A Solo Exhibition by Roberta Joy Rich
Deny / Denial / Denied is a collection of new work produced during a studio residency at Assemblage, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Comprising of serigraph prints, screen-printing on found material, and video works, the exhibition considers and explores notions of denial and being denied, particularly within a South African “Coloured” context both pre and post Apartheid. The exhibition reflects upon historical practices of Apartheid South Africa – its methodologies of classification, the people of District Six (and forced removals), as well as my personal relationship to these histories.
‘Drawing often from experiences of “identity cross examination” as a primary source of research, I employ Afrikaans, colonial language and terms such as Coloured, appropriated as Coloured™ in my work as a platform for discussing the complexities of African identity.
These practices for me, act as a navigation tool through a complex field of rejection and reclamation of language, to find and ascertain empowering forms of self-determination and positive representation of African identity’.
Roberta Rich’s Assemblage Residency was supported by the Australia Council for the Arts ArtStart program and by the Sainsbury Sculpture Grant, established in memory of the late Madeline Olive Taylor through her estate and administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).
Opening event: Thursday August 3, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Artist Talk: Saturday August 19, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
GALLERY 3
‘Connection/Reconnection’ is an exhibition that explores visual and linguistic ties to the experiences of Indigeniety within the context of Australasia. Maintaining a strong sense of Identity can become increasingly difficult whilst away from an ancestral homeland. Further difficulty manifests when language that unites one to their tribe, mob or people erodes when the english language dominates.
Four artists, Kalayani Mumtuaz (Pyemairrenner), Sean Miles (Ngāti Raukawa), Peter Lemalu (Samoa) Tyson Campbell (Ngapuhi and Maniapoto) express this strong or fragmentary connection to Identity and language and whilst living in Australia.
Performances by: Willow Beats & Crdio
Special guest Dj’s: DJ ABYSS – Spinning smooth soundtracks to a never ending revolution