Art Works (2021)
With in-studio segments, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews, playful explainers and deep-dive field reports from locations across Australia, this docuseries puts the spotlight on creativity as an overlooked but inherent part of our everyday lives.
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Episode 1 - Uncle Jack Charles, Atong Atem & Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Release Date: 2021-05-05In the very first episode of Art Works, host Namila Benson throws a pot with actor Uncle Jack Charles and interviews artist Atong Atem, while sculptor Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran explains his unusual sources of inspiration.
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Episode 2 - Race and Representation, Ziggy Ramo & Airi Ingram
Release Date:Namila Benson has a much-needed conversation about race and representation with Indigenous hip hop artist Ziggy Ramo and attempts to master the garamut drum with Airi Ingram.
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Episode 3 - Opera Australia & Mary Quant
Release Date: 2021-05-19Deni Todorovic looks at the career of fashion designer Mary Quant, developer Siobhan Reddy talks about the storytelling potential of video games and Soprano Natalie Aroyan offers a peek behind the scenes of Opera Australia.
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Episode 4 - Museum of Contemporary Art & ABC Classic 100
Release Date: 2021-05-26Two perfect strangers go on a blind date to the MCA, Curator Kimberley Moulton and director Bruce Gladwin talk about how collaboration enhances creativity and presenter Alice Keath on ABC Classic's annual countdown.
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Episode 5 - Miss First Nation & the Ramsay Art Prize
Release Date: 2021-06-02We head backstage at Miss First Nation, the national competition for Indigenous drag queens. Musician Eric Avery talks about playing the violin for self-expression and we go behind the scenes of the Ramsay Art Prize.
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Episode 6 - Archibald Prize & Archie 100
Release Date: 2021-06-09Art Works deep dives into the 2021 Archibald Prize. We meet 1985 Archibald winner and the subject of Peter Wegner's winning entry, Guy Warren - who turns 100 this year, just like the prize itself.
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Episode 7 - Kate Just & the Great Woy Woy Tea Cosy Showcase
Release Date: 2021-06-16Artist Kate Just teaches Namila Benson how to knit while explaining her feminist art practice, before we visit the Great Woy Woy Tea Cosy Showcase. We also head to Bendigo to go looking for junk with sculptor Andre Sardone.
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Episode 8 - Hilma af Klint & Incognito Art Show
Release Date: 2021-06-23Artist Katy B. Plummer takes us to the Hilma af Klint exhibition where she and co-curators Sue Cramer and Nicholas Chambers explain the Swedish artist's work and influence. We also visit the Incognito Art Show in Sydney.
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Episode 9 - Dark Mofo 2021
Release Date: 2021-06-30Art Works heads to Dark Mofo festival to hear from Tasmanian First Nations artists about the Union Flag controversy and how the fallout shaped the 2021 festival.
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Episode 10 - NAIDOC Week 2021
Release Date: 2021-07-07We meet the creators of documentaries Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra and My Name Is Gulpilil; plus Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual artists including Megan Cope, Richard Bell, Brian Robinson and Toby Cedar.
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Episode 11 - Just Not Australian Touring Exhibition
Release Date: 2021-07-14Art Works explores the impact of the film and drama industry moving into Byron Bay. Artists Fiona Foley and Abdul Abdullah speak about the touring exhibition Just Not Australian.
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Episode 12 - Arts Access Victoria Amplify Festival
Release Date: 2021-07-21Street artist Heesco shares the ethos behind the large-scale mural project Heesco Town in regional Victoria; and we meet the musicians and artists from Arts Access Victoria's Amplify festival.
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Episode 13 - Science Gallery in Melbourne
Release Date: 2021-07-28We meet Maree Clarke, the first living Victorian Aboriginal artist to have a solo exhibition at the NGV, before Namila Benson visits the newly opened Science Gallery in Melbourne.
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Episode 14 - Brisbane Comedy Festival
Release Date: 2021-08-04Ngugi artist Elisa Jane Carmichael introduces us to the revived traditional art of weaving and Brisbane Comedy Festival continues despite lockdowns and border closures.
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Episode 15 - Malthouse Theatre's Because the Night
Release Date: 2021-08-11Namila Benson talks to Yorta Yorta soprano, composer and educator (and national treasure) Deborah Cheetham and we wander through Malthouse Theatre's Because the Night, an ambitious theatre work based on Shakespeare's Hamlet.
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Episode 16 - Mo'Ju, Vipoo Srivilasa & The Wellness Deity Project
Release Date: 2021-08-18We meet with award-winning Wiradjuri and Filipino musician Mo'Ju, before going foraging for driftwood with artist Pete Rush. Artist Vipoo Srivilasa turns a design from Namila Benson into a porcelain wellness deity.
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Episode 17 - Maxine Beneba Clark, New Writers Collective & Alex Lahey
Release Date: 2021-08-25We visit writer Maxine Beneba Clarke in her studio; get to know the New Writers Collective for teen women, trans and non-binary playwrights; and meet musician Alex Lahey, whose call for industry funding made headlines.
