarah Custer, Purchasing Manager at Boffins, Alison Huber, Head Book Buyer at Readings; and Ben Hunter, Fiction and Children’s Book Specialist from Booktopia. See-Tho will be awarded $20,000, with Jade and Emerald to be published by Penguin Random House Australia in 2024. The next round of submissions for the PRH Literary Prize will open later this year.
In similar news, UWA Publishing has announced the winner of the Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript: Kirsty Iltners for her manuscript Depth of Field. She will now receive a publishing contract and manuscript development with UWA Publishing and $10,000 prize money courtesy of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. Depth of Field will be published by UWA Publishing in 2024. Iltners is a writer and freelance photographer based in Brisbane. In Depth of Field, ‘the camera becomes the encryption of what is known and what escapes the frame,’ said the judges. ‘With its casually clipped first-person narration, and alternating narrative perspectives, Depth of Field asks questions about the reliability of memory and the conditions of representation. Shutter-speed, aspect ratio, apertures, depth of field, the metrics of light – the mechanisms of photography are allowed to falter just enough to expose the fragility of the images and moments that make up life.’
Lauren Crozier has won the 2023 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s writing with her manuscript The Best Witch in Paris. About the win, Crozier says, ‘Writing The Best Witch in Paris was such a joyful experience.’ Her manuscript will be published by Text and she was also receive $10,000 in prize money.
In addition, Ella Pilson was selected for Text Publishing’s 2023 Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers, designed to encourage an exciting new writer in Australian children’s literature under the age of 25. Pilson will be paired with an author for a 20-hour mentorship to develop her manuscript, RIBS. She will also receive a 12-month membership with Express Media, Voiceworks and the Victorian Writers Centre.
All:
Following the announcement of the Australia Council’s $2.8 million investment in touring initiatives, a further $10.5 million has been granted in the latest round of Arts Project funding (for Individuals and Groups, and for Organisations). Over 236 applications, including disability-led arts projects and First Nations initiatives, received grant funding through the Australia Council. This round of investments includes $681,926 awarded to 16 arts projects applications under the International Engagement Fund. Among the recipients are producer, director and choreographer Jillian Pearce, independent producing house Quiet Riot, Papua New Guinean-Australian musician and producer Airileke Ingram, disabled writer and producer Jessica Kapuscinski-Evans and theatre-maker Julia Hales. Applications were peer assessed by one of nine panels: First Nations, CACD, Dance, EEA, Literature, Multi-arts, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts.
The Unconformity has announced the 2023 recipients of the West Coast Seed Funding Program, which supports artists, community groups and regional businesses that work in the creative industries on lutruwita/Tasmania’s West Coast. The recipients are:
- Linda Cafe: $2500 to develop a new artist event series, Linda Light
- Penghana Bed and Breakfast: $2500 to support for Penghana’s 125th anniversary exhibition
- The Galley Museum: $2500 to support new equipment and material towards hosting exhibitions in the museum
- Nick Maher: $2359 for the purchase of equipment to support the film and screen industry on the West Coast
- Grace Garton: $2141 to deliver an exhibition of visual artwork in Queenstown and a painting workshop in Rosebery
- Yvania Bartholomeusz: $2000 for the purchase of jewellery-making equipment, and
- FFACZ and The M+Opera: $1000 to establish an online presence for the FFACZ and The M+Opera in Zeehan.
Shortlisted and finalists
The six shortlisted titles for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award have been announced, including five first-time nominees. The shortlist includes: Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec (UWA Publishing), Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing), Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica AU (Giramondo Publishing), Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press), The Lovers by Yumna Kassab (Ultimo Press) and Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor (Pan Macmillan Australia). According to the judges, ‘The 2023 Miles shortlist celebrates six works that delve deeply into archives and memory, play confidently with style and structure, and strike new grounds in language and form. From deeply immersive tales to polished jewels of craft, from lyrical mappings of land to convention- breaking chronicles, this is novel-writing at its freshest and boldest.’ Each of the 2023 shortlisted authors receives $5000 from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and is in the running for the $60,000 major prize. The 2023 winner will be announced on 25 July.
Thought-provoking works by 215 artists and designers from Australia have been shortlisted for the annual Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize. Fresh perspectives on our global climate crisis and sustainable life on earth will be on show in the finalists’ exhibition from 4-27 August at Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Curl Curl Creative Space and Mona Vale Creative Space Gallery.
Among the shortlisted artists is Perdita Phillips (WA), whose film Wheatbelt Anticipatory Archive II was developed from 500 historical aerial photographs of farming properties to spark discussions around settler colonialism and the ecology. Grace Kemarre Robinya (NT) is another shortlisted artist for her painting Raining Over Laramba, Different Times, which conveys the transformative and life-giving power of water. The artist used to live in the Laramba community, NT, where up until recently, residents could only access drinking water that contains three times the level of uranium to what is considered safe to consume.
Judges for this year’s Prize included independent Indigenous curator, consultant and artist, Emily McDaniel, contemporary multidisciplinary artist Caroline Rothwell and Australian industrial designer Adam Goodrum. Goodrum says, through these works, artists and designers have the power to influence, educate, expose, challenge and generate solutions. ‘Contributions can be intangible and elicit an exchange of ideas and emotions or they might consider materiality and production. At the core, contributions should be inventive, to address societal needs through creative work,’ says Goodrum. View the full list of finalists. Prize winners will be announced on 3 August 6.30pm at the Manly Art Gallery and Museum. The People’s Choice Awards will be announced on 25 August at 7pm. Exhibition entry is free.
The Northern Territory Music Awards has announced this year’s finalists across the genres: Rock, Electronic/Dance, Folk Song, Hip Hop, Heavy, Pop, Blues and Roots and Country. Musicians with multiple finalist works include Jon Davis, Manolis Kamitsis, Jack Ryan, Alisdair Mahoney, Anthony James Gray, Arran Barker, Aidan Lijanga and more. The NTMA ceremony will be held in Alice Springs for the first time on 30 June to announce the winners.
Check out previous Opportunities and Awards wraps for more announcements.