2018 SALA Festival Starts Today

The 2018 South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA) starts today with a record-breaking 9000 artists taking part in 700 exhibitions across Adelaide and regional SA, kick starting a month of colour, expression, imagination and creativity across the State.

SALA, which runs from August 1-31, is an open access event and Australia's biggest community visual arts festival. It is based on the ideas of inclusion, creativity, fun and engagement, where any space can become a gallery and any surface can become a canvas.

From well-established artists to those just wanting to have a go, SALA provides a platform for all South Australians to express their creativity, with exhibitions across all regions including Kangaroo Island, the Limestone Coast, Barossa Valley, the Riverland, Adelaide suburbs, the CBD and more. SALA is everywhere!

New for SALA 2018 is a partnership with Bluethumb, Australia's largest online gallery, where SALA artworks will be available to purchase online. Visit Bluethumb.com.au/SALA

And don't miss the SALA Art Cars hitting Adelaide's streets during this year's festival, generously provided by Jarvis Skoda and wrapped in artwork by Anna Dowling and Eleanor Zecchin.

Highlights of this year's festival include:

SALA PARLOUR: An interactive pop-up pop-in space for children and young people, come and contribute to an expanding colour installation. Special Sunday Sessions presented by Carclew's Pom Pom with a stellar line up of young contemporary artists guiding activities for 3-12 year olds. Open every day in August (excluding Mondays). Generously supported by Credit Union SA.

THE GOVERNOR'S GARDEN: Government House will become a SALA venue once again, with His Excellency the Governor Hieu Van Le inviting 16 sculptors including Greg Johns, Nicholas Uhlmann and Clancy Warner to exhibit their work in the gardens, with two special open days on Sunday August 5 and Sunday August 19.

ART TOURS: Walk, cycle or drive your way through more than 25 art tours across the city, suburbs and regions, including the ever popular Bring the Baby Art Tour (August 16) and Dog Friendly Art Tour (August 18), and 18+ pub crawl Sketchy Art Tour where participants can "draw under the influence" as they bar hop (August 24). Plus street art tours with Vans the Omega and Jake Holmes (August 4, 11 & 25) and new this year a special date night tour. (August 17)

ART AFTER DARK: SALA gets going when the sun goes down, bringing Adelaide's West End to life for one jam-packed night of exhibition openings, film screenings and "PechaKucha" - a fun event for creative people to share ideas. (August 9).

SALA FORUM DAY: A host of top practicing artists will lead a full day of discussion and debate at ACE Open in the Lion Arts Centre about the value of visual arts, now and in the future. (August 25).

CLARE BELFRAGE AT THE JAMFACTORY: 2018 SALA featured artist Clare Belfrage is the JamFactory Icon. Clare has maintained a vibrant studio glass practice and is known for her distinctive artworks. This significant solo exhibition is inspired by the repetitious patterns found in nature and the woven lines of textiles. Clare is particularly drawn to the layered rhythms that mark growth, change and the passing of time.

Renowned artist Louise Haselton was recently named SALA Festival featured artist for 2019.

Celebrating its 21st year, SALA features exhibitions of sculpture, video, multimedia, photography, performance and so much more, and it is a highlight of the South Australian arts calendar.

SALA Festival Director Penny Griggs said it is the inclusive, open-access nature of SALA that sees so many South Australians getting involved, from contributing artworks, to taking part in interactive exhibitions or just visiting galleries and other art spaces - it's all about getting immersed in the colour and creations.

"Anyone can get involved in SALA and all ideas are welcomed," she says. "We are so proud of SALA and its unique contribution to the South Australian arts landscape and we can't wait to see it all come to life for 2018."

More information about all SALA exhibitions and events can be found online at www.salafestival.com or by calling 8233 0676. All SALA events are free unless otherwise noted.

To post a comment, you must register and login.