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| Artist of the Year Caroline Stacey, photo Silas Brown |
The 2012 Canberra Critics’ Circle consists of Meredith Hinchliffe, Kerry-Anne Cousins, Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak, Bill Stephens, Samara Purnell, Michelle Potter, Len Power, Alanna Maclean, Frank McKone, Joe Woodward, Simone Penkethman, Glenn Burns, Malcolm Miller, Peter Wilkins, Clinton White, Ian McLean, Helen Musa, Kelli-Anne Moore, Cris Kennedy, Simon Weaving and Stella Wilkie
As the convener, I reminded those present that the Circle, which expands and contracts according to whoever the practising critics in print and broadcast media at that time. I also spoke of the spirit in which the awards are made—not by fixed category, though unlike other critics’ circles, which focus on performing arts, we award artists in literature, film, musicals, dance, visual art, music and theatre.
The principle is that the critics of the day will “spot” something outstanding in the previous year, always 30 September to 30 September—something original, creative, inspiration or technically brilliant.
During the ceremony, organised by the circle with the generous support of hosts The Canberra Museum and Gallery, MC Peter Robinson spoke with tongue in cheek admiration about the acuity of our critical judgements, putting the large crowd of key artists and arts community members at ease.
Evidence of that acuity can be seen in the following complete list of awards and citations.
The 2012 Canberra Critics’ Circle Awards were as follows:
Film
For Blue World Order, a futuristic action film largely shot at Yarralumla Woolshed, where a quintessentially Australian location was invested with sinister tension.
Presented to
Dallas Bland
Film
For Always the Son, a seven-minute short film made with an iPhone camera and an additional lens. For their creative use of Canberra Institute of Technology media staff and students, Canberra actors Ian Croker and Dallas Bland and Canberra musician Aaron Peacey.
Presented to
Christian Doran and John Frohlich
Film
For Dancing Auschwitz, a short documentary film made in Australia and on location in Auschwitz. For his sensitive blend of scenes from ordinary suburban life with the grim imagery of the death camp to create a picture of a survivor's triumph over persecution.
Presented to
Kris Kerehona
Writing
For Coda for Shirley, a novella in verse which, as the sequel to his verse novel, Lawrie & Shirley: The Final Cadenza, achieves a sardonic yet moving tone through the demanding medium of elegantly turned rhyming verse.
Presented to
Geoff Page
Writing
For The Biggest Estate on Earth, an extraordinary, radical new look at the history of Australia that has the capacity to reorient our perception of pre-invasion Aboriginal society.
Presented to
Bill Gammage
Writing
For One False Move, a riveting, bestselling military history yarn, the story of a small team of Australians who specialised in defusing mines in and around Britain in World War II, based on previously secret RAN files in Canberra.
Writing
Presented to
Robert Macklin
Writing
For founding and editing Verity La, an online creative arts journal that publishes short fiction and poetry, cultural comment, photomedia, reviews, and interviews.
Presented to
Nigel Featherstone
Writing
For Through Splintered Walls, stories inspired by the beauty, danger, cruelty, emptiness and perfection of the Australian landscape.
Presented to
Kaaron Warren
Writing
For The Sea Glass Spiral, a story of two families brought together by the accidents of history and love, based on Gould's memories, on letters and diaries, and on information from the public record.
Presented to
Alan Gould
Dance
For her initiative in facilitating the development and performance of contemporary dance in Canberra, in particular for her work as director of the Short + Sweet Dance Festival, and in collaborating with independent artists from across Australia to bring a broad spectrum of contemporary dance to Canberra.
Presented to
Adelina Larsson
Dance
For his body of work as an outstanding dancer and consistent achievements as a talented choreographer, evidenced in a number of musicals throughout 2012.
Presented to
Jordan Kelly
Musicals
For her exceptional performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Canberra Philharmonic Society Production of Hairspray. Singing, dancing and acting with exhilarating confidence, she gave a star performance which lit up the stage, and provided the heart-beat of the show.
