The Riddoch Arts & Cultural Centre will host the International Limestone Coast Video Art Festival in Mount Gambier from 6 November to 6 December 2020. The festival is based on the theme ‘Video art during and after the pandemic’ and will showcase innovative works created by 37 local, Australian and international video artists.
The biennial event celebrates video art and places emphasis on innovative and ground-breaking artworks. The 2020 festival will focus on how the global COVID-19 pandemic is impacting on humanity, as expressed by the artists.
“The artists have created videos that make sense of the new normal, with many artists around the globe in lock-down or quarantine, facing physical, psychological and emotional effects,” Riddoch Art Gallery Director Dr Melentie Pandilovski said.
“Video art is a versatile medium expanding across new platforms and is a definitive centre-stage of today’s culture. It is proving to be the perfect medium for conveying various narratives framed around the current COVID-19 pandemic, including the story of the survival of humanity.”
The program includes open call and curated selections, an exhibition, live telematic event, online screening and workshops. Dr. Pandilovski invited seven selected artists to create new work in response to the theme in the curated selection, while open call entrants submitted one original work produced between January 2020 and August 2020 in response to the pandemic.
“Many of the video art stories you will witness address various anxieties, worries and economic strains. However, there are also optimistic stories filled with humour, electing to present entertainment in the face of catastrophe, deep contemplation, solidarity, community mindfulness, risk-taking, compassion, and cheerfulness amid self-revelation,” Dr Pandilovski said.
From more than 1800 open call entries, 29 videos that explored isolation, fear, new cycles, repetition and boredom were selected for the festival by a judging panel of six.
We are especially pleased to present video artworks from our region, including Luke Pellen, John Baseley and Mostyn Jacob who are all from Mount Gambier.
– Riddoch Art Gallery Director Dr Melentie Pandilovski
The $3000 Open Call grand prize, the $1500 Best Limestone Coast Based Video Art and $1500 Best Limestone Coast Based Video Art for young up-and-coming artists (under 26 years) will be announced on opening night Friday 6 November 2020 at 6:00pm.
On Saturday 7 November 2020 telematic video artist Paul Sermon, who is based in Bristol, UK, will connect with participants in the Media & Virtual Reality Studio at The Riddoch Arts & Cultural Centre and artists based in Singapore, London and Sao Paulo, Brazil for a live online performance to tell stories of self-isolation.
Also on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November 2020, a visual storytelling workshop with a focus on approaches and techniques for moving and static pictures, will be led by David Blaiklock and Dan McLean from UniSA Creative in the Media & VR Studio.
“Join us for this storytelling ‘COVID 2020 visions’ workshop incorporating animation, illustration and product design teaching methods and techniques from UniSA. The aim of this workshop is to enable participants to communicate their stories through both moving and static pictures in any visual medium,” Dr Pandilovski said.
The second workshop on offer, ‘Generative Art’ with Vladimir Todorovic on Saturday 21 and Saturday 28 November 2020, has proven so popular that it is now fully booked.
“Under the guidance of Western Australian based artist and filmmaker Vladimir Todorovic, participants will work with 3D animation and gaming software ‘Blender’ to create systems which can automatically generate images and animated sequences. The workshop will cover the basics of modelling, texturing, rendering and working with generative systems.”
UniSA Creative (CTV) has pledged a $10,000 in-kind commitment to support the festival in 2020 for the delivery of public workshops and to mentor the Young Artist awardee.
