Shepparton Art Museum / NETS Victoria Touring Exhibition

17 May – 21 July 2019

This exhibition presents the work of contemporary Australian artists and groups who use craft materials and techniques with a political intent. Broadening our understanding of craft-making traditions, the artists in this exhibition subvert and extend these forms as vehicles for activism and social change, reflecting on the world in which we live.

Craft, activism and social change have long been interlinked; they have crossed boundaries and borders, genders and generations. Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms evidences this moment in contemporary art, embracing craft techniques in order to explore and articulate ideas and issues of our time.

This exhibition addresses a number of themes. Gender, representation and identity are ever-present, because ‘the personal as political’ remains relevant today. Many artists are engaged

with environmental politics and climate change, while others are concerned about contested borders, immigration and democracy. Many embrace relational production processes that implicitly promote collaboration and social connection.

Artists: Catherine Bell, Karen Black, Penny Byrne, Erub Arts, Debris Facility, Starlie Geikie, Michelle Hamer, Kate Just, Deborah Kelly, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Raquel Ormella, Slow Art Collective, Tai Snaith, Hiromi Tango, James Tylor, Jemima Wyman and Paul Yore.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, as well as receiving development assistance from NETS Victoria’s Exhibition Development Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms is a SAM curated exhibition, touring nationally by NETS Victoria. Curated by Anna Briers and Rebecca Coates.

Paul Yore, Map 2012 (detail), wool needlepoint, Wangaratta Art Gallery Collection,
© the artist