1 September - 1 October 2018
HIDDEN - A Rookwood Sculpture Walk is a free, public outdoor sculpture exhibition that takes place every year amongst the gardens and graves in one of the oldest sections of the Cemetery.
In 2017 Rookwood Cemetery commemorated 150 years, with the first burial having taken place in 1867. Today Rookwood caters for many different religious and cultural groups. More than a million cars pass through each year.
HIDDEN is Rookwood General Cemetery Reserve Trust's signature annual event. With next year its 10th anniversary, HIDDEN was established to encourage public use of the historic Rookwood Cemetery and enable the greater community to explore Rookwood Cemetery - the oldest, largest and most multicultural cemetery in Australia.
The HIDDEN 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.
This year, to meet our growing visition and media profile, we are developing additional programs to include community, youth, education and disadvantaged groups.
Artists will be 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.
The Trust was also interested in applications that are inspired by HIDDEN’s 10th anniversary. This may have included (but, is not limited to) notions relating to the changing role of public interaction with cemeteries over the past 10 years (such as the reinvention of “graveyards” into active parklands) and/or an exploration of where we see ourselves as a community, in terms of conversations around end of life and how cemeteries could look in the future.
Submissions for exhibiting artists are now closed for 2018.