SALA Hub
Welcome to our home at ILA on Light Square in Adelaide!
Come see the exhibition, stay for a meal, or grab a drink before one of our many events in August.
2025
Stay Tuned for the SALA 2025 Program
The SALA Festival Team are putting the finishing touches on this year’s SALA Festival program. Check back here at noon on 9 July to explore the SALA Online Program for the full lineup of tours, exhibitions and events happening across South Australia in August.
Nature: A SALA Roving Exhibition
A curated exhibition featuring the work of four artists who are inspired by the natural world. In partnership with ILA.
Four contemporary artists, working across printmaking, moving image, painting, ceramics and textiles, draw our attention to the natural world. They celebrate moments of connection to the creatures, plants and landscapes we see every day.
Artists include:
Jorji Gardener, Heidi Kenyon, Raquel Larkins and Shenshen Zheng
- 1 - 31 August
- The Light Room Bar, Level 1
- Wed-Thurs 12-4pm, Fri-Sat 12-8.30pm
- Aurora Restaurant, Ground Floor
- Wed-Sat 6pm-late
- Free event
Porous Enclosure #2, 2024, ceramic, 17 x 34 x 4cm, Shenshen Zheng
SLIDE NIGHT
Far from your grandma’s slide night, this crowd favourite event is a unique way to connect with contemporary South Australian artists beyond their artwork. We hand each artist the microphone and the stage is theirs for strictly 5 minutes – what happens next is up to them! We might hear about their art, their interests, or something else entirely. Bookings are essential.
Host: Christina Peek
Presenters for 2025 include:
Alyssa Powell-Ascura, Brenton Drechsler, Dameeli Coates, Frida Las Vegas, Jeffrey Brown, Jo Fife, Mark Valenzuela, Swapna Namboodiri and Toni Hassan
SALA Tours
Don’t miss the chance to hear from our expert artist tour guides as they walk you through a selection of exhibitions in the City of Adelaide. Book in for an exclusive art experience on one of our bus tours, or go at your own pace on a pre-mapped self-guided tour.
View the full list of 2025 tours (including Guided Walking Tours, Bus Tours and Regional Self-Guided Tours) via the button below.
SALA Hub Events
Supported by ILA through AEDA and City of Adelaide. Bookings essential.
- Thursday 8 August
- The Light Room Bar, Level 1
- $20 | Bookings essential
It Takes Two
Host: Dan Withey
Bring your bestie, date, or favourite sibling for a night of silly creative manoeuvres, possible only with a trusted plus 1. Hosted by Dan Withey.
Bookings are essential.
sold out
- Thursday 22 August
- The Light Room Bar, Level 1
- $10 / bookings essential
Artists & Galleries Networking Event
Join us for a networking event where artists and gallery representatives can meet each other in a relaxed setting. This is a chance for artists to ask about opportunities, callouts, programs, workshops, studio spaces, hand out some business cards, or simply put a face to a name. A bit like speed dating, a bell will ring when it’s time to wrap up the conversation or head to the bar for a drink.
Bookings are essential.
sold out
- Thursday 22 August
- The Light Room Bar, Level 1
- $10 / bookings essential
Stranded Colourwork knitting workshop with Makeda Duong
Bring more colours into your knitting in this stranded colourwork workshop with Makeda Duong.
Bookings essential.
SALA Forums
ARTS IN HEALTH AT FMC & SALA FESTIVAL FORUM: tHE gUT fEELINGS pROJECT
- Friday 22 August, 2025
- The Light Room Bar, Level 1
Join artist Jake Holmes and staff from Flinders University to discuss their residency project, The Gut Feelings.
In The Gut Feelings Project artist Jake Holmes will collaborate with the Dietetics Unit, with Flinders University College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Flinders University College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Flinders University College of Science and Engineering to illuminate these connections, fostering awareness, engagement, and new perspectives in holistic health.
The Gut Feelings Projects is an initiative led by SALHN’s Arts in Health in collaboration with Flinders University College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Flinders University College of Nursing and Health Sciences and Flinders University College of Science and Engineering
Drinks can be purchased from the bar. Card payments only.
