The Premier of Queensland's National New Media Art Award is a biennial, invitational Australian art award for works of new media art, instituted in 2008 under the auspices of the Queensland Government and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art at the Queensland Art Gallery. The award is worth A$75,000 and is acquisitive. The National New Media Art Award also includes a tandem scholarship valued at A$25,000 for an emerging Queensland artist.
New media art refers to artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, video games, computer robotics, 3D printing, cyborg art and art as biotechnology. The term differentiates itself by its resulting cultural objects and social events, which can be seen in opposition to those deriving from old visual arts. This concern with medium is a key feature of much contemporary art and indeed many art schools and major universities now offer majors in "New Genres" or "New Media" and a growing number of graduate programs have emerged internationally. New media art often involves interaction between artist and observer or between observers and the artwork, which responds to them. Yet, as several theorists and curators have noted, such forms of interaction, social exchange, participation, and transformation do not distinguish new media art but rather serve as a common ground that has parallels in other strands of contemporary art practice. Such insights emphasize the forms of cultural practice that arise concurrently with emerging technological platforms, and question the focus on technological media, per se.
The Government of Queensland, also referred to as the Queensland Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Queensland has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Queensland ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Key state government offices are located at 1 William Street in the Brisbane central business district.
The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only 150 metres (490 ft) away.
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Nine artists or collaborations were shortlisted for the 2008 award, [1] and seven for the 2010 award. [2] The inaugural winner of the award was Peter Alwast and of the scholarship was Leah Barclay, as announced by the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, on 31 October 2008. The outcome of the 2010 competition was announced on 27 August 2010.
Leah Barclay is an Australian sound artist, composer and researcher known for acoustic ecology, environmental field recording, sound walks. She is the president of the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and is currently a research fellow at the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre. She is a multi-talented sound artist, sound activist and composer, raising environmental awareness through sound.
Anna Maria Bligh is a former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position.
