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The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and the City of Hobart have launched a new long-term arts partnership, Hobart Current, replacing the former City of Hobart Art Prize.

Hobart Current is a major biennial program which will culminate in an exhibition at TMAG every two years as part of a new initiative to support contemporary and innovative creative practice.

Following a national recruitment process, acclaimed artist Rosie Dennis has been appointed as the inaugural Creative Director for the first Hobart Current program.

She will work with an advisory panel of leading Tasmanian arts organisations to select the first group of Hobart Current artists.

Dennis, who is best known for creating large-scale, intercultural, place based experiences, including as the Artistic Director of Urban Theatre Projects in Sydney, stated "i’m really looking forward to meeting artists and the wider community and immersing myself in the rich cultural ecology across the state."

The initiative will showcase 10 artists working across different media including, visual art, performance, music, film, design and literature.

A new Creative Director is appointed for each two-year cycle. They set the theme and select ten artists to participate, each of whom will be commissioned to create a new work for the exhibition. At least six of the ten chosen artists will be Tasmanian.

Explaining her chosen theme for the inaugural exhibition, ‘Liberty’, Dennis added "this theme can be interpreted globally and locally, as celebrating the nation as a whole or a neighbourhood. I’m interested in sparking a fuller conversation about who chooses freedom for whom, in what space and during what time."

This project aims to establish greater professional development opportunities for Tasmanian artists and will generate increased awareness of their work nationally.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds stated "the City of Hobart Art Prize model served its purpose for a long time but it was time for a change.

"Hobart Current allows us to support Tasmanian artists in a more powerful way, by providing a significant non-acquisitive opportunity."

TMAG Director Janet Carding said the first Hobart Current will be a landmark exhibition, concluding "we are delighted to be at the forefront of supporting contemporary Tasmanian artists by commissioning new works and providing an opportunity for increased exposure nationally.

"Hobart Current is aligned with TMAG’s goal to tell Tasmanian stories and we are particularly excited to be developing a major public and education program alongside the exhibition."

The first exhibition for Hobart Current will open in September 2020 at TMAG as well as at two locations in Hobart’s CBD.

For more information, go to www.hobartcurrent.com

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