Here to Empower
Carmen Glynn-Braun, Nadeena Dixon, Billy Bain, Krystal Hurst, curated by Dennis Golding
Gallery 1 & 2
Opening 05.02.20 6-8pm
Artist Talks 27.02.20 6-7pm
Here To Empower is an exhibition that explores themes of resilience and power as an attempt to decolonise hidden and removed Australian histories from the perspectives of First Nations artists. As part of the First Nations Curators Program, this exhibition highlights the curatorial processes in which practitioner, Dennis Golding has led to discuss multiple ways that history and cultural practice can be empowered through the works of artists Carmen Glynn-Braun, Billy Bain, Nadeena Dixon and Krystal Hurst.
Each artist informs a creative practice that addresses political and social issues of race, identity and history that are often misled by false representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture in Australia.
The exhibition aims to engage the audience with a selection of works that address narratives of cultural practice as unbreakable links to country; Trans generational resilience through histories and experiences of Aboriginal women; and cultural representations of Aboriginal figures and objects in commercial and industrial Australian landscapes. Through these narratives, Golding presents the exhibition as an opportunity to exchange knowledge of history and cultural identity as the year 2020 marks 250 years of resilience against European settlement.
Each artwork brings a story of truth, culture and a link to Australian colonial narratives that the artists present their works to empower, and bring light to their history and contemporary experience as First Nations Peoples.
Images
+ Dennis Golding, Surveillance, 2020, (Still Image) 3 Channel Video, 1080p 3x 55' inch monitor, Image courtesy of Artist
+ Carmen Glynn-Braun, Solid Foundations, 2020, (Detail) LED light cubes, watercolour, acrylic, 160 cm x 120cm. Image courtesy of Artist
+ Nadeena Dixon, Untitled, 2020, coconut fibre, twine, 500cm. Image credit Dennis Golding
+ Billy Bain, Half Back, 2019, Terracotta with underglaze, glaze and gold lustre
43h x 15w x 15d cm. Image courtesy of Artist
+ Krystal Hurst, Resilience, 2019, oxidised bronze metal, 31 x 33 x 13 cm, Image by MAGNT
+ Nadeena Dixon, Untitled, 2020, coconut fibre, twine, dimensions variable, photo credit: Zan Wimberley