Brisbane truly is Australia’s new world city!
Awash with events and festivals which resonate on the international stage, it’s a thriving, evolving city where creative boundaries are continually being pushed.
If you doubted this, you have only to look at the 17-day design extravaganza that is the Brisbane Art Design Festival. From the 16th to the 26th of May 2019, over 150 Brisbane creatives will grace 25+ locations around the city with their innovative and dynamic exhibitions, performances, talks, art tours, workshops and open studios.
Here’s the low down on why it’s so good to be BAD.
Celebrating the collective creativity of Brisbane’s art community, this initiative of the Museum of Brisbane champions the emerging talents who are forging their name within the community, and welcomes home the established trailblazers who are shaking things up on an international level.
The Museum itself is the hub of this city-wide event and hosts the signature exhibition which is the heart of the festival every year. From the 10th of May to the 11th of August, Brisbane’s best and brightest will be celebrated on Level 3, where the BAD@MoB exhibition features artists and installations across a wide range of media and practices, from robotics, performance art, video, installation, ceramics, jewellery and painting.
Another highlight has to be the BADtours+CBD. On the 25th of May, from 11.30 -2 pm, public art curator Beth Jackson takes you on a bespoke art, design, and food tour focused on Brisbane’s distinctive character.
The tour leaves from the Museum of Brisbane, and in between art-filled alleys and public art and design sites, you can enjoy a light artisanal lunch and a natural wine tasting at Felix for Goodness, one of Brissy’s culinary heavyweights.
For an inside look into the process of putting together such a behemoth of an exhibition, join curator Miranda Hine on the 24th of May, from 2-2.30pm as she takes you behind the scenes of the curatorial framework of this celebratory showcase.
She’ll also lead you through an intimate tour of the artists on show, giving you the benefit of her sharp curator’s instinct and appreciation for innovative, creative design.
For an honest and loving insight into an artist’s impressions of her home city, check out Maureen Hansen’s exhibition at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery until the 31st of May.
This Brisbanite is captivated by the way light plays with nature and its colours, creating joyful and fresh observations of life in Queensland.
In ‘From Life: Brisbane Light’, Maureen explores feelings of change in Brisbane, interpreting her surroundings in authentic, honest, and endearing paintings.
On the 25th of May, from 11.30-1pm at Griffith University Art Museum, children aged seven and above can learn the basics of drawing cartoon characters and adapt their physical appearance to reflect their personalities or feelings.
Kids will pick up a variety of skills, including making characters move, designing frame and speech bubbles, and outlining story progressions. Drawing materials are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own journals!
In short, BAD is an artistic whirlwind of talent, vision and creativity, which promises to shake Brisbane to its roots and proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our city owns its place on the world’s design stage.
For a full list of other locations and events, check out the BAD programme here!
Happy viewing!