Lucy Kenneth returns to Alice Springs after a five year absence and finds a growing town and an arts scene that's, well, junk!
I have to fess up that until quite recently I was a Wearable Arts sceptic, the over-colourful fabric collages barely draped on teens with hair so boofed up you wonder if it is the outfit or hair that is being judged. But this year's Wearable Arts Acquisition Awards held as part of the Alice Desert Festival has converted me. I loved them. I only managed to get a ticket for the matinee as the evening show sold out in a flash. The awards, now in their sixth year, had all the classics that you would expect to see in Wearable Arts but in true Alice Springs style they seem to have morphed beyond the glittery showcase. A considerable number of works addressed topics of the political correct genre - women's liberation, government advertising, recycling. New local laws governing the sale and consumption of grog inspired a number of works.
I wonder if the artwork media has driven the award categories or if it is the other way around. The Artback NT Recycled or Found Object Award was by far the most popular with 14 of the 40 entries. The community-run Bowerbird Tip Shop is consistently acknowledged as the source of inspirational objects. This town loves its tip shop and only a few weeks earlier hosted the annual Junk Art exhibition, one of ten exhibitions held as part of the Desert Festival program of events.
The winning entry in this category 'Dry Town Diva' by Nicki Schonkala was a strange mix of hot pink style and political satire. The work included an amalgamation of beer cans, wine casks, a stubby holder and other recycled objects. Nicki is a former Wearable Arts coordinator and her work was accompanied by a projection piece addressing the drinking culture including new regulatory signage and beer cans in the river.
I know that all communities are unique and special but to me Alice is really out there in the way its people love the arts and embrace these types of events. I have been away from Alice for five years and have missed the evolution of these awards, hence my delayed conversion to the love affair my community seem to be having with Wearable Arts. When you live outside of Alice everything looks different. Alice is often in the national media but sadly it is not our success stories that get the attention. The town and the arts sector has grown strongly like the garden I planted ten years ago. This is largely due to well-deserved nurturing from all government levels. There is great optimism here and a willingness to talk about the problems our community faces. The arts have always been a focal point for political statements and now Wearable Arts are reflecting what many in the community feel - we need these issues to be out there and talked about.
By Lucy Kenneth - director of RedHOT Arts Marketing in Alice Springs
