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SITUATE, International Sculpture Competition for Perth, Australia

Deadline: May 20, 2009

Situate is an international sculpture competition for Perth, Western Australia. Forrest Place, which is the location of a proposed major multi-million dollar upgrade, has been announced as the site for the artwork.

Situate has been designed to encourage innovative partnerships between creative minds from a range of disciplines.

AUD$1million is being offered for an artwork to transform the city landscape and represents a new challenge to public art and its interaction with the built environment in WA.

The art of city-making is a challenge for all those concerned with contemporary urban life. Cities need to constantly reinvent themselves. Their capacity to renew and regenerate is linked to their vitality and their overall viability.

The redevelopment of Forrest Place is a significant event in the life of the City of Perth. Once completed, it will consolidate its position as the premier civic space within the city. The scale and ambition of the art commission reflects the significance of Forrest Place to the people of Perth and recognises the important role that art plays in defining the city’s image and identity.

The Department of Culture and the Arts is the government agency responsible for delivering the sculpture project. With the support of the City of Perth, the site was secured as part of the revitalisation of the city centre. Expectations for the project are high, given the central location and prestigious nature of the site. The Department therefore has chosen to select the artwork through a competition that opens the challenge to the most creative and capable artists and design professionals from around the world.

It is anticipated that the commission budget will attract a high standard of entries and allow for the ambition, scale and quality of materials required for such a significant location. The competition process will identify a multidisciplinary team that brings originality and design excellence to the project, as well as the technical capacity to deliver an artwork of this scale and complexity on time and within budget.

Western Australian Culture and the Arts Minister John Day said this competition would produce a unique work, designed to challenge how we think of sculptures in public spaces.
A work of this integrity in the heart of the city will help raise the profile of sculpture in WA, the Minister said.

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said Forrest Place was the ideal location for such a significant piece of sculpture.
"It is our city's civic heart and the place in which so many important events have occurred over the years", Ms Scaffidi said.

The competition will be run in three stages. Firstly, concept entries will be assessed by an independent jury. Five shortlisted entrants will then be paid a design fee to develop their entries and then the winner will be announced.

The competition will be assessed by an independent jury of professionals in the fields of art, architecture and urban design. An exhibition of shortlisted entries will be held when the winner is announced.

Deadline: 20 May 2009

For more information, please visit: www.situate.dca.wa.gov.au

Contact:
[email protected]

http://www.situate.dca.wa.gov.au