THE recipients of the City Art Gallery’s 2024 Open Cut Commission artist in residency program have been announced.
Aimee Volkofsky and Leroy Johson, are both Broken Hill residents who plan to undertake significant projects with a focus on the Far West.
Ms Volkofsky’s project We Were Women Before Our Time explores the experience of women in remote mining communities, with a focus on Broken Hill. Her work will include interviews, field recordings and visual documentation, to explore identity, feminism, childhood and environmentalism.
Mr Johnson will use the funding to focus on Barkindji song lines, or “Murra” that traverse the Far West for his project The Murra: Song Lines of the Far West. Mr Johnson will collaborate with Barkindji linguist Warlpa Thompson and visual artist Sarah Bates to create an immersive work combining music, sound and visual art to honour the cultural and historical significance of the Murra.
Ms Volkofsky and Mr Johnson’s projects were selected by a panel of gallery staff and industry professionals from 27 submissions. They were selected based on artistic merit, community relevance and alignment with the Gallery’s priorities.
The Open Cut Commission grants two artists or collectives $10,000 to undertake field work in the Far West of NSW and develop a responsive project. The initiative aims to support creation of place-relevant new work while fostering community participation in the arts.
