06 June 2025
On Wednesday 14 May our Year 10 Art Studio class visited the arts precinct at the Lion Arts Centre, North Terrace. Upon arrival we walked through UniSA’s vibrant pop-up street market and enjoyed an alfresco lunch under the dappled light of tall elm trees in the courtyard. After visiting the Jam Factory to view live glass blowing, we met the Curator of the Samstag Museum of Art, Ms Gillian Brown, and were introduced to the gallery’s current exhibition Direct, Directed, Directly.
This exhibition promised to be a compelling exploration of the topic of communication with contributions by multiple contemporary Australian artists. Later, students visited the Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) Gallery where Education and Studios Coordinator (First Nations) Crista Bradshaw welcomed us and introduced students to the exhibition Push/ Pull.
Contemporary art invites the viewer to be curious and to engage with the unfamiliar and unconventional. With presence, openness and courage we can learn something new of ourselves and the world around us.
- ‘I watched a video installation Broken English is my Mother Tongue by contemporary artist Kuba Dorabialski. Kuba shares his personal experience of learning English as a second language when moving to Australia at a young age. He was put in a class that was full of students learning English as their second language. He was shocked when he discovered that his English was considered “broken”. He became self-conscious of the sound of his own voice, which had evolved into what he described as “Art School Anglo-Aussie English with hints of Westie”.’ – Brayden Carter
- ‘When I first approached the artwork Broken English by contemporary artist Bell Richards I was incredibly confused because this installation, which is a film of people commenting on their understanding of British colonisation of Australia, felt like an interview not an artwork. I remained with this artwork and I came to appreciate that the artist was attempting to demonstrate that amongst Australian citizens there are misunderstandings of how Australia came to be.’ – Sid Kupniewski
- ‘I visited the Can Touch This exhibit at ACE Gallery. It is a tactile installation with textured fabrics and ropes on walls with plushies attached. Initially I was baffled by all the pink and I assumed it was a playroom for children and girls. However, after engaging with this installation I learnt pink is the colour for people with low vision. It is the colour they can see the clearest. This artwork was built for them.’ – Adwin Chen
Students have been invited to draw upon these experiences to inform the creation of their final mixed media SAT. For those interested, selected artworks will be on display at the end of year Art and Technology Exhibition. I thank Jordy Brown, Archie McGregor, Harry Loan, Sam Lake, Sidney Kupniewski, Angus Ireland, Chris Hughes, Joshua Howes, John Hogarth, Adwin Chen, Brayden Carter, Lachlan Brown and Will Atkins for their upstanding, engaged and joyful participation on this excursion. I would also like to thank Art Assistant Ms Cirocco and Pre-Service Teacher Ms Yen for accompanying us.
Rosalynde Skewes
Senior School Art Teacher
