Artwrite

Welcome to Artwrite #47. Artwrite is a collaborative student-run magazine produced by Art Administration students at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW.

In this edition, our writers delve deep into issues of accessibility in the arts. ‘Community engagement’, ‘social inclusion’ and ‘diversifying and developing audiences’ are phrases increasingly used by practicing arts professionals everywhere, and we examine just what is being done both locally, and globally, to bring about such changes.

Our features discuss both sides of the issue and range from explorations of local artist-run-initiatives, to the alternative use of public space for art events such as Sydney’s Festival of Free Spaces. Photographer Dean Sewell openly discusses illegal guerrilla art in a bold interview with Renay Ringma and we consider why contemporary art spaces are still associated with notions of exclusivity and elitism.

This edition also reviews a diverse range of exhibitions, from the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ current blockbuster Mad Square: Modernity in Modern Art, to the public display of private art in White Rabbit’s Beyond the Frame. Also under the spotlight are Penrith Regional Gallery’s New Acquisitions in context and Bronek Kozka’s Memory, Myth and the 1/4 Acre Block.

The efforts of our fellow students must be acknowledged. Without their effort and ingenuity this edition of Artwrite would not have been possible. Every student in the class joined in the sub-editing and they all committed to working cohesively to ensure each article is at its absolute best.

Special thanks also go to Joanna Mendelssohn for pushing us to our creative limits and teaching us the importance of meeting deadlines — a lesson we all learned quickly, and ultimately, the reason we were able to produce a publication we are all proud to be a part of in such a short space of time.

We can only hope you enjoy browsing through the assorted collection of articles, reviews, opinion letters and short kids pieces assembled here.

A PDF version of this edition is currently in production, guided by the exceptional design finesse of Dale Maxwell-Smith, David Lyndon and Gokcen Altinok. It will be archived in the UNSW library under UNSWorks.

Megan Hillyer & Nina Pether, Editors, Artwrite #47