Videotapes from Australia

Description:

Western Front co-sponsored an offsite screening event that presented thirty tapes by twenty-five video artists based in Australia. 

In 1974, the Film Radio and Television Board of the Australia Council established the Video Access network. Partially based on the Canadian “Challenge for Change” model, centres were established in major cities and industrial areas in Australia to provide the local communities with access to the means of media communications, including portapak cameras. 

Much of the work presented in Videotapes from Australia was supported by the stimulus provided by this video access network. The videos were primarily produced between 1978 and 1979 and explored independent political and social documentary, image processing, and video performance documentation. 

Videotapes from Australia was the first collection of Australian video art to be shown internationally. Prior to its presentation in Vancouver, it was shown at the Kitchen, New York.

The films were curated by Stephen Jones and Bernice Murphy, in conjunction with the Australian Gallery of Directors Council. 

Presented in partnership with Video Inn.