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Episode 18 - NATSIAA, Ishmael, Stone Country, Ida Sophia
Release Date: 2021-09-01We check out the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards; a space-age reimagining of Moby-Dick; wearable art from Lorraine Kabbindi White; and the durational work of performance artist Ida Sophia.
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Episode 19 - Kylie Bracknell, Lucy Irvine, Demolition
Release Date: 2021-09-08Learn about the first feature film to be dubbed in an Australian Aboriginal language; Canberra-based Scottish sculptor Lucy Irvine; Hobart artist and fundraiser Janelle McMillan; and feminist performance-makers Polytoxic.
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Episode 20 - Boy Swallows Universe, Murrniny, Ngaiire
Release Date: 2021-09-15Meet the creators of the theatre adaptation of award-winning novel Boy Swallows Universe, the Yolngu artists from the remote Northern Territory repurposing abandoned metal into art, and R&B singer-songwriter Ngaiire.
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Episode 21 - Daniel Lafferty, The Rivers Sing
Release Date: 2021-09-22Daniel Lafferty fires up his kiln for the first time since the 2019/20 bushfires; Deborah Cheetham reflects on The Rivers Sing; Sami Shah speaks about confronting racism; and a mum and daughter solve a terrazzo tile mystery.
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Episode 22 - Brenton E. McKenna, Mick Turner, Bukjeh
Release Date: 2021-09-29Brenton E. McKenna shares his lifelong love of comics; Mick Turner from the Dirty Three talks about the art of the album cover; the migrant community art project Bukjeh; and a virtual show at Melbourne's Comedy Republic.
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Episode 23 - Claire McArdle, Voices of Colour
Release Date: 2021-10-06Claire McArdle takes jewellery making into the streets; meet the Voices of Colour arts collective; David Moran shows us unconventional ways to play a cello; and head to Adelaide Zoo for an illuminating animal installation.
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Episode 24 - #KnowMyName
Release Date: 2021-10-13Meet artists Lisa Waup, Sally Rees and Yhonnie Scarce, as well as the artistic directors of some of Australia's most celebrated major performing arts companies, Nicolette Fraillon, Lee Lewis, Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain.
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Episode 25 - Muster, Terrapin, Dale Woodbridge-Brown
Release Date: 2021-10-20Watch participatory dance work Muster; marvel at the craftsmanship of Terrapin; meet 13-year-old Bronte as she auditions for Ballet Theatre Queensland; and hear from "Kamilaroi cowboy", acrobat Dale Woodbridge-Brown.
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Episode 26 - First Nations Fashion and Design
Release Date: 2021-10-27Strut the catwalk with First Nations Fashion and Design; have a stickybeak inside Sam Leighton-Dore's home; share a cuppa with latte art champ Caleb Cha; and meet a few artists exhibiting at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial.
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Episode 27 - Ausmusic Month
Release Date: 2021-11-03Art Works celebrates Ausmusic Month by talking to musicians, Bukhu Ganburged, and Vika and Linda Bull; and artist and graphic designer Jonathan Zawada, the creator of a number of iconic Australian album covers.
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Episode 28 - Art in the Vines, Patricia Piccinini
Release Date: 2021-11-10Art Works visits the new Art in the Vines sculpture exhibition at a winery in regional Victoria. Also meet artist Patricia Piccinini; musicians Jackie and Dean Newcomb; and the artists behind Dungarri Nya Nya Ngarri Bi Nya.
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Episode 29 - OzAsia Festival, Koolbardi wer Wardong
Release Date: 2021-11-17Art Works heads to OzAsia Festival in Adelaide; Maclagan Squeezebox Festival in regional Queensland; and to see West Australian Opera's world-first opera in Noongar language. We check out a youth circus program in Broome.
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Episode 30 - Neo Teen Takeover, Wendy Mocke, Fiona Lee
Release Date: 2021-11-24Teens curate a bimonthly event at AGSA; Papua New Guinean artist Wendy Mocke talks about empowered Black womanhood; how Fiona Lee turned the remnants of her bushfire-ravaged home into art; and the books to read this summer.
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Episode 31 - Jazz Money, Tarnanthi, Serwah Attafuah
Release Date: 2021-12-01Meet poet/artist Jazz Money and artist Serwah Attafuah and see how the first interrogates colonial spaces, and the latter toys with digital reality. We head to two exhibitions, Tarnanthi in Adelaide and SOUL fury in Bendigo.
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Episode 32 - Transformation, Time Pass, Baai
Release Date: 2021-12-08Hear from young people reclaiming their own narratives: by celebrating South Sudanese culture; and creating work by and about the queer and disabled communities. Plus, check out exhibitions Transformation and Time Pass.
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Episode 33 - La Mama Theatre, Stella Prize
Release Date: 2021-12-15We visit the newly reopened La Mama Theatre in Melbourne; see how Aboriginal artists are using a colonial statue as a canvas in Hobart; meet past winners of the Stella Prize; and talk to artist and choreographer Amrita Hepi.