Echoes of Arrival: Exhibition

THIS EXHIBITION IS A PART OF MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK 2024. MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK AND THE VICTORIAN DESIGN PROGRAM ARE INITIATIVES OF THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH CREATIVE VICTORIA.

designweek.melbourne

This immersive installation project delves into the complex interplay of three South and Southeast Asian diaspora experiences converging in Melbourne, Australia. The project aims to illuminate the transition from previously colonised Eastern cultures to life in Melbourne, a Western settler-colonial society. This project intricately weaves the narratives of three individuals from the South and Southeast Asian diaspora, converging to navigate Melbourne's "post"-colonial society. It sheds light on the challenging transition between historically colonised Eastern cultures and Australia as a Western society, revealing the enduring exploitation of Brown bodies in contemporary Melbourne through the appropriation of international creatives for social capital. 

The intersectionality of “post”-colonial experiences becomes apparent through the narratives of an Australian-born citizen, a decades-long immigrant, and a temporary visa resident. We explore the nuances of their upbringings, comparing the complexities of lived experiences in Australia. Intersecting diasporic relationships and identity formation will be central, highlighting the diverse and distinct identities within the Global South that risk homogenisation by White Australia. The narratives will touch upon the complex relationship between assimilation as a means of survival, freedom, or policing of expression.

The project draws from our diverse backgrounds in textiles, hybrid performances, and design-based visual arts to interrogate the lived experiences of South and Southeast Asian bodies within colonised lands. We aim to challenge the illusion of "post"-colonisation and its profiteering off the labour and value of Brown bodies under the guise of multiculturalism.

Alexis Patawaran is a final-year Master of Architecture student undertaking multidisciplinary studies to explore her heritage and culture through mixed media visual arts and sculptural installations. Her work aligns thematically with her ethnicity and cultural identity as a Filipina, as well as her academic background in architecture and design in Australia, merging the two in projects that unpack discourse in Filipino politics and the Filipino diasporic experience, as well as interrogating the concepts of colonisation that remain deeply entrenched in Filipino and Australian history.

Asish Mohapatra is a multidisciplinary designer and artist with a deep interest in the intersection between diasporic community building and climate resilience. Their praxis utilises sound production, garment and textile design, mixed media, and visual arts to introduce new dimensions to which we might tackle the present and emerging problems of the 21st century.

Indra Liusuari is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes audio-visual media, documented performances, and site-interventive installations. Conceptually, they are focused on critical discourses around the presence of white supremacy in contemporary lifestyles, which manifests via absurdist exaggeration and satirical self-exotification. Brutalist architecture and industrial design, audio-visual remnants of the 1990s and early 2000s, and the underground rave scene have become paramount influences in their practice. By the age of 21, they have been awarded the Cultural Visions Grant from RMIT Culture, the Liquid Architecture’s Graduate Prize, and a First Class Honours in Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) included in RMIT Vice-Chancellor’s List for Academic Excellence in 2022. They have presented work with Immigration Museum, Blindside, RMIT Culture, Pink Dot Singapore (SG), West Space, Sinema Transtopia (DE), Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien (DE) and recently with Sawtooth ARI and PHOTO 2024.

Opening celebrations begin at 8pm on the 31st May. Click here to RSVP as we have limited venue capacity.

Echoes of Arrival occurs on the lands of the Wurrundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the unceded Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders; past and present. We acknowledge that the struggle against settler-colonialism still continues. Sovereignty has never been ceded.