Across Australia

I have talked about curating before and Across Australia is one of the shows I have curated in the past 6 years. It is presently at the Panormama Mesdag in The Hague,The Netherlands until 11 December, and it showcases the work of 28 different Australian artists. These phtographs are from the opening and show The Australian Ambassador, Mr Stephen Brady opening the exhibition, with Diana Vincent's 'Duststorm' immediately behind him and Sue Dennis' 'Silent Sentinels' to the right and in the second photo, the Australian Ambassador, Mr Stephen Brady , my daughter Siena and myself, with Jan Clark's 'Spotted Gum Trees II' in the background. I had hoped to have more installations shots but the batteries in my digital camera died and a Dutch friend Nelly van Elst sent these to me. Thanks Nelly!

I started curating out of sheer frustration I must say- getting selected for things is such a hit and miss game and I was missing out more than getting in-so I thought how do I change this? So in a moment of utter madness I decided to create my own exhibitions without an organisation to be the backing support.It's been hard work, an incredible learning curve,my family has at times suffered ( because I have been away for extended periods) and been dragged overseas for their luggage allowance,and I have made some of the most amazing friends and acquaintances. I have always tried to make sure that there has been a catalogue of some sort( as I believe quilters despite our presence on the net are not very good at archiving- myself included)- 3 exhibitons have had books, Australian Bounty, Under the Southern Cross ( Across Australia will have one for its tour of the Middle East organised by Jenny Bowker and her husband the Australian Ambassador Mr Bob Bowker), a fourth, Twisted Interpretations of the Natural Environment had a foldout poster style booklet and another one, Organic had a cd which was much less popular.

I do think I am getting to the end of the line with this curating - it is simply too hard to do it without institutional backing- and yet overseas love these works and their enthusiasm for the work of all the Australian artists is what keeps me going at times. I honestly wish at times I had a tape recorder with me to record the buzz as people look at these works, to let the artists who entrusted me with their work hear how people enjoy their work.
I will answer all other questions tomorrow!