The 26th South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival starts today with an incredible 10,915 artists participating, 697 exhibitions in 620 registered venues across Adelaide and regional SA. Running the full month of August, SALA continues to be the world’s largest open-access visual arts festival.
Showcasing the talents of SA’s artistic community, from beginners to emerging and more established artists, you will find exhibitions across the state crossing a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, ceramics, craft, digital, moving image, photography, textiles and installations – there are so many places to visit and artists to discover!
“August is the perfect month for SA to turn into one large Gallery! With 10,915 visual artists exhibiting across the entire state in cafes, galleries, bars, bookshops and other surprising locations, you can’t help but be part of SALA Festival,” said Bridget Alfred, SALA acting CEO.
“The SALA Hub is back in action at the historic Queens Theatre, with workshops, the famous Drawing Marathon and Slide Night, it’s welcoming, inclusive and a once-a-year opportunity to learn new skills or polish some old ones, there’s an artist in each of us!
“If you see a work of art that you love, keep an eye out for a barcode, it will lead you to SHOP SALA, where you’ll be able to make sure that piece of art goes home with you at the end of the exhibition, and you can feel proud knowing you’re supporting South Australian artists,” said Ms Alfred.
The SALA Hub at the iconic Queen’s Theatre will host a range of events including:
- Drawing Marathon led by Christopher Orchard – a five-day drawing intensive presented by SALA Festival, with the support of Adelaide Central School of Art: 7 – 11 August.
- Workshops: Painting (4 August) – The Figure: Expressive Ink led by Kate Kurucz | Portrait (5 August) Drawing with Jasmine Crisp | Jewellery (5 August) Lost Wax Carving with Olivia Kathigitis.
- SALA’s Slide Night returns on 3 August – a night of fun and frivolity, where you can hear from SA artists about their art, interests, or something else entirely. This event is a fast-paced snapshot into what SA contemporary artists are thinking about.
SALA Festival highlights include:
- Art Tours – hear from the expert tour guides as they walk you through a selection of exhibitions in the city of Adelaide, including the SALA Art Tour in Mandarin led by artist Shirley Wu and the Local and Contemporary Art Tour with Dr Melanie Cooper. Explore the city’s street art with Leah Grant and join Jenna Pippet and her Weimaraner Zelda as you meander the city streets on the Dog Friendly Art Tour. Tikari Rigney will also lead a tour of SALA exhibitions taking place in Tarntanya (Adelaide) featuring diverse work from First Nations artists.
- Artist Studio Bus Tours – this year SALA has introduced the Artist Studio Bus Tours with artist Oakey taking you behind the scenes at some of the city’s East Side studios, where you will hear from practicing artists and have the opportunity to explore their studios. Artist Ida Sophia will host the Westside Bus Tour, an exciting exploration of galleries and studios in Bowden and Hindmarsh.
- Regional Self-Guided Tours – nominate your driver and hit the road for your very own SALA day trip. With tours in the Adelaide Hills, Encounter Bay, McLaren Vale and the Limestone Coast. Visit the SALA website or download the app for more details.
- Open Studios Weekend (5 & 6 August) – a great opportunity for a behind-the-scenes experience, as creatives across South Australia welcome you into their studios. From group, through to home studios, this weekend features a host of different spaces and artists for you to visit. There are additional openings held throughout the festival.
- Shop SALA – the new South Australian art sales platform, celebrates and supports South Australia’s living artists by offering a wide range of art mediums including painting, prints, sculpture, ceramics, glass and photography for all budgets and is a year-round offering. For the first time people will be able to scan a code next to a work on exhibit and be directed to Shop SALA to learn more about the artist and buy artwork easily from the website.
- SALA Art Cars – will be roaming the streets of Adelaide during this year’s festival, generously provided by Jarvis Skoda and Visualcom and wrapped in artwork by Michael Carney and Crista Bradshaw.
SALA’s featured artist for 2023 is Helen Fuller. As SALA’s featured artist Helen’s work is on the cover of the 2023 SALA Festival program and poster and she has been commemorated in the official 2023 South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Publication, funded by Arts South Australia to be published by Wakefield Press and penned by Ross Wolfe, Sasha Grbich and Glenn Barkley. Helen will have works on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia during August.
At the official opening it was announced Julia Robinson will be the featured artist for 2024 and the focus of the 2024 South Australian Living Artists Publication, which will be penned by Leigh Robb, Hannah Kent and emerging writer Jess Taylor.
The 26th South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival continues to 31 August 2023. For more information and full program, visit: www.salafestival.com for details.
Image: Kate Kurucz’s solo exhibition Haza – photo by Sam Roberts