Vipoo Srivilasa awarded the 2023 Carstairs Grant

Image credit: Love Lab 2020, Craft Victoria. Photo: Michael Pham

Image description: A man stands behind a table with food in bowls and piping bags, lit up by two lamps. He holds a gloved hand up in a peace sign and smiles widely. Behind him there is a sign on a white poster with red and black text that reads “Lovelab taste your love by Vipoo Srivilasa”.

The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) is pleased to announce Vipoo Srivilasa as the recipient of the 2023 Carstairs Grant for socially-engaged arts projects. 

Srivilasa will use the $10,000 grant to develop a multi-sensory installation at the Rockhampton Museum of Art in 2026. The project will combine social research, collaborative textile activities, food, and community wall murals to go beyond a standard exhibition experience.

"I am absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the Carstairs Grant 2023. This grant holds immense significance, not just for me but also for the Rockhampton community,” says Srivilasa. “It provides a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and celebrate our cultural heritage, sharing our stories through craft-based contemporary art."

Srivilasa is a Thai-born artist who has been based in Melbourne since 1997. He works predominantly with porcelain but also creates works on paper, mixed media sculptures, bronze statues and large-scale public art pieces. Srivilasa often incorporates food and interactive performance into his ceramic projects. His practice frequently explores cross-cultural and migration experiences, with a playful, contemporised blend of European historical figurines and Asian decorative art.

"The panel were struck by the layered collaborative and multisensory engagement opportunities proposed in Vipoos new project ‘Paradise’ as well as the focus on bringing together collective migration journeys from the community. We are excited to see this work evolve,” said this year’s assessor, interdisciplinary artist and 2018 Carstairs Grant recipient Torika Bolatagici.

“Vipoo's application demonstrated his ability to deliver engaging and joyful projects that invite creativity, reflection on challenging themes, and connection amongst participants and audiences,” said assessor, artist and 2022 Carstairs Grant recipient Caitlin Franzmann. “His project 'Paradise' stood out as an ambitious and multifaceted project that will include opportunities for locals of a regional community to engage in personal storytelling, collaborative making and immersive experiences. This grant will provide Vipoo with the resources to deeply engage with Rockhampton community's stories of migration and belonging whilst also expanding his socially engaged ceramic practice into potent food-based experiences.”

The Carstairs Grant, which was given a boost from $3,000 to $10,000 in 2021, offers assistance to an Australian artist or group to present a socially engaged art project that embraces participatory and collaborative experiences.

The aim of the funding is to bring participants into active dialogue with the artist in order to involve audiences beyond the art community. In recognition of the severe limitations in place due to continued physical distancing and the challenges this poses, applicants were encouraged to consider the digital and virtual space as a valid and essential arena for collaborative artistic endeavour. 

This is the seventh year of the program supported by the donor of the previous Carstairs Residency Grant. Named after the Carstairs, the grant drew its name from an intriguing and eccentric blend of writers, poets, painters, pianists, and illustrators who immigrated to Australia from Fife, Scotland in the 19th century.

The Carstairs Grant is funded by a private donor and administered by NAVA. Providing this kind of philanthropic support can be a source of great satisfaction in making a valuable contribution to supporting living Australian artists. For more information about how you can make a tax-exempt donation to set up a new program shaped to your ideas and named for your family, legacy or artistic focus, please contact NAVA via nava@visualarts.net.au.

Media enquiries:

Leya Reid e: media@visualarts.net.au