Applications are now open for The Guildhouse Collections Project with the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia.
Research within the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium (BGSH) and Seed Conservation Centre. Artists may interrogate the ‘living collections’ of the many spaces, places, and ecologies in the care of BGSH; scientific collections in the State Herbarium and South Australian Seed Conservation Centre; or the rich cultural collections held in the Museum of Economic Botany, Archives and Library.
This call out specifies that artists present new work outdoors at one of the BGSH’s three gardens (Adelaide, Mount Lofty, Wittunga). The site and installation of new works will be developed in consultation with the BGSH and Guildhouse teams. Works can be installed within living collections, on bodies of water, and within some of the historical structures on site. At Adelaide Botanic Garden these include the Palm House (1877), the Simpson Shade House (1919), and the Amazon Waterlily Pavilion (2007). BGSH are keen to see artists use two cement plinths from Chihuly in the Botanic Gardens—the Lime Tower plinth near the Threatened Plant Seed Orchard, and the Lime and Lava Red Tower plinth near the Waterlily Pavilion. At Mount Lofty, artists may consider the Chris Steele Scott Visitor Pavilion.
The successful recipient will receive a $7,500 artist fee (ex GST). This artist fee includes research and development, materials, development of new works and superannuation. Please note The Collection Project is a temporal presentation, not an ongoing in-situ art work(s), while supported to develop the location of the site and manage the installation of art work(s), the project does not have additional funds for engineering and/or specialist fabrication.
Adelaide Botanic Garden opened to the public in 1857. Adelaide, Mount Lofty, and Wittunga Botanic Gardens, along with Botanic Park, all fall under the umbrella of the Botanic Garden and State Herbarium. These living collections are in constant flux and showcase plants from all reaches of the globe, from plants endemic to South Australia to those from planet’s most extreme climates. The State Herbarium holds over a million specimens (dried, pressed, bottled) that inform taxonomic research and enhance our understanding of the environmental challenges facing our state and beyond. The South Australian Seed Conservation Centre works to preserve our most threatened native species, banking seeds, researching germination protocols, cultivating rare plants, and working with community on revegetation projects. The Gardens boast extensive cultural holdings that include the collection of the Museum of Economic Botany, established in 1881 to showcase plants useful to humans in terms of commercial crops, fibre, medicine, and dyes. The cultural collection also includes botanical artworks by professional and amateur artists, and rare botanical publications dating back to the 17th century.
The recipient artist working with The Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium will have access to any of these collections as well as negotiated access to the relevant staff attached to them.
Beginning in March 2025, the research period will allow time for an artist to create responsive new work for presentation in the Botanic Gardens in September 2025. Exact location of works exhibited will be developed with the artist, Guildhouse and BGSH staff during the project.
A printed catalogue, in addition to digital documentation of the project and its creative processes and outcomes, will accompany the exhibition presented in partnership with The Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia.
The Collections Project is a collaborative project between Guildhouse and South Australia’s state institutions. This unique project provides artists the opportunity to research an area of one of the institution’s collections and develop new work for exhibition. Championing the art and artists of our time while celebrating our cultural, historic and scientific heritage, The Collections Project has the demonstrated ability to provide new audience experiences while delivering long-term benefits to the artistic and career development of participating artists.
Applications close 10 February 2025.
For more information click here
