AUSTRALIA’S biggest community-based visual arts festival will celebrate its 20th year with its biggest program to date.
More than 6200 artists will take part in the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival this month.
Encompassing all forms of visual art, from painting, sculpture and jewellery to video, multimedia and more, the festival will get the state’s art started as more than 560 venues – pubs and cafes to wineries, bookshops and even cemeteries are turned into pop-up art galleries for 31 days.
Some of the country’s most exciting and dynamic artists, established and emerging, are represented in this year’s program.
Among them are SA’s own Trent Parke and Narelle Autio, whose exhibition
The Summation of Force, is their first foray into moving image and sound installation.
The installation, at the Samstag Museum of Art until the the end of September, takes the notion of backyard cricket to a new level and features the artists’ two sons, Jem and Dash.
Another highlight is the SALA Parlour – a public art venue in a converted shipping container on the lawns of the SA Museum.
With a range of pop-up exhibitions, live demonstrations, come-and-try sessions and family activities, this colourful festival hub will help you reconnect with your creative side. It is open every day in August (excluding Mondays) and is supported by the Office for the Ageing.
You can also see celebrities, including former Port Power AFL star Gavin Wanganeen and pie king Vili Milisits get their portraits painted live, and check out art at the airport as eight contemporary artists explore Australia’s landscapes and wildlife in sculptures, paintings and photographs.
Government House will become a SALA venue when 11 sculptors to show their work in the gardens, with a special open day on August 13.
There will also be art tours (including baby-friendly and dog-friendly tours) a feminist art program and Art After Dark event on August 10.
Festival director Penny Griggs said with a record number of exhibitions and artists there will be art and cultural events to cater to all tastes.
All SALA events are free unless otherwise noted.
