PHOTO Australia is presenting the landmark symposium, Contemporary Photobooks from Australia at the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington (London). The symposium complements a free display of photobooks by 16 Australian women and non-binary photographers for the V&A’s new Photography Centre.
The symposium will take place on Tuesday 10 September both in-person and live-streamed. It’s free to participate, but you will need to reserve your place.
This special event will feature discussions and presentations by a selection of women and non-binary artists who will reflect on their practice and the experience of making art in Australia today, including Ying Ang, Atong Atem, Zoë Croggon, Liss Fenwick, Naomi Hobson (Kaantja/Umpila) and Lisa Sorgini.
Curated by PHOTO Australia and presented in partnership with the V&A, the symposium will feature opening remarks from Duncan Forbes, Head of Photography, V&A, and Elias Redstone, Founder/Artistic Director of PHOTO Australia, and will be moderated by V&A Senior Curator of Photography Marta Weiss and Curator of Photography Catherine Troiano.
In a formal statement today (22 August) Redstone said of the landmark event, ‘This world-first symposium brings some of Australia’s most exciting artists and photographers to one of the world’s most prestigious museums.’
‘We are proud to collaborate with PHOTO Australia to bring these exceptional artists to audiences in London,’ added Fiona Rogers, V&A Parasol Foundation Curator of Women in Photography at the V&A.
V&A’s new Photography Centre
New Photobooks from Australia is the first national presentation of artist books at the institution, showcasing the quality and diversity of work being produced in Australia to an international audience.
It will remain on show until November in the Photography Centre‘s newly refurbished Kusuma Gallery.
The exhibition was originally curated for PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography in Melbourne.
‘The stories that artists in Australia are tackling through photography are both specific and universal,’ explains PHOTO Australia Curator Pippa Milne. ‘They bear witness to the concerns held by these artists about the world around them, the society that they are shaping, and the medium of photography. This selection offers just a glimpse into the breadth of photographic energy being produced on this southern continent.’
The symposium will close with a reception hosted by the Australian High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith.
The symposium is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program. Additional support is provided by the Bowness Family Foundation, Jo Horgan and Peter Wetenhall, and the Australian High Commission, UK.
In person: Tuesday 10 September 2024, 5-8pm, followed by refreshments.
The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre (access via level 2), Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Free, register at vam.ac.uk/whatson
