An multidisciplinary program of screen-based practice, installation and live art reflecting on the urgent, unstable and fluid nature of our times.
The 2019 Channels Festival: International Biennial of Video Art deconstructed notions of belonging, complicity and resistance through a three-week program showcasing moving-image, performance, spatial and expanded practice.
Running between 24 August – 15 September, the festival featured seventy Australian and international artists in seven exhibitions, four screenings and thirteen events presented across eleven venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. An online program and publication were also produced.
Channels Festival is a biannual event that creates encounters to enrich our understanding of art, culture and society. It strives to be an active participant, provocateur and facilitator within the field of video art and related forms.
Documented Highlights
- An exhibition featuring multi-channel video installations.
- A program of historical and contemporary video art and lecture performances.
- An episodic exhibition presented in five chapters.
- Commissions by contemporary Australian artists
- An exhibition of video, Virtual Reality and photography by First Nations artists.
- Cinema and outdoor screening programs.
- A feminist deconstruction of hip hop.
Untimely Geographies
Featuring multi-channel video installations by London-Istanbul based duo Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, Kazakhstani artist Almagul Menlibayeva and Kamilaroi/Australian artist Reko Rennie, Untimely Geographies explored critical moments of social transformation across different eras, cultures and geographies.
Paying homage to cinematic genres such as the road movie and film noir, the artworks drew on cosmology, crash theory, symbolism and myth to address questions about cultural identity, inequality and agency.
Juxtaposing the work of artists from Australia, the UK and central Asia, the exhibition interrogated postcolonial narratives. It brought a personal story referencing a matriarchal Indigenous culture into dialogue with contemporary feminist perspectives. Examining how individuals and communities have overcome imperial and state oppression, Untimely Geographies offered fresh perspectives on historical events and their intergenerational implications.
Presented in partnership with The Substation.
Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies
Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies presented a program of screenings, lecture performances and discussions, focused on the relationship between video, performance and sociopolitical critique.
The event showcased contemporary practices alongside historically significant works from the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection, as well as other public and private archives in Australia, The Netherlands, USA and Brazil.
The participating artists included Marina Abramović (Serbia/USA), Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland) (Australia), Archie Barry (Australia), Lynda Benglis (USA), VALIE EXPORT (Austria), Camila Galaz (Chile/Australia), Nan Hoover (Netherlands/USA), Joan Jonas (USA/Canada), Lyndal Jones (Australia), Peter Kennedy (Australia), Stuart Marshall (UK), Bruce Nauman (USA), Jill Orr (Australia), Letícia Parente (Brazil), Mike Parr (Australia), Jill Scott (Australia/Switzerland), Richard Serra (USA), Ken Unsworth (Australia) and Regina Vater (Brazil).
Paying homage to the work of dance artist Philippa Cullen (1950–75), Australian artist Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland) presented a lecture performance enacting processes of speculation and fictionalisation to work through the politics of valuing and historicising performative and participatory art.
In addition to the presentation of Hold your breath (1972), Hold your finger (1972) and Daydream Island (2018), Australian artist and activist Mike Parr performed a lecture on the relationship between art and politics within his practice.
Presented in the Clemenger Auditorium in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria.
Composite Acts
A Channels Festival commission by Australian artist David Rosetzky, Composite Acts examined relationships between language and desire, social dynamics and power. Collectively authored by the artist and a team of collaborators, the work combined dance, music, spoken word, cinematography and scenography.
The commissioned work was exhibited in conjunction with a suite of sculptural objects by Sean Meilak, which had also been used as props in the film. Jo Lloyd choreographed a live performance by Shelley Lasica and Harrison Ritchie-Jones to amplify the cinematic action, and an improvised rendition of the soundtrack was presented by composer Duane Morrison.
A Channels Festival commission presented in the North Magdalen Laundry at Abbotsford Convent.
Identity, Proximity and Place was an episodic exhibition of contemporary video art presented in five chapters, which examined themes of intimacy and otherness, embodiment and agency, territory and trace.
