May is a busy month for craft and design! 

Tomorrow evening we launch the ADC On Tour exhibition (with the longest title ever!) SIXTY: Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Journal of Australian Ceramics 1962 to 2022 with our presenting partner JamFactory Adelaide and our major partner The Australian Ceramics Association.  At this event we will also launch the book celebrating this important anniversary. The books will be available to purchase very soon from the ADC website or here at the Centre.  We will let you know as soon as they are available. The book and exhibition tour have been supported with funding from the Visions Australia program and The Gordon Darling Foundation. 

We're looking forward to presenting ten designer/makers at Melbourne Design Fair from 18 May. Hope to see you there!

Sydney Craft Week Festival is on this October for the 7th consecutive year. Entries are now open and we are looking forward to an expansive festival across the City. 

Entries close for the inaugural MAKE Award on 9 June. This is an opportunity for designer/makers from across the country to have their work considered for the richest craft and design prize in Australia. I am so looking forward to seeing the entries and presenting the exhibition of finalists in late September.

Each year we join our colleagues across the not for profit sector calling for tax deductible donations before 30 June. Donations big and small help us enormously to showcase creative practice and contribute to what makes Australian culture so rich and diverse. I'd like to thank all our supporters for their generous and ongoing pledges. Your donation will make a huge impact. 

Thanks for reading!

Lisa Cahill
CEO and Artistic Director 

Annual appeal: Make an impact

For close to six decades Australian Design Centre has presented the work of the best craftspeople and designers in exhibitions here in Sydney and across Australia through ADC On Tour connecting with audiences.

We support the creative community through employment, commissions, exhibitions, retail opportunities and professional development for makers, designers and artists. 

We champion creative innovation through ambitious programming, positioning designers and craftspeople as creative problem-solvers for what is a challenging and critical time.

To help us to continue our work, supporting and showcasing excellence in creative practice, please donate today.

Exhibitions + Events  

Continuing exhibitions

These exhibitions are on until 24 May 2023.  Hope you can catch them before they finish. Many of the works are still available to purchase so please consider supporting the artists and adding a new work to your collection. 

Mutukaku Ngura: Motorcar Country

Weaving matter: materials and context

Kristen Haydon: Ice Hold
 

ADC + Melbourne Design Fair 

Guest curated by Rina Bernabei and Lisa Cahill, and in a booth collaboration with Australian Tapestry Workshop, Australian Design Centre is delighted to present ten designers at Melbourne Design Fair.

Featured designers are:
bernabeifreeman | Jan Downes | Ben McCarthy | Stephanie Phillips | Timothy Robertson | Kenny (Yong-soo) Son | Upcycled Glassware | Zoë Veness | Dominic White | Liz Williamson

Taking place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 18 – 21 May, the Fair will feature work for sale from more than 150 designers across 60+ presentations.

When: 18–21 May 2023
Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Tickets: $10 - $35 

More information: here

Sydney Craft Week Festival

Entries now open for 2023 festival

We are calling for entries from makers, galleries, shops, guilds, libraries, councils and studios for exhibitions, workshops and events during and around the festival period Friday 6 – Sunday 15 October 2023.

Festival Director Lisa Cahill said: “This year festival theme is ‘Time.’ Participants are encouraged to reflect on this theme in their event: the time it takes to make, to learn a skill, to understand materials and to build a practice as well as the timeless quality of handmade work."

Entries close 23 June. 

MAKE Award: Entries close 9 June 

There is a month left to enter the inaugural MAKE Award: Biennial Prize for Innovation in Australian Craft and Design, a new national award for Australian designer/makers.

The winner of the MAKE AWARD will receive a cash prize of $35,000 with a second prize of $10,000, making it the richest non-acquisitive prize for craft and design in Australia.

The MAKE AWARD is open to designer/makers working across all related disciplines including ceramics, glass, furniture/woodwork, metalwork, textiles and fibre, and jewellery.

Entries are encouraged from designer/makers with a high level of skill either working with materials that are new to their practice or working in new and innovative ways.

Entries open: 8 March 2023
Entries close: 9 June 2023
Finalists notified: 11 August 2023
Exhibition dates: 28 September – 22 November 2023

Object Shop: Handmade, Unique, Collectible

Visit Object Shop for unique, limited edition handmade work from leading and emerging Australian designer makers. 

With Mother’s Day coming up on 14 May, you'll find something to give to your loved one — from collectible ceramics, contemporary jewellery, limited-edition textiles and many more inspiring objects.

Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday 11am - 5pm and Saturdays 11am - 4pm.  Shop online 24/7.

ADC On Tour 

Touring has been central to our work for 50 years. Since the 1970s ADC has toured nationally and been at the forefront of providing regional Australia with access to cutting edge work and ideas. Three major ADC On Tour exhibitions have now finished long tours and new projects are in development.

ADC On Tour exhibitions now on across Australia:

SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962–2022 opens at JamFactory, Adelaide on 4 May. 

Find out more about ADC On Tour here.

International Exhibition 

Belonging to Us: Nurturing women through making is an international social enterprise showcase, curated by Craftspace for Vittoria Street Gallery, School of Jewellery, Birmingham, UK.

Australian Design Centre was invited to feature our collaboration with Indigenous Jewellery Project connecting with artists on Country through contemporary jewellery making. 

The exhibition tells the story of ten years of Shelanu: Women’s Craft Collective. It celebrates the social impact of projects which provide safe spaces for women’s creative development and the innovative and imaginative new products they create for the marketplace.

Craftspace is supported by Crafts Council England.

More info: here

From our friends

Love what we do? 

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• Donate to make an impact! 

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About Australian Design Centre 

Established in 1964, Australian Design Centre is an independent impact organisation based in Sydney. We create opportunities for people to engage with design, craft and creativity through dynamic and high-quality national touring exhibitions, publishing, digital and educational activities.

We ignite creativity and innovative ideas through:

Exhibitions – Showcasing the best making and design by Australian creators.
Touring – Bringing the power of making and design to new audiences across Australia.
Learning – Inspiring Australians to use design to transform their future.

Australian Design Centre is supported by the generosity of our partners and donors, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments, the New South Wales Government through Create NSW, the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the City of Sydney.

Australian Design Centre is a member of Australian Craft and Design Centres network, Australian Museum and Galleries Association, Arts Law, NAVA, Regional and Public Galleries NSW and the Sydney Culture Network. 

Acknowledgement of Country

Australian Design Centre is proud to be a creative place located on Gadigal Country.

We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Owners, the Gadigal People, and to Elders past and present.

As an arts organisation with national connections, we also pay our respects to all First Peoples across the country.

We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture as the oldest continuing culture in the world. We celebrate the diversity of language, culture, custom, ceremony and knowledge (Lore) of First Peoples as Traditional Owners, custodians and communities with an ongoing connection across land, sea and waterways.

We acknowledge that the lands on which we live and work are unceded – always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.

Images:

Liz Williamson at the loom. Photo: Anna Kucera

Ben McCarthy Wilton Chair Photo: Mike Pickles

Lorrie Evans, Eco Dye Hand Stitch Wearable, 2018. Photo: Gill Brooks

Honey Fingers, The REUNION - The Art of Beekeeping. Photo: Lillie Thompson

Tjanpi Desert Weaver Baskets, ADC Shop. Photo: Amy PIddington 

SIXTY Exhibition Installation View, 2022. Photo: Greg Piper

Sasha Mununggurr tries on her first rings Bulayi Project Buku Larrnggay Mulka with The Indigenous Jewellery Project 2017. Photo: Emily McCulloch Childs