About Vivid
Vivid, the National Photography Festival, was first held in Canberra from 11 July to 12 October 2008. It arose from discussions amongst several of the national collecting institutions and The Australian National University in 2004. Vivid 2008 was the first Australian photography festival involving a collaboration of the national collecting institutions, national associations of photographers, and organisations and individual photographers in Canberra and nearby.
An inclusive festival, Vivid 2008 encompassed challenging contemporary photography, historic photography, commercial photography, student photography and community photography. Over four hundred Australian and international photographers were represented in solo, joint or group exhibitions in Vivid 2008. More than fifty institutions collaborated in this exciting and innovative festival.
Vivid 2008 was managed through a number of committees, and through regular meetings of participants. A decision on whether to hold a second Vivid will depend on the results of an evaluation.
Acknowledgements
A critical factor in the success of Vivid 2008 was the financial contributions provided by the Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia, and the National Film and Sound Archive. Financial support was also generously provided by S and J Liangis, Chris Michalis, Dino Nikias, J & A Katheklakis and Eric Koundouris through the Hellenic Club.
The National Library of Australia funded a Vivid support position, hosted the Vivid web site, managed Vivid’s finances, and funded the preview event on 11 July 2007. For the Vivid launch on 11 July 2008, the National Museum of Australia waived venue hire fees and funded security and technical costs. The Australian War Memorial arranged the Vivid media launch on 5 June, funding the catering and liaising with the media.
The National Archives of Australia designed a large photographic advertisement used at the Vivid stand at the Sydney Expo in April 2008. The ANU School of Art printed the advertisement and found a van to transport it to Australian Capital Tourism. Murrays Coaches funded the cost of the Vivid stand at the Expo.
The ANU School of Art, with the Canberra Institute of Technology and the National Library’s Picture Australia service, funded a Vivid advertisement in the NCETP newsletter. The National Gallery and several other Vivid participants also helped with promotion by waiving fees for advertisements in their own magazines.
As chair of the Vivid Co-ordinating Committee, Linda Groom co-ordinated the development of Vivid from 2004. Committee members Gael Newton, Martyn Jolly, Penny Boyer and David Paterson provided ideas and inspiration from 2004.
Trish Kirkland, initially as joint chair of the Sponsorship & Marketing Committee with Annalisa Millar and later as sole chair, did the lion’s share of the sponsorship negotiations for Vivid, signing up two of the festival’s major sponsors. Kate Still negotiated television sponsorship. Yvonne Kennedy from the National Archives edited or authored much of Vivid's written presence. Marylou Pooley helped with sponsorship work. At the National Library, Doreen Mellor assisted with sponsor negotiations and Ellen Petersen set up the media download site. ANU’s Caroline Bradshaw promoted Vivid to alumni. Su Hodge used her many connections to help promote Vivid.
And although they were paid for their work, Maria Wasson and Kerrin Houghton deserve mention as successive holders of the Festival administrative officer position. They worked long, hard and cheerfully. ANU intern Cassie Harris set up a Vivid presence on Facebook.







