This weekend, embrace the creativity and beauty of Frida Kahlo around Adelaide, or head to Willunga for the annual Almond Blossom Festival.

Words Elisabeth Marie

Frida around Adelaide

To celebrate the Art Gallery of South Australia’s current exhibition Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution, a Mexican fiesta has taken over Adelaide with Mexican-themed drinks, food and events popping up in local establishments. Tantalise your tastebuds with the Frida and Diego Affair special menu at Cumbia Bar Kitchen and Frida Kahlua cocktails at Zapata’s. Explore your creativity with Paint and Sip workshops at local bars, or decorate a floral cake at Cielo. Continue exploring the city with Look Like Frida mirrors along Hutt Street, a Frida Doll Hunt on O’Connell Street and Frida Florals along Melbourne Street.

A monument of humankind

In his latest exhibition, Trent Parke revisits his most iconic monochrome street photography together as a single “filmic narrative” to record what he calls “a monument of humankind.” The exhibition was inspired by NASA’s Voyager Golden Records, two 12-inch gold-plated copper disks containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth that were sent into space on both Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Monument will be on display at the Hugo Michell Gallery from July 27 to August 26 and is accompanied by a photographic book of the same name published by Stanley Barker.

All about almonds

Embrace all that Willunga has to offer at the Almond Blossom Festival held at Willunga Recreation Park on July 29 and 30. Enjoy a weekend of fun for the whole family with market stalls, show rides, live music and fireworks. The Almond Hub will feature all things almonds, including cooking demonstrations, displays, competitions and opportunities to meet local growers. Be sure to tour Willunga’s hidden gems and see the blossoms in bloom with a self-guided drive and a picnic under the trees.

Japanese landscapes

The exhibition Misty Mountain, Shining Moon: Japanese landscape envisioned is opening on July 29 at the Art Gallery of South Australia featuring a selection of works by celebrated Japanese artists including Kondō Yūzō, Katsushika Hokusai, Yukawa Sanshū and Osamu Yokoyama. The works explore landscapes and the evolving dialogue between artists and nature, each represented through the individuals’ mediums including brush and ink paintings, woodblock prints and ceramics. Displayed in Galleries 19,20 and 21, the exhibition will be on show until November 12.

Breaking ground

Winner of Country Arts SA’s 2023 Breaking Ground Award, Gail Hocking will display her first major exhibition Between Us at the Praxis Artspace until August 26. Crafted in a year-long mentorship with artist Janet Laurence, the exhibition seeks to share Gail’s memories and personal connections with the environment to portray a “poetic and haunting exploration of global climate concerns through a deeply personal lens.” Country Arts SA’s Visual Arts Manager Lauren Mustillo says the exhibition uses materials intentionally and evocatively to highlight urgent environmental issues. “The centrepiece of the exhibition is a large, site-specific immersive installation called ‘At the edge of memory’, featuring sculpture, lighting, and sound which will envelop the viewer in an eerie and tender moment,” Lauren says.

For more of what’s on around South Australia this month, pick up the July issue of SALIFE, which is on sale now.