For the first time ever, Campbelltown Arts Centre (CAC) is part of The National, an exciting biennial of new Australian art. At this Western Sydney outpost, you can see some of the most exciting and warmly curated contemporary art in the countr – with the work of 11 artists free to explore until June 25.
An upended boat covered in knick-knacks hovers in the middle of ‘Coherent Narratives’, an installation made up of various sculptural assemblages by a Filipino-Australian family unit: artists (and parents) Isabel and Alfredo Juan Aquilizan, working with Fruitjuice Factori Studio (made up of the Aquilizan’s children). The work explores themes of migration, family, and cultural displacement.
There’s also a whole room of Lynda Draper’s ethereal ceramic sculptures (‘Talismans for Unsettled Times’) which resemble other-worldly alien mushroom colonies to delightful effect.
You should definitely take the time to settle in for ‘Gaban’, a video installation created by Wiradjuri/Celtic artist and writer Brook Andrew, which summons a number of interlinked stories concerning the mess of the colonial fall-out.
Campbelltown Arts Centre is an underrated gem, and this exhibition is bursting at the seams with inspiring, colourful contemporary art that feels responsive to our times.
