Season 1
33 episodes · 2021
1Uncle Jack Charles, Atong Atem & Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
In the very first episode of Art Works, host Namila Benson throws a pot with actor Uncle Jack Charles and interviews artist Atong Atem, while sculptor Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran explains his unusual sources of inspiration.
2Race and Representation, Ziggy Ramo & Airi Ingram
Namila Benson has a much-needed conversation about race and representation with Indigenous hip hop artist Ziggy Ramo and attempts to master the garamut drum with Airi Ingram.
3Opera Australia & Mary Quant
Deni Todorovic looks at the career of fashion designer Mary Quant, developer Siobhan Reddy talks about the storytelling potential of video games and Soprano Natalie Aroyan offers a peek behind the scenes of Opera Australia.
4Museum of Contemporary Art & ABC Classic 100
Two perfect strangers go on a blind date to the MCA, Curator Kimberley Moulton and director Bruce Gladwin talk about how collaboration enhances creativity and presenter Alice Keath on ABC Classic's annual countdown.
5Miss First Nation & the Ramsay Art Prize
We head backstage at Miss First Nation, the national competition for Indigenous drag queens. Musician Eric Avery talks about playing the violin for self-expression and we go behind the scenes of the Ramsay Art Prize.
6Archibald Prize & Archie 100
Art Works deep dives into the 2021 Archibald Prize. We meet 1985 Archibald winner and the subject of Peter Wegner's winning entry, Guy Warren - who turns 100 this year, just like the prize itself.
7Kate Just & the Great Woy Woy Tea Cosy Showcase
Artist Kate Just teaches Namila Benson how to knit while explaining her feminist art practice, before we visit the Great Woy Woy Tea Cosy Showcase. We also head to Bendigo to go looking for junk with sculptor Andre Sardone.
8Hilma af Klint & Incognito Art Show
Artist Katy B. Plummer takes us to the Hilma af Klint exhibition where she and co-curators Sue Cramer and Nicholas Chambers explain the Swedish artist's work and influence. We also visit the Incognito Art Show in Sydney.
9Dark Mofo 2021
Art Works heads to Dark Mofo festival to hear from Tasmanian First Nations artists about the Union Flag controversy and how the fallout shaped the 2021 festival.
10NAIDOC Week 2021
We meet the creators of documentaries Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra and My Name Is Gulpilil; plus Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual artists including Megan Cope, Richard Bell, Brian Robinson and Toby Cedar.
11Just Not Australian Touring Exhibition
Art Works explores the impact of the film and drama industry moving into Byron Bay. Artists Fiona Foley and Abdul Abdullah speak about the touring exhibition Just Not Australian.
12Arts Access Victoria Amplify Festival
Street artist Heesco shares the ethos behind the large-scale mural project Heesco Town in regional Victoria; and we meet the musicians and artists from Arts Access Victoria's Amplify festival.
13Science Gallery in Melbourne
We meet Maree Clarke, the first living Victorian Aboriginal artist to have a solo exhibition at the NGV, before Namila Benson visits the newly opened Science Gallery in Melbourne.
14Brisbane Comedy Festival
Ngugi artist Elisa Jane Carmichael introduces us to the revived traditional art of weaving and Brisbane Comedy Festival continues despite lockdowns and border closures.
15Malthouse Theatre's Because the Night
Namila Benson talks to Yorta Yorta soprano, composer and educator (and national treasure) Deborah Cheetham and we wander through Malthouse Theatre's Because the Night, an ambitious theatre work based on Shakespeare's Hamlet.
16Mo'Ju, Vipoo Srivilasa & The Wellness Deity Project
We meet with award-winning Wiradjuri and Filipino musician Mo'Ju, before going foraging for driftwood with artist Pete Rush. Artist Vipoo Srivilasa turns a design from Namila Benson into a porcelain wellness deity.
17Maxine Beneba Clark, New Writers Collective & Alex Lahey
We visit writer Maxine Beneba Clarke in her studio; get to know the New Writers Collective for teen women, trans and non-binary playwrights; and meet musician Alex Lahey, whose call for industry funding made headlines.
