Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Art is a natural complement to our society. It reflects our values, our ideals—in short, it reflects us. Our cultural identities, as vast and as different as they are, all find a place in our art. From our books and films to our music and plays, art holds a pivotal role in opening up new ideas and understanding for the artist and the audience. In short, art moves us. We should never think that art and culture hold merely an aesthetic purpose. Artists are workers too, forming part of our economy. Working artists support themselves and the economy through the sale of art, the holding of festivals and shows and also through the spurring on of creativity. The support we give to culture and the arts returns to us in the growth of our communities and our wealth. The support given to the creativity and ideas of artists can be viewed in the innovation and success of our economy.

This evening I rise to speak about visual art, in particular the current South Australia Living Artists Festival, otherwise known as SALA, which is held right across South Australian communities, including in my own electorate of Kingston. The SALA Festival was born of artists and is now a yearly program that sits firmly on the South Australian calendar. The SALA Festival is an illustration of great South Australian creativity and expression, giving space for artists to display their work and providing the opportunity for people right around the state to engage with it.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of opening one of the exhibitions for the festival at Shivers restaurant in Aldinga. On display were works of artists with a range of experience and ages, including David Parle, Helen McArthur, 20-year-old Rani, Sharon Pitman and Sue Taylor. These artists come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experience, and there was a variety of artworks—some were sketches, some were oil paintings. There was a range of beautiful and wonderful paintings there, and I was very pleased to be part of it. I am quite familiar with Sharon’s work in particular, as she often displays in the local area and also teaches others about painting and about expression in their art. This event was sponsored by local sponsors, and I would like to place on the record thanks to Minko Wines, the Olive Shop and Spice Girlz in McLaren Vale, because access to this gallery was free. It is a really important part of the SALA Festival that you can access the art for free.

I was also lucky to attend another SALA exhibition at Waverly Homestead in Willunga. This exhibition was put on by STARS, the Southern Theatre and Arts Supporters. This was a different type of visual art. It was the work of ‘Igora’ Lucyna Opala, hand crafted felt which had been made out of wool and silk. It included beautiful shawls, wall hangings and scarves. One thing that Igora mentioned was that they were all made with intense creativity and an intense amount of love. They were bold and beautiful works, and you could see appreciation on the faces of everyone who attended the exhibition. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank STARS for their support of this exhibition and also for the support they give to other artists all year round in ensuring that we in the southern suburbs of Adelaide get to see a whole range of wonderful expressions of art. I only wish that I was able to attend more of these events across the year.

As I mentioned, the SALA Festival aims to make art accessible to everyone. All SALA events are completely free of charge. As the exhibition continues until 23 August, it will display over 2, 700 artists across 500 venues. Almost 20 of these are in my electorate. This is an incredibly exciting project for South Australia. It supports creativity and innovation in South Australia, and I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the SALA Festival. I think it is a wonderful program and I will certainly support it for many years to come.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 9.00 pm, the debate is interrupted.