At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are open 12–5pm. Our exhibitions are always free.

2006

Yes it is that time of the year – when PICA fills every conceivable space within its vast walls with the very latest from Australia’s most emerging, contemporary artists.


PICA’s annual HATCHED: National Graduate Show gives art school graduates from around Australia the opportunity to break out of their shell, or at least the sheltered confines of their respective academies, and exhibit their work in the public arena and indeed within one of the country’s leading contemporary art spaces.


They are the pick of the crop, hand selected by their institutions to take part in a national exhibition of eighteen years standing and to exhibit alongside their peers from every state and territory. Fifty-eight artists from twenty art schools are represented in this year’s HATCHED and many of them, and their lecturers or Heads of School, make their way to Perth for the HATCHED opening and associated symposium.


It is an ideal time for networking, making new connections and sharing thoughts on the latest in contemporary art production and education. In fact PICA is delighted that Noel Frankham, Professor of Art and Head of School, Tasmanian School of Art, University ofTasmania has agreed to open HATCHED 06 and participate in its associated symposium. This year the HATCHED Symposium will tackle some key issues facing art schools today, particularly those within Universities that are focussed on research outcomes.


HATCHED 06 certainly provides us with a taste of the future for contemporary art in this country and it unsurprisingly encompasses almost every conceivable art form. Painting, print-making, drawing, photography, video, sound, sculpture, installation and fibre and textile work are all represented, as are many hybrid versions of these.


A brief survey of the works in this year’s show reveals two interesting areas of focus for these recent graduates, that of the body and/or one’s identity and that of differing notions of perception. Our HATCHED 06 artists have used the theoretical, practical and research skills gained through their three, four or more years of study to great effect. They have examined and challenged the varied worlds of gender and sexuality, as well as those of the outsider, the abused and the sub-cultured. They have explored the physicality of the body, using it not only as a subject of their works but also as a means with which works are experienced. They have played with the fine line between reality and illusion, challenging the way we see or interact with our surroundings.


It is no wonder then that HATCHED is one of PICA’s most popular shows for the year, and particularly with primary and secondary school students keen to see what their tertiary counterparts are up to. This year PICA is once again presenting our successful Hatched for Schools Program. Designed for students of all ages, this program offers free activities including guided school visits, a teachers’ professional development session and education kit. Thank you to Felena Alach for her informed and valuable work on this program.