Bike Art Adelaide is an umbrella programme for a series of art events that explore, express and celebrate everything bike. Held during the Tour Down Under, the programme is centred on Adelaide’s East End in conjunction with the Australian Cycling Conference. If you’re visiting Adelaide for the Tour or are a local just soaking up the atmosphere, take some time to check out these events and more.

On reflection - Fay in reflective garb

[Retro]Squared: unreal clothes for real cyclists
9-19 January 2012 10am-5pm.
RiAus, The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place

Hand knitted clothes with a difference are on display at the RiAus from the 9th to the 19th January. The exhibition features locally designed and handmade knitware with “retro reflective” threads that bounce back the glow of headlights, making cyclists comfortable, fashionable and more visible to other road users.

Organiser Fay Patterson explained that with this new style of attire, there’s no need to resort to lycra to enjoy a night on the town. “Popping on your bike for an evening out is super easy – no change of clothes needed!” she said.

As well as using the retro reflective thread to make garments, the curators of the exhibition Debra Taylor and Erin Davidson have inventively included some smaller items of knitted accessories and jewellery and some other locally designed jewellery with a bicycle theme – for those wanting to travel light!

Visit the show and learn more about the science and art of how we see. Entry is free.

Arty cycling all-sorts at the Airport

‘Get on Board’
Adelaide Airport T1
9-29 January 2012

This diverse exhibition in the Adelaide Airport Terminal 1, displays a mixture of sculpture, paintings and paste up art all inspired by the humble bicycle.

Crocheted bicycles burst with colour, emus emerge from piles of salvaged bicycles and wheels, and Australia’s beloved Ned Kelly joins the Tour. The use of the bike in Chinese and Australian life is also reflected through a series of paintings.

There are many artists involved in this exhibition including David Reid, Kitty Stenecker, Ian Brabon, Malcolm Richards, Peter Drew, Stephen Oatway, Sarah-Jane Cook, and Wendy Amey. Their work is bound to catch the eye of the thousands of cycling enthusiasts who will descend on Adelaide. So come on, ‘get on board’.

Other events include:

Casual @Tire – join organisers, artists and friends to officially launch Bike Art Adelaide at the Belgian Beer Cafe (27-29 Ebenezer Place, off Rundle Street) 5:30pm, Monday 9 January. Facebook Event.

It’s All About the Bike – an exploration of what bikes mean to people, in a ‘variation-on-a-bike’ kind of way. Sculpture exhibition. 10-29 January, Adelaide City Council, Pirie Street.

Street Art in the Park – cool meets classic with large-scale installations during the Down Under Classic, 15 January, Rymill Park. Organiser Fay Pattersonsays that on the first day of the Tour, “We’re going to use the two circular flower gardens in Rymill Park to create a penny farthing using over 500 crocheted flowers.  The finished bike will be about 50 metres by 100 metres in size and will be included in TV coverage for the Down Under Classic, going out around Australia and the world.”

Bikes Around Town – paintings and photos exploring what bikes mean in selected shops in the East End including Crumpler (10 Gawler Place), Treadly Bike Shop (4-10 Ebenezer Place), Austral Hotel (205 Rundle Street), City Realty (15 Ebenezer Place), Council of Objects (248 Grenfell Street, near Ebenezer Place), Juxtapose Studio (Shop 6 Cinema Place) and Belgian Beer Cafe.

For more info on Bike Art Adelaide, see the Facebook Page. You can also follow @adl_cyclists on Twitter for updates and for general Tour Down Under info follow @tourdownunder and the #tdu hashtag.

Written by: Mark Gamtcheff