Work in Progress, PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography, 2024

Take a VR tour of the exhibition here:

VR tour by Ross Coulter https://www.coultercoulter3dvr.com

Work In Progress was a collaborative, child-centred exhibition responding to the PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography theme of social futures. Guided by the foundations of care, connection, culture and community – the 4 Cs of 22nd Century education [1] – participants engaged in a series of workshops devised to embody these principles and encourage children to work together with their adults to create the artworks on display in the exhibition.

Photography is a perfect melding of STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) and art, encouraging creative thinking and problem solving. In the workshop program offered prior to the exhibition, 54 local children experimented with a variety of photographic technologies and artistic processes. Beginning with learning photographic composition skills, the artists then handcoloured and collaged their own photographs. Participants were then introduced to early photographic technologies – the cyanotype and the pinhole projector. The artworks created during the workshops were used to create the initial exhibition, visitors to the exhibition were then invited to contribute artworks by using the making-space provided within the gallery.

A broad range of artists, from toddlers through to teens, were the creators of this evolving exhibition. Some artists worked independently, some were gently guided by their adult carer, and some collaborated with their adult to make their artworks. The future of social and artistic creation involves collaboration across generations.

This exhibition was commissioned by Abbotsford Convent and was PHOTO Australia’s first child-centred exhibition.

Lead artist, workshop facilitator and curator: Kate Golding
Cardboard installations designed and created by Mischa Long
Producer: Marcia Ferguson
Visitor experience team leaders: Madi van der List and Lucien Perry

With thanks to the Abbotsford Convent team and PHOTO 2024.

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[1] Tomlin, Dru. "The 4 New 22nd Century Cs for Education" https://www.amle.org/the-4-new-22nd-century-cs-for-education/