Hisham Matar on art, grief and healing

FromThe Art Show

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Hisham Matar on art, grief and healing

FromThe Art Show

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Length:

55 minutes

Released:

Jan 22, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

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In A Month in Siena, Hisham Matar travels to Tuscany to look at the city's ancient paintings. In the process, he finds himself grieving for his father who disappeared 30 years prior.

Released:

Jan 22, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Artists tell us how they create and why they do it. From artists’ studios, exhibitions, and live issues, we take art out of the white cube and into your ears.

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Hisham Matar on art, grief and healing: In A Month in Siena, Hisham Matar travels to Tuscany to look at the city's ancient paintings. In the process, he finds himself grieving for his father who disappeared 30 years prior. by The Art Show
55 min listen
COVID-19 and visual art: The Australian artist Sally Smart talks about her planned exhibition and the impact of COVID-19 on artists worldwide. For Home is Where the Art Is, we journey to Polynesia to learn about a garment from Tuvalu called the titi, and we meet renowned APY Lands artist, Robert Fielding. by The Art Show
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Olafur Eliasson's disappearing glaciers: Two decades ago, artist Olafur Eliasson hired a plane to fly across Iceland so he could document the epic glaciers of his homeland. When he returned years later, many of the glaciers were completely unrecognisable. Or had disappeared altogether. by The Art Show
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Matisse and Picasso: rivals, friends, frenemies: Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are thought of separately as two of the 20th Century's greatest artists, but did you know they had an enduring friendship and rivalry? by The Art Show
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Mother courage: Sirli Raitma's unusual photography: The irresistible theme of Water is explored in a new exhibition at GOMA in Queensland. And we meet Estonian photographer Sirli Raitma, and reflect on the life of Australian sculptor Robert Klippel. by The Art Show
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What does masculinity look like in Australia today?: Greg Semu and Alun Rhys Jones explore what the ideal of masculinity looks like in contemporary Australia. A clock from the 19th century is counting down to doomsday. And Brian Tucker checks the books at Australia's remote Aboriginal art centres. by The Art Show
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Creativity and the gig economy: Have you ever rented out a room in your house to a stranger? If you have, you've been part of the gig economy - that growing sector that promises ease and flexibility to consumers. But what are the costs of working this way? And what might artists learn from looking closely at the gig industry? by The Art Show
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Abdul-Rahman Abdullah on family, religion and animals: Artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah discusses family, winning the Australian Muslim Artists Art Prize and why his art features so many animals. by The Art Show
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Hans and Nora Heysen, shearing sheds and finger painting: Hans and Nora Heysen are renowned for their almost spiritual love of nature, and the way they meticulously observed and painted Australian light, trees, and flowers. Ed speaks to Chris Heysen - grandson of Hans and nephew of Nora - and National Gallery of Victoria curator Angela Hesson about these two important Australian painters. by The Art Show
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The tricks and turns of Marcel Duchamp: When Marcel Duchamp brought a bicycle wheel on a stool into the gallery, he turned ideas of sculpture and authorship on their head. We reflect on the legacy of this great 20th century figure and meet a couple of contemporary art innovators working today. by The Art Show
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The Art of Life — a Children's Hospital Special: Come and visit an extraordinary world where world-class medicine intersects with world-class art; you will meet children, emergency doctors, and artists to find out how art is not only on the walls, but literally built into the hospital from the ground up. by The Art Show
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Art history greats reimagined on social media: From Kahlo to Klimt, Monet to Matisse... If famous artists from history were alive today, what would they post to their social media? by The Art Show
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100 years of Bauhaus: Last year marked the centenary of the Bauhaus school, which revolutionised art and design. We revisit the legacy of the school in Australia, and meet a costume designer making bodysuits for Beyonce. by The Art Show
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Collecting art on a budget: We speak to a couple of art experts who insist you don't need to be a big spender to get started collecting art, drop by the studio of Australian artist Patricia Piccinini, and hear about a very special piece of art that connects Melbourne man Guido Melo to Brazil. by The Art Show
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Life as a contemporary artist in Australia: Ed speaks to three guests about issues affecting contemporary artists working today, including pay and funding, gallery representation, and attitudes within and towards the art industry. by The Art Show
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The art and life of Joy Hester: This year marks 100 years since the birth of Australian artist, Joy Hester. We celebrate the milestone by reflecting on Hester's art and probe the question: when everything is now 'curated,' what does the word actually mean? by The Art Show
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Kirsten Lyttle on connecting to culture through photography: Mixed media artist, Kirsten Lyttle, reflects on the ways her arts practice continues to bring her closer to cultural identity. We meet the Serpentine Galleries Curator of General Ecology, Lucia Pietroiusti, and hear about some treasured 'bounce back' Japanese dolls called okiagari-koboshi. by The Art Show
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Critiquing the 'colonial propaganda' in our museums: When you go to a museum, do you ever wonder how the objects were acquired? Alice Procter is an Australian art historian who wants us to critique what she terms the 'colonial propaganda' within our museums. by The Art Show
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Maree Clarke on maintaining cultural practices: After three decades in the visual arts world, Maree Clarke's practice continues to evolve, inspired by places and objects, and even roadkill! by The Art Show
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What does it mean to be idle?: Turner prize winning artist Helen Cammock reflects on the art of being idle, for Creation in Isolation we check in with members of the Australian arts community adapting their work as a result of COVID-19, and self-described 'propaganda' artist Jonas Staal explains what propaganda art is, how it works, and why he wants to see more of it. by The Art Show
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Del Kathryn Barton on the dangers of losing touch with our child selves: Del Kathryn Barton discusses her debut feature film Puff, and the dangers of losing touch with our child selves. by The Art Show
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Confronting our fraught family histories: Megan Evans is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator whose art examines Australia's colonial history, looking at the impact that history has had on her own life and the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. by The Art Show
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Djon Mundine on creating Aboriginal memorials: Djon Mundine OAM is a writer, curator, activist and self-described 'occasional artist'. He reflects on the importance of creating memorials to Aboriginal people across Australia, including the regions. by The Art Show
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The surreal homes of Ian Strange: For a decade, Australian artist Ian Strange has been making art that investigates our complex relationship to the notion of 'home'. by The Art Show
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Olafur Eliasson's disappearing glaciers: Two decades ago, artist Olafur Eliasson hired a plane to fly across Iceland so he could document the epic glaciers of his homeland. When he returned years later, many of the glaciers were completely unrecognisable. Or had disappeared altogether. by The Art Show
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Aretha Brown on confidence in activism and art: What role does confidence play in becoming a visual artist? We find out with First Nations Aboriginal activist and artist, Aretha Brown. by The Art Show
50 min listen
John Kaldor on what's next and who he's excited by now: Since successfully bringing Christo's Wrapped Coast to Australia, John Kaldor has become one of the country’s most significant collectors and private patrons. Where to next, and who is he excited by now? by The Art Show
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Brook Andrew is leading artists in urgent times: Brook Andrew's passions have never been contained to the artist's studio, from his interest in the anonymous sitters of early ethnographic photographs and memorials to the lives lost in Australia's frontier wars, to the repatriation of Aboriginal remains. Brook speaks to guest host Rosa Ellen about what drives him and what he set out to do as the first Indigenous artistic director of the Biennale of Sydney, which he renamed NIRIN. by The Art Show
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Sebastian Smee on criticism during COVID: Pulitzer prize-winning Australian art critic Sebastian Smee on finding new ways to work as a critic during the pandemic, being an ally and how he came to art. by The Art Show
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Body talk: Julie Rrap's creative journey around the female form: Artist Julie Rrap has been preoccupied with the female body since the 1980s, so what is her take on the changing politics of the body happening in visual art right now? Painter Ash Keating tells us about his favourite tool of the trade - the fire extinguisher! - as part of our Artist's Tools series. Plus, an artist couple who turned lockdown into video art. by The Art Show
54 min listen