The participating artists included Lida Abdul (Afghanistan), Oliver Beer (France/UK), Candice Breitz (South Africa), Lauren Brincat (Australia), Daniel Crooks (Australia), Shaun Gladwell (Australia), Gabriella Mangano and Silvana Mangano (Australia), Angelica Mesiti (Australia), David Noonan (Australia), Mike Parr (Australia), Chiharu Shiota (Japan) and Daniel von Sturmer (Australia).
Presented in partnership with Anna Schwartz Gallery.
The Anthropocene:
Works from the Videobrasil Collection
The Anthropocene: Works from the Videobrasil Collection addressed our urgent, ecological crisis through the lens of contemporary Brazilian artists.
Inviting audiences to consider the impact we have on our planet, the artworks documented lived experiences of climate change in the Global South, and speculated on future implications.
The program featured work by Brazilian artists Ana Vaz, Caetano Dias, Cao Guimarães, Chico Dantas and Eder Santos.
Co-curated with Solange O. Farkas, founder and Director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil (São Paulo). Presented at Longplay Cinema, as well as outdoor public screens in Melbourne and Sydney.
Digital Nations
Drawing links between history, our present and the future, Digital Nations explored relationships between tradition and technology, connection and Country.
The exhibition presented new and experimental video, Virtual Reality, installation and photography by Australian and international First Nations artists.
The participating artists included Allen Vili (Onesian) (Aotearoa/Ngati Awa/Ngai Tuhoe/Samoa), Brett Leavy (Kooma/Australia), Jody Haines (Tommeginner/Australia) and Tamara Whyte (Waggamay/Assi/Australia).
Co-curated with Kimba Thompson and Jessica O'Brien via expressions of interest. Presented in partnership with Blak Dot Gallery.
It’s Time to Debeef
It’s Time to Debeef is a provocative film by Dutch performance artist Kira Nova (aka Ieva Misevičiūtė) set in the streets and metro stations of New York city.
Cheekily subverting the hip-hop, music video genre by parodying the overt sexualisation of women, It’s Time to Debeef deconstructs patriarchal paradigms and commuter social norms.
The film evolved out of a live performance titled Lord of Beef, which had been presented at Block Universe, Centre Pompidou, Hauser & Wirth Zurich, LAXART and MoMa PS1.
Presented in partnership with BLINDSIDE.
Fistimuff
A Channels Festival commission, Fistimuff was a video self-portrait by Australian artist Archie Barry that explored the fluid nature of personality, while eroding the linguistic and visual constructs that govern identity politics.
The work featured an alter ego persona called ‘Fisti’ – a bright pink superhuman who slept in a t-shirt, wore frilly socks and spoke in drum rolls and English.
Accompanied by a riotous soundtrack and a voice over about the shifting nature of embodiment, the work turned everyday landscapes and domestic environments into scenes of agency and mischief.
A Channels Festival commission co-curated with Laura Couttie. Presented in partnership with BLINDSIDE.
Video Visions
Presented as a cinema and outdoor screening program showcasing single-channel video works by contemporary Australian and international artists, Video Visions rendered a confluence of natural and social bodies, place and time, mechanical and digital technologies.
The screening featured works by Gianluca Abbate (Italy), Pablo-Martín Córdoba (Argentina/ France), CROSSLUCID (Poland/Hungary/Germany), Di Hu (China/Ireland), Maren Dagny Juell (Norway), Deborah Kelly and collaborators (Australia/Japan), Sonia Leber and David Chesworth (UK/Australia), Juyi Mao (China/USA), Alison Nguyen (USA), Ella Parkes-Talbot (Australia), Sophie Penkethman-Young (Australia), Caroline Rumley (USA) and Devis Venturelli (Italy).
Co-curated with Jessica O’Brien via expressions of interest. Presented at Cinema Nova in Melbourne and Metro Arts in Brisbane, as well as outdoor public screens in Melbourne and Sydney.
Festival Credits
Artistic Director and Principal Curator: Kelli Alred
Co-curators: Solange O. Farkas, Kimba Thompson, Jessica O'Brien, Laura Couttie
Venues and Partners:
ACMI X, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Abbotsford Convent, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Associaçāo Cultural Videobrasil, Black Dot Gallery, Blindside Gallery, Free Association, Longplay, Metro Arts, National Gallery of Victoria, Schoolhouse Studios, The Substation, United Finishing Artists, University of Melbourne, Urban Screen Productions.
