Ayman Kaake: In their Names | 2024 Midsumma Exhibition
Thursday 25 January - Sunday 3 March
Ayman Kaake In Conversation, 6.30pm Wednesday 7 February RSVP
In this intimate installation, an inner-landscape unfolds about the experience of artist Ayman Kaake, his community and the criminalisation of homosexuality. Ayman’s friends are his models and they hail from a multiple of ethnic backgrounds, identifying as queer, gay and trans. In their Names marks out tenderly the repercussions of the criminalisation of sexuality internationally for the lives of individuals affected.
Ayman Kaake was born in Tripoli, Lebanon and arrived in Australia as a telecommunications engineer graduate in 2011. Enamoured by the camera, he lied to his family to pursue his artistic journey – enrolling in secret in visual arts in Melbourne. Ayman’s initial works were made without an artist community. As a young queer man in a country where he did not speak the language, he used his camera, purchasing his first in 2015, to photograph mainly himself. Ayman knows the experience of what it is to feel oneself a foreigner and be conflicted in ones identification with home. His works evoke borders - those of governance, culture, sexuality and oneself - through water and sand, garments and objects of ritual, and through stones which are precariously balanced on the body. Moreover Ayman reminds us of punishment and danger – the dire consequences of being uncovered and revealed as queer around the world.
Ayman won the Midsumma Australia Post Award in 2022. A book of Ayman’s artworks, published by Tall Poppy Press, will be launched during Photo 2024, an international photography festival. The book includes images from this very exhibition. In 2022, Ayman won the Brunswick Street Gallery Small Works Art Prize. Last year, Ayman was a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art.
The presentation of this exhibition is an initiative of Nillumbik Shire Council and aligns with supporting an equitable and inclusive community where human rights are respected, participation is facilitated, barriers are addressed and diversity is celebrated. This is our inaugural Rainbow Exhibition, applications for 2025 open later this year.
Image: Ayman Kaake The Prayer Rug 2022. Print on fabric, 140xcm x 210cm (detail)
diversARTy 2023 | Living & Learning Nillumbik
Thursday 14 December 2023 to Sunday 21 January 2024
Each year Living & Learning Nillumbik holds an exhibition at the Eltham Library Community Gallery. Showcasing the work of current participants and tutors in visual arts, ceramics, textile, glass, crafts and more.
This exhibition shares and celebrates the diversity of activities, abilities and people who come together to share, learn and connect at our Living & Learning Nillumbik centres in Diamond Creek, Eltham and Panton Hill.
Image: Opening of DiversARTy 2023. Photograph Stephen McKenzie.
Dogs are like sunshine | Emily Viski
Friday 3 November to Sunday 10 December 2023
‘Dogs are like sunshine’ is a playful exhibition by emerging artist, Emily Viski, her paintings explore colour, form and mark making. Viski’s joyful works aim to spread happiness and brighten people’s days.
Image: Emily Viski, Emily in Paris, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60cm
The way of Japanese ink | Junko Azukawa
Friday 14 July to Sunday 20 August 2023
Junko Azukawa’s exhibition showcases Japanese ink paintings, Sumi-e and a cinematic short film exploring her artistic process. Sumi-e is a philosophy, it’s a way of living and an art form. Sumi soot ink painting began in China around the 8th century and then evolved in Japan as a Zen discipline. Sumi-e is practiced by monks and Samurai as well as artists. For Azukawa, ink painting has become a powerful way to express the moment and explore ideas of inner self-growth.
Image: Junko Azukawa, Nobody Owns, 2021, Sumi ink on paper, 60 x 85cm, Courtesy of the artist
Creative Minds
Friday 6 October to Sunday 29 October 2023
‘Creative Minds’ showcases artworks created by Nillumbik’s VCE Art and Studio Arts students of 2022. An annual exhibition presented at the Eltham Library Community Gallery celebrating artwork by our youth.
Participating High Schools include: Catholic Ladies' College, Eltham College, Eltham High School and Plenty Valley Christian College.
Image: Jessica Roff, Stand Your Ground, 2022, Watercolour on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and Catholic Ladies' College
Talking and listening to country
Brian Stevens, Julie Tipene-O’Toole and Tiaki Mitchell
Friday 25 August to Sunday 1 October 2023
This exhibition is an invitation and reminder to all, to come sit and listen deeply to what the country has to tell us.
When we practice this, we begin to hear more clearly. Then and only then, will the country reveal its memories and messages that can help us heal the land and our people. The answers have always been there, we just need to ask and listen.
The works in this show are a response from artists Brian Stevens, Julie Tipene-O’Toole and Tiaki Mitchell to the practice of talking and listening to country.
Image: Brian Stevens, Orbs – messages in the sky, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
Body of Landscape | Randal Pound
Friday 21 April to Sunday 28 May 2023
Randal Pound is inspired by people and the patterns created by their actions, interactions, situations and the things they leave behind. In this exhibition, Pound uses intuitive and abstract marks within his work and explores concepts of the human figure in or as landscape. Much of the imagery within his body of work is inspired by the Plenty River Gorge in Nillumbik.
Image: Randal Pound, Self Portrait, 2016, Ink and gouache on paper, 40 x 30cm, Courtesy of the artist
Nostalgic | Xi Guo
Friday 10 March - Sunday 16 April 2023
Slow down, cherish the past and take a break from fast paced modern life in Xi Guo’s exhibition of painting and mixed media works. Xi Guo cherishes the times when computers and smart phones only appeared in science fiction films. Guo hopes her artworks spark beautiful conversations between older and younger generations.
