The Department of Tourism and Culture’s Araluen Arts Centre is excited to announce its Season 2018 program, bringing some of Australia’s leading cultural events and icons to the Red Centre.

Director of the Araluen Cultural Precinct Dr Mark Crees said in 2018 the Araluen Arts Centre brings to Alice Springs some of the very best performing arts from across the country as well as showcasing nationally renowned festivals and art prizes such as the much-loved Beanie Festival, record-breaking Desert Mob and the 40th Alice Prize.

“Whether you love theatre, contemporary dance, music, cinema, tributes, ballet, or family performances, Araluen again ensures that Alice Springs audiences are able to enjoy what the rest of the country experiences right here in our beautiful 500-seat theatre.

“Beginning with the critically acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre and including other flagship companies such as The Australian Ballet and Bell Shakespeare, the 2018 program will delight audiences from March onwards. Movie buffs will also be delighted that Flickerfest is again returning to the Araluen Circus Lawns.”

“We are thrilled to be bringing some of the most entertaining musical performances to Alice Springs, with crooner Mikelangelo and internationally celebrated pianist Roger Woodward returning to our stage, and welcoming the Sydney International Piano Competition runner-up Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev and The String Contingent to the Red Centre. Those looking for something more upbeat can enjoy the RnB beats of Tiwi Island performers B2M.

“We also have an exciting theatre program that includes three new Australian theatre works touring to Alice Springs this year: Thomas Murray and the Upside Down River written by the screenwriter of Last Cab to Darwin, Reg Cribb, Letters to Lindy, a powerhouse play of warmth, humour and heartbreak that explores the national fascination with Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, and Hannie Rayson’s warm, self-effacing and hilarious Hello, Beautiful!

“In 2018, the Araluen Arts Centre will pay tribute to Fred Astaire and Patsy Cline in two delightful interstate productions and welcomes world-renown Australian Dance Theatre’s compelling and spell-binding work The Beginning of Nature.”

“A focus of 2018 is the family program with the stage adaptations of children’s book Josephine Wants to Dance, nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle, and the beloved Dot and the Kangaroo set amongst spectacular 3D projections and breathtaking aerial acrobatics, and this year a special school holiday program in October with circus and Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine,” said Dr Crees.
          

The Araluen Galleries will once again feature on the national stage, hosting the prestigious 40th Alice Prize, which this year has been raised to $40,000, the quirky Alice Springs Beanie Festival, this year set to the theme of reaching for the stars, and Araluen’s signature event Desert Mob - one of the most significant expressions of Aboriginal art and culture in the nation.

“Desert Mob smashed all its previous records in 2017 with 10,000 people in attendance and $1 million worth of sales being recorded from the exhibition and the ever-popular MarketPlace art fair,” Dr Crees said.

“This resounding success demonstrates the vitality of contemporary Aboriginal art from the Central Australian region and the importance of Desert Mob as both tourist magnet and economic driver for remote communities.”

The Araluen Galleries will also host a number of touring exhibitions in 2018 that will showcase contemporary Australian art to both Central Australians and visitors.

“We are pleased to be able to present a number of touring exhibitions this year opening with Clay Stories, a touring exhibition of contemporary ceramics from a diverse from of artists such as Ernabella Arts and the Hermannsburg Potters, as well as Punuku Tjukurpa. We’ll also welcome an exhibition by Maruku Arts on Anangu story, law and culture as told through intricate punu carvings, artworks and artefacts. Fecund: Fertile Worlds, an exhibition curated by Katherine based Clare Armitage will round out the year, as well as the inaugural Artback NT SPARK NT Curator recipient, Krisian Laemmle-Ruff’s Woomera, and Michael Cook’s nationally celebrated Undiscovered,” Dr Crees said.

“We are also excited to have local artists return with new works in 2018, such as the Greenbush Arts Group, who return after their highly successful first solo exhibition at Araluen last year, and Jennifer Taylor, who will present a new exhibition created as part of her Creative in Residence program at Araluen last year.

“And of course, our own curated Araluen Art Collection exhibitions will continue throughout the year with their focus on artwork that responds to Central Australia, featuring work by watercolourist Albert Namatjira, key works that showcase the beginning and development of the contemporary Aboriginal Art movement, and significant works by Australian artists, this year welcoming our newest acquisition by world-renown Sir Sidney Nolan.”

The full Season 2018 program will be available in the Centralian Advocate this Friday 2 February or online at www.araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au. To book tickets and check dates, visit the website or phone the box office on (08) 8951 1122.

Media interview
Araluen Cultural Precinct Director, Dr Mark Crees 08 8951 1126