Almagul Menlibayeva and Noor Afshan Mirza undertook residencies in Melbourne supported by RMIT University School of Art through SITUATE.
Participating Artists:
Gianluca Abbate (ITA), Lida Abdul (AFG/USA), Marina Abramović (SRB/USA), Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland) (AUS), Archie Barry (AUS), Oliver Beer (UK/FRA), Lynda Benglis (USA), Candice Breitz (ZAF/DEU), Lauren Brincat (AUS), Peter Campus (USA), Pablo-Martín Córdoba (ARG/FRA), Daniel Crooks (NZ/AUS), CROSSLUCID (POL/HUN/DEU), Maren Dagny Juell (NOR), Chico Dantas (BRA), Caetano Dias (BRA), VALIE EXPORT (AUT), Arabella Frahn-Starkie (AUS), Camila Galaz (CHL/AUS), Shaun Gladwell (AUS), Cao Guimarães (BRA), Jody Haines (Tommeginner/AUS), Din Heagney (AUS), Nan Hoover (NDL/USA), Di Hu (CHN/IRL), Joan Jonas (USA/CAN), Lyndal Jones (AUS), Deborah Kelly and collaborators (AUD/JPN), Peter Kennedy (AUS), Shelley Lasica (AUS), Brett Leavy (Kooma/AUS), Sonia Leber and David Chesworth (GBR/AUS), Jo Lloyd (AUS), Gabriella Mangano and Silvana Mangano (AUS), Juyi Mao (CHN/USA), Stuart Marshall (UK), Sean Meilak (AUS), Almagul Menlibayeva (KAZ/DEU), Angelica Mesiti (AUS/FRA), Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler (TUR/UK), Duane Morrison (AUS), Bruce Nauman (USA), Alison Nguyen (USA), David Noonan (AUS/UK), Kira Nova ( NLD/USA), Jill Orr (AUS), Letícia Parente (BRA), Ella Parkes-Talbot (AUS), Mike Parr (AUS), Sophie Penkethman-Young (AUS), Matthew Perkins (AUS), Reko Rennie (Kamilaroi/AUS), Harrison Ritchie-Jones (AUS), David Rosetzky (AUS), Caroline Rumley (USA), Eder Santos (BRA), Jill Scott (AUS/CHE), Richard Serra (USA), Jacqui Shelton (AUS), Chihatu Shiota (JPN/DEU), Ken Unsworth (AUS), Regina Vater (BRA), Ana Vaz (BRA/PRT), Devis Venturelli (ITA), Allen Vili (Onesian) (Aotearoa, NZL/Ngati Awa, gai Tuhoe, WSM), Daniel von Sturmer (NZ/AUS), Tamara Whyte (Waggamay/ASSI/AUS).
The 2019 Channels Festival: International Biennial of Video Art was supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the City of Melbourne, the Australian Government through the Australia Council For the Arts, and the City of Yarra.
Image Credits
Hero Image
Almagul Menlibeyava, Fire talks to me, 2015, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Untimely Geographies
Reko Rennie, OA-RR, 2017, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, The Scar, 2018, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Almagul Menlibeyava, Fire talks to me, 2015, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, The Scar, 2018, video still. Courtesy of the artists.
Almagul Menlibeyava, Fire talks to me, 2015, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Almagul Menlibeyava, Fire talks to me, 2015, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Almagul Menlibeyava, Fire talks to me, 2015, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Tull Alred.
Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, The Scar, 2018, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler, The Scar, 2018, installation view, Untimely Geographies, Channels Festival, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Reko Rennie, OA-RR, 2017, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Station Gallery.
Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies
Regina Vater, ARThropology, 1978, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Lyndal Jones, Deep Water/Aqua Profunda, 2001, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Jill Orr, She had long golden hair, 1980, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland), Backwards Turning, 2019, lecture performance, Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies, Channels Festival, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Tull Alred.
Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland), Backwards Turning, 2019, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Diana Baker Smith (Barbara Cleveland), Backwards Turning, 2019, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Mike Parr, lecture performance, Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies, Channels Festival, National Gallery of Victoria, 2019. Photo: Tull Alred.