Image: Xi Guo, Drying Chrysanthemums, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 101cm, Courtesy of the artist
From Strange Pages | Roslyn Quin
Friday 27 January – Sunday 5 March 2023
Inspired by old folklore and archaic amusements, Roslyn Quin’s exhibition explores the deeply human hunger for sharing the delightful and uncanny. Quin uses discarded materials, found items, and a plethora of collage and mixed media techniques to slowly build a reflection of the world as she sees it.
https://www.roslynquin.com/
Image: Roslyn Quin, Civilisation fish, 2022, fabric and paper collage, 12.5 x 8cm, Courtesy of the artist
diversARTy | Living & Learning Nillumbik
Friday 9 December 2022 – Sunday 22 January 2023
In December each year Living & Learning Nillumbik hold an exhibition at the Eltham Library Community Gallery which showcases the work of current participants and tutors including visual arts, ceramics, textile, glass, crafts and more. It celebrates the diversity of activities, abilities and people who come together to share, learn and connect at our centres.
www.livinglearningnillumbik.vic.gov.au
Image: Julie Barrington, Magical Creatures, 2021, Stoneware, shino glaze, dimensions variable
Araluen Centre | Art and Agency
Friday 28 October - Sunday 4 December 2022
Art and Agency is an exhibition that celebrates the art created by artists with a disability. Araluen is an organisation supporting adults with disabilities. It’s supported studios Art Connects, provides the artists the space and the assistance they need to create wonderful works of art. This exhibition will give a number of these artists an opportunity to plan and develop their own exhibition. It will give them choice and control and highlight a community of artists that have historically been overlooked.
www.araluen.org
Image: Melissa Kent, Spaces inbetween, 2020, mixed media, 84 x 89cm
Catrine Berlatier & Chantal Stewart | Of Two Minds
Friday 16 September – Sunday 23 October 2022
Of Two Minds is an exhibition of works by two friends of 40 years. Both originally from France, Berlatier and Stewart share similar artistic sensibilities. There is a common thread of lightness, purity of lines and elegance present in both their practices, be it Chantal’s graceful drawings and refined ceramics, or Catrine’s delicate jewellery and diaphanous textiles.
Image: Catrine Berlatier, Woven Necklaces, 2018-2021, Canson paper, dimensions variable
Creative Minds: Nillumbik VCE Arts, Studio Arts & Fashion students of 2021
Friday 5 August – Sunday 11 September 2022
A showcase of artworks created by Nillumbik’s VCE Art, Studio Arts & Fashion students. An annual exhibition presented at the Eltham Library Community Gallery. Showcasing works from the following schools: Catholic Ladies College, Eltham College, Eltham High School & Plenty Valley Christian College.
Image: Bianca Walker, Loss, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 42 x 59cm,Courtesy of the artist and Catholic Ladies College
Chloe Vallance | Sit. Walk. Wonder
Saturday 25 June – Sunday 31 July 2022
Sit. Walk. Wonder explores studio-based drawings by local artist Chloe Vallance. Chloe’s works are developed by observing everyday activities of people and animals. Chloe is interested in moments of contemplation. Often the figures in her works are seen to be looking into the middle distance, pausing or walking, each on their own journey.
Image: Chloe Vallance, Music, 2021, colour pencil on plywood, 29.5 x 35cm
The Artistry of Books | Thou Art Mum
Friday 20 May – Sunday 19 June 2022
Books are portable magic. They can take us to faraway lands filled with emotive adventures, mysteries to solve and dragons to chase. Words and diagrams teach us about nature, our world and our past. Beautiful images of art, architecture and animals grace the pages and our imaginations.
See how books have inspired our group of TAM artists, from how they are physically constructed, to stories we’ve experienced and knowledge we’ve gleaned. We welcome you to our exhibition, The Artistry of Books, and join us on a journey without leaving the room.
Image: Deborah Bowen, Alice’s Adventures, 2020, kiln formed glass
Open Studios 2022
Nillumbik Open Studio Artists
Friday 8 April to Sunday 15 May, 2022
The Nillumbik Artists Open Studio program involves over 28 studios working across various art forms, including painting, ceramics, metal work, sculpture, printmaking and glass work. Each of the artists involved in the program will have work in the exhibition.
www.artistsopenstudios.com/
Image: M L Pittard, Red Flower, 2021
Naughty See Monkey & Louise Jade | Dancing on Sunshine
Friday 4 March – Sunday 3 April 2022
No matter what the day brings, I get unequivocal joy being in the studio improvising and being immersed in my creative process.
- Naughty
Being in thrall of my creative process: the contemplation, the execution and process, is at once thrilling and gentling for my being. Making Art is inevitable.
- Louise
Image: Naughty See Monkey, 98 pool of reflections, 2007, Oil and collage on paper, 60 x 42cm
Deb Garrett & Kate Belvedere | Solitude
Friday 21 January – Sunday 27 February 2022
Inspired by the landscape, Deb Garrett and Kate Belvedere’s practice explore feelings of solitude, isolation, quietness and emptiness through a variety of mediums - photography, drawing, print making and ceramics. Ironically, their shared interest in solitude has brought them together. Deb Garrett’s work centres around finding stillness and quiet in order to connect to a space. Also having lived in the area for many years, Deb’s interested in capturing the landscape during these quiet moments, particularly during dawn when there is a sense of calm and stillness that can sometimes also be unnervingly eerie. Kate Belvedere’s work centres around themes of decay and the indifference of nature as well as exploring the duality of the life giving and life taking aspects of the natural world. Her work particularly references native Australian bowerbirds, and their enchantment with decorating their nests with bright blue objects.
Image credits:
Left: Kate Belvedere, Into the Abyss, 2019, oil on board, 21 x 29 cm
Right: Deb Garrett, The pond in Summer 1, 2021, Giclee print photograph on cotton rag, 29 x 42 cm