What's on in August 2024

The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair returns to Larrakia Country to celebrate traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, craft and culture. The four-day fair will present the works of more than 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Centres and 1500 Indigenous Australian artists and designers. It will provide an opportunity for individuals to admire and/or ethically acquire authentic First Nations artworks. Paintings, woven works, sculptures, ceramics, photography, lino prints, boab nut carvings, jewellery, and other crafted objects will be on display during the event. The fair will be held between 8 August and 11 August 2024.

This Geelong-based exhibition presents the works of finalists from the inaugural 2023 Make Award, a biennial prize initiated by the Australian Design Centre that rewards innovation in contemporary Australian craft and design. The creations of thirty shortlisted makers and creators will be on display, their works vast and varied, with objects including ceramics, glass, furniture, metalwork, jewellery and textiles. The Make Award exhibition will run until 27 October 2024.

Artist Anya Pesce continues her exploration of the acrylic material, polymethyl methacrylate, in a new exhibition featuring pieces that assume a draping form - much like suspended fabrics. Pesce produces her pieces in a factory setting. The flat acrylic sheets are heated to 170 degrees celsius and manipulated into works of art. The folded works both reveal and conceal, and while the often highly reflective surfaces are visually striking, it is the less obvious, shadowed under folds that invite a more intimate inspection. Works in this Sydney exhibition are positioned on walls and the floor. Fold Fetish will be presented until 17 August 2024.

On 27 August 2024, visiting Treseder Fellow and acclaimed Swiss architect Philippe Rahm will deliver a public lecture at the Melbourne School of Design on the future of designing with the elements to combat climate change. In the face of climate change, Rahm proposes resetting the discipline of architecture to focus on its intrinsic elements: air, light, heat, and humidity. Together, these elements can become design tools for shaping our built environment.