SALA GUIDE: CREATIVE STATE
The annual South Australian Living Arts Festival – known to all as SALA! – hosts exhibitions across the state. Check these emerging and established artists transcending creative boundaries...
TOUCH STARVED
“Humans are hardwired to seek out touch, but what happens when it is not safe to do so?” asks Carclew’s 2023 Sharehouse Residents in their new thought-provoking, interactive exhibition. Touch Starved is a compelling collection of work challenges – just what an art exhibition could and should be. Join in the fun at two artist-run workshops.
August 3–September 26 | Carclew
2023 ACE STUDIO OPEN DAY
Meet and connect with this year’s ACE Studio Program artists in their creative spaces at the gallery’s open day. The five residents – Truc Troung, Teresa Busuttil, Brad Darkson, Georgia Button and Jennifer Matthews – invite you to step into their studio and join a casual conversation about their work. There’ll be music by DJ Nora Amore and drinks from Bowden Brewing and Charlotte Dalton, too.
August 12 | Adelaide Contemporary Experimental Gallery
DISCO’S CHILD
South African-born, Adelaide-based artist Hannah Coleman, uses disco to examine themes of diaspora, cultural dissonance and belonging in Disco’s Child. Through a blend of refracted light and an ‘orchestral shattering of methodological beats per minute’, the work encompasses feelings of frustration and celebration as Hannah reflects on cultural diffusion and reclaims her identity.
July 27–September 1 | Nexus Arts
THOSE WHO DO NOT LOOK BACK TO THEIR ORIGINS, CAN NOT GET TO THEIR DESTINATION
Emerging artist Alyssa, Powell-Ascura (2023 SALA finalist), uses the national martial arts of the Philippines, Arnis, to examine Filipina leadership and resistance. Her dual-delivered, accessible and interactive exhibition is a hybrid work that will be displayed online throughout August, and at several secret locations revealed through clues posted on Alyssa’s website.
August 1–September 2 | Various & Online
NOT WHITE/NOT BROWN
Emerging multidisciplinary artist, Shani Engelbrecht, explores the duality of identity and what it means to be a mixed-race person in Australia. Not White/Not Brown is a video exhibition at FELTspace, following on from Shani’s work To Pass As White (2022), which touched on the discomfort and experience of ‘feeling like
the “other”’.
August 17–September 9 | FELTspace
GLASSHOUSE
Enter a biosphere set in the near future at SALA 2023 finalist exhibition, Glasshouse. Via an immersive VR experience, you’ll explore a world that balances biotech agriculture, independent survival and ancient flora as an ‘agent of interaction’. Glasshouse, created by Sarah Neville and collaborating artists, takes place at Uni SA’s MOD. building.
August 1–September 2 | MOD.
NO FORMULA. IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD!
Artist Kylie Brooks explores the impact of concussion on the brain in an awareness-raising series of paintings. After suffering a severe concussion in 2022, Kylie turned to art as a form of therapy. Here, she found peace and healing. In her current SALA exhibition, she harnesses the power of colour to elevate feelings of positivity and wellbeing.
August 1–31 | Aldgate Pump House Hotel
PORT PIRIE WINTER ARTS FESTIVAL
SALA heads west on August 5 for a day of creativity at the Port Pirie Winter Arts Festival. Meet artisans, explore markets and chat with creatives about the stories behind their artworks. There’ll be live music by Germein, local produce stalls, family-friendly exhibitions and creative workshops across several venues. The day concludes with digital animation projections featuring First Nations artwork and stories.
August 5 | Port Pirie Memorial Drive
DUALITY
Through a series of light painting photography, Denis Smith explores the intersection between his online personality on social media and his true identity. Hosted at Vitalstatistix, DUALITY challenges our ‘perception of reality’ by highlighting the interplay between the digital and real world. At the exhibition, see live demonstrations by Dennis or experiment with the light painting medium yourself.
July 30–August 6 | Vitalstatistix
Artwork credits: Alix Kuijpers, SKIN, Moving Image; ACE Studio Artists Cohort, 2023, Ace Studio Artists Cohort; Kylie Brooks, Emotions in Colour, Painting 46 x 61cm; Sarah Neville, Glasshouse, Video
