GENUINE ABORIGINAL ART AT TRUE BLUE MARKETS

 

 

The new Fremantle TRUE BLUE MARKETS has opened opposite the Fremantle Markets in the Henderson Street mall, so go and have a browse.

Brian and Annette Kent are well known faces in Fremantle and the Aboriginal art on offer is genuine and painted by local artists, and not from sweat shops in Indonesia or China.

It is very important when we send tourists to the  new markets to know that they support our local Aboriginal artists, so promote them and spread the word!

Roel Loopers

STUNNING MURAL ART WORTH A VISIT TO THE BIG SMOKE

 

 

It is such a gorgeous day that I hopped on the train to Perth to look at the magnificent 27-storey high art mural by artist Matt Adnate on the new hotel in Hay Street that will be named after him; the Adnate Hotel. It is amazing, but difficult to photograph so I walked up all the nine levels of the adjacent car park to see if I could find a better location, but to no avail.

It is disturbing to see how many really mediocre and ugly highrise buildings are being erected in Perth, but great that there are many fantastic large mural artworks on some of them, especially in Northbridge.

Interesting the people one meets on a train ride. A talkative woman from Albany told us that she lives on a houseboat and had just sold her fish&chips shop after five years of hard yakka, while 26 year old Daniel told us he was on his way for a swim at Cottesloe after having spent two and a half years in jail.

While engaging with them I missed catching up with my old mate Michael Thorn, the CEO of Canberra based FARE-the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, who I saw hopping on the train as well. I wrote one of the very first articles for FARE’s blog many years ago.

Roel Loopers

PORTRAIT EXHIBITION OF VICTIMS OF RAPE

 

 

There is a very powerful photo exhibition on at PS Art Space in Fremantle’s Pakenham Street that shows portraits of Indian women who have been sexually assaulted and some of them gang-raped.

Perth photographer Jessica Eva traveled to Lucknow to take photos for her exhibition and book Woman in Red.

The exhibition is on until August 30, so make sure to go and view it!

Roel Loopers

FREO MARITIME MUSEUM IN THE RAIN

 

 

A painterly photo of the Fremantle Maritime Museum in the rain, taken from the South Mole.

Heavy rain is expected later today, so drive accordingly.

Roel Loopers

WHEN FOMO MEETS MANY-AT FREO’S KINGS SQUARE

 

I received the exciting information below from SPACEMARKET about the FOMO retail at Fremantle’s Kings Square:

We’ve been working with Sirona Capital on an incredible new concept within the FOMO FREO Kings Square precinct, right in the heart of Freo. It’s going to be like nothing you’ve seen before in WA. This includes (drum roll) the return of MANY to its original home, with a beautiful new MANY Emporium spread across the lower ground floor— and as you’d expect, The Emporium will be full of your favourite local and independent businesses.

Alongside MANY, within the impressive open-plan shopping area bathed in natural light from the sweeping, skylit ceiling, we envision a sexy little wine bar, food offerings, a gorgeous beauty and wellness space, plus a heavy sprinkling of other lovely things. Think; flowers, conti rolls, a beaut bottle of wine, house plants, books, stationary….

Off the back of MANY 6160, which opened in 2013, Sirona have committed to continue the concept of borderless, open-plan retail. We’re equally committed to ensuring a dynamic mix of businesses trading right here in Freo, and are gunning to ensure the space is the opposite experience of a generic big box shopping centre.

This is where you come in!

When we launch in April 2020, we want to showcase the best of the best at FOMO FREO, and we’d love you to help us spread the word. There will be space available in our impressive lower ground level, but also street floor tenancies which face the newly revitalised Kings Square, library and civic centre.

From a retail perspective, this feels like an unmissable opportunity. Population and parking are often named as key barriers to small business success in WA — here in FOMO, we’ll have 2,000 office workers relocating into the upper levels (also planned for April 2020), and another 1,000 in neighbouring refurbished offices. And parking? There’ll be 600 bays right out the back.

