Students and teachers are invited to imagine what it would be like to mount an exhibition of artworks which represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2011 – one of the major events on the international contemporary art calendar. Students will select and curate five of their classmate’s artworks to best represent their school. Entries will be submitted on the ABC Radio National Pool website.

The uploaded exhibitions can be viewed by all schools involved in the project, and students and teachers can leave comments about each exhibition to encourage discussion, debate around the artworks and concepts put forward by each school.

The most innovative exhibition will be selected by the Venice Biennale Education Advisory Panel and Felicity Fenner, the curator of Once Removed, a group show currently on exhibition at the 2009 Venice Biennale. In addition to national exposure, the school with the chosen exhibition will receive a Venice Biennale back-catalogue collection for their school library and an exclusive workshop and artmaking experience with acclaimed arts educator, Dr. Margaret Baguley, Chair of the Australia Council’s 2009 Venice Biennale Art Education K-12 Resource

Dr. Baguley’s contribution to quality learning and teaching has been recognised through a series of awards including the Australian Learning and Teaching Council’s National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, the 2007 UTAS Teaching Excellence Award and the 2005 UTAS Mentoring Award.

The Venice Biennale Schools Art Project runs in conjunction with the 2009 Venice Biennale Art Education K-12 Resource – a collaboration between the Australia Council, The College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales (COFA) and Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University.

‘Expanding the Venice Biennale art education resource to incorporate a rich interactive component like Pool is very exciting. Through this project, we want students to explore issues that are important to them through their creativity and artworks,’ said Sandra Bender, Venice Biennale 2009 Project Director and Executive Director of Arts Development at Australia Council.

‘ABC Radio National’s Pool website is a great fit for this initiative. The interactivity generated through the Pool platform is perfect for students to collaborate and create some incredible work.  The results will be very exciting.’

‘ABC Radio National and the Pool community is delighted to host students’ contributions for the Venice Biennale Schools Art Project and we look forward to the development of an active creative space for young artists,’ said Sherre Delys, Executive Producer, Pool.

For more information on how to get started in the Venice Biennale Australian Schools Art Project visit: https://pool.org.au/content/venice_biennale_australian_schools_call_out or visit the 2009 Venice Biennale Art Education hub www.australiavenicebiennale.com.au/education-hub

Final submission date is 30 October with the selected school to be announced on 12 November 2009.

The Australia Council for the Arts has managed and funded Australia’s representation at the Venice Biennale for more than 30 years. Past Australian representatives have included Sir Sydney Nolan (1954), Imants Tillers (1986), Arthur Boyd (1988), Judy Watson, Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1997), Howard Arkley (1999), Patricia Piccinini (2003), Ricky Swallow (2005), Susan Norrie, Daniel Von Sturmer and Callum Morton (2007).

Media contact: Victoria McClelland-Fletcher 02 9215 9008