Monday 15 October 2012
Regional galleries partner to create The Art of Sound
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) is partnering with two regional
galleries to bring the new exhibition The Art of Sound to audiences in Grafton NSW and
Margaret River WA in 2013.
The Art of Sound brings together regional and national collections to examine the
intersections between sound and the visual arts. Through this exciting initiative, the NFSA is
working closely with the Grafton Regional Gallery in northeast NSW, and the Vasse Felix
Gallery in Margaret River, WA, to create a new interpretation of our collections that is
innovative and engaging.
“We’re very excited about The Art of Sound and the opportunity to partner with regional
art galleries and share our sound collection with these communities,” said Michael
Loebenstein, CEO of the NFSA. “The NFSA works regularly with cultural, government and
other agencies all over Australia, but this partnership with regional galleries is a new
experience for us. I’m looking forward to seeing the results.”
The Art of Sound is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach
(NCITO) Program, a government initiative which helps museums, galleries and archives to
tour the national collections to regional areas.
Drawing on its extensive collection, the NFSA has compiled a ‘sound palette’ for the
project; a package of 50 Australian sound recordings that represent the breadth and
diversity of the sound collection. This palette includes songs, speeches, experimental works,
spoken word, orchestral compositions and environmental recordings.
The palette will then be shared with the partner galleries, whose curators will explore both
the sounds of the palette and the galleries’ own collections to create unique installations,
linking sound recordings to selected artworks. There will be a range of public programs
and other activities connected with these exhibitions, including curator talks, forums and
online elements to take visitors beyond the physical exhibition space.
Producer and Manager of the NFSA’s Regional Programs, Brendan Smith, said: “One of the
great things about this project is that the NSW and WA exhibitions will be very different.
Even though both will be based on the same sound palette, the local curators’ choices,
both in terms of the sounds they’ll pick and the collections they have at their disposal, will
be very different, so the experience in both galleries will be unique. We hope that
audiences will enjoy the experience and share in a conversation about Australian sound
and art.”
According to Grafton Regional Gallery Director Jude McBean, this will be the first time a
selection from their collection has been made based on sound, “This innovative approach
will no doubt create an unexpected exhibition. I am sure our visitors will be delighted with
finding out what sound has been linked to each artwork. This interactivity will engage our
audiences in sound and in art – it will be fun.”
National Film and Sound Archive McCoy Circuit, Acton ACT 2601 www.nfsa.gov.au
Sharon Tassicker, Collection and Exhibitions Manager for the Vasse Felix Gallery, said The
Art of Sound represents an exciting opportunity to bring its Janet Holmes à Court collection
(an eclectic private collection of approximately 5,000 pieces of Australian art, across all
media) together with the NFSA’s sound collection.
“It will allow us not only to explore each other's collections for synergies but to see what
conversations can be had about Australian culture, and what impact the multi-sensory
experience will make on visitors to the exhibition,” explained Tassicker.
Further details about The Art of Sound will be available closer to the exhibition date.
For interviews with The Art of Sound producer Brendan Smith, Senior Curator (Sound,
Broadcast and New Media) Matthew Davies, Jude McBean (Grafton Regional Gallery) or
Sharon Tassicker (Vasse Felix Gallery), contact Miguel Gonzalez on 02 8202 0114 or email
miguel.gonzalez@nfsa.gov.au
About the NFSA Sound Collection www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/sound
There are more than 400,000 audio recordings in the NFSA sound collection that includes a
broad range of music, radio broadcasts, famous speeches, oral histories and historical
actuality. From Australia’s earliest surviving recorded sound, The Hen Convention (1897)
through to a community radio simulcast from the final gig at Melbourne’s iconic music
venue The Tote, the sound collection spans our recorded sound history and captures
Australia’s creative and cultural diversity.
The sound collection comes in an enormous range of formats such as discs, tapes,
phonograph cylinders, wire recordings as well as digital files. The NFSA has digitised over
17 000 at-risk sound titles for preservation since 1999, and over 500 recordings are available
online through our Search the Collection service.
Also, enjoy the NFSA Sounds of Australia program on our website.
The Art of Sound – Exhibition Dates
23 January – 13 February 2013
Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton NSW
June – September 2013
Vasse Felix Art Gallery, Margaret River WA
National Film and Sound Archive McCoy Circuit, Acton ACT 2601 www.nfsa.gov.au