This special bonus episode of Conversations from the Collection was recorded live at the 2025 Newcastle Writers Festival with artist, fine art conservator and writer Christabel Blackman. Christabel joined Miriam Kelly, Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions at Newcastle Art Gallery for a fascinating in conversation event celebrating her book 'Charles & Barbara Blackman: A Decade of Art and Love'. In this captivating conversation, she reflects on growing up as the daughter of two influential figures in Australian art and literature, and shares insights into her own creative journey and work in conservation. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Miriam KellyIntroduction by Zana KobayashiProduced by Gemma WroblewskiEdited and Music by Duke's CreationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Megan Cope is a Quandamooka artist from Moreton Bay/North Stradbroke Island in South East Queensland. Her site-specific sculptural installations, public art practice and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment and mapping practices. In this conversation with Newcastle Art Gallery’s Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions, Miriam Kelly, Megan Cope discusses her living sculptures that draw on ancestral technologies and seek to heal saltwater environments. She also delves into the historical and ecological importance of oysters. This conversation was captured live at the Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House during the New Annual Festival in Newcastle in September 2024. Presented as a temporary pavilion on the Honeysuckle Marina, Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House hosted workshops, performances, talks, and even an oyster shucking competition! Thanks to an enthusiastic group of oyster shuckers from the community, this 'Scrub Club' saw over 4,875 oysters cleaned for use in a future work of art by Megan Cope. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Miriam KellyIntroduction by Zana KobayashiProduced by Gemma WroblewskiProduced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In honour of NAIDOC Week, we are bringing you a special podcast episode featuring Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money in conversation with Newcastle Art Gallery's Curatorial Lead Peter Johnson. Recorded live at the Newcastle Writers Festival earlier this year, Jazz discusses the way their practice has challenged the perceived elitism of poetry, the power of writing in Wiradjuri Language, and embracing joy as an act of radical resistance. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted by Peter JohnsonIntroduction and Production by Zana KobayashiProduced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsMixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For the past two decades Owen Leong has developed a highly personal art practice that spans sculpture, photography, video, and installation. Through the lens of his own identity as a queer person of colour, Owen examines the social, political, and cultural forces that impact our lives. Often centring his own body within the frame, Owen has used his practice as a way to locate himself within the world. In this conversation, Owen talks about the steely determination he has needed to pursue his career and why his decision to undertake a Master of Fine Art at the University of NSW was viewed as 'somewhat controversial' by his family. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce & Pippa Budge Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Janet Fieldhouse's distinctive combination of ancestral practice and contemporary techniques has positioned her as a singular voice in Australian ceramics. Through her hand-built sculptures, Janet simultaneously records and reinterprets traditional stories and practices from the Torres Strait Islands drawing on her own cultural heritage, as well as academic research. Her unique process and forms combine Western ceramic techniques with First Nations’ pottery practices from the Pacific and the Americas - places where she has engaged in extended cultural and artistic exchanges. In this conversation, Janet discusses how she infuses her works with goodwill, her approach to interpreting cultural material, and the cyclical processes within her practice. Conversations from the Collection is a Newcastle Art Gallery podcast. Find new episodes weekly until Wednesday 14 February 2024. Developed by Newcastle Art Gallery Hosted & Produced by Zana Kobayashi Produced, Edited and Music by Duke's CreationsResearch by Tulleah Pearce Mixed by Sawtooth Studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.