Who's Coming to Dinner?

Who’s Coming to Dinner? Celebrates practitioners across various disciplines who use vessels to express their stories. Enjoy a feast of food, conversation and ideas alongside guest speakers, MAC Inc. exhibiting artists and our International Artist in Residence, Sakshi Agarwal.

Curated to complement Wedge: The Australian Ceramics Triennale, presented 2-5 Oct in Fremantle, four major exhibitions presented at Mundaring and Midland Junction Arts Centres showcase artists working at different stages of their creative careers, and across mediums to highlight ceramic practice and forge new dialogue between artforms, materiality, memory and place.

Guests share their stories of place, making, inspiration and cultural and personal histories whilst enjoying the opportunity to connect.

Sat 2O Sep | 6:00 - 8:30pm

$55 I $50 MAC Inc. Members | 18yrs+ | Bookings essential

RUN TIMES

6pm | Doors Open: Enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbles on arrival as you enjoy the MJAC exhibitions and peruse the artforms in the Store.

6:30pm | Guests are invited to the Function Room to enjoy live music performance by Sue Bluck, canapes, conversation. Drinks will be available to purchase at the bar.

7pm | The Main event - Mains are served and guest speakers: Sakshi Agarwal, Jude van der Merwe and Jen Kerr present.

8:30pm | End of event.

SAKSHI AGARWAL

Sakshi Agarwal is a New Delhi-based ceramist and Industrial designer, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Design (2008) and a Master’s in Industrial Design from Scuola Politecnica Di Design, Italy (2016). With a strong foundation in professional design, Sakshi transitioned to ceramics in 2017, honing her skills at Blue Turtle Studio under the mentorship of artist Madhur Sen. In 2024, she completed a prestigious ceramic residency at Taoxichuan International Studio in China. Among her notable achievements, she received the ‘Excellence Award’ at the Shiwan Cup 12th Annual International Youth Ceramic Art Competition (2024). Additionally, she has contributed to community project through the Indian Ceramic Triennale at the India Art Fair.

Her work seamlessly integrates both wheel-thrown and hand-built techniques. These meticulously crafted forms are adorned with intricate two-dimensional patterns that transform spatial perception, evoking the essence of woven tapestries and architectural grids. Sakshi has showcased her work in numerous group exhibitions including the Guangdong Shiwan Ceramics Museum, Quimo Art Gallery in China, as well as several prominent galleries across India, such as Triveni and Bikaner House in Delhi.

JUDE VAN DER MERWE OAM

Founding Partner, Co-curator IOTA21-24.

Jude van der Merwe has over 40 years’ experience in the cultural and visual arts sectors and is an independent senior consultant, specialising in cultural development, curatorial work, arts and culture policy and strategy and public art development and implementation.

Currently President of the World Crafts Council – Asia Pacific Region and World Crafts Council - Australia. Past board experience includes inaugural board member and Company Secretary of the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA.

JEN KERR

Jen Kerr is an Australian artist, curator, educator and public arts facilitator whose ongoing engagement with clay has been conducted alongside her career in art education and management. In 2015, while living in Jakarta, she reignited her focus on ceramics, while studying with Indonesian potter Haryoadiputro Soenggona. Jen has an MA (Arts in Public Space with distinction) RMIT and a BA (Art Education, Major in ceramics) Curtin University. She shares a studio with her ceramicist husband, Bernard Kerr, on Nyaania Creek in the Jarrah-Marri forest of the Darling Scarp – KattaMorda and has participated in the Mundaring Hills Open Studio trail, annually for the past five years and numerous group exhibitions and events in Western Australia.

SUE BLUCK

Sue Bluck is a Perth W.A. musician, vocalist, music educator who’s has been a musician all her working life in Perth and Sydney, Australia. Sue has enjoyed a career in the Music Industry performing at many gigs, festivals, concerts, tours, recordings and is a tutor at WAAPA in the Jazz, Contemporary and Music Theatre Departments. She currently performs in various venues, groups and bands in Perth and regions as a solo artist or group member.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

MAC

The Clay Path and Picnic Terrain offer a unique showcase of celebrated ceramists through collection works in conversation with works selected by the artists.

Relaxed and playful in form, Jen Kerr’s “picnic ware” in her debut solo Picnic Terrain, respond intuitively to landscapes she has picnicked in, camped on or walked through.

Both exhibitions invite audiences to venture beyond the urban environment and into the Perth hills to experience works inspired by the earth, bush, sea and sky.

MJAC

Vessels investigates the tension between function and form, contemporary techniques and traditional craft, expanding on the concept of “modern day reliquaries - containers of significance, or memory while embracing contemporary perspectives”.

In Where Do We Truly Belong? emerging artists Nazerul Ben-Dzulkefli & Kasia Kolikow explore the intricate nuances surrounding home and belonging through a collection of hanging textile works and sculptural ceramic forms.