The Blake Prize for Religious Art

It is with great pleasure that Clarence City Council hosts the 60th annual Blake Prize Touring Exhibition for Religious and Spiritual Art at the Rosny Farm.

Established in 1951, the Blake Prize is the oldest national art prize dedicated to spirituality, religion and cultural diversity. The theme and enduring nature of the Blake Prize has made it as well known to Australians as the Archibald Prize for portraiture. It is also a benchmark for artistic professional development, exposing the works of living contemporary artists to thousands of art lovers and collectors. The touring exhibition, which contains paintings, prints, drawings and new media works, is renowned for providing an opportunity for artists to be a catalyst for social debate.

Clarence City Council is for the first time presenting the Blake Prize across both the Rosny Barn and Schoolhouse Gallery from 12 May to June 17. There will also feature a range of satellite events including the launch of The Blake Book by Rosemary Crumlin, an Artist’s Forum on art and spirituality, a free bus tour exploring Pugin Architecture in surrounding churches and a floor talk on Blake and his mysticism.

“Australia is multi-cultural and multi-belief. Religion is no longer a politically incorrect subject of conversation, and, as this exhibition shows, religious questions of birth and death, justice, suffering and love, are often tackled with gusto and passion by those who enter, by those who judge and by those in the Blake Society whose vision has kept the exhibition of vital concern.

There is something essentially Australian in the vigour of the art over these years – a kind of directness and honesty, fearless even brash. It is for those who come to confront the same life questions or to stand silently and attentively before what they see.”

Rosemary Crumlin – Author, The Blake Book.

The entries for this year’s Blake Prize reflect a diverse number of perspectives on religious imagination in Australia. In particular, many of the works invite the viewer to enter into and experience different religious practices and universes, helping to cause the unknown to become familiar and demystifying the esoteric.

The winning work – Naqshbandi Greenacre engagement, a three-channel video installation by Khaled Sabsadi – requires the viewer to enter and participate in a space of traditional Islamic Sufi ritual within contemporary Australia. This space is both sacred and mundane, a place of worship and of coming together of family and community.

• The 60th Annual Blake Prize for Religious and Spiritual Art is showing from May 12-June 17 at the Rosny Farm, Rosny Hill Road.
• Gallery Hours 11 – 4 Tues – Fri, 12 – 4 Sat & Sun.
• To find out more and/or to book a place on the Puget Architecture Bus Tour visit www.ccc.tas.gov.au sign up to the Arts and Events eNewsletter by emailing artsandevents@ccc.tas.gov.au or find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/rosnyfarm

About the Blake Society
The Blake Society aims to encourage contemporary artists to explore the spiritual in art.
– Established in 1951.
– Recognised charitable fund with DGR status.
– Is non-sectarian with no affiliation to any established religion.
– Host a national art prize and touring exhibition.
– Promotes religious and cultural diversity by fostering artistic and religious discourse.
– www.blakeprize.com.au

The Blake Prize for Religious Art is presented by the Blake Society and Clarence City Council.
Dane Hunnerup Arts & Events Support Officer, Clarence City Council