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Kandinsky: the visionary artist 'brought back down to earth': Vasily Kandinsky was a pioneer of abstract painting, writing influential theories on spirituality and colour. But for all his correspondence, his inner life can be hidden to art historians, the Guggenheim's Megan Fontanella tells Daniel. And with the discovery of earlier abstract painters like Hilma Af Klint and Georgiana Houghton, does labelling Kandinsky 'the first' still apply? Daniel speaks to Megan on the new eve of an exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. Inside the Victorian Spiritualist Union in north Melbourne, sits the largest collection of artworks by Georgiana Houghton. Her ecstatic, abstract paintings of spirit messages and visions from the 1860s are truly remarkable. Daniel speaks with Rev Lorraine Lee Tet and Jeff Stewart about the collection and their own beliefs about her art. by The Art Show
54 min listen
An outback monastery hides the biggest art heist you've never heard of: The town of New Norcia in WA is a monastery in the bush, home to a community of Benedictine monks and a treasure chest of 17th and 16th c. European religious art -- all of which was stolen in a brazen heist in 1986. It's an art crime that RN's Marc Fennell set out to unpack with art historian and fraud expert Dr Pamela James in a new SBS TV series. My Thing is… The Resilience Coat. Rowena and Angela Foong, from the label High Tea with Mrs Woo, have designed a coat for all bodies, all trends and all of life's upheavals, complete with an in-built repair kit. It's been shortlisted for a national craft award. The mining town of Broken Hill might still be best known for Pro Hart and his 'Brush men of the bush' but Barkindji artists David Doyle and Krystle Evans are part of a thriving contemporary art scene influenced by Barkindji stories and art practices. Producer Rosa Ellen visits their respective studios after the by The Art Show
54 min listen
The artist who recreates 'petrichor' plus James Tylor and painting house flies: Catherine Sarah Young is an artist working with science to talk about the climate crisis. Most recently, she's making art about petrichor -- the smell of recent rain emanating from the earth, and what it might be like when fire and flood obliterate it... or what petrichor smells like on Mars! Catherine is the Art Show's ABC RN Top 5 resident. When James Tylor discovered the laborious but beautiful 19th C. photography method of daguerreotype, he found a medium that expressed the darkness of historical memory. Drawing on his Kaurna heritage, James explores the ravages of colonial intrusion on landscape and language, through beauty and craftmanship. Daniel meets the painter Nadine Christensen in her backyard studio and learns why the ordinary - from house flies to front gates, cranes, and acrylic paint -- are worthy of examination on canvas. by The Art Show
54 min listen

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Hisham Matar on art, grief and healing

Hisham Matar on art, grief and healing

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