DIRECTOR’S CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENT

To our community of artists, arts lovers and industry friends,

Cement Fondu will close its doors this December.

It is so sad to say goodbye… but, we do so looking to the future, and deeply grateful to everyone who has taken part in our story, supporting us from near and far.

Since launching in 2018, Cement Fondu has carved out a niche in the Australian arts scene, aiming to inject vibrancy, optimism and opportunity into that ominous void many artists encounter between ARIs and institutions.

Over the last 7 years, we have uniquely invested in early-mid career artists through extensive commissioning of new work and imaginative, high-quality exhibition design, springboarding the practices of numerous makers and offering opportunities for more established practitioners to take risks outside of commercial constraints.

A personal passion of mine has been curating Australian artists alongside practitioners from around the globe, fostering generative intercultural dialogue, and in some cases, extraordinary collaborative outcomes. Our annual local-global pairing exhibitions and curated group shows have placed the work of our up-and-coming talents in conversation with acclaimed artists who present in the world’s most prestigious biennales, collections and institutions, including Tate Britain Commission and Fourth Plinth commission artists, a Golden Lion Winner, Turner Prize Winner, and Turner Prize Nominee.

All of us who have benefitted from Cement Fondu’s offerings are indebted to the singular generosity of the Freedman Foundation. They’ve homed us in our unique, converted warehouse that has inspired daring ideas and creative leaps. Moreover, the Freedman Foundation contributed the majority of our operational and programming costs without which we simply could not have existed, let alone been courageous, generative, playful and wide-reaching.

This major act of benefaction has impacted the trajectories of many of Australia’s most exciting artists who have gone on to achieve significant grants and awards, institutional recognition, commercial representation, and national and international exhibitions and residencies.

Back in 2017, as a fledging curator with a bold vision for a not-for-profit contemporary art space, I was one of those lucky creatives whose vivid imaginings were made reality – as Cement Fondu. Kathy Freedman, thank you for taking that huge leap of faith and for your ongoing belief in the profound possibilities of new Australian art.

As director and lead curator throughout Cement Fondu’s program 2018-2024, it has been the greatest of privileges to indulge my wish list of ideas and artists, including through key curatorial projects: Warm Bodies, Stop Peeping, Flat Earth Society, An Appropriate Reaction, Oh, Museum, BETTER NATURE Virtue & Virtuosity, Cosmic Beings, BETTER NATURE Earthen, and TMI. Each and every artist has been an honour to work with, and all have challenged us to see the world enriched, with more complexity and clarity.

Equally, it has been a privilege to work with and learn from everyone who generously poured energy into Cement Fondu over the years: our dedicated and multi-talented core team, guest curators, casual staff, a wide array of contractors, skilled techs, creative and strategic partners, our Board of Directors and Advisory Committee members of early years and late. Special mention to two particularly consequential people: Megan Monte who co-founded and directed with me prior to becoming the inaugural Director of Ngununggula in 2020, and Bethan Donnelly who came on as Business & Development Director in 2023, and with whom exciting plans are being hatched through our new, sister organisation – Vital Commons – that does public art differently.

Will Cement Fondu take another form?
After extensive efforts to find a way, we’re exploring new horizons but remain open to conversations.

In the meantime, please join us for our final exhibition – BETTER NATURE: A Sudden Release, guest curated by award-winning Wiradjuri curator, writer and producer Hannah Donnelly, launching Saturday 12 October, 3-5pm.

Warmly,
Jo

Josephine Skinner
CO-FOUNDER, ARTISTIC & CURATORIAL DIRECTOR
CEMENT FONDU