Claire Doherty: Art at Large

‘It’s not forever’; ‘Don’t waste time on definitions’ and ‘It doesn’t have to look like public art’ – these are among the principles outlined in Claire Doherty’s provocative manifesto, New Rules for Public Art.

The manifesto was published in 2013 by Situations – the groundbreaking Bristol-based public art organisation of which Doherty is director – and it blew a gust of fresh thinking through the art world. Doherty had illuminated some of the tired clichés, as well many of the untapped possibilities, of public art.

‘Believe in the quiet, unexpected encounter as much as the magic of the mass spectacle,’ she wrote. ‘It’s often in the silence of a solitary moment, or in a shared moment of recognition, rather than the exhilaration of whizzes and bangs, that transformation occurs.’ In England, Doherty has been awarded an MBE in recognition of her achievements as an original and rigorous thinker who is committed to new and unusual forms of art production and presentation.

Claire Doherty is visiting Melbourne to work with artists on projects around the Queen Victoria Market, as part of the City of Melbourne’s 2016 Public Art Melbourne Biennial Lab, curated by Natalie King.

Doherty will share her insights on commissioning public artworks, working with artists and the major projects in her career to date.

Presented in partnership with City of Melbourne, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deakin University and RMIT: ART.