Presented to
Krystle Innes
Musicals
For his confident and imaginative direction of the Queanbeyan City Council’s production of Hair. His clear-sighted concept and ability to martial disparate resources including a large committed cast, impressive orchestra, excellent sound, lighting and costume design , resulted in a memorable production which successfully captured the life-affirming essence of the show.
Presented to
Stephen Pike
Musicals
For her inspiring musical direction of the musicals Titanic for Supa Productions, and Hairspray for the Canberra Philharmonic Society. Both musicals had difficult, demanding scores requiring completely different interpretations. Her authoritative interpretations of both the richly dramatic Titanic score, and the jaunty, tuneful Hairspray score added significantly to the success of these two productions.
Presented to
Rose Shorney
Musicals
For his superbly controlled and observed comic performance as the servant Arlecchino, in Canberra Repertory’s production of the Nick Enright and Terence Clarke musical, The Venetian Twins.
Presented to
Dick Goldberg
Music
For the opportunity this event, produced by The Street Theatre and the ANU School of Music, provided for Canberra jazz students, musicians and enthusiasts to engage in concerts, workshops, artistic residencies and discussions, presented over 10 days by an extraordinary line-up of top-line local, national and international contemporary jazz musicians.
Presented to
The Capital Jazz Project
Music
For the ongoing provision of opportunities for talented Canberra artists, particularly musicians, to gain substantial financial assistance to study in France; for raising funds to generate scholarships and travel fellowships by both providing public concert opportunities for young artists and developing a generous sponsorship arrangement with the Wig and Pen; and for allowing successful music fellows to advance their performance standards through master classes with world renowned teachers resident in France.
Presented to
Canberra Versailles Association
Music
For its outstanding contribution to vocal music in Canberra through high standard appearances at many community and charity fund raising events, a wide array of Australian War Memorial ceremonial activities and all home games featuring the Brumbies rugby team; and for positively promoting Canberra nationally and internationally by performing with distinction at the Male Choir Association of Australia Congress in Melbourne and appearing with Bryn Terfel in the Wales Choir of the World concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London as a major attraction during festivities leading into the 2012 Olympic Games.
Presented to
The Australian Rugby Choir
Music
For their outstanding contribution to music in Canberra in the writing and performance of documentary-cabaret, a particularly entertaining example of which was their enlightening production of Waxing Lyrical, which wittily explored the work of lyricists in song writing.
Presented to
John Shortis and Moya Simpson
Music
For his work in extending the Canberra International Music Festival to become a nationally and internationally recognised event on Canberra’s music calendar; for his imaginative development of Canberra themes for the festival; and for his championship of the Ainslie Arts Centre as a new hub for music in the ACT.
Presented to
Christopher Latham
Music
For his innovative guidance of the Griffyn Ensemble, especially the autumn concert at Mount Stromlo for which he re-arranged Southern Sky by composer-astronomer Urmas Sisask for the full ensemble; for his leadership as conductor of the Canberra Mandolin Orchestra and the Youth Music Society Boys’ Choir; for his new compositions and for his advocacy of music and through it Canberra, as chairman of the Australian Youth Music Council and the International Music Council for Youth.
Presented to
Michael Sollis
Music
For his inspirational work with Guitar Trek over 25 years, culminating in their anniversary concert on 15 September 2012; for his inspirational guidance of young guitarists; and for his work in building the popularity of classical guitar, both in education and in public performance.
Presented to
Timothy Kain
Visual Arts
For her exhibition in June 2012 at ANCA, Sum of Parts, which continued her investigation of transference and transformation - a collection of objects and the relationships between them exploring the trace of an event or the marking of time. Using simple materials she expressed profound concepts and welcomed her audience to participate.
Presented to
Trish Roan
Visual Arts
For his exhibition Transition- A Captured Moment at the Canberra Glassworks in March 2012. His work exemplifies the brilliance of glass and explores the boundaries of its making.
