First Friday: Over View

The November edition of UNSW Galleries everchanging First Fridays evenings features two distinct programs highlighting recent contemporary Australian and international video and performance.

Eight countries. Eight curators. Film and video art from around the world.

On 6 November, UNSW Galleries’ First Fridays takes you on a round-the-world trip from the comfort of your very own city. Together with dLux MediaArts, UNSW Galleries presents Over View, an international travelling film and video art project made up of eight 30-minute screenings featuring contemporary moving image works developed by eight curators from eight participating countries.  

Initiated in the Netherlands, Over View brings together a unique array of international works of keys artists from across Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Egypt, Hong Kong, Mali, USA, and the Netherlands all responding to the same provocation: what is important now in your country?

Australian artists featured include Liam Benson, Julia Davis, John A. Douglas, Nikki Lam, Tony Lawrence, Liam O’Brien and Nicola Walkerden. There will be a special performance by Liam Benson during the evening.

The Over View screening will continue at UNSW Galleries on Saturday 7 November, from 10am-5pm.

As part of the same First Friday, UNSW Art & Design artist, academic and curator Dr Julie Louise Bacon has curated Embassy for Water encompassing three distinct events each at a different location across Paddington.

Embassy for Water is a conceptual art project founded in 2012 by artist James Geurts and Bacon as the first embassy for a shared global entity. The term embassy was first given to a group of people representing territorial interests, then a global bureaucratic and political infrastructure of the nation state. In contrast, Embassy for Water does not observe boundaries, instead like water the project emphasises movement and porosities. Within this project the varied presence and symbolism of water become a space to explore complex aesthetic and social interests.

Embassy at the Reservoir will be open to visitors from 7.30-9pm with a curated video installation featuring pieces by high profile international artists such as Australian James Geurts, the Dutch-Israeli artist Ynin Shillo, the American artist David Bowen and National Institute for Experimental Art's Dr Josh Wodak.

Location: Paddington Reservoir, 251-255 Oxford Street, Paddington (just 5 minutes walk from UNSW Galleries)

From 6-8pm, Embassy at Block A, UNSW Art & Design Paddington campus will feature Alternative Futures, Past and Present by Sydney-based artist and UNSW A&D graduate Kelly Doley. This participatory performance from the artists' ongoing series invites us to think about possible futures, including our vision of water. Julie Louise Bacon's Water Archive and The Swing, will also feature in the A-Block gallery which consists of a kinetic sculpture by Melbourne-based artist Bruce Mowson that invites audience members to experiment with the relationship of forces between their body and water.

Location: Block A, Art & Design Campus

These projects are supported by UNSW's National Institute for Experimental Arts, with the assistance of the Site and Situation group. Find out more about Embassy of Water. 

All events are free.

First Fridays is a regular program of curated events at UNSW Galleries. Held on the first Friday of each month, the galleries open after hours to host a series of lively events engaging ideas in contemporary art and culture.