Loud and Luminous
The annual Loud and Luminous project celebrates and recognises the important contributions of contemporary women photographers in Australia. In early March, some of Australia’s top photographic artists will be involved in a major symposium and exhibition promoting equality and inclusion in the arts. The theme for 2020 is equality, echoing the United Nations sustainable development goals of ‘gender equality’ and ‘I am generation equality’. The four-day program will be held in Canberra in the lead up to International Women’s Day on Sunday, 8 March.
Project co-curator Melissa Anderson said one of the main aims of Loud and Luminous is to bring people together for an inclusive discussion that celebrates diversity and promotes equality and cultural change. “The stories told in Loud and Luminous 2020, both at the symposium and the exhibition, will address important social issues, such as what equality is in global, gender, economic, social, cultural, and environmental concepts, and what changes we need to make to achieve it."
Fellow co-curator Hilary Wardhaugh said Loud and Luminous is both a celebration of equality, and also a brave statement of what still desperately needs to done. “If the general public were asked to list influential and iconic Australian photographers from the last 100 years, it would include very few females,” Wardhaugh said. “Many women come in to the industry but they don’t stay. There are less women exhibited in galleries and fewer in leadership positions. The statistics show that women want to work in this space—they want to create and contribute—but we need to look at improving retention rates and focus on leadership and longevity.”
Loud and Luminous program overview
- Re-Generations exhibition opening, PhotoAccess gallery, Thursday, 5 March
- Full-day symposium for International Women’s Day, The Harmonie German Club of Canberra, Friday, 6 March
- Presentation of Loud and Luminous 2019 book to National Library of Australia, Friday, 6 March
- International Women’s Day multimedia launch, Friday, 6 March
- Dawn photo walk, gallery walk, and gallery workshops, Saturday/Sunday, 7-8 March
- Re-Generations artist talks and panel discussion, Saturday, 7 March
- Re-Generations artist Helga Salwe’s Contemplative Photography Walk along the Uriarra Loop Track, Sunday, 8 March
The Canberra symposium will be held on Friday 6 March 2020 at The Harmonie German Club of Canberra, with ticket profits going to support artist development opportunities with exhibition and mentoring with Contact Sheet. Speakers include: Megan Lewis, Paul McDonald, Cherie McNair, Jenny Templin, Dr Ella Dreyfus, Dr Denise Ferris, Emeritus Professor Helen Ennis, Associate Professor Brenda L Croft, Sally McInenery, Anne O’Hehir, and Jessi England.
Along with the events in Canberra, a major print exhibition will be held at Contact Sheet in Sydney throughout April. The exhibition will include 100 inspiring and diverse photographic artists from across Australia, aged between 10 and 92, and use the power of photography to shine a light on equality.
2020 Loud and Luminous theme
The 2020 collaboration features 100 women with the same photographic brief, which resulted in 100 unique interpretations. Artists were invited to reference this theme in iconography, pose, lighting, subject matter, in whatever method they wanted, to give voice to their vision. Images could be a portrait, object, abstract, landscape etc. Each of the 100 photographers submitted images that are all very different and cover the many aspects of equality, as seen by women.
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