Image: Phlegm, Perth (2014) for PUBLIC 2014. Photograph: Luke Shirlaw. Image courtesy FORM
PUBLIC 2015 is a dynamic program comprising of a symposium, public art projects, exhibitions, film screenings and openings occurring at sites across Perth and regional Western Australia throughout April.
As the name suggests the focus of PUBLIC is public space – its role within the city and creative influence on building cities of the future. These ideas take centre-stage in the PUBLIC symposium, which brings some of today’s most innovative thinkers in urban strategy to Perth.
Enrique Peñalosa, the Columbian urban strategist is the keynote speaker. As Mayor of Bogota, Colombia (1998–2001) Peñalosa transformed the city of 8 million residents, making it an international example for increased quality of life, mobility and equity. Peñalosa’s inspiring vision is that the cities being built over next 50 years ‘will create a much happier life for billions of people’.
Another highlight is Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, who will be part of a panel discussing the way art can challenge what is possible in a city. Gates is known for his ‘urban renewal’ art projects, one of which revitalised a poor neighbourhood in Chicago by turning several abandoned buildings into lively social spaces.
These speakers join many others in discussion over the course of the 3-day symposium.
Lynda Dorrington, FORM’s Executive Director (the organisation behind PUBLIC) comments on the diversity of ideas brought together for the event: ‘We’re interested in people who can bring different experiences into the mix from different parts of the world, because we can exchange our stories and we’ll still find some common ground. We don’t learn from a “business as usual” approach, but from being delighted, challenged, and intrigued. And that applies to artwork as much as it does to ideas.’
PUBLIC 2015 will also feature art projects including ambitious commissions by urban artists Phlegm (pictured above) and HENSE. The artists will use the giant Northam silos in the Wheatbelt area of regional Western Australia as their canvas turning these agricultural monuments into massive artworks.
These are just some of the events in PUBLIC 2015, which set against a changing Perth neighbourhoods, will examine how art, ambition and creativity transform places and communities.
PUBLIC 2015
10 – 19 April 2015
http://public.form.net.au
