2020 SALA Festival to Launch Digital Program Next Week!

SALA-Life-Drawing-Tour-with-artist-Andrew-Clarke-2019-photo-by-Sam-RobertsThe South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival 2020 program will be officially launched on Monday 20 July with over 4000 artists participating in over 300 exhibitions across Adelaide and regional SA. SALA will run throughout August with the SALA program in digital form only and available to view online and via the SALA app.

Artists are constantly challenged to look at things differently and this year so has SALA. In the current climate of social distancing protocols, artists were asked to consider exhibiting in new and unique ways and this has seen artists become even more innovative. In addition to many traditional venues like cafes, galleries, retail and community spaces, there are over a hundred online exhibitions, there’s also open studios, audio and drive-by exhibitions.

“The enduring power of art and art-making can be witnessed in the SALA program this year. It has been heartening to see artists continue to make work in such challenging circumstances and to utilise the SALA platform to express themselves and bring communities back together,” said SALA CEO Kate Moskwa.

“We really encourage people to explore South Australia via the SALA online program and app. You can pick a region and support local SA businesses and independent artists. With registrations open until the end of the festival exhibitions are being added all the time, so we suggest people revisit the program during August to find out what’s new.”

SALA is excited to announce two new additions to this year’s program: This year’s SALA Forum will turn into a new SALA Podcast – featuring interviews with artists discussing their artwork, inspiration and creative lives, with new episodes released throughout the month of August.

There will also be a SALA DIY Tour where people can walk the city streets visiting SALA exhibitions and recontextualising city sites or they can choose to listen to the tour when it’s convenient for them from the comfort of their home.

Some of Australia’s most talented and dynamic artists have exhibitions in SALA this year, including: SALA’s featured artist Kirsten Coelho, Tom Moore, Margaret Dodd, Brad Darkson, Andrew Clarke, Monte Masi, Cindi Drennan, Gerry Wedd, Jasmine Crisp, Elizabeth Yani Close, Cassie Thring, Jane Skeer, Mary-Jean Richardson, Paul Sloan, Yusuf Hayat, Sera Waters and Arlon Hall.

SALA exhibition registrations are open to visual artists of all experience levels, with the only requirement being they must be a current resident of South Australia. Whether their chosen medium is painting, sculpture, video, performance, photography, there is still time to register for SALA with registrations for all event categories open until the final day of the festival – Monday 31 August.

The 2020 SALA Festival will officially open with an intimate event on Friday 31 July at the Art Gallery of South Australia by the Hon. Steven Marshall MP, Premier of South Australia. Due to current capacity restrictions the event will not be open to the public, however speeches will be live streamed by Channel 44 and viewable on the SALA Facebook page.

South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival is Australia’s largest community based open access visual arts event, providing the opportunity for artists from all backgrounds and skill levels from amateur to professional to be part of one of the key festivals on the South Australian arts calendar.

It prides itself with inclusivity and community at its heart and is committed to the vision of creating and sustaining an environment in which South Australian visual artists are supported, valued and celebrated. For more information, visit: www.salafestival.com for details.

Image: Life Drawing Tour with artist Andrew Clarke, 2019 – photo by Sam Roberts