Samstag’s Kudlila Season Opening

We warmly invite you to join us for Samstag’s Kudlila Season opening event featuring two contemporary exhibitions by Australian artists Mel O’Callaghan and Julie Blyfield, offering insights into marine ecosystems and the capacity of life forms to endure and evolve.

Mel O’Callaghan: Centre of the Centre

Centre of the Centre is a major new commission by artist Mel O’Callaghan that traces the origins of life and its regenerative forces investigating the elemental template of life on Earth, iterated through video, performance, and sculpture.

Respire, Respire, a performance devised by O’Callaghan, will be presented at the opening in which attendants will use trance-induction techniques, engaging in cyclical breathing, and potentially triggering altered states of consciousness including ecstasy.

Julie Blyfield: flowers of the sea

In a new body of large-scale copper objects, Julie Blyfield¬ a South Australian metal artist with a practice spanning 35 years, investigates the unique red seaweeds found along the coast of southern Australia.

Shown as a sculptural installation in a darkened gallery space, Blyfield’s work references 19th-century specimen albums and highlights the fragility of our precious marine environment and the elements that threaten and sustain them. Commissioned and presented by Samstag for SALA Festival.

Opening event (including the performance Respire, Respire)

Thursday 30 June, 5pm—7pm

Samstag Museum

Image: Julie Blyfield, flowers of the sea, 2022 detail, bi-metal-copper/sterling silver heat coloured, wax sealant. Courtesy the artist. Photography Grant Hancock.