In February 2022, Culture Plus, in partnership with the Embassy of France in Australia, the Alliance Française de Sydney and the Art Gallery of NSW, organised the first eloquence contest at the Art Gallery of NSW as a way to reinforce cultural exchanges between France and Australia. This year, the contest is back, tackling the theme of art and the environment.
Cultureplus is a non-profit company organising talks, events and weekend getaways to immerse yourself in Art, History, and French & Australian Culture.
The concept behind the Eloquence art prize is to reward the best 15-minute art talk given by a university student from one of the top five Australian Universities, in front of a jury composed of leading Australian arts professionals. Art students have been selected through a three stage process and each university champions will participate in the Grand Final. The Grand Final will provide some of the most engaging art talks in he country.
The Art Prize seeks to reward excellence in art history and provide unforgettable career opportunities to participants. Prizes vary from one year to another but can include entry into a summer program at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, including payment of flights and accomodation, mentoring sessions and french lessons with Alliances Francaises Australia.
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Prior to the prize ceremony this year, a documentary screening and panel discussion evening will take place on the 27th of September at the Kambri Theatre, ANU.
The event will feature the screening of award-winning 2021 French fim Once You Know, followed by the world première of a short 10′ film on its Golden Plan wind farm project. The film is an Australian “world premiere”, produced by students from the Academy of Film, Theatre and Television.
Following these thought-provoking films, stay for a panel discussion featuring the following speakers:
- Joe Harber, Director, Head of Wind Investments at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), a governmental organisation that finances renewable energy projects (but not only).
- Rob Gordon, outgoing CEO of Sunrice, Board Director of Inghams and member of Inghams sustainability committee, who will bring the point of view of an Australian corporate company
- Fiona Veikkanen, Executive Director, Canberra Environment Centre, an organisation that promotes pragmatic everyday actions for every one.
- Virginia Rigney, Head curator at Canberra Museum And Gallery, in conversation with Alex Boynes, artist and curator at Canberra Contemporary Space and also moderator for the evening.
