Pandemic puts art show online

The Pilbara’s biggest art prize will be presented online this year, with the Cossack Art Awards moving from the ghost town due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Held every year in July, the award normally brings artists from around the nation to the town of Cossack, 50km from Karratha, with entries colouring the walls of the heritage-listed buildings for three weeks of public display.

This year’s event will mark the 28th year that the awards have been hosted and will only be open to Pilbara residents with some 150 entries available.

The number of categories has also been cut down to five with the overall winner receiving a $15,000 prize.

The exhibition will be presented online as a digital catalogue and virtual gallery.

City of Karratha director of community services Arron Minchin said entry was only open to Pilbara-based artists due to interregional travel and freight restrictions.

The artist-in-residence program would also only be open to Pilbara- artists.

“The number of entries has been reduced from 300 to 150 due to uncertainty about a curator being able to travel from Perth to install the full exhibition,” he said.

“The exhibition will be presented as a digital catalogue and virtual gallery so the community will be able to view the high calibre artworks these awards attract, and the public program will go ahead in an online format.”

Mr Minchin said a new children’s category had been introduced this year. All category winners will be announced via video and published on the CAA Facebook page on July 18.