Presented to
Masahiro Asaka
Visual Arts
For her exhibition Urban Forest at Craft ACT in September 2012, that successfully brought together her two areas of interest, her textile practice and her profession as a landscape architect, in a well crafted, thoughtful body of work that engaged with the Canberra urban landscape.
Presented to
Dianne Firth
Visual Arts
For his original and thought-provoking public art project in September 2012, Xtreme stuff that dropped 20,000 satirically humorous catalogues into Canberra letterboxes, highlighting the links between advertising, desire and anxiety.
Presented to
Bernie Slater
Visual Arts
For his eponymously-titled exhibition at Beaver Galleries in August 2012, in particular the exceptional, found-object multi-component sculptural work 76 J.C.s continue the big charade.
Presented to
Alex Asch
Visual Arts
For her exhibition Reside, at Canberra Contemporary Art Space in May 2012 that blended exquisite workmanship with life-sized sculptured wall works to stunning effect; a witty and startling re-visioning of domestic objects.
Presented to
Rachel Bowak
Visual Arts
For his ambitious and wildly successful exhibition/event at Canberra Contemporary Art Space in March 2012, Concluding Art-is-an Bread Art Auction, and its pertinent reminder that art is indivisibly tied to life.
Presented to
Robert Guth
Theatre
For displaying genuine boldness and a solid grasp of theatrical potential as a company, particularly in pool (no water) by Mark Ravenhill, directed by Duncan Ley.
Presented to
Everyman Theatre
Theatre
For their convincing and powerful performances in John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, directed by Cate Clelland for Free Rain Theatre.
Presented to
Hannah McCann, Jarrad West, Ronnie Flor and Naone Carrel
Theatre
For its beautifully realised production of Lost in Yonkers. Direction, design and performances combined to reveal the emotional heart of Neil Simon’s evocative and sensitive play.
Presented to
Canberra Repertory Society
Theatre
For her artistic directorship of The Street Theatre. For making The Street ‘hum’ through programs like the Hive, Made in Canberra, First Seen, and “Solo at the Street”, which focus on encouraging, developing and bringing work by local theatre artists to performance level. For commissioning significant new works that create opportunities for local practitioners. And for her imaginative and eclectic programming of productions and concerts that are drawing in new audiences in Canberra.
Presented to
Caroline Stacey
Theatre
For her performance in Geoff Page’s Lawrie and Shirley, directed by PJ Williams at The Street Theatre, playing an insightful mature role and revelling in it.
Presented to
Chrissie Shaw
Theatre
For the conception and execution of serious theatre’s Void without Void at The Street Theatre, a whimsical, sensual outer space adventure, fusing stunning light, sound and set design with physical theatre and puppetry to explore the universal human experience of isolation.
Presented to
barb barnett and Gillian Schwab.
After the Critics’ Circle certificates had been presented, Robinson handed over to Andrea Close from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the MEAA, who announced two awards.
The 2012 MEAA Green Room Award went to Raoul Craemer for his strong theatrical work this year, especially for his role in “Kabir” and for his consistent dedication to the craft of theatre practice
The 2012 Peer Recognition Award went to Stella Wilkie for her total dedication to theatre in Canberra; its performers, its productions and its companies
Composer Professor Larry Sitsky then took the podium, commenting on the total dedication that drives artists, who create because they cannot do otherwise, before announcing that theatre director Caroline Stacey was the Citynews Artist of the Year and handing over a cheque for $1,000 and certificate.
Stacey’s response covered her own trajectory as an “outsider” coming into Canberra and the much creative collaboration that the crowd around her called to mind.
Martin and Susie Beaver, representing the Beaver Galleries, presented her with a glass paperweight sculpted by glass artist Hilary Crawford as an accompanying gift to the Artist of the Year.
Robinson wound up the evening by thanking CMAG and Cultural Facilities Corporation for their hospitality, Artist of the Year award sponsor Ian Meikle from Citynews, Beaver Galleries and graphic artist Brett Wiencke and printer Rick Cochran from Geon Print for the beautiful Critics Circle certificates.
Helen Musa
