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Canberra Today 15°/17° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Canberra glass artists for Honiara festival

Jenni Kemarre Martiniello
TWO Canberra glass artists are off today as part of the Australian delegation of 50 indigenous artists to represent Australia at the 11thFestival of Pacific Arts to be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands from  July 1 – 14.

Jenni Kemarre Martiniello and Lyndy Delian are the two Canberra artists in the delegation and it is the first time that glass art has been included in the event.

Both were introduced to glass during a group residency at the Canberra Glassworks in 2008.

“IndigiGlass08: Postcards from the Referendum” was created to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Aboriginal Referendum and involved four artists who had been working together as part of the Indigenous Textile Artists Group.

Canberra Glassworks and associated artists taught them new techniques for their art.

Martiniello is an Arrernte woman who was a finalist in the Ranamok Glass Prize and also won a Canberra Critics Circle Award for Visual Arts for her first solo glass exhibition.

Jenni is also a writer and has published seven books.

Lyndy Delian is a Wathaurong woman who teaches the Indigenous Cultural Arts course at Yurauna Centre for Indigenous Education at  Canberra Institute of Technology.

In her textile guise, one of her scarves was presented to Michelle Obama.

Together in 2003, Martiniello and Delian founded the ACT Indigenous Textiles and Glass Artists Group to support local Aboriginal artists.

Both artists have glass art exhibited at the Festival of Pacific Arts and will be running demonstrations and workshops for delegates and visitors, using two portable kilns loaned by the Glassworks.

Clare Belfrage, creative director of Canberra Glassworks, says: “Glass is not usually considered a medium for indigenous art so this is a wonderful opportunity to expose Pacific Nation artists to the unique qualities that glass offers…it’s wonderful that the Canberra Glassworks has had such an impact on the direction of these artists’ practices that they can create contemporary works in a new medium whilst referencing their traditions.”

 

 

 

 

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