Obviously, we’ve got a dream hit list of brilliant operators who we’d love to join us in this venture, but of course there will be many more out there who we don’t yet know about. We’d love them to be involved too! We’re calling on; barbers, specialist fashion shops, glasses and sunglasses boutiques, menswear designers, gorgeous homewares and lifestyle purveyors, fabulous florists, grocers, whole foods, art prints, YOU NAME IT. Bring us your best Perth.

Brilliant, enthusiastic and high quality operators – contact Kate@spacemarket.com.auor sarah@spacemarket.com.au (immediately!) for more info and to arrange a site visit.

 

Roel Loopers

SCI-FI ART AT FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE

 

 

There are two new exhibitions on at the Fremantle Arts Centre, so go for a wander there.

OTHER SUNS is cult sci-fi cinema and art, and focuses on the underbellies of science fiction: the hybrid, the noisy, the forbidden, and the venacular. It’s one of those left of field art shows one either likes or hates, and it left me ambivalent, but I blame the intolerance of old age for that, so decide for yourselves.

More to my liking are some old works by one of my favourite WA artists Stuart Elliott.

Roel Loopers

UNDERCURRENT 19 FREMANTLE BIENNALE OF SITE SPECIFIC ART

WATERLICHT by Daan Roosegarde

 

A massive hundred people from arts, culture and business attended the very long launch of the Fremantle Biennale 2019 at the Maritime Museum on Thursday morning.

UNDERCURRENT 19 will be a fantastic experience for the Fremantle community and beyond and is an invitation to interact with Fremantle through artistic dialogues and site sensitive events. It will create new visual narratives which articulate the spirit of place, so make sure to check out the program here: http://www.fremantlebiennale.com.au/undercurrent/

The biennale runs from November 1-24 and is happening all over the Freo CBD with major events at Fremantle Port and Notre Dame University, the Shipwrecks Museum, etc.

Nicola Forrest of sponsor Minderoo Foundation was at the launch, as was the CEO of Fremantle Ports, former MP Melissa Parke, the Fremantle Mayor and several councillors, artists, curators, architects, art administrators, etc.

Here some titles of exciting events during Undercurrent 19: Pearls and Blackbirds about female divers, Behavioral Ecology, the cute South Mole Resort will be a must to visit, Desire Lines, the Somnus theatre of the sea, Midnight Blue Lagoon. the Standing Wave sound installation in the submarine, Ebb&Flow audience communication, the Billboard Project, etc.

There will also be a symposium at Notre Dame University about how artists make a living.

One of the highlights of Undercurrent 19 will be WATERLICHT by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde about our battle with water, rising sea levels and dwindling fresh water.

Roosegarde said about rising ocean levels in the typical pragmatic and laconic Dutch way “We innovate or we die”

I loved the 2017 inaugural Fremantle Biennale so can’t wait for it to start in three months from now.

Roel Loopers

VANDALS SET FIRE AT FREO’S J SHED

 

 

There was again serious vandalism at Fremantle’s Arthur’s Head last night with idiots setting fire to the northern wall of the J Shed art studios.

No major damage was done but the power had to be cut off for safety reasons. It is just lucky that the fire brigade arrived early as otherwise the entire shed and some very important artworks could have been destroyed.

Although vandalism is frequent in the area there are still no CCTV cameras in the historic precinct.

Roel Loopers

INTERNATIONAL STONE SCULPTURE SYMPOSIUM

 

 

It is a shame Fremantle will miss out on hosting the first Western Australian International Stone Sculpture Symposium that is being organised by J Shed artist Jina Lee, who just returned from a stone sculpture symposium in Italy.

The WAISSS will be held somewhere in the City of Melville, so I’ll keep you posted when I get more information.

These symposiums are very popular and attract many visitors so this is a loss for Fremantle.

Roel Loopers

SHIPWRECKS NOT FORGOTTEN BY FOGOTTEN

 

 

FOGOTTEN by Genrefonix was on for the last few nights as part of the Fremantle Festival so I went to the Shipwrecks Museum on Tuesday evening to take some photos.

Kids love the fog and come to play in it without realising this is about the great sea storm of 1899 when the Carlisle Castle and the City of York ships sank in the devastating storm.

Check out the Fogotten Facebook page for more performances which include projections and music.

Roel Loopers