James Jirat Patradoon, Truc Truong, Secret Snacks & more

SEE // JAMES JIRAT PATRADOON: ULTRA

Ride into 2021 with 4A as we kick off our first exhibition of the year, James Jirat Patradoon: ULTRA. Commissioned for Sydney Lunar New Year Festival, ULTRA takes over the corner of Sydney's World Square with a high-voltage series of works reflecting upon the cycle of rebirth each new year. Across walls, floors and a ‘metal ox’ motorcycle sculpture installation, Patradoon has composed hyper-coloured scenes of life and death as acts in a fictionalised Chinese opera.

Patradoon will also stage a digital drawing demonstration and panel discussion during the program, stay tuned for details. Patradoon's solo exhibition opens on Friday 29 January and continues until 28 February, with pre-bookings encouraged.

Get insights about James’ practice and music taste by listening to his interview on FBi Radio’s Out of the Box program, broadcasted on 28 January.

James Jirat Patradoon: ULTRA
29 January - 28 February 2021
4A @ World Square,
Corner Goulburn and
George Streets, Sydney

Opening hours:
Tues, Wed, Fri: 11am-5pm
Thurs: 11am-8pm
Sat, Sun: 11am-4pm

SEE // TRUC TRUONG: THAI CON LÂN VIỆT KIỀU
(TWO OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE UNICORNS)

Hop along with 4A as we present Truc Truong: hai con lân việt kiều (Two overseas Vietnamese unicorns), launching 4 February 2021 at our offsite gallery at William St Darlinghurst.

Visit Truong's first solo Sydney exhibition, which features a bespoke refashioning of traditional lion dance ensembles. By reinventing the costume, Truong delves into the tradition of lion dancing and how the cultural ritual has come to reflect the diasporic nature of multicultural Australian identities. View hai con lân việt kiều until 6 March at our William Street, Darlinghurst on 4 February. Pre-bookings are encouraged.

Truc Truong: hai con lân việt kiều
(Two overseas Vietnamese unicorns)
4 February - 6 March 2021
4A @ William Street
113-115 William Street,
Darlinghurst, Sydney

Opening hours:
Thursday to Saturday
11am-4pm

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING 4A

All 4A events and gallery visitation will be held in accordance with current NSW Health advice and our COVIDSafe plan, with masks required to be worn, and capacity limited.

Pre-booking is encouraged ahead of your visit to James Jirat Patradoon: ULTRA and Truc Truong: thai con lân việt kiều (Two overseas Vietnamese unicorns). Please see the links above to secure your place.

Thank you for helping us continue to keep our visitors and staff safe by following these guidelines. Click the link below to learn more!

COVID SAFE VISITOR INFO

EAT // SECRET SNACKS

Feed your belly (and your eyes) with Secret Snacks, a 4A project that celebrates food and discovery by inviting Asian-Australian creatives to hand-pick their fave Haymarket snacks and dishes.

From comfort snacks and mainstay meals, to refreshing salads and underrated treats, Secret Snacks connects restaurants with hungry punters through stories that inspire heritage, memories, curiosity, and togetherness.

Secret Snacks is commissioned by 4A in partnership with More of Something Good, with contributions from Benjamin Law, Kylie Kwong, Luisa Brimble, and James Jirat Patradoon. The campaign launches online and on the streets from 8 February onwards and is part of the City of Sydney Lunary New Year Festival.

Follow 4A on Instagram for updates or email us to find out more.

Secret Snacks:
Benjamin Law, Kylie Kwong, Luisa Brimble, James Jirat Patradoon
Various locations in Haymarket
8 February - 12 March 2021

MORE INFO

WATCH // BEFOULED DESIRE - ONLINE PANEL

Join us on Saturday 30 January 3pm AEDT for the live-streamed talk Befouled Desire – Extractions ‘Waste Zones’ featuring Martha Atienza, artist/curator duo Jiandyin and artist Lê Giang, in conversation with curator/writer Zoe Butt.

The talk will explore contemporary art as a tool through which human habit and desire can be scrutinised: via community action, collaborative research and particular visual strategies of display.

