WEATHER/Whether, Wyndham Art Gallery (October 2023 - January 2024)

An exhibition that looks at the effects of climate change and the weather on our lived experience.

Co-curated by Olivia Poloni and megan evans
Artists: Alison Bennett, Peta Clancy, Megan Cope, Jessie French, Cara Johnson, Keg de Souza, Gomathi Suresh and Mandy Quadrio.

UNIFORM, Wyndham Art Gallery (March – May 2022)

The UNIFORM exhibition looked at the body as architecture, a site for response, interpretation and expression. It talks about how we use our bodies to express history, culture and experience through the use of external devices such as adornment and clothing. It reflects the internal and external body, the landscape of the body, protection and defence of the body and the gendered body.

Co-Curated by Olivia Poloni and megan evans

Artists: Abdul Abdullah, Maree Clarke, Gail Harradine, Lisa Hilli, Cassie Leatham, Jenna Lee & Mackenzie Lee, Claire McArdle, Tiffany Parbs, Simone Slee, Scotty So, wāni toaishara, Lisa Waup.

Exhibition installation

Fertile Ground Centre, Contemporary Photography (June - October 2021)

Fertile Ground explores concepts of how food and the act of eating has become central to contemporary life; political and global concerns and environmental impact. Food is all-consuming and always central to life’s desperate bid for survival. As well as being ritualistic, with deep cultural and historical roots, food also reflects our increasingly inorganic societies, throw away culture, food production and consumerism. Invited artists will explore themes such as cultural habits, ritual and ceremony, identity, nature, humanity, geographic boundaries, sustainability, security, consumerism, climate emergency and the future.

Co-Curated by Olivia Poloni & Sarah Bond

Artists Include: Lauren Dunn (Australia), Kim Hak (Cambodia), Shivanjani Lal (Australia), Arnont Nongyao (Thailand), Elia Nurvista (Indonesia), Neak Sophal (Cambodia), James Tylor (Australia) and Kawita Vatananjyankur (Thailand)

https://ccp.org.au/exhibitions/all/fertile-ground

Supported by The Scanlon Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts

Ruth Maddison - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, Centre for Contemporary Photography (February - April 2021)

Ruth Maddison: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, is a survey exhibition spanning 40 years of practice to be presented at the Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) in 2021. The exhibition will showcase a number of key series from the feminist photographer’s oeuvre alongside ‘The Fellow Traveller’; a new body of work exploring archival material held in the ASIO and Melbourne University collections about Maddison’s father, Sam Goldbloom, a well-known anti-war, anti-nuclear activist and member of the Community Party in Melbourne from the 1950s to the late 1980s. Through this major installation of new photographic and archival works ‘The Fellow Traveller’ will examine her father’s blend of idealist and the ideologue and tensions between his public persona and private life.

Presented as part of PHOTO2021

Delivered through the collaboration of Adam Harding CCP Director, Jack Willet CCP Curator, Ruth Maddison and independent Curator Olivia Poloni, with inceptive curatorial work from Linsey Gosper and Madé Spencer-Castle

https://ccp.org.au/exhibitions/all/ruth-maddison-it-was-the-best-of-times-it-was-the-worst-of-times

Supported by The Australia Council for the Arts

Raining Embers, Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2021

Raining Embers examines the global climate crisis through the lens of four photojournalists that captured the 2020 Australian Bushfires. These fires, coined the Black Summer, devastated vegetation, animal life and communities on the east coast of Australia. The continent was on fire for more than four months with the fight for survival savage and exhausting, shocking the world. No one was untouched by this angry ecological event. A plume of smoke borne from the fires circled the world over, reminding the entire globe that the climate crisis is now and a direct result of abusing natural resources for greed.

Featuring Aletheia Casey (AUS), Gideon Mendel (ZAF), Ruth Maddison (AUS) and Rachel Mounsey (AUS), these photographers take us through the devastation and despair of communities that were taken by the wildfires. Intimate and broken portraits of people, the ravage that was done to human made objects and the devastation of the land stand for a heart-breaking time in recent history.

With all this devastation one can only turn to rebuild and regenerate, and with that this exhibition affords viewers the opportunity to think of alternative futures to support a more symbiotic relationship with nature that would respect and nurture a way towards a world where the climate crisis had been addressed.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artist: Ruth Maddison, Gideon Mendel, Aletheia Casey and Rachael Mounsey

https://ballaratfoto.org/events/raining-embers/

Raining Embers, 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Photographer Garth Oriander 3.jpg

Raining Embers, 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Photographer Garth Oriander 1.jpg

Raining Embers, 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Photographer Garth Oriander 2.jpg

Raining Embers, 2021 Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Photographer Garth Oriander 7.jpg

The Image Collective Blindside (June 30- July 17, 2021)

As contemporary art evolves mediums become intertwined, further distorted and reinvented, this has been happening for centuries but the evolution of the image and its identity in contemporary art is rapidly moving and reshaping itself more so than ever due to technological advancements. We consume thousands of images on a daily basis, our relationship to the image is highly dependent, curious and personally challenging.

