2021
Blak Dot Gallery First Nations
Artist Residency
We are thrilled to announce the Blak Dot Gallery First Nations Artist Residency recipients Michael Jalaru Torres in collaboration with Veisinia Tonga and Gina Ropiha.
Blak Dot Gallery and Moreland City Council are excited to introduce our successful 2021 First Nations Artist Residency Program recipients. The program aims to provide a unique opportunity for First Nations Visual Artists to work in non-traditional and mixed- media to present their interpretation of lived experiences in contemporary society.
Artist, Michael Jalaru Torres, a Djugan and Yawuru man with tribal connections to Jabirr Jabirr and Gooniyandi people, will collaborate with Tongan kakala (plant) based artist and storyteller, Veisinia Tonga, to explore and create images that represent Global First Nations creation myths and cultural deities( ‘Otua) and demons (Tevolo). In a world dominated by images of western Gods and western mythology, the artists will initially focus on Indigenous Australian and Tongan creation stories, to create an exhibition of photographic representa- tion of their stories using Indigenous and First Nations models adorned in plant material.
Gina Ropiha is a Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Raukawa textile artist from Aotearoa who draws significant inspiration from taonga (Maori personal adornment) and rongoa (medicine/ healing). Working primarily with found and repurposed objects, Gina’s residency will look at this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Choose to challenge’ and look at the questions and opportunities raised by COVID 19, the social and political reckoning points of the past year and the personal and local interstices to bear.
The artists will develop their project in our gallery space and Blakademy from the 22nd March - 11th April.
Stay tuned to the Blak Dot Gallery and Arts Moreland socials for more details over the coming months.
The Artists:
Michael Jalaru Torres
Michael is an Indigenous photographer and media professional from Broome, Western Australia, who is now currently based in Naarm Melbourne, Victoria.
As a Djugan and Yawuru man with tribal connections to Jabirr Jabirr and Gooniyandi people, he is inspired by the unique landscapes and people of the Kimberley region, which feature prominently in his work.
“My photography draws on my own stories and personal history and explores contemporary social and political issues facing Indigenous people. Much of my work involves conceptual and innovative portraiture and abstract landscape photography.
Through my portraits of people taken ‘on country’ I promote positive and individualised representations of Indigenous people. I also incorporate etching, drawing and other design work into my conceptual photography, combining traditional and iconic Kimberley imagery within a modern aesthetic.”
Veisina Tonga
Veisinia Tonga is a Kakala (plant material) Artist. A settler who is creating on the lands of the Kulin Nations. Veisinia marries her training in western floristry with her traditional kakala knowledge to create installations with plant material gleaned from her surroundings. Plants in Tonga tell stories of place and are often symbolic of lineage and legends. Veisinia is interested in examining how this can evolve on a foreign land using foreign kakala.
Gina Ropiha
Gina Ropiha (Ngāti Kahungunu/Ngāti Kere, Ngāti Raukawa/Ngāti Rakau) is a practising artist who hails from Heretaunga (Hastings) and is based in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Working primarily with found and repurposed objects, Ropiha’s art reflects her experience addressing the harsh realities and tests of living as an indigenous woman within colonised lands, while trying to maintain a sense of Māoritanga (Māori culture) and grace.
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