SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: On October 19, a black carpet was rolled out on the forecourt of the Museum Of Contemporary Art (MCA). Studded with figures in black leather jackets, motorcycle helmets and each holding a single-stemmed Waratah, it was the first of many nods to the works of Shaun Gladwell, the legendary artist being honoured at this year’s MCA Artists Ball.
The fundraising evening—now in its second year and the brainchild of MCA Australia Chairman Lorraine Tarabay—is a vital call to the Museum’s monied patrons and partners to support its artistic and social impact programs; Australian and international exhibitions, programs for underprivileged children, schools, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with disabilities, the list goes on. The funds are also imperative in keeping the Museum’s doors open and its entry free.
Interestingly, the MCA is the only public museum in Australia dedicated to contemporary art and the only public museum in the country that is not government owned. As a not-for-profit, government funding sits at just 15 percent of the Museum’s costs and thus over 80 percent of its revenue is self-generated. Despite this, the MCA remarkably remains the most visited contemporary art museum in the world, attracting 1.8 million visitors in 2023. It’s an incredible feat to keep a museum of this size up and running and thus supporting the art of our times.
“It’s very difficult,” Tarabay tells GRAZIA. “We’ve got cost of living pressures. We’ve also had massive supply cost increases over the last couple of years. To compound all of this, our audience is different to other public museums. Half of our visitor base is under the age of 35 and 65 percent are under the age of 45. We have a young audience, and they aren’t in the stage of their lives where they can afford to give. But contemporary art attracts young people and that’s a very positive thing—but it is difficult to raise money when that is your audience base.”
The MCA is the most visited contemporary art museum in the world, attracting 1.8 million visitors in 2023.
As one of Australia’s greatest contemporary artists across film, video and augmented reality, Gladwell’s relationship with the MCA is an enduring one. He first showed at the Museum in Primavera 2003: Young Australian Artists, an annual exhibition dedicated to early career artists. His extensive works largely concentrate on bodies in motion—modes of free expression which juxtapose their physical environments. Skateboarders, break-dancers, BMX-bike riders, circus performers and surfers all feature prominently. As such, a cobalt blue BMX half-pipe was erected on the forecourt of the MCA at the ball, a stark contrast to the well-heeled guests sipping Pommery Brut Royal Champagne next to it.
“Shaun’s work speaks to regular people on the street,” says Tarabay. “A lot of people, until they see Shaun, wouldn’t realise that art can take the form of his work. For them, it redefines what art is, and what contemporary art is. He engages audiences that otherwise wouldn’t be engaged with art. Whether it’s riding a motorbike through the desert or whether it’s the surf scene, the regular Australian can relate to Shaun’s work and it is iconically Australian.”
“For Shaun, film is something to be stretched and expanded,” adds Suzanne Cotter, the Director of MCA Australia. “He turns the restless energy of young people in urban spaces and their adrenaline-fuelled pursuits into graceful performance; from gymnastic acrobatics on a suburban train, to skateboarding in a storm at Bondi, to riding a motorbike Mad Max-style across a central Australian desert road.”
Guests were soon seated for dinner inside the MCA’s Foundation Hall, lit by Gladwell’s video artwork. In front of them, a cardboard takeaway container housed the evening’s sashimi entrée. Hosted by an energetic and delightfully funny Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran—and with the help of the comedic Monika Tu—the live auction saw pieces titled “On The Edge Of Light” by Danie Mellor and “Heatwave Vision” by Jonny Niesche, as well as a trip to Paris Fashion Week courtesy of Parlour X, go for $50,000 to $65,000. Private pledges were then collected. An outstanding performance by future soul singer-songwriter Ngaiire had the entire room in a sort of magical trance before the dancefloor began.
After two decades of hosting the Bella Dinner, an event held by the unofficial mother of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the late Cynthia Jackson, Tarabay and the MCA team felt it was an appropriate time to make changes to the format of the fundraising event.
“I was jet-lagged one evening after coming back from overseas and I was trying to think of different concepts for fundraisers that are appropriate for art museums,” says Tarabay. “I started having a look around the world and all of a sudden, the Brooklyn Artist’s Ball came up. I thought that would be a fantastic concept for Australia.”
Tarabay’s hunch was right. October 19’s event raised more than one million dollars for the Museum.
The dress code for the evening was “creative couture.”
“It was my idea,” Tarabay laughs who wore a forest green Dior couture gown for the evening. “At the end of the day, to come in black tie is a little bit boring. We’re an art museum and everybody should have artistic license when it comes to what they wear to the ball. It makes the evening more fun, less stuffy and sets it apart from all of the other big fundraisers around town.”
“We’re the Museum of Contemporary Art and, with respect to the dress code, we really want it to be the intersection of fashion and art,” she adds.
With that, you can view the black carpet arrivals below. If you would like to support the MCA’s important work, you can donate here.
