Vale Mandy Martin: teacher and mentor
July 20, 2021 Basil Hall
I had just taken a call from Yirrkala informing me of Dr Marika’s passing when I looked at my phone and saw the sad news of Mandy’s death on…
I am so sad to add my condolences to those of B.M’s family and friends on the occasion of her passing last week. I had been in constant contact…
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Artists Tommy Minburra and Nicholas Baru Pascoe working on the last day of our woodblock and silkscreen workshop last week. Tommy is using his hair brush (made using long…
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Happiness is a full rack of drying prints, although 100% humidity every night does make drying these woodblock prints very difficult. The 250gsm Stonehenge paper also went very floppy…
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Beswick Falls We were accompanied during our workshop by famed NT photographer, Peter Eve. Peter shot some beautiful photos of the plant gathering, the artists themselves and the plants we…
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During the workshop at Beswick, a dozen artists participated. Most have been part of previous series of prints and were familiar with etching, so we concentrated on hard ground…
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Alfonso has already made one colour etching with me (by correspondence) during Covid, so this workshop was our opportunity to work in person. Here he is working in colour…
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Today’s scene at Ngaruwanajirri, Bathurst Island
April 14, 2021 Basil Hall
What a backdrop! Under the Art Centre’s inspiring ceiling panels, our artists worked away on new etchings. So far, 17 new editions are well underway, with more to come…
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A great party on King Island
April 13, 2021 Basil Hall
The “Poor Souls” exhibition and associated events finally took place in March. Curated by Andrew Blake, the show at the Currie Art Centre included work by Fiona Hall, Melissa…
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During Covid, I had to work by correspondence; getting artists to send me paintings and drawings on acetate and film. Now the communities have been able to open their…
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Ngaruwanajirri, a workshop with a long and proud history of working with disadvantaged people on Bathurst Island, is hosting a Basil Hall Editions workshop this week. After a year…
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Back to Wodonga (through the Covid blockade)
February 5, 2021 Basil Hall
The Creators mob in Wodonga invited me back to do another workshop with them. In spite of the Covid/Border control being set up literally out the front of the…
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Last job for the year: Eunice Napanangka Jack’s etching
December 18, 2020 Basil Hall
Quite a number of Art Centres took up our “Jobkeeper Offer” and sent new work or authorised editioning of older plates and screens during Covid. Ikuntji Arts in Haasts…
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To mark the 175th anniversary of the shipwreck on the west coast of King island of the English barque, the Cataraqui, in 1845 with the loss of 400 lives,…
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Warringah Printmakers have me back
December 11, 2020 Basil Hall
After a dearth of workshops since January, I suddenly had two in quick succession in Sydney in November, thanks to the Warringah Printmakers. This time we did copper plate…
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And Happy Christmas (Island) to this little family-in-exile
December 10, 2020 Basil Hall
No words are needed/words fail. How many more millions of dollars will we continue to spend incarcerating this Tamil family on Christmas Island? Do we as a country want…
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Well, it’s been a strange year for BHE. All our art centre friends closed up shop with Covid, so we were suddenly without workshops and most of our potential…
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Dec 18: The last day of our show at City Walk Gallery, Canberra!
November 19, 2020 Basil Hall
In one section of our new exhibition at City Walk Gallery, Canberra, we are showing some pretty impressive Indigenous prints from our Custodians series, a Judy Watson etching and…
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I haven’t shown most of these new works of mine anywhere, so this exhibition of prints from our drawers at the City Walk Gallery in Canberra, opening Friday 20th…