The Walters Prize Speakers Series | Guests of the Artists

At Alert Level 4, this event is regrettably postponed. Please see our latest COVID-19 updates here.

Come along to hear Dr Elizabeth Aitken Rose as she gives an informed talk on the public architecture of swimming pools featured in Sonya Lacey’s Walters Prize nominated work, Weekend. She will be speaking from her field of research and in consideration with the capacity of contemporary art to talk to our social and spatial histories.

“There are so many layers in this exquisite work. Leisure time for working people… producing the print for the national newspaper... what did the swimming pool mean to them? And now, their work transformed in the evolving online world? Do public swimming pools matter? And is there worth in contemporary artworks referencing history?”

Dr Elizabeth Aitken Rose is a Senior Lecturer in the University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning. She is an urban planner specialising in history, theory and cultural policy – including the creative arts and heritage. Meanwhile, promoting the participation of the young in civic life.

Dr Adrian Vickers joins us virtually from Sydney, Australia in conversation with Curator, Natasha Conland. Vickers will speak on the work of Sriwhana Spong in connection with previous  generations in Indonesian artists. Sriwhana Spong’s work reflects on her grandfather, Gusti Made Rundu. Vickers will discuss Gusti Rundu’s history, how he emerged as an artist in the 1930s, and the cultural and social contexts of Balinese art under Dutch colonialism. Balinese artists of the 1930s created a modern out of traditional forms. Their innovative and original ways of working have been continued by younger generations, demonstrating the resilience of Balinese culture.

Professor Adrian Vickers researches and publishes on the cultural history of Southeast Asia at the University of Sydney. As part of an Australian Research Council grant on the history of Balinese painting, he created a virtual museum, continuing previous pioneering work in eResearch and teaching. His books include the highly popular Bali: A Paradise Created (2012), The Pearl Frontier: Indonesian Labor and Indigenous Encounters in Australia's Northern Trading Network (2015, with Associate Professor Julia Martínez, funded by an ARC Discovery Project Grant), A History of Modern Indonesia (2013) and Balinese Art: Paintings and Drawings of Bali, 1800-2010 (2012).

Image credit:

Picture 1 Adrian Vickers: Provided by Adrian Vickers  

Picture 2 Elizabeth Aitken Rose: Provided by Elizabeth Aitken Rose