26 August - 24 September 2017
HIDDEN is an outdoor sculpture exhibition that takes place amongst the gardens and graves in one of the oldest sections of the Cemetery. It was established to enable the greater community to explore Rookwood Cemetery - the oldest, largest and most multicultural cemetery in Australia.
In 2017 Rookwood Cemetery will be celebrating its 150th anniversary, with the first burial having taken place in 1867. Today Rookwood conducts over 5,500 burials and cremations annually and caters for many different religious and cultural groups. More than a million cars pass through each year.
The exhibition is a platform for community engagement, and while it remains respectful of its purpose and place, it aims to de-mystify some of the misconceptions surrounding cemeteries as dark and intimidating settings.
To meet its growing visition and media profile, HIDDEN 2017 will increase its public program, coinciding with the exhibition. Additional workshops will allow the possibility for casual artist employment.
The Trust is interested in exhibiting sculptures that respond to themes surrounding the Rookwood site, such as history, culture, remembrance and love. This could include grief, loss, mourning, spirituality, the environment, and different cultural beliefs around burial and memorialisation.
This year, we are also interested in applications that are inspired by Rookwood Cemetery’s 150th anniversary. This may include (but, is not limited to) notions relating to Rookwood’s conception, development and evolution; cultural concepts specific to important eras within Rookwood’s history (e.g. the Victorian period); and the importance of commemorative events to celebrate love and life.
Artists can choose to approach the themes in a representational, conceptual, symbolic or abstract way. The Trust is open to a wide range of artistic approaches and all forms and sizes of sculptures in all materials are eligible for exhibition. The Trust is particularly interested in any large scale works that can broadly address monumentality to reflect Rookwood’s vast built surface.
Artists may propose works yet to be made or alternatively, existing works that relate to the exhibition themes, so long as the artwork has been produced post July 2015.
Artists are encouraged to speak with the Curator to discuss ideas before submission.