The Other, Other

Jason Wing, 2010, Self Portrait, acrylic paint and cement.

Source: Tandanya

"WOW" is definitely the word for Jason Wing's "The Other, Other" exhibition in Tandanya. Yes, I know that this is probably my third visit to Tandaya but the works displayed there never cease to amaze me. Their changing collection of works over the past few months have not failed once to introduce me to the diversity and richness of Aboriginal art and culture. The different exhibitions have truly inspired me and revealed a whole new dimension of art I once knew so little about and have come to appreciate and respect.


In addition to my ongoing journey of learning more about Aboriginal art, Jason Wing's exhibition is definitely another highlight.

My show explores the issues of cultural identity and aims to challange the stereotypes of what is generally perceived to be "Aboriginal." I used my Chinese, Aboriginal and Australian perspective to comment on current social and political issues, through sculptures, intallations and paintings. (1) 

- Jason Wing

Spirit in the Land

Spirit In the Land Exhibition

Source: Nets Victoria

As I haven't written about my trip to the Flinder's Gallery exhibition called "Spirit of the Land" I went to a while ago (Actually part of our week 5 task), I thought I'd spend some time today writing a bit of what I saw there. So, as the title of the exhibition gives away, the works displayed in the gallery was an amazing collection of artworks, ranging from paintings to sculptural works, of 11 Australian artists, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, expressing their own unique voice and connection they have with with the land we call Australia. What I thought was most interesting of this exhibition was the ability  to see side by side the works of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists depicting a similar theme which allows us to compare and contrast the perspectives these individuals have with the land - what the land means to each person? what their connection is and in what ways does the land inspire them? Moreover, considering the contrasting views of early European settlers with the Aboriginal people during the colonisation era, going to this exhibition I thought would help me discover myself these different perspectives and also see whether or not non-Aboriginal people have any connection to the land like Aboriginal people do? Or do non-Aboriginal people only see Australia as an empty land on which to build or to invest upon, which I've talked about in my "Old Country, New Country" post on a short video I watched about about the different ways Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal see the land.

"We came from the desert"

Left. Tarku Rosie King, Jumu Pinti Lake, 2011. 

Right. Daisy Japulija, Soak Water, 2010. 

Source: Tandanya

Taking advantage of the last few days of the study break, I decided to visit the Tandanya museum today. Little did I know, I should have checked their website before coming in as most of the exhibition area was closed off for a new exhibition opening tomorrow. Nevertheless, with the amazing artworks of the Mangkaja Arts, my visit to Tandanya proved to be once again an inspirational experience. Their exhibition was absolutely fascinating. If I had to describe the exhibition, I think it would be like entering into a candy-coloured world full of beautiful landscapes.

100 years old...

photo by Dey

Being my second time to the State gallery this morning, it was actually a quite different experience. Rather than looking at everything at a glance, this time I actually took the time to really look and read the details of the artworks, especially focusing on those depicting Aboriginal people and those made by them. There were various artworks, ranging from paintings, silver work to sculptures made by the past European settlers to those made by Aboriginal people, such as bark paintings, baskets, shields, grave poles to shell necklaces. When I was standing in the gallery in front of one of the bark paintings, it suddenly strike me that I was actually standing in front of something that has been made some 100 years ago. It almost seemed surreal. Seeing Aboriginal artworks firsthand is really a different experience than just looking at photographs of them in books or on the Internet. Sometimes when learning this subject, it almost feels that it's in the past or untouchable but the Aboriginal culture actually still a living culture today and by looking at these art works it really made me realize that.

Another thing that I found interesting were the paintings made by some of the settlers. It was as if you were looking at Aboriginal people through their point of view and you actually get a glimpse of how it was in the past, especially in some paintings where the images just look like a photograph. On the other hand, some of the paintings also looked observatory, which I guess links to how many of the artworks depicting Aboriginal people were considered as ethnographic memento of what they thought was a disappearing race. Also following how Aboriginal work were considered more as artifacts rather than artworks, I realized that most of Aboriginal artworks in the gallery were unknown. However, there were some that were named too, such as one artwork made by Albert Namatjira, the famous Aboriginal artist who paints the beautiful watercolor inspired landscapes we saw in the lecture. This time, instead of a canvas he actually painted a small picture of a landscape on a wooden object called a woomera, which is said to be a spear thrower or used to make fire. Pretty interesting indeed.

Getting around the whole gallery this time definitely took longer that I almost lost track of time but overall I thought it was quite fun - like a little gallery exploration. I think going to a gallery really allows you to focus on the art work and gives you a different perspective of it and considering my lack of gallery visits...I should really catch up during this study break!

Didgeridoo

Didgeridoo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippie/2475838283/

The didgeridoo. You've probably seen it when walking in Rundle Mall. A musical instrument that makes a "did-ge-ri-doo" kind of sound, which belong to the Aboriginal culture. Knowing little about this instrument and even it's name, while I was in Tandanya, I decided to watch the cultural performance featuring on the day: a Didgeridoo performance. The performance was quite intersting, it was a mix of seeing the cultural guide play the instrument for us but also an informative session on its signifiance to the Aboriginal culture, it's history and much more. So certainly, it really taught me so much of this musical instrument.

Place of the Red Kangaroo

Tandanya - The place of the Red Kangaroo, Tarnda's place.

After weeks of planning to go to Tandanya, I finally went today. I joined the free cultural tour and got to be brought around the gallery with a group of people as our guide talked about the different exhibitions that were going on. While the tour itself was shorter than expected, it was a really eye-opening experience. Being my first time in an Aboriginal art gallery, it was interesting to see the diversity of their art. From photography to modern sculptural works, each of the 3 exhibitions that were on display surprisingly had their own unique style and they were different to the expected dot painting and rark. Peter Sharrock works were white and abstract with simple, clean flowing lines, contrasting with the rich warm colours of many “traditional” paintings we often see. They had a honeycomb style to them, similar to paper cuts.

Peter Sharrock's artwork

http://www.artwhatson.com.au/tandanya/believe/the-mark

Christopher Crebbin's painting

http://www.tandanya.com.au

Apart from Peter Sharrock’s exhibition, there was also “Eleven,” an exhibition by Christopher Crebbin Christopher Crebbin's work were amazing, each of them seems to have their own unique style, as if they were each painted by different people when in fact, they were each influenced by different places that the artist has been to, such as Japan. Although his works were diverse, they had the common theme of the water serpent, which body flowed from frame to frame. One of the most interesting aspect of Christopher Crebbin’s work was the hidden figures in his paintings which were created through matte and glossy areas. It’s a pity that I couldn’t attend the artist talk, which would be interesting to find out his intention of doing so.

Sophie Abbott, Taylee Healy, 2010, digital photograph.

On the other hand, Sophie Abbott’s photographs showed beautiful images of South Australian Aboriginal women. What striked me the most when I looked at the exhibition was that some of the women who were photographed seem to not be “Aboriginal” and that the image of Aboriginal women portrayed and those that I have come to know are completely different.  Studying about Race Representation last semester as part of my Conteporary Issues on Design, and focusing on African Americans. There  is a clear link that can be seen in the way how Aborginal people are perceived today and how African Americans have been perceived in past (and in certain cases until today). Their representation are often stereotypical and limited, while white women are portrayed in diverse ways, the representation of Aboriginal and African American women are often limited.

Overall, my frist visit to Tandanya was a very refreshing experience and will definitely be followed by many more visits to Aboriginal exhitions and performances.

FYI. For those who want to go on a cultural tour in Tandanya, there's a free one every Thursday at 11 am!