Setting the Stage

Overview

For the second consecutive year, the Brisbane International Film Festival returns to GOMA for 11 nights of cinematic fun. That means plenty of movies, obviously — and, until March 22, 2020, it also means a new mixed-media exhibition called Setting the Stage.

The idea behind this showcase is simple: while sets, props, costumes and the like all form an important part of theatre productions, they're just as crucial in other creative realms, such as film. The gallery isn't just honing its focus on two types of art, however, with the exhibition exploring work by artists who uses performative spaces and elements across cinema, video art, photography, painting and sculpture.

Free to attend, standout pieces include Hetain Patel's Don't Look at the Finger, which tasks its characters with acting out a wedding ceremony in a distinctive fashion — and Sharif Waked's To be continued…, which favours an obvious minimalist approach. Or, you can check out Tracey Moffatt's short film Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy, which uses the stage in a purposeful way — and expands the multidisciplinary ethos of the exhibition by nodding to Albert Namatjira's watercolours as well.

Image: Hetain Patel. United Kingdom. b.1980. Don't Look at the Finger (still) 2017. Courtesy: The artist / © Hetain Pate.