Mike Parr, lecture performance with documentation of Ned Kelly thinking of Manus Island (with apologies to Ben Vautier), 2018, Longitudes, Latitudes and Legacies, Channels Festival, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Tull Alred.
Mike Parr, Daydream Island, 2013, still from video documentation of live performance, Performance Space, Sydney. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Composite Acts
David Rosetzky, Composite Acts, 2019, installation view, Channels Festival commission, North Magdalen Laundry, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Anne Moffatt.
David Rosetzky and Jo Lloyd, Composite Acts, 2019, performance: Shelley Lasica and Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Channels Festival commission, North Magdalen Laundry, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Anne Moffatt.
David Rosetzky and Jo Lloyd, Composite Acts, 2019, performance: Shelley Lasica and Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Channels Festival commission, North Magdalen Laundry, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Anne Moffatt.
David Rosetzky and Sean Meilak, Composite Acts, 2019, installation view, Channels Festival commission, North Magdalen Laundry, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Anne Moffatt.
David Rosetzky, Composite Acts, 2019, installation view, Channels Festival commission, North Magdalen Laundry, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Anne Moffatt.
Identity, Proximity and Place
Gabriella Mangano and Silvana Mangano, City Score, 2018, installation view, Identity, Proximity and Place, Channels Festival, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Mike Parr, Unaustralian, 2003, installation view, Identity, Proximity and Place, Channels Festival, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Oliver Beer, Composition for Mouths (Songs my mother taught me) II, 2018, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Lida Abdul, In Transit, 2008, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Candice Breitz, Profile, 2017, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Daniel Crooks, High Street After Ruscha, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Lida Abdul, In Transit, 2008, installation view, Identity, Proximity and Place, Channels Festival, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
The Anthropocene: Works from the Videobrasil Collection
Ana Vaz, A Idade da Pedra, 2013, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Associação Cultural Videobrasil.
Caetano Dias, Cidade Submersa, 1978, video still. Courtesy of artist and Associação Cultural Videobrasil.
Ana Vaz, A Idade da Pedra, 2013, video still. Courtesy of the artist and Associação Cultural Videobrasil.
Digital Nations
Jody Haines, Through sKIN we breathe, 2019, installation view, Digital Nations, Channels Festival, Black Dot Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo Lauren Dunn.
Allen Vili (aka Onesian), of Old Gods and New Gods, 2019, VR still. Courtesy of the artist.
Allen Vili (aka Onesian), of Old Gods and New Gods, 2019, audience view, Digital Nations, Channels Festival, Black Dot Gallery, 2019, Melbourne. Photo Lauren Dunn.
Brett Leavy, Virtual Kamay, 2019, audience view, Digital Nations, Channels Festival, Black Dot Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo Lauren Dunn.
Brett Leavy, Virtual Kamay, 2019, VR still. Courtesy of the artist and Virtual Songlines.
Jody Haines, Through sKIN we breathe, 2019, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Tamara Whyte, But yu lookaround, 2018 and Brett Leavy, Virtual Kamay, 2019, installation view, Digital Nations, Channels Festival, Black Dot Gallery, Melbourne, 2019. Photo Lauren Dunn.
It’s Time to Debeef
Kira Nova, It's Time to DeBeef, 2006, installation view, Channels Festival, Blindside, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Kira Nova, It's Time to DeBeef, 2006, video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Kira Nova, It's Time to DeBeef, 2006, installation view, Channels Festival, Blindside, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Lauren Dunn.
Fistimuff
Archie Barry, Fistimuff, 2019, installation view, Channels Festival commission, Blindside, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Talia Carroll.
Archie Barry, Fistimuff, 2019, installation view, Channels Festival commission, Blindside, Melbourne, 2019. Photo: Talia Carroll.
Archie Barry, Fistimuff, 2019, preview image. Channels Festival commission. Courtesy of the artist.
Video Visions
Deborah Kelley, Gods of Tiny Things, video still, 2019. Courtesy of the artist.
Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Myriad Falls, video still, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.
Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Myriad Falls, video still, 2017. Courtesy of the artists.
