Frances Wilkinson

'shadow sites' is a contemporary curatorial project conceptualised by us, Frances Wilkinson and Samantha McCulloch, that will take place at the Centre for Contemporary Photography and a nearby storage unit as part of Next Wave Festival. We’ve spent the last 9 months selecting artists, securing venues and designing the exhibition and accompanying catalogue, and now we’re at the final stage: fundraising! To help us out, we’ve enlisted the help of Milton the Mole.



Milton the Mole is passionate about two things – storage spaces (that he uses as hidey holes where he can burrow, curl up, hibernate and read books), and art. This makes him the perfect ambassador for 'shadow sites', which combines the two.

'shadow sites' is a project that looks at the life of an art work and examines the places it inhabits before and after its time in the public when on display in the gallery. In doing so it explores how art is understood both within and outside of the gallery, by blurring the boundary between the places artworks are put to rest and those where they are set on stage. Using storage spaces as a starting point, 'shadow sites' questions what happens to artworks when they leave the gallery and end up in storage, under beds, or in cupboards (some of Milton's favourite places).




We wanted to examine how the meaning of art changes when it is experienced in a different setting, or conversely, how art can change the site it is displayed in. Dispersing the work of seven artists working across sculpture, photography and language, between the two sites, displaying the original in the storage space and its documentation in the gallery, we are inverting the traditional roles that these sites and artworks play, and challenging the audience (you!) and their perceptions of what they are experiencing. These new site responsive works explore the relationship between original and document, tracing stages of production and display while referencing personal and museological histories.



Presented as part of Next Wave's Emerging Curator Program, this exhibition is significant to our careers as curators through the opportunity to present a show as part of such an engaging and challenging festival, at an established and respected art gallery, whilst being given the freedom to experiment with an alternative site. 

Your support is especially important as we have been successful in securing support from Creative Partnerships Australia's MATCH program. Every dollar you give to this campaign will be matched dollar-for-dollar, provided we reach our campaign target of $2,000 - meaning your support goes twice as far!

We need your help to raise the additional funds to pay all those involved in the exhibition appropriate fees. Your pledges will assist practicing artists to make their careers sustainable, allowing them to earn a living from their hard work and passion (including Milton).

Along with finding the perfect venue for the off-site component of this exhibition, comes the challenge of finding new and creative ways to display art works in this alternative non-gallery setting that is primarily, not designed for exhibiting art. We plan to continue to nurture our relationships with site managers and technical support to ensure we have support and can overcome any logistical problems.

The last challenge we need to overcome is acquiring the additional funds, which is where we need you!