The Darling Portrait Prize is a new annual prize for painted portraits, joining the National Photographic Portrait Prize at Australia’s home of portraiture, the National Portrait Gallery.

The winner of the inaugural $75,000 prize for 2020 is Elizabeth by Anthea da Silva, for her painting of the ‘high priestess’ of Australian contemporary dance, Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM.

While the Gallery is closed because of the COVID-19 emergency, details of the winning portrait can be viewed at https://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibitions/darling-portrait-prize-2020

Elizabeth Cameron-Dalman OAM, PhD has been described as the high priestess of Australian Dance – she established the Mirramu Creative Arts Centre near Bungendore 30 years ago, and 50 years ago she founded and was the first Artistic Director of the Australian Dance Theatre, and has been celebrating contemporary dance ever since. Elizabeth tours as an actor/dancer, most recently with Michael Keegan Dolan’s award-winning Swan Lake/Loch na hEala production in Ireland, Denmark, the UK, Germany, Australia, Russia and New York.  

I was very fortunate and honoured to catch up with Elizabeth at the 30th birthday of Mirramu and asked her to sit for this Portrait Prize.  In her humble, youthful, curious way she agreed. 

from Anthea da Silva’s website

It was wonderful to see the fruits of our 2017 film shooting on Weereewa Lake George and in the forest behind Mirramu presented in the gallery in Taipei. There were two films – one by Australian film maker Sue Healey and one by Hsiao-Yin (Grace) Peng. It is exciting that so many people have seen this exhibition, taking the capital region to the world. Showings of Grace’s film will be scheduled in other Asian cities in 2018-2019. We’ll keep you posted for a Canberra screening.

Mirramu gratefully acknowledges funding support from the ACT Government for Stage One of this project.

With a string of sell out, critically acclaimed performances worldwide, Loch na hEala returned to Dublin where Elizabeth joined them for the six shows. There were standing ovations and full houses throughout.

It is always special to perform this work in Ireland where so much of the subtlety in it is rooted. Audiences immediately respond to the Irish nuances and the mystique of the folk lore.

Mirramu Creative Arts Centre partnered with Critical Path to host two creative choreographic workshops in October and November.

The first afforded the opportunity for Indigenous choreographers Carly Sheppard, Eric Avery, Katie Lesley, Joel Bray, Taree Sansbury and Jessica Corse (assistant producer) to spend a week exploring their own practice – without the restraint of having to produce a performance work. This was a time of meditative self-discovery and the artists spent time writing and contemplating about their practice and goals.

The second involved the visit of Taiwanese choreographer, dancer and new media artist Su WenChi with Adelina Larsson, Swedish/Australian choreographer, performer, educator, curator and producer and the founder and artistic director of Strange Attractor. This was a time for the artists to be immersed in nature and to reflect upon their performance practice.

Sharings were held on 3 October and 6 November 2018 respectively with guests including representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Organisation, a Board member of bighART. dancers and local arts practitioners, media and advocates.

Mirramu thanks elder Shane Mortimer for welcoming both groups of artists to country and spending time talking about the Weereewa and surrounding land and heritage.

Funding support is gratefully acknowledged for these residencies from the Australia Council for the Arts, Create NSW, Blakdance, Creative Victoria, Performing Lines, Performance Space and the Taiwanese government through its arts foundation.

Elizabeth has been involved with the Tsai Jui Yueh Foundation for more than 10 years. This year she was commissioned to make a work on the theme of the global refugee crisis for their 13^th festival. Flight for Life – Destroyed was the result, a work dedicated to the refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island and around the world.

There were ten dancers from the Grace Shiau Dance Theatre in this production along with Australian performers Vivienne Rogis and Kenneth Spiteri from Mirramu Dance Company.

Five performances were presented in the TJY International Dance Festival with audiences visibly moved by the issues raised and the work itself. Sensitive and strong performances by all of the dancers created a memorable and significant dance theatre work.

On 21 April Mirramu was host to the launch of Barbie Robinson’s poetry book: That looks on tempests – thoughts on the nature of love (published 2018, For Pity Sake Publishing Sydney).

A happy crowd assembled for drinks and chat in the grounds with wonderful catering by Bernadette Johnson.

The launch contained a number of performance elements including three beautiful dances by Mandy Tutalo and a rendition of one of Barbie’s poems by composer/musician Gabriela Cabral. It was a delightful event drawing on the magic of place and enabled by a team of wonderful helpers.

The book is available in Canberra at Harry Hartog’s Booksellers, Woden and online at http://forpitysake.com.au