Fairy Tale in Red Times: Works from the White Rabbit Collection presents works by 26 Chinese artists, including a number of key works never before seen in Australia and is the first dedicated museum exhibition showcasing works from the collection of White Rabbit Gallery.

A Fairy Tale in Red Times introduces audiences to artists who engage with questions of identity and explore personal and cultural memories. These artists look back to the past that formed them but also examine today’s world with a penetrating gaze as they adapt materials infused with cultural meaning and together tell the story of today’s China.

Major works never before seen in Australia include Zhu Jinshi’s large scale immersive installation The Ship of Time (2018) made from 14,000 sheets of xuan paper, 1800 pieces of fine bamboo and 2000 cotton threads; Mao Tongqiang’s Order (2015), a stainless-steel installation shot repeatedly with bullets; and Yang Jiechang’s expansive 14 paneled ink on silk work titled Tale of the 11th Day (2012 – 14). The exhibition will also debut the collection’s newest acquisition, a large-scale oil painting titled Bathtub (2017) by acclaimed artist Zhang Xiaogang and Constellations (2017), a three-metre silk embroidery depicting bullet holes in glass by artist Zhao Zhao in collaboration with his mother.

A Fairy Tale in Red Times is on display from 3 May – 19 October 2019 at NGV. Entry is FREE. Further information is available from the NGV website: NGV.MELBOURNE.

Kaldor Public Art Project 34, Absorption, by Asad Raza will include a collaboration with the University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture. The scientific elements of Absorption are led by Professor Alex McBratney with his colleague Associate Professor Stephen Cattle.

Daniel Boyd will create an installation affecting a porous light within the Clothing Store, while Khaled Sabsabi and Dean Crosswill create works that directly intermingle with the project’s organic elements. Agatha Gothe-Snape will create wearable pieces for the cultivators who will care for the project throughout its duration.

Brian Fuata will create a piece to be performed daily in the exhibition space, an ongoing performance the artist conceives of as a ‘haunting’.

Raza will work with Jana Hawkins-Andersen on a series of destructible clay works containing organic material and with Megan Alice Clune on a sound work that periodically responds to the installation.

In lieu of a traditional public program, Absorption will feature a series of interventions—choreographic, musical, and pedagogical. These will include a new choreographic collaboration between Ivey Wawn, Ivan Cheng, Daniel Jenatsch, Eugene Choi, and Taree Sainsbury; a pop concert by Chun Yin Rainbow Chan; an event hosted by Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation; and a reading hosted by feminist reading group Composting.

Raza’s Absorption will be presented free to the public from 3 until 19 May 2019 in the Clothing Store building on the Carriageworks site in Eveleigh, Sydney.

Image: Agatha Gothe-Snape

Head On Photo Festival, Australia’s leading annual photography event, today announces highlight events from the 2019 program including a program of free artist talks and panel discussions featuring internationally celebrated photographers from around the world and leading industry professionals and a full day travel photography workshop with award-winning photographers Oded Wagenstein and Peter Eastway. The Festival has also revealed a handful of works from the much-anticipated annual Head On Photo Award exhibitions that will showcase 150 works from around the globe as part of the Festival’s greater program presented from 4 – 19 May 2019.

The winners for the 2019 Head On Awards will be announced at the Festival’s launch party held at UNSW Art & Design, Paddington on Friday 3 May from 6pm. A highlight of the Sydney arts calendar, this free public event returns as the Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary and its largest program to date, featuring 109 exhibitions showcasing the work of 1064 international and local artists across Sydney.

Image: Aung Ya, Among the white umbrellas. Courtesy Head On Photo Festival

Bundanon Trust announced it has received a grant of $22 million from the Australian Government representing the final contribution towards $30.6 million required to embark on the dynamic design project for Bundanon Trust’s Riversdale site on the South Coast of NSW. The grant follows a commitment in June 2018 from the State Government of $8.592million – the largest grant from the NSW Regional Cultural Fund.

Bundanon Trust’s new development at Riversdale, designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects, will feature a light-filled contemporary art gallery and storage component, submerged into the landscape, designed to display and house the Bundanon Trust’s $43 million art collection.

The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Australia’s pre-eminent award for small sculpture presented by Woollahra Council, has announced three new guest judges for 2019 along with a prize pool of $24,000. A free exhibition of finalist works for the 19th annual Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize will be presented from 11 October to 3 November 2019 at Woollahra Council Chambers in Double Bay, Sydney.

The 2019 Prize judges will be Professor Ross Harley; Dean of the Faculty of Art & Design and UNSW Chair of Arts and Culture, an award-winning artist, writer and educator whose career crosses the bounds of traditional and creative arts research. Professor Harley is joined by Louise Herron AM, Chief Executive Officer, Sydney Opera House, who was the non-executive chair of Belvoir Street for more than 10 years and chair of the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council before becoming the first woman appointed to the CEO role in 2012. The final judge for 2019 is Design and Architecture advocate, broadcaster, author and comedian, Tim Ross. Best known for his work on television and radio, Ross has a long-standing passion for architecture and design.