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Draft:Australian International Video Festival

  • Comment: Most of these appear to be primary sources, which are not sufficient by themselves to establish notability. Stuartyeates (talk) 07:15, 15 June 2026 (UTC)



Australia International Video Festival
LocationSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Founded1986
Most recent1992
Hosted byElectronic Media Arts (Australia) Ltd

The Australia International Video Festival was an Australian festival devoted to video art, experimental moving-image work and electronic media. Established in Sydney in 1986 as the Australian Video Festival, it adopted its later name in 1990 as its international programme expanded.[1][2]

The festival presented screenings, installations, exhibitions, lectures, a videotheque and competitive selection programmes. It accepted work from Australia and overseas and operated until its seventh and final edition in 1992.[3][4]

From 1990, the festival was organised by Electronic Media Arts (Australia) Ltd, a Sydney-based not-for-profit media arts organisation.[2]

History

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Establishment

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The festival was established in 1986 through a collaboration involving independent video artists and several Sydney cultural and educational organisations. Participating institutions included the New South Wales Institute of Technology, City Art Institute, the Australian Centre for Photography, Chauvel Cinema, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Performance Space, Firstdraft and Metro Television.[5]

Its stated aims included increasing public access to video and television art, providing exhibition opportunities for Australian and international work, encouraging experimentation and facilitating discussion among independent producers, artists, educators and the television industry.[5]

The inaugural festival was held in Sydney from 30 July to 30 August 1986 and was directed by curator Sally Couacaud.[5][6] The programme included Australian and international video work, lectures and presentations by artists including Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Bill Viola, Nam June Paik, Tracey Moffatt, Meredith Monk, Peter Callas and Jill Scott.[5]

Development

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The second festival was held from 4 to 10 September 1987 and was again directed by Couacaud. Its programme included work by Allan Vizents, Alfred Birnbaum, Dennis Del Favero, Dominik Barbier and Hiroya Sakurai.[7]

A contemporary review in Woroni discussed the festival in the context of the increasing recognition of video as an independent art form.[8]

Brian Langer subsequently became artistic director following Couacaud's departure to become director of Artspace. The third festival was held at the Powerhouse Museum from 25 August to 7 September 1988.[9]

The 1988 programme included a retrospective of work by Bill Viola and a programme of British scratch video. It also included community-produced work, student video, music video and home-video categories.[9]

International expansion

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By 1990, the festival had adopted the name Australia International Video Festival and had expanded its international programme. Venues included the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington.[10]

The 1990 competitive programme accepted submissions from any country and included experimental video, computer animation and graphics, music video, dance video, low-budget productions and work addressing historical, social and political subjects.[3] Participating artists included Woody Vasulka, Steina Vasulka, Ulrike Rosenbach, Peter Callas, Sara Diamond, Ko Nakajima, Jon Rose and Bill Seaman.[10]

The sixth festival was held from 8 to 30 November 1991 at venues including the Australian Film Institute, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Ivan Dougherty Gallery. It was directed by Langer.[11]

The 1991 programme included work by Zbigniew Rybczyński, John Gillies, Peter Callas, Severed Heads, Juan Downey, Sara Diamond, Jill Scott and Bill Viola.[11]

Final festival

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The seventh and final edition was held in Sydney from 13 to 25 October 1992. It presented more than 90 video and computer-animation works by artists from 16 countries. Venues included the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Australian Film Institute Cinema in Paddington.[4]

The programme included selections of African American video, Brazilian video and work from Britain, the United States and the former Yugoslavia.[4]

Programme

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The festival's programme varied between editions but generally included curated screenings, installations, lectures, exhibitions, competitive selections and a videotheque through which visitors could view additional work.[5][10]

Its programmes encompassed experimental and independently produced video, computer animation, documentary, performance, dance, music video and work addressing political and social subjects.[3]

Later activities and closure

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No further editions of the Australia International Video Festival were held after 1992. Electronic Media Arts (Australia) continued to organise media-arts activities, including the Australian International Video Symposium, titled Video Art: Checking the Frontier, in June 1994.[12]

The symposium brought together Australian and international artists and critics to discuss the position of video art within the changing media environment of the 1990s.[12]

According to a 1994 press release issued by the Sydney Intermedia Network, Electronic Media Arts (Australia) transferred its membership and assets to the network before ceasing operations in 1995.[13]

Legacy

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In 1994, former festival director Brian Langer published two articles about the event in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. The first examined the festival in the context of the development of video art in Australia.[14]

The second presented a chronology of the festival's programmes and organisational development between 1986 and 1992.[15]

The festival was later mentioned by Colin Hood in a discussion of the development of Australian film, video and media-arts exhibition organisations.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Australian International Video Festival catalog". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Electronic Media Arts & Australian International Video Festival". Transmediale. Transmediale. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "The 5th Australian International Video Festival 1990" (PDF). Electronic Media Arts (Australia). 1990. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "7th Australian International Video Festival". Filmnews. Vol. 22, no. 9. 1 October 1992. p. 2. Retrieved 8 January 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Australian Video Festival: Programme" (PDF). Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. 1986. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  6. ↑ "Art curator's sculpture walk shaped the face of Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "Second Australian Video Festival". Scanlines. UNSW Art & Design, DLUX MediaArts, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "Reviews: The Second Australian Video Festival". Woroni. 7 March 1988. p. 20. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 "Third Australian Video Festival". Scanlines. UNSW Art & Design, DLUX MediaArts, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "The 5th Australian International Video Festival: Program" (PDF). Electronic Media Arts (Australia). 1990. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Sixth Australian International Video Festival". Scanlines. UNSW Art & Design, DLUX MediaArts, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Video Art: Checking the Frontier" (PDF). Electronic Media Arts (Australia). June 1994. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  13. ↑ Doherty, Brian (1994). "Electronic Media Arts (EMA) Closure: Press Release". Scanlines. UNSW Art & Design, DLUX MediaArts, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Langer, Brian (1994). "Video as art and the Australian International Video Festival". Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. 8 (1): 249–266. doi:10.1080/10304319409365645.
  15. ↑ Langer, Brian (1994). "Chronology of the Australian International Video Festival 1986–1992". Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. 8 (1): 267–279. doi:10.1080/10304319409365646.
  16. ↑ Hood, Colin (August–September 1995). "No Show". RealTime. No. 8. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
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