The visual arts program for 2017 received a terrific boost, with Jane Deeth receiving a substantial grant from the Australia Council for the Arts to curate the next major visual arts commission in regional Tasmania. It builds on the other project she has curated for the festival Highway 1 in 2013, Highway 1#2 in 2005, In Teers 2001 and Reorder this year.

The 2017 project entitled Sites of Love and Neglect will see artists develop art installations or interventions in response to secrets, memories, forgotten histories and neglected places in regional communities across the island. Jane said, "It will be an opportunity for Tasmanian artists to consider the intricacy and complexity of Tasmanian life and history within an international art context."

Jane would love to hear your thoughts and stories about important and intriguing sites in your community. We are particularly interested in stories about places and spaces that are usually invisible or that are rarely if ever accessible to the public.

Contact Jane at jane.deeth@tendays.org.au if you have a story or place to share. 

Big hART’s The Acoustic Life of Sheds made its premiere at the Tasmanian International Arts Festival earlier this year. Those who made the trek to the North West Coast to follow the Shed’s trail were rewarded with unforgettable musical performances in stunning rural surrounds. For those who weren’t able to visit our breathtaking NW, now is your LAST chance to explore the stories of these sheds and their shifting existence right in heart of Hobart.

Friday’s performance with Lucky Oceans is sold out but there are a few places available for the final event in the series. Genevieve Lacey, Marshall McGuire, Jim Atkins and Phil Slater present “Black Ridge Farm” at 4.30pm this Saturday 5th Sept at the Astor Private Hotel followed by a magnificent three course meal shared with the artists and farmers at the Astor Grill.

Pay what you feel for the performance.
$68 for the meal. Bookings essential.

For more information contact andrew@bighart.org.

Ten Days on the Island supported two applications by Terrapin Puppet Theatre to the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals' Development Site earlier this year. The Confederation is an association of all of Australia’s major arts festivals of which Ten Days is a member. Both Terrapin projects were successful in getting funding. One in particular, You and Me and the Room Between by Finegan Kruckemeyer and Directed by Sam Routledge, will be co-commissioned by Terrapin and five of the member festivals, including Ten Days on the Island. This innovative new work is set to premiere at the Darwin Festival next year before coming to Tasmania in March 2017. Once again we are looking forward to a great work, by one of Tasmania’s great companies, in Tasmania’s great Arts Festival, Ten Days on the Island and to seeing that work travel around Australia and around the world.

Hold on to your helmet because Junction Arts Festival is about to kick off!

Celebrating its 5th birthday, Junction will see Launceston brimming with music, arts and adventures from 2-6 September.

Get on your dancing shoes and fancy duds as the party starts with Opening Night on Wednesday from 6pm in The Junc Room, one of Junction's late night Festival Clubs. Eighteen-piece community-based Samba band, Chicada, will be bringing the vibrant, spicy rhythms of Brazilian Carnival to the dance floor. Twerk the night away with Twerkshop and capture amusing silhouetted moments with Terrapin Puppet Theatre's Shadow Photo Booth; the opening night festivities will have you ready for the adventures to come!

Take a soundtrack-backed motorcycle journey out of Launceston with Ride, have a personal training session with a pint-sized commando with Fitter. Faster. Better, or explore the Launceston with an invisible stranger as your guide with The Walking Project; from the family-fun of The Junc Yard to the sultry and secret, Sal’s Speakeasy, 2015 Junction Arts Festival features a diverse program of dance, music, theatre and art performances created by international, national and local artists that will uncover for you, the city’s hidden spaces and unusual places.

See the program and purchase tickets here.