Green Room: AGSA lands 460-year-old portrait of Queen Bess | Adelaide Festival’s $100,000 local investment
South Australian arts and culture news in brief.
First recipient for $100,000 Adelaide Festival venture fund
After the unfortunate withdrawal of the lavish Italian opera AIDA from its 2027 slate, Adelaide Festival has revealed a new addition to next year’s program that lands a little closer to home.
A new work by local playwright Hew Parham – writer and star of the lycra-clad hit Symphonie of the Bicycle – and former Brink Productions artistic director Chris Drummond will receive a creative development showing during the 2027 festival along with $100,000 in funding after being named the recipient of its donor-backed Beyond Borders Venture Fund.
The play, entitled Visions of God Support Group, is set in a community hall in the fictional suburb of Parkwood where the titular group meets every Tuesday to share notes about their brush with divinity.
Parham says he’s thrilled and privileged to receive the support. “The work explores themes of loneliness, questions of faith and the search for connection through the lens of a support group. The show is interested in the big questions, but also in the small acts of care that get us through the day. It perhaps starts with the beginning of the universe and maybe ends with a cup of tea.”
Yes Queen
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Back in May InReview reported that the Art Gallery of South Australia had successfully outbid the competition to bring a rare landscape from Dorrit Black’s European period back to her hometown of Adelaide.
That painting was won at auction to commemorate the 100th birthday of the late arts philanthropist Diana Ramsay AO, a centenary that keeps on giving with the news this week that AGSA has also acquired a rare portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth I dated to 1565.
“Elizabeth I with prayer book presents Elizabeth I as a pious young queen and the upholder of the Protestant faith, bringing new stability to Britain following a time of significant religious upheaval,” Art Gallery of South Australia Assistant Director Tansy Curtin explains.
The artist behind the work is lost to history, but according to the gallery this is the first portrait of the Tudor monarch to be acquired by a public collection in Australia.
“This portrait is highly significant from an art historical and cultural perspective. In the coming years, we look forward to working with our conservation colleagues at Artlab to study and conserve this painting for future generations.”
The painting is now on display in the Gallery’s Melrose Wing.
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Lights on the Hill
The lights are back on for another year of Illuminate Adelaide, and along with the popular City Lights trails and activations at the Adelaide Zoo and Botanic Garden, this year’s program is heading to the foothills with Carrick Hill’s William Morris-themed Winter Wonderland.
The historic house will be enveloped in the distinctive botanical patterns associated with the ever-popular pioneer of Britain’s Arts and Craft movement William Morris, accompanied by a score performed by the Adelaide Youth Orchestra alongside recordings of Morris’ poetry recited by local actor Tilda Cobham Hervey. There will also be mulled wine, hot donuts, and more.
William Morris Winter Wonderland runs from July 9 – 26 at Carrick Hill.
Guildhouse’s launches next Catapult
Over the years Guildhouse’s Catapult Mentorship program has linked over 60 emerging South Australian artists with their more established peers. Landscape artist Gemma Rose Brook is the latest to join the flock as the recipient of the 2027 Catapult + Adelaide Fringe mentorship, which will see her receive six months of guidance from Mary Tonkin, culminating in an artist talk to be delivered during the 2027 Adelaide Fringe. This is the third year that Guildhouse has teamed up with the Fringe to bring Catapult into festival season.
“I am excited for the opportunity to work alongside landscape painter Mary Tonkin,” Brook says. “I am also grateful for the dedicated time this mentorship will provide to refine my artistic voice, develop my professional practice and challenge the way I work from observation through Mary’s guidance.”
Back in May Guildhouse and the Art Gallery of South Australia also named Dave Court as the recipient of the 18-month Guildhouse Fellowship, supported by the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation. Court is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans large scale public murals to large-scale installations and digital work.
The Fellowship is now in its seventh year, and will grant Court $50,000 and development opportunities to create a new body of work that will be presented at the gallery in 2027.
Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture. Get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]
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