Out of Site – a survey of the IASKA international artists program (1998-2002)

Out of Site was a survey exhibition that documented the development of the International Art Space, Kellerberrin Australia (IASKA), a groundbreaking cultural and artistic project based in a small rural town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. IASKA was founded in 1998 with the aim of testing new forms of interaction between cutting-edge contemporary artists and local communities and to open a dialogue between rural, national and international perspectives. IASKA’s program consisted of residencies, exhibitions and community projects by established international artists.

This was the first time that examples of the original artworks produced for IASKA were seen outside the small towns in which they were originally conceived and developed. These works were especially significant in that they stemmed from a process of prolonged and sustained exchange between artists and the community which, at the time, had no immediate equivalent in Australia. The artists included in this show shared the belief that the artwork is not just a beautiful object insulated from, and indifferent to its surroundings, but the result of an intervention with everyday social relationships.

Out of Site offered the visitor the opportunity to compare and contrast a great diversity of works reflecting artistic approaches of artists of different cultural backgrounds and artistic temperament. This juxtaposition created a tapestry of cross references, similarities and differences that was representative of current trends in international contemporary art.