Bookings are essential.
sold out
SALA Monograph Writers Panel
- Saturday 16 August, 2025
- Adelaide Central School of Art, Lecture Room
Sue Kneebone
Unnatural Causes
Elle Freak, James Tylor, Andrew Purvis and Nicole Clift
Sue Kneebone is a multidisciplinary visual artist with a career spanning more than twenty years. Informed by deep research, Kneebone fearlessly tackles disquieting subject matters, asking viewers to confront the troubling aspects of Australia’s colonial history that still haunt us.
Characterised by a distinctively Australian Gothic aesthetic, her often-wry work emerges from a
creative practice that encompasses assemblage and montage.
Please join Sue Kneebone and writers of her new monograph. Sue Kneebone’s new exhibition, The Last Tidewaiter, will also be open for viewing at Adelaide Central Gallery.
Tickets available through Adelaide Central School of Art
FAQs
ILA is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive experience for all guests.
The main entry to The Lab contains a small step, for wheelchair access our staff will escort patrons through an alternate entrance with step free access via Aurora Restaurant. The Lab Garden is fully accessible and has a ramp that enables access to its bar. Aurora Restaurant, The Lab and The Lab Garden all have a dedicated unisex accessible bathroom.
The Light Room, located on Level 1, is seamlessly accessible via an elevator, each floor complete with its own accessible unisex bathrooms. At ILA, we strive to ensure that every guest enjoys a seamless and enjoyable experience, regardless of their mobility needs.
Should you require assistance or have any concerns, please contact our team prior to or on arrival.
There is no entry fee for the SALA Hub to enjoy the bar. However, any dedicated events are all ticketed events.
SALA encourages everyone to be up to date with their COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations. This is recommended by SA Health to keep our community safe. We support wearing masks if social distancing isn’t possible or you are a close contact of someone who is unwell. If you are feeling at all unwell, we will miss you, but we appreciate you choosing to stay at home.
Workshops
Supported by Queens Theatre through AEDA and City of Adelaide. Bookings essential.
Jewellery: Lost-wax Casting with Erin Daniell
Create a unique ring using lost-wax casting processes with contemporary jeweller, Erin Daniell. This workshop is perfect for any skill level.
DRAWING: Portrait Drawing with Jasmine Crisp
A colourful portrait workshop led by emerging artist, Jasmine Crisp. This workshop is suitable for those with minimal portraiture experience.
PHOTOGRAPHY: LIGHT PAINTING WITH DENIS SMITH
Join light painting artist, Denis Smith for a hands-on workshop creating magical light sculptures. Perfect for beginners.
CERAMICS: Votive Vessels with Sam Gold
Explore the structural & conceptual capacity & fragility of clay by creating a pinch style ceramic votive with Sam Gold. Beginner friendly.
SILVER
The world’s largest open-access visual arts festival holds a precious place in the hearts of South Australians. To celebrate the significant milestone of SALA’s 25th Anniversary we invited a curatorial circle of six extraordinary guests, to each propose South Australian artists whose work, for them, embodies the values and legacy of the States’ iconic festival.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Roy Ananda, Kirsten Coelho, Margaret Dodd, Tsering Hannaford, Sue Kneebone, Juanella McKenzie, Ian North, Christopher Orchard, Tom Phillips, Sonya Rankine, Darren Siwes, James Tylor, Angela Valamanesh, Sera Waters and
Laura Wills.
CURATORIAL LEAD:
Carollyn Kavanagh
CURATORIAL CIRCLE:
Nici Cumpston OAM, Artistic Director, Tarnanthi, AGSA
Paul Greenaway OA, Director, GAGPROJECTS
Margo & Sam Hill-Smith, Directors Hill-Smith Art Advisory
Brian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design
Sandy Verschoor, Lord Mayor of Adelaide
Each year, the SALA Festival is accompanied by a selection of guided tours. View the full list and details of the SALA tours for 2025 here.
