Artists give new perspective on peacekeeping

Regional audiences around Australia will have the unique opportunity to see Australian peacekeeping through the eyes of two contemporary artists.

Thanks to $129 265 in funding through the Contemporary Touring Initiative, the Australian War Memorial is touring Perspectives: Jon Cattapan and eX de Medici, an intimate exhibition exploring Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel on peacekeeping missions.

The exhibition presents the unique insights of two official artists commissioned by the Memorial who travelled through areas served by Australian peacekeepers. Jon Cattapan travelled to Timor–Leste in July 2008 and eX de Medici went to the Solomon Islands in March 2009.  Both artists’ artworks capture Australian servicemen and women involved in various operations and provide a response to what it was like to work alongside the ADF personnel.

Cattapan’s task was to record and interpret the training, logistical and operational activities. He took many digital images through night vision goggles which informed the series of paintings he completed as a response to his experience.

De Medici’s series highlights the complexity of peacekeeping operations. While much of her work depicts the day-to-day work of the ADF in the Solomon Islands, it also places it within the broader context of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.

Following its popular showing at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the exhibition is travelling the country to be shared with and enjoyed by regional audiences in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Perspectives is one of seven exhibitions to recently receive funding through the Contemporary Touring Initiative.

Arts Minister Simon Crean said funding through the Contemporary Touring Initiative will provide a wide variety of communities with the opportunity to view significant exhibitions from major galleries and museums, as well as cutting edge contemporary art.

A total of $540 000 in funding will support seven organisations to develop and tour exhibitions as diverse as contemporary Indonesian-Australian interactive artwork to digital video works and from organisations across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia.

The Contemporary Touring Initiative assists collecting institutions and other eligible organisations with the costs of developing and touring major exhibitions of contemporary Australian visual arts and craft.

Regional and remote touring is a priority for the Australian Government. For more information or for a full list of funding recipients, visit www.arts.gov.au/regional/visions-of-australia.