It’s one thing to have a truly vibrant and world-class visual arts scene in our state capitals, but visionary and thought-provoking art visionary and thought-provoking art should be accessed by all Australians, especially those living in regional areas. If our country can really claim to be egalitarian and forward-thinking in its approach to visual arts curation and exhibition-making, this approach is a must.
In Victoria, this strategy is the remit of NETS Victoria (National Exhibitions Touring Support Victoria), which provides seed funding for curators to research and develop new curated exhibitions of contemporary visual arts, craft and design. The primary beneficiaries of Exhibition Development Fund (EDF) funded projects should be Victorian artists, curators and/or arts organisations, public galleries and audiences, as the fund is made possible through Creative Victoria.
To access the funding, apply to NETS Victoria’s biennial EDF, which is open to independent curators and incorporated non-profit organisations in Australia. Applications for the current round are now open and all projects need to be developed with the intention of touring in partnership with NETS Victoria.
What this means in effect is that it doesn’t matter if they live in Moorabbin or Mildura, thanks to the fund, art lovers are able to witness high-quality exhibitions, such as ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together), which picked up a glowing five-star review from ArtsHub’s National Visual Arts Editor, Gina Fairley. Curated by Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston, the exhibition was presented at Bunjil Place Gallery in 2023, before setting off around the country.
Currently on a two-year tour from 2024 to 2026, made possible by NETS Victoria’s EDF and includes Broken Hill City Art Gallery, and Flinders University Museum of Art, the exhibition will be presented at Mildura Arts Centre from 19 July to 31 August this year.
ngaratya is in celebrated company, with previous recipients of an EDF grant including the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art’s (ACCA) Between Waves, TarraWarra Museum of Art’s Looking Glass: Judy Watson and Yhonnie Scarce, La Trobe Art Institute’s One foot on the ground, one foot in the water and Monash University Museum of Art’s (MUMA) Collective Movements.
One of the goals of the EDF program is to increase First Nations representation in the sector, a goal appreciated by Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston.
As ngaratya’s co-curators, they couldn’t be more delighted that the exhibitionis now available to such a wide audience. “We have been blown away by the support and trust of our non-Aboriginal collaborators and we are so thankful to all at Bunjil Place Gallery and NETS Victoria.
“We were empowered to work in a way that followed no linear path but made sense to us culturally and honoured our ways of seeing, being and doing. By making room for us to work in this culturally grounded way, that foregrounded journeys and connecting more than any ‘destinations’, we were able to create artworks that powerfully connect to one another and telegraph important narratives to a wide audience,” they say.
Director of NETS Victoria Claire Watson is proud to support projects such as ngaratya. “NETS Victoria is thrilled to invite bold and visionary proposals for projects that showcase the dynamism and ambition of Australian contemporary arts practice,” she says. “This is a fantastic opportunity to ignite critical cultural conversations, champion the diversity and brilliance of contemporary artists, and contribute to the creative legacy of NETS Victoria’s acclaimed touring program. If you’re ready to elevate your curatorial vision and bring extraordinary artistic experiences to life, we want to hear from you!”
Applications for the current EDF close on Wednesday 14 May.