This exhibition focuses on a number of contemporary practices driven by woman, where the central motif of their process of thinking and making is relevant to the politics of the image, and how it takes on various mediums as an outcome. Exploring what contemporary image based arts practice driven by woman looks like in Melbourne and discusses gender politics and the image. Asking questions such as: What is our relationship to image culture? How does the image influence contemporary art process making? What is the image originating from photography? What does it mean to be a woman taking the image? Why take the image? How do we experience the image?

imagecollective.com.au

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artists Include: Olga Bennett, Lauren Dunn, Annika Koops, Josephine Mead, Grace Wood and publication text by Sanja Pahoki

Supported by The City of Melbourne Arts Grant and The City of Melbourne COVID-19 Arts Grant

In Her Words Touring: Horsham Art Gallery (Horsham Art Gallery (March - May, 2019), Deakin University Art Gallery (11 September - 18 October 2019), Wangaratta Art Gallery (2 November - 15 December), Swan Hill Regional Gallery (16 May - 12 July 2020) Logan Art Gallery QLD (31 July - 5 September 2020) Gippsland Art Gallery Online (24 October - 6 December))

Touring: Deakin University Art Gallery (11 September - 18 October 2019), Wangaratta Art Gallery (2 November - 15 December), Swan Hill Regional Gallery (16 May - 12 July 2020) Logan Art Gallery QLD (31 July - 5 September 2020), Gippsland Regional Art Gallery Online (24 October - 6 December 2020)

In Her Words is a photographic exhibition focusing on women behind and in front of the camera. Women who are in control of their own story; whether they are speaking their own truth or re-enacting the accounts of others. In this exhibition we hear from women who are bold in the telling of their flaws, uncertainties and strengths; aiming to get to the core of the female experience, rights and challenges.

Horsham Regional Art Gallery brings together historical works from the Gallery’s Collection with key figures in contemporary Australian photographic practice, the exhibition explores migration, queer culture, Aboriginality, youth and childhood, the body, domesticity, place, identity and female repressions and expression. Through these images the photographers make bold statements about the societies in which they live and work.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artist: Hoda Afshar, Pat Brassington, Polly Borland, Zoe Croggon, Karla Dickens, Sandy Edwards, Joyce Evans, Cherine Fahd, Anne Ferran, Fiona Foley, Linsey Gosper, Janina Green, Ponch Hawkes, Eliza Hutchison, Carol Jerrems, Leah King-Smith, Honey Long and Prue Stent, Kirsten Lyttle, Tracey Moffatt, Jill Orr, Deborah Paauwe, Polixeni Papapetrou, Clare Rae, Julie Rrap, Simone Slee, Kawita Vatanajyankur.

This project has been assisted by NETS Victoria’s Exhibitions Development Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

One On One Bundoora Homestead Art Centre (May - July 2018)

One on One showcases nine jewellers and object makers who invite play and movement in their work. This exhibition features works that come to life with touch and through physical one-on-one interactions. Exploring the physical relationship between the object and the audience, visitors will be invited at allocated times to interact with works which can be played as instruments, manoeuvre to perform scenes or constructed to make puzzles.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artists: Chris Bahng, Katie Collins, Anna Davern, Mark Edgoose, Hendrik Forster, Wanda Gillespie, Annie Gobel, Wendy Korol and Claire McArdle.

Victorian Craft Awards 2017 Craft Victoria, Collins Place Gallery and Sofitel Melbourne on Collins (June – July 2017)

Honouring the late Victorian Arts Minister Lynne Kosky's public service and commitment to the arts, the Victorian Craft Awards are a biennial event supported by the State Government of Victoria and facilitated by Craft Victoria. In 2017 100 finalists exhibited over 3 venues to present Victoria’s excellence in craft and design.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Fresh! 2017 Craft Victoria (February - March 2017)

Fresh! celebrates the next wave of Victorian graduates in contemporary craft and design. Showcasing the energy, skill and innovation of some of the best graduating students from craft, design and fine art disciplines throughout the state.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artists: Katie Barter, Matt Fairbridge, Hannah Gartside, Katherine Hubble, Cara Johnson, Tessy King, Claire Lehmann, Michaela Pegum, Rachael Siklic, Bec Smith, Siteng Wei, Lauralei Wilson

Kate Rohde Luminous Realms Craft Victoria (November 2018 - February 2017)

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Arts: Kate Rohde

Ceremonial Craft Victoria (September - November 2016)

Ceremonial presents works that connect to traditional ceremonial practices and archetypal forms, alongside idiosyncratic personal rituals. The exhibition highlights the ritualistic qualities of craft practice – seeking meaning through material expression – and the place of ceremonial activity within a maker’s life.

Curated by Olivia Poloni

Artists: Jane Badger, Catherine Bell, Vicki Couzens, Adam John Cullen, Julia deVille, Pia Interlandi, Linde Ivimey, Trent Jansen, Yvette King, Llawella Lewis, Jenny Loft, Valerie Restarick, Naup Waup, Ken Wraight

Episodes: Australian Photography Now Dong Gang Museum of Photography Korea (July - September 2014)

Curated by Natalie King and Youngmi Park

Assistant Curator: Olivia Poloni

Artists include Polly Borland, Michael Cook, Destiny Deacon and Virginia Fraser, Paul Knight, Tracey Moffatt, Polixeni Papapetrou, Trent Parke, Patrick Pound, Martin Smith, Christian Thompson and William Yang.