18NATSIAA, Ishmael, Stone Country, Ida Sophia
We check out the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards; a space-age reimagining of Moby-Dick; wearable art from Lorraine Kabbindi White; and the durational work of performance artist Ida Sophia.
19Kylie Bracknell, Lucy Irvine, Demolition
Learn about the first feature film to be dubbed in an Australian Aboriginal language; Canberra-based Scottish sculptor Lucy Irvine; Hobart artist and fundraiser Janelle McMillan; and feminist performance-makers Polytoxic.
20Boy Swallows Universe, Murrniny, Ngaiire
Meet the creators of the theatre adaptation of award-winning novel Boy Swallows Universe, the Yolngu artists from the remote Northern Territory repurposing abandoned metal into art, and R&B singer-songwriter Ngaiire.
21Daniel Lafferty, The Rivers Sing
Daniel Lafferty fires up his kiln for the first time since the 2019/20 bushfires; Deborah Cheetham reflects on The Rivers Sing; Sami Shah speaks about confronting racism; and a mum and daughter solve a terrazzo tile mystery.
22Brenton E. McKenna, Mick Turner, Bukjeh
Brenton E. McKenna shares his lifelong love of comics; Mick Turner from the Dirty Three talks about the art of the album cover; the migrant community art project Bukjeh; and a virtual show at Melbourne's Comedy Republic.
23Claire McArdle, Voices of Colour
Claire McArdle takes jewellery making into the streets; meet the Voices of Colour arts collective; David Moran shows us unconventional ways to play a cello; and head to Adelaide Zoo for an illuminating animal installation.
24#KnowMyName
Meet artists Lisa Waup, Sally Rees and Yhonnie Scarce, as well as the artistic directors of some of Australia's most celebrated major performing arts companies, Nicolette Fraillon, Lee Lewis, Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain.
25Muster, Terrapin, Dale Woodbridge-Brown
Watch participatory dance work Muster; marvel at the craftsmanship of Terrapin; meet 13-year-old Bronte as she auditions for Ballet Theatre Queensland; and hear from "Kamilaroi cowboy", acrobat Dale Woodbridge-Brown.
26First Nations Fashion and Design
Strut the catwalk with First Nations Fashion and Design; have a stickybeak inside Sam Leighton-Dore's home; share a cuppa with latte art champ Caleb Cha; and meet a few artists exhibiting at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial.
27Ausmusic Month
Art Works celebrates Ausmusic Month by talking to musicians, Bukhu Ganburged, and Vika and Linda Bull; and artist and graphic designer Jonathan Zawada, the creator of a number of iconic Australian album covers.
28Art in the Vines, Patricia Piccinini
Art Works visits the new Art in the Vines sculpture exhibition at a winery in regional Victoria. Also meet artist Patricia Piccinini; musicians Jackie and Dean Newcomb; and the artists behind Dungarri Nya Nya Ngarri Bi Nya.
29OzAsia Festival, Koolbardi wer Wardong
Art Works heads to OzAsia Festival in Adelaide; Maclagan Squeezebox Festival in regional Queensland; and to see West Australian Opera's world-first opera in Noongar language. We check out a youth circus program in Broome.
30Neo Teen Takeover, Wendy Mocke, Fiona Lee
Teens curate a bimonthly event at AGSA; Papua New Guinean artist Wendy Mocke talks about empowered Black womanhood; how Fiona Lee turned the remnants of her bushfire-ravaged home into art; and the books to read this summer.
31Jazz Money, Tarnanthi, Serwah Attafuah
Meet poet/artist Jazz Money and artist Serwah Attafuah and see how the first interrogates colonial spaces, and the latter toys with digital reality. We head to two exhibitions, Tarnanthi in Adelaide and SOUL fury in Bendigo.
32Transformation, Time Pass, Baai
Hear from young people reclaiming their own narratives: by celebrating South Sudanese culture; and creating work by and about the queer and disabled communities. Plus, check out exhibitions Transformation and Time Pass.
33La Mama Theatre, Stella Prizefinale
We visit the newly reopened La Mama Theatre in Melbourne; see how Aboriginal artists are using a colonial statue as a canvas in Hobart; meet past winners of the Stella Prize; and talk to artist and choreographer Amrita Hepi.
