Noted, Canberra’s Independent writers’ festival, launches with the opening of COLD LIKE CONCRETE at ANU School of Art Foyer Gallery on March 15th.

Held across multiple venues in Canberra, the festival program features over 60 live and digital events based around writing, reading, publishing and the undefined. It features new and experimental work from authors, poets, journalists, publishers, editors, dancers, zinemakers and visual artists, including many School of Art students, alumni and staff.

COLD LIKE CONCRETE is curated by Art History and Art Theory alumnus Oscar Capezio and includes the work of alumni Benjamin Forster (Printmedia and Drawing) and Charlie Sofo (Photography and Media Arts), in a collection of word-inspired works that explore the intersection of auto-poetic experimentation in visual art.

In Field Day, Printmedia and Drawing technical officer Nicci Haynes will explore the Namadgi area in collaboration with ACT Heritage Library, and publishing what she discovers on the Noted Festival website.

On Thursday 17th March, the panel discussion What we talk about when we talk about art will be presented as part of the School of Art Art Forum series. Sally Pryor, Arts Editor of The Canberra Times, Jess Oliver, emerging arts critic, and Peter Haynes, curator and arts critic will discuss the value of critical writing in small arts communities.

Local visual arts collective Speak Uneasy – made up of Caren Florance, Nicci Haynes, Jane Rawson and Shags – explore text through the beautifully clumsy forms form of letters, fonts and words. Their exhibition opens March 18 at Smiths Alternative.

Noted opens at 6pm on Tuesday 15th March at the School of Art Foyer Gallery and runs from 16-20 March. For the full program of events, click here.