Internationally acclaimed Australian video art exhibition opens in Jakarta

Australian Minister for Home Affairs The Hon Bob Debus opened the long-awaited video art exhibition, Streetwork: Inside Outside Yokohama, in Jakarta today.

Creativity is at the heart of Australia's world-class science, technology and arts sectors. Streetworks showcases cutting edge film and video pieces by two of Australia’s most prominent young new media artists.

Conceived for the Yokohama Art Triennale and having successfully toured Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, Streetworks is an exhibition that moves laterally around concepts of performance and documentation, high art and low art, sub culture and pop culture, the staged and the real.

Recently selected to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale 2009, in Streetworks Sydney-born artist Shaun Gladwell explores urban grunge youth cultures of skate-boarding and break dancing to render barren urban landscapes into dramatic filmic sequences.

Streetworks brings to Indonesia for the first time Shaun’s famous breakthrough piece, Storm Sequence, featuring striking skateboarding images set at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

“I am very excited to be here for the premier showing of Streetworks in Jakarta. This is a great opportunity to meet Indonesian artists working in the digital media field and I’ve been impressed by their interest and energy,” Shaun Gladwell said.

The Indonesian National Gallery will host the exhibition from 29 July to 12 August followed by Jogja Gallery from 20 August to 7 September.

Shaun Gladwell and Craig Walsh are conducting artist talks in Jakarta and Yogyakarta for fellow artists, students and the general public. Streetworks curator David Broker, who is also Director of the Canberra Contemporary Art Space, is accompanying them.

Streetworks is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australia International Cultural Council under IN2OZ: Creative Australia. This year-long program is strengthening cultural ties between Indonesia and Australia.

Information on IN2OZ: Creative Australia is available at http://www.dfat.gov.au/in2oz

Media Enquiries:
Fiona Hoggart, First Secretary (Cultural) mob. 0811 936 302