Latest news with #PackingRoomPrize
The Age
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Major gallery misses out as Sydney's biggest arts festival heads west
'I respect the work of [MCA director] Suzanne Cotter and [chair] Lorraine Tarabay,' she said. 'For me, the work I'm really trying to do is a lot of community engagement and I want to be in places where I can reach new audiences.' The Biennale's theme was inspired by Al Qasimi's father's work as a historian. He is Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi the ruler of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and founder of the Sharjah Biennial, through which Al Qasimi established her international reputation as a curator. 'Rather than focusing on linear storytelling, I hope to highlight how we can become active participants in retelling our collective stories by revisiting and reinterpreting past events,' Al Qasimi said. 'I really wanted to have a title that could connect differently with people. The idea could be the rememory of a certain location or place, the rememory of certain moments in an individual's life, or certain moments that have happened like computer culture. The title is wide enough to encompass a lot of stories without limiting it to one voice.' The biennale is being planned at a febrile time in the arts world, amid turmoil in the Middle East and in the aftermath of a controversial decision to cancel artist Khaled Sabsabi from the Venice Biennale. Sabsabi is a Biennale of Sydney board member. Al Qasimi said the work by Biennale artists would not directly touch on the war in Gaza, unless tangentially in artists' explorations of colonisation and occupation. The biennial would not focus on 'one moment' but 'what is the right project for the right space and for the right place, for example White Bay'. 'I'm really trying to make sure that the building is part of the exhibition rather than just an exhibition space,' she said. Packing Room Prize winner Abdul Abdullah, Yaritji Young, Marian Abboud, Dennis Golding, and Warraba Weatherall will be among the Australian artists to exhibit alongside international artists including the Gaza-born, Paris-based Palestinian multidisciplinary artist, Taysir Batniji. 'I'm really excited about Deirdre O'Mahony, an Irish artist who has worked a lot around agriculture and food sustainability,' Al Qasimi said. 'I've invited Merilyn Fairskye and Michiel Dolk, they were the same artists who painted the eight murals on the railway pylons [at Woolloomooloo reserve] to come together to paint a new piece.' Create NSW has committed $1.6 million to support the 25th Biennale. Some 771,000 people attended the 2024 edition, Ten Thousand Suns, in a record-breaking run over three months and six sites, including White Bay. Last month the Biennale announced the new funding raising initiative, ArtSeen, directed at young art lovers. Donations of $500 will enable supporters to gain exclusive access to a year-round program of artist-led events, performances, and discussions in the year before the festival. Cotter, said the MCA was 'a longstanding partner and supporter of the Biennale of Sydney, and we are delighted to be program partner for the 25th edition in 2026'. 'Hoor Al Qasimi is a globally renowned curator, and we are excited to see her Biennale for Sydney as artistic director.'
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Major gallery misses out as Sydney's biggest arts festival heads west
'I respect the work of [MCA director] Suzanne Cotter and [chair] Lorraine Tarabay,' she said. 'For me, the work I'm really trying to do is a lot of community engagement and I want to be in places where I can reach new audiences.' The Biennale's theme was inspired by Al Qasimi's father's work as a historian. He is Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi the ruler of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and founder of the Sharjah Biennial, through which Al Qasimi established her international reputation as a curator. 'Rather than focusing on linear storytelling, I hope to highlight how we can become active participants in retelling our collective stories by revisiting and reinterpreting past events,' Al Qasimi said. 'I really wanted to have a title that could connect differently with people. The idea could be the rememory of a certain location or place, the rememory of certain moments in an individual's life, or certain moments that have happened like computer culture. The title is wide enough to encompass a lot of stories without limiting it to one voice.' The biennale is being planned at a febrile time in the arts world, amid turmoil in the Middle East and in the aftermath of a controversial decision to cancel artist Khaled Sabsabi from the Venice Biennale. Sabsabi is a Biennale of Sydney board member. Al Qasimi said the work by Biennale artists would not directly touch on the war in Gaza, unless tangentially in artists' explorations of colonisation and occupation. The biennial would not focus on 'one moment' but 'what is the right project for the right space and for the right place, for example White Bay'. 'I'm really trying to make sure that the building is part of the exhibition rather than just an exhibition space,' she said. Packing Room Prize winner Abdul Abdullah, Yaritji Young, Marian Abboud, Dennis Golding, and Warraba Weatherall will be among the Australian artists to exhibit alongside international artists including the Gaza-born, Paris-based Palestinian multidisciplinary artist, Taysir Batniji. 'I'm really excited about Deirdre O'Mahony, an Irish artist who has worked a lot around agriculture and food sustainability,' Al Qasimi said. 'I've invited Merilyn Fairskye and Michiel Dolk, they were the same artists who painted the eight murals on the railway pylons [at Woolloomooloo reserve] to come together to paint a new piece.' Create NSW has committed $1.6 million to support the 25th Biennale. Some 771,000 people attended the 2024 edition, Ten Thousand Suns, in a record-breaking run over three months and six sites, including White Bay. Last month the Biennale announced the new funding raising initiative, ArtSeen, directed at young art lovers. Donations of $500 will enable supporters to gain exclusive access to a year-round program of artist-led events, performances, and discussions in the year before the festival. Cotter, said the MCA was 'a longstanding partner and supporter of the Biennale of Sydney, and we are delighted to be program partner for the 25th edition in 2026'. 'Hoor Al Qasimi is a globally renowned curator, and we are excited to see her Biennale for Sydney as artistic director.'
