Winter 2023
Warm up this winter with Blacktown Arts!
First Nations Elders return to Friday mornings for Elders in Residence and Art and Yarn in the Winter School Holidays.
Get insight into the Blacktown City Art Collection with Raw Records: Materials in Practice, guest curated by Annie Areum Shin, celebrate homegrown artists with Arabic Treasures by Raneen Shamon and Bread and Longing by Stan Florek. Explore memory and cosmos with Parramatta Artists’ Studios at The Unseen.
Be immersed in movement with Woman’s Work by Dance Makers Collective, and discover local and newly arrived artists at Winter Music with Settlement Services International (SSI).
Make yourself at home and catch the encore season of Blacktown Shorts Film Festival, and see a selection of homemade films from the 2022 SmartFone Flick Fest. Plus, if you’re a young person interested in filmmaking or want to expand your TikTok skills, join the SmartFone FlickFest team for Introduction to Smartphone Filmmaking workshops.
Inspired? Get hands on with Making.
Learn from exhibiting artists Stan Florek and Raneen Shamon at one-off Still Life Drawing and Storytelling Through Collage workshops, and celebrate International Zine Month at a Zine Making with Priyanka Bromhead of ‘we are the mainstream’.
In the Winter School Holidays, collage with Muruwari artist Dr Virginia Keft at Colours of Country, and make a Quirky Koala in a video workshop with Skye Andrew.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Download our full program.
Elders in Residence
Get to know local First Nations Elders Uncle Wes Marne, Uncle Greg Simms, Uncle Danny Eastwood and Uncle John Farrington on Friday mornings at Elders in Residence.
Acknowledging our place on Darug land, Elders in Residence is the place to connect with First Nations culture. Grab a cuppa and some damper, and have a yarn with these knowledge holders and valued members of the local community.
Everyone welcome.
9 June to 1 September 2023
Exhibitions
Image: Guidai / Moon, Paula Do Prado, 2019, by Jennifer Leahy
Raw Records: Materials in Practice
Raw Records: Materials in Practice gathers the work of fifteen contemporary artists who reflect on materiality in their art and making practices.
This exhibition presents female voices from the Blacktown City Art Collection that intricately and strategically pull together traditional, natural, industrial, and found mediums.
13 June to 22 July 2023
Image: Raneen Shamon by Damon AMB
Arabic Treasures by Raneen Shamon
Arabic Treasures by local artist Raneen Shamon features a collection of works that celebrate the traditions and beauty of Arabic culture.
Blending traditional art-making techniques of calligraphy and tapestry with contemporary approaches to painting, Raneen Shamon invites viewers to experience the beauty of Arabic language and the rich history of belly dancing.
13 June to 1 July 2023
Image: Twilight, 2023 by Stan Florek, courtesy the artist
Bread and Longing by Stan Florek
Bread and Longing by Open Studio artist and 2022/23 Blacktown City Art Prize finalist, Stan Florek begins with stories discovered at a local bakery in Blacktown.
Bread is the catalyst for connection as people, mostly immigrants, come to the bakery daily for their bread.
4 July to 22 July 2023
The Unseen
In partnership with Parramatta Artists’ Studio, The Unseen explores the invisible qualities of our world as a metaphor for personal or collective reflection.
Parramatta Artists’ Studios artists present a contemplative and deeply felt examination of the intangible qualities of memory, cosmos, and sensation.
3 August to 9 September 2023
Performance
Image: Courtesy Dance Makers Collective
Woman’s Work
A woman’s work is never done.
But what is a woman’s work today?
Dance Makers Collective’s Katina Olsen and Anya McKee connect with five inspirational Australian women from their communities, as a way to begin to unpack and rediscover what this phrase means today.
Friday 16 June and Saturday 17 June 2023
Winter Music
Warm up this winter with Winter Music, a live music offering at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.
In partnership with Settlement Services International (SSI), Winter Music features performances, music and dance that speaks to the diverse communities of Blacktown by a selection of local and newly-arrived artists.
Saturday 5 August 2023
Screen
Image: Tony’s Dream film still by Augusto Garcia, supplied by Julia Firak
Blacktown Shorts Film Festival
Following its premiere screening at the Skyline Drive In for Magnify: Expand Your Vision, Blacktown Shorts Film Festival is back for a limited season.
Blacktown Shorts showcases a selection of newly commissioned films by homegrown talent, curated by Vonne Patiag.
Encore season: 21 June to 1 July 2023
Digital season: 11 July to 22 July 2023
SF3 SmartFone Flick Fest
Grab some popcorn and make yourself at home, the prestigious SF3 SmartFone Flick Fest is coming to Blacktown Arts this winter.
Check out a selection of films from the 2022 Festival by filmmakers from Blacktown and western Sydney.
Premiere season: 25 July to 5 August 2023
Digital season: 6 August to 1 September 2023
Winter Making
Get out and about and connect with your creative side with Winter Making.
Join some of our regular favourites and a suite of talented local artists for a jam-packed program of workshops and studio sessions across weaving, collage, drawing, zines and more.
6 June to 2 September 2023
Image: Family Day, 2022 by Liza Moscatelli, Mosca Media Australia
Winter School Holidays
These Winter School Holidays, connect with culture, get crafty and improve your content creation skills at workshops and drop in activities for kids, young people and families.
4 July to 15 July 2023
Presented by Blacktown Arts with support from the NSW Government through Create NSW and Blacktown City Council.
