Regional Arts Australia has announce that Artlands 2020 will culminate in a conference at Junction Arts Festival, in Lutruwita on Palawa country in north-east Tasmania in September 2020.
Artlands has been a strategic regional art gathering for two decades. From 2020 onwards, Regional Arts Australia (RAA) will be the executive producer of Artlands. This new model seeks a fresh approach to the delivery of Artlands to provide better accessibility and greater continuity and connection.
Artlands will be an ongoing, continually developing program encompassing various events and activities both online and in various locations around Australia. The new Artlands program will be designed alongside existing festivals, exhibitions and gatherings connecting creative programming with ongoing platforms for dialogue and critical conversations. Artlands 2020 celebrates this legacy in partnership with the Junction Arts Festival.
Junction Arts Festival was first presented as a one-off event annexed to the 2010 Regional Arts Australia conference and, as a result of local support for a festival in Launceston, has continued as an annual fixture of the national events calendar.
Junction exists to bring quality arts and cultural experiences to Launceston. As it celebrates its 10th year, with the re-addition of the Artlands conference, Junction continues its tradition of developing, commissioning and presenting participatory and community engaged contemporary artwork.
This new vision will elevate the creative practice of regional artists, practitioners and arts workers across Australia and enable ongoing connection across industry, research and academia.
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said Regional Arts Australia plays an important role in helping our diverse artists and community organisations thrive, which contributes to the continued development of regional and remote Australia.
“The refreshed delivery model for Artlands will better support the needs of regional Australian artists and arts practitioners,” said Minister Fletcher. “It will encourage engagement with local creative industries across rural, regional and remote areas, and provide a link between people, practice and landscape “on country” for First Nations artists.”
Junction Festival and the Artlands Conference will take place from the 2 – 6 September 2020. For more information, visit: www.junctionartsfestival.com.au or www.regionalarts.com.au for details.
Image: Junction Arts Festival (supplied)