This panel is organised in association with the project ‘Re-Aligning the Cosmos’: an initiative of The Factory Contemporary Art Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, and is the first talk in a four-part series as part of the Australia Council for the Arts ‘Curatorial Associates Program’, in partnership with 4A and The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre.

Befouled Desire – Extractions ‘Waste Zones’ panel
Feat. Martha Atienza, Jiandyin, Lê Giang,
moderated by Zoe Butt.
Saturday 30 January
3pm AEDT / 11:00AM GMT+7

WATCH // CUPS OF NUN CHAI - ONLINE TALK

Watch an online panel featuring artist and writer Alana Hunt and filmmaker and founder of Yaarbal Books, Sanjay Kak, in conversation with curator Jasmin Stephens to celebrate the recent release of the book, Cups of nun chai, as a part of 4A Digital.

Live-streamed on 8 December 2020, the Zoom panel revolved around Cups of nun chai, a decade-long body of work by Alana Hunt that records the sharing of one hundred and eighteen cups of nun chai, and just as many conversations. Each cup was a part of a growing memorial for one hundred and eighteen civilians killed in the protests that shook the Kashmir valley during the summer of 2010. In these exchanges, the political unfolds through a profoundly personal experience, and events, places and sentiments that are often obscured from view are given breathing space. People, homes, memory—and flavour—combine to make tangible what so many outside Kashmir do not know.

Access Alana Hunt's 4A Digital work featuring Cups of nun chai

Watch the Cups of nun chai online talk
with Alana Hunt, Sanjay Kak, Jasmin Stephens

ACCESS THE ONLINE TALK

NEWS // 4A PROGRAMS

A friendly reminder to all our visitors and friends: 4A programs are currently held offsite and online while the City of Sydney undertakes remedial works to improve our Haymarket gallery until mid 2021.

This temporary renovation ensures that 4A will continue to play a leading role in understanding and developing the dynamic relationship between Australia and the wider Asian region through contemporary art—for many years to come.

The 4A team is working on special projects and events at various locations, as well as online via the 4A Digital artist commissions, 4A Kids activities, and the 4A Papers.

Engage with us via Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date with 4A programs.

OTHER NEWS // FRIENDS OF 4A

4A founding artist and gallery assistant Dacchi Dang will feature in The Past is the Present is the Future, curated by Talia Smith, at Granville Centre Art Gallery from Feb 19-May 9.
Australia Council for the Arts is accepting applications for peer assessors, closing 2 February, 3pm. For more info or to apply, click here.
4A Papers Issue 9, features contributions from Eunice Andrada, Mohamad Faizuan Bin Mat, Luise Guest, Vladislav Sludskiy, Mikala Tai and Reina Takeuchi. Edited by Mariam Arcilla. Read here.

Acknowledgements:
1. James Jirat Patradoon: ULTRA is part of the City of Sydney’s Sydney Lunar Festival and is presented at World Square Sydney.
2. Secret Snacks is part of the City of Sydney’s Sydney Lunar Festival, and is supported by the City of Sydney.

Image credits:
1. James Jirat Patradoon, ULTRA (Ying Yang), 2021; courtesy the artist.
2. Truc Truong, Unicorn Land (detail), 2019, mixed media. Photograph by Bo Wong.
3. Cups of nun chai book; courtesy Alana Hunt.
4. Image: Dacchi Dang, Self Portrait, 2009; courtesy the artist.

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Note: 4A is currently delivering programs offsite and online.
Please visit our social media channels for updates.

4A @ World Square
Corner Goulburn and George Streets, Sydney

4A @ William Street
113-115 William Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney

PO Box K1312 Haymarket
Sydney NSW 1240
Australia

hello@4a.com.au

4A acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which our Sydney gallery is situated, and gives respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is an initiative of the Asian Australian Artists Association Inc. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Commonwealth Government through the Visual Art & Craft Strategy and the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body; the NSW Government through Create NSW and the City of Sydney; and all of our donors and patrons.

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