Editorial 29 November 2017

This week we report on two important festivals that feature spheres of often underrated artistic activity, one drawing together artists from across the country, the other making global connections. The Hobiennale Arts Festival, a gathering of Australian and New Zealand Artist Run Initiatives (ARIs), exhibited over 100 artists in and around Hobart, and Unsound Adelaide, an experimental music event springing out of Poland, featured international and Australian artists. For our report on Hobiennale, Lucy Hawthorne takes in a wide swathe of the festival and Lucy Parakhina aims her video camera at artworks, events and participants. You can also watch our streaming of NAVA’s forum on the state of ARIs. Chris Reid applauds Unsound Adelaide’s intelligent programming in a country in which experimental electronic music events of scale are far too rare. Amid generic arts festivals, Hobiennale and Unsound yield idiosyncratic pleasures for audiences and hope for artists. Keith & Virginia

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Top image credit: Greta Wyatt and Grace Marlow perform Theia Connell’s work as part of Greater Union, Sister ARI’s exhibition at Cinema One, Hobiennale 2017, video still Lucy Parakhina