The 2019 edition of Emerge in the North selected five artists to develop new work around the theme Meeting Point with curator Santy Saptari.
Presented at the Hume Global Learning Centre, the programme supported artists connected with new and emerging communities in Melbourne’s outer north.
Five practices shaped by movement and identity
Syrian-born painter Marie Afram worked across abstraction, surrealism, nature and life drawing. Her practice had been affected by the war in Syria and developed further after settling in Australia.
Yelena Ashlapova used acrylic and oil to connect philosophy, science and art through abstract and figurative forms. Amicus Atman drew on myth, tribal art and experiences across Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia, combining materials including ink, leaves, bells, ash, feathers and bone.
Melbourne painter Anthony Bertucci approached natural landscapes and imagined spaces through layered colour and subconscious mark-making. His work moved between abstract expressionism, spirituality and an interest in imperfection.
Argentinian photographer Emiliano Fernandez had lived and worked across several countries. His photographic project Los Vínculos examined connection and had received recognition in Uruguay.
An exhibition built through development
The selected artists did not simply submit finished pieces. They worked with the curator to create new work for the exhibition, allowing the theme to emerge through different histories, materials and ways of seeing.
The programme was produced by Multicultural Arts Victoria with community and philanthropic partners. Its purpose was to invest in artistic development while increasing the visibility of culturally diverse practices in Melbourne’s north.
Meeting Point functioned as an appropriate shared frame. Each artist’s work was grounded in a distinct journey, but the exhibition created a place where migration, environment, memory and cultural inheritance could meet without being reduced to a single narrative.