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Due to the generosity of our supporter:

BigCi Korean Musicians Group Captures the Hearts of Sydney Audiences
January 2013

A group of traditional Korean performance artists, Yessen, (click to see more), performed for a wide variety of audiences while on their BigCi residency.

This included a concert for the children at Bilpin Primary School, two collaborative and improvisational evenings at Sound Bites Lounge in Katoomba, an RBM 89.1 radio interview and presentation, a Red Cross party for 400, performances in Korean temples and churches, a Korean Society event, a gig at Sydney’s Now Now festival of contemporary music, a collaborative concert with Australian jazz musicians at the Hibernian House in Sydney, and even a performance during a concrete pour of the slab of the future BigCi pavilion.

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BigCi Artistic Director Presents at Res Artis International Conference in Tokyo, Japan

In November 2012, Rae and Yuri Bolotin attended Res Artis conference in Tokyo, Japan. The conference lasted almost a week and attracted visitors representing artist residencies programs from around the world.  It was a most inspirational event. The speakers shared their views, ideas and vision about the ways residencies should be structured and run in order to support the latest in contemporary art practice.

Rae Bolotin, BigCi Artistic Director, did a talk at micro-residency session of the conference at Youkobo Art Space. She presented BigCi, what we have done so far and what we are planning to do in the future. She was humbled and excited by the enthusiastic feedback from the audience and is now even more inspired to make BigCi an amazing place for the artists to come to.

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National Art School 2012 BigCi Scholarship Awarded

Second year in the row, BigCi awarded a Scholarship for the National Art School BFA (Honours) graduate. This year, our recipient is Kiata Mason. Kiata’s previous achievements include being shortlisted for the Dobell Prize for Drawing, 2012 and the Blake Prize for the Religious and Spiritual in Art, 2011.

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Yuri Completes Full Wollemi National Park Traverse

Over 18 days in September 2012, Yuri Bolotin, one of BigCi Principals, together with two other fellow bushwalkers, has completed the first in history Wollemi Full North to South Traverse.  The Traverse took the group through the heart of Wollemi Wilderness, the largest declared wilderness area in Australia.  It is a harsh and unforgiving environment consisting of wild gorges, thick scrub, high cliffs, vast majority of it off track.

The overall objective was to walk from the northernmost point of Wollemi National Park, all the way to the southernmost point at Kurrajong (near BigCi), whilst always remaining within the Park boundaries.  Nearly 2 years went into preparation and planning of this adventure. The full Traverse took 279km in distance and 12,627m of ascent to complete.

Yuri is currently in the process of writing a book about this journey.  He is delighted to share some of his exploration experience and knowledge of the bush with BigCi residents interested in nature, environment and wild places.

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Carlotta Brunetti’s Master Class A Big Success

On Sunday, 7^th October 2012, BigCi ran a very special event: ‘Master Class – The Practice and Challenges of Site-Specific Land Art’ conducted by internationally renowned Italian born, German based land artist Carlotta Brunetti.

Carlotta is a recipient of numerous scholarships and prizes; she exhibited her work widely around the world including ‘Land Art and Contemporain’, France; I-Park, USA; Istanbul Biennale, Turkey; Guandu Nature Park, Taiwan; ‘Humus Park’ Land Art Meeting, Pordenone, Italy; Geumgang Nature Art Pre- Biennale, South Korea and many others.

Carlotta was artist-in-residence at BigCi at the beginning of 2012. She formed a special connection with this extraordinary land on the edge of the WollemiNational Park and created a site-specific work here.

Master Class presented a unique opportunity for the artists and art professionals to learn from her extraordinary knowledge of site-specific land art. It included both theory and hands on practical workshop on the beautiful grounds of BigCi.  The event was well attended by sculptors, land art educators and architects.

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Inaugural Open Day
On the 1^st of April 2012 BigCi (Bilpin international ground for Creative initiatives) held its first Open Day. Over 60 people came, many from far away, and it really felt like a very special event, a beginning of the vision to provide an inspirational place for artists and their creative initiatives.

Rae Bolotin, Creative Director of BigCi, shared with the audience how the idea of BigCi originated, what has been achieved so far and the plans for the future. She explained the criteria for artists to apply (see Application Form under Artist Residency) and how supporters can get involved (see Get Involved).

Carlotta Brunetti, a German/Italian land artist, delivered a highly visual lecture on light and colour in landscape. She also talked about the process of creating the site specific work for BigCi, how her preconceived ideas changed when she arrived here and the difficulties she experienced when faced with inclement weather and physical restrictions..

Wally McGregor, the winner of BigCi Scholarship for National Art School BFA (honours) graduate, spoke wittily about his experience during his artist residency program.

After the speeches, Yuri Bolotin took an enthusiastic group of explorers for a walk around the property and to see Carlotta’s work in situ.

The weather was in its most brilliant and the picnic that followed was most enjoyable.

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Powerhouse Museum International Artists Visit
DECEMBER 2011

In September this year Lindie Ward, Curator of the ‘International Lace Award’ at the Powerhouse Museum visited BigCi along with exhibiting artists from the exhibition – Ulrika Berge, Sweden; Andrea Eimke, Cook Islands; Noelle Hamlyn, Canada and Lauran Sundin, USA. Our visitors inspected the artist studio, mud brick house and surrounding property and were fascinated by the beautiful Australian bush landscape. Hopefully we will see them again as artists in residency at BigCi at some point in the future.

The ‘International Lace Award’ will be at thePowerhouseMuseuminSydney until April 2012.