Time Out
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This unusual portrait of Sydney artist Jason Phu just won the 2025 Packing Room Prize
The Art Gallery of NSW has been filling up with famous faces as it gears up for the 2025 edition of Australia's favourite annual art event, the Archibald Prize for portraiture, which will open to the public next weekend. But the announcement of the so-called 'face that stops the nation' that will win the main prize will have to wait, because the winner of the much-loved Packing Room Prize has just been announced. Abdul Abdullah has taken out the popular prize with his portrait of fellow artist and friend Jason Phu. Valued at $3000, the Packing Room Prize is awarded to the best entry in the Archibald Prize as judged by the Art Gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries. Abdullah's portrait, titled 'No mountain high enough', marks his seventh time as an Archibald finalist and was selected from 57 finalists in this year's exhibition. He has also been a finalist in the Wynne and Sulman Prizes multiple times. (Get a better look at the full painting over here.) Alexis Wildman, senior installation officer and member of the Art Gallery's Packing Room team, says that the Packing Room Pickers were instantly drawn to Abdullah's painting. He continued: 'Both [Abdul and Jason] are accomplished artists whose works have a distinct style and engage with complex social and cultural themes using wit and cartoonish references. The team holds great respect for the way both Abdul and Jason have progressed in their careers.' 'On a technical level, this portrait is very well painted. It really captures the essence of the subject with the image of a lone ranger, an intrepid jokester or a quiet hero navigating the rocky terrain of today's social climate. This immediately sparked conversation among the Packing Room team,' said Wildman. On receiving the news, Abdullah shared his excitement, saying that he sees the Packing Room Prize as 'a sort of community prize'. He added: 'The Packing Room team, which is made up of professional art handlers – many of whom are artists themselves – get to pick a painting they like. I am so glad they picked this one. It's kind of like an artists' pick, and I'm extra happy for that.' Born in Perth, Abdullah is a multidisciplinary artist now based between Melbourne and Bangkok. A seventh-generation Muslim Australian of Malay, Indonesian and European heritage, his practice often investigates narratives of displacement and the reality of lived experience. His paintings often merge more traditional, hyperrealistic landscapes with cartoonish doodles in order to poke fun and make provocative commentary around the business of art and modern Australian society (like in this one that you might have spotted hanging on a wall at the Art Gallery). Speaking about his choice of sitter, Abdullah said: 'Jason is my best friend. We talk on the phone every day, he was the best man at my wedding, and we have travelled together. I've painted him as I see him, as a ceaseless adventurer who at any one time is involved in a dozen conversations on a dozen different platforms, bringing his unique perspective to one flummoxed friend or another.' Jason Phu is a Sydney-born artist whose practice brings together a wide range of references, from traditional ink paintings and calligraphy to readymade objects, everyday vernacular, ancient folklore, personal narratives and historical events, often imbued with satire and humour. (I'll never forget his hilarious and haunting installation at Carriageworks as part of The National in 2023, featuring a ton of crudely-rigged animatronic frogs.) Phu has also been a previous finalist in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, and is himself a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize for his portrait of actor Hugo Weaving. This year, the Art Gallery received 2394 entries across the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, the second-highest number of combined entries received in the history of the three prizes and eclipsed only by the 2020 record year, which was delayed due to the pandemic. The Archibald Prize itself received 904 entries, and 57 finalists were selected for exhibition. Fun fact: this year also marks the first time there are more finalist works by women artists across the three competitions.
AU Financial Review
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
Art Gallery of NSW gives its ‘kiss of death' award
The Packing Room Prize – jokingly known as the 'kiss of death' award because no winner has gone on to claim the associated Archibald Prize – has been won by Abdul Abdullah. The Perth-born, Bangkok-based artist – a seventh-generation Australian who is also a Muslim – won the $3000 prize after his painting of friend and fellow artist Jason Phu was selected by the Art Gallery of NSW's 40-strong packing and installation team.
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Archibald 2025 Packing Room Prize won by Abdul Abdullah for portrait of Jason Phu
Abdul Abdullah has won the Packing Room Prize at this year's Archibald Prize for No mountain high enough, his portrait of Jason Phu. Abdullah is a six-time finalist in the Archibald Prize, with a self-portrait among the finalists in 2023. He is one of 57 finalists for this year's prize, held annually at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW). Since 1991, the Packing Room Prize, worth $3,000, has been chosen by the Art Gallery of NSW staff who handle the portraits in the gallery's packing room. Past winners of the Packing Room Prize include portraits of Other finalists for the $100,000 Archibald Prize include portraits of The finalists for the $50,000 Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture, and the $40,000 Sulman Prize for a genre or subject painting or mural, were also announced on Thursday. The runs May 10-August 17 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Winners will be announced on Friday May 9. Loading
