In less than two weeks, Canberra’s biggest ever design festival gets underway. If you haven’t yet trawled through the 70 events on offer during DESIGN Canberra, now’s the time. Planning is the name of the game here, so you don’t miss out on something you really, really want to see. By Wendy Johnson
One of the five segments of DESIGN Canberra is the Living Artists program. This gives you exclusive insights into the innovative work of some of our best artists and design firms. How? These creatives are throwing their doors open to the public and letting you into their world. This segment is so popular that DESIGN Canberra has put on two guided bus tours—of interest if you can’t be fussed driving all over the place. They’re a bargain at $25 (but book early as places are limited). On Saturday 21 November you tour from 11am to 3 pm and on Sunday 22 November 10 am to 1pm.
Jenni Martiniello’s glasswork studio
Lisa Cahill, Cascade #2, 2013. Image: Greg Piper. View at The Hayshed
Saturday’s tour includes Canberra Glassworks, housed in the historic Kingston Powerhouse and Australia’s only cultural centre wholly dedicated to contemporary glass. This studio is currently home to glass artists such as Jenni Martiniello, Brian Corr, Emilie Patteson, Melinda Willis, John White and Nikki Main. The Hayshed in leafy Pialligo is where three professional artists work. Lisa Cahill and Kirstie Rea use glass as their primary medium. Julie Ryder has been working in textiles for 25 years and exhibits nationally and internationally. The next stop on Saturday is M16 Artspace, a studio and gallery complex in Griffith. M16 features the work of 15 artists who create across jewellery, textile design and mixed media visual arts.
Sunday’s bus tour takes you to Workshop Level, a studio built by Mel George and Jeremy Lepisto to make custom glass projects for themselves and others. Mel is also the curator at Craft ACT. Then it’s over to Curtisglassart where Matthew Curtis and Harriet Schwarzrock work in a studio at the back of their home—predominantly with molten glass making sculptural work for exhibition. Next up is Six Wiluna, a shared workshop established by director Elliot Bastianon and housing artists Luke Batten, Andrew Carvolth, Nicholas Harper and Sam Ryrie. Here you’ll see furniture, gold and silversmithing, and sculpture.
Workshop Level Open Studio: Jeremy Lepisto, Further from Here, 2015. Image: Paul Foster
And last, but not least, it’s off to Queanbeyan to visit Pocket Studio, run by gold and silversmith Alison Jackson. Alison has just finished her first solo exhibition, Table Tools, at Craft ACT, and has also completed a CO-LAB project with renowned designer maker Jon Goulder. The pair made Cheese Companions for Agency in Braddon. At Pocket Studio you’ll see Alison’s jewellery and tableware.
Copper Vessel by Alison Jackson; photo by Angela Bakker
DESIGN Canberra is an initiative of Craft Act: Craft and Design Centre.
Visit the website and stay with Lost Four Words for more coverage of what you can expect during this massive festival.
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