Exhibition Opening: Justine Youssef, 'Somewhat Eternal'

We invite you to the launch of a newly commissioned work by Justine Youssef.

Opening night: Thursday 5 October, 6 – 8pm

Curators: Stella Rosa McDonald, Tulleah Pearce, Patrice Sharkey
Exhibition dates: 3 October – 24 November 2023
UTS Gallery, Eora Sydney

Relationships to land and the endurance of ritual and belief are central to the work of artist Justine Youssef.

Youssef’s auto-ethnographic films and installations reflect upon the impacts of displacement through forced migration, and consider our complicity in the reproduction of these conditions. For generations, the artist’s family have used their knowledge of the mountains and ecology of Qaḑā' Bšarrī, Lebanon to survive famine and military occupation, and heal everyday ailments and misfortunes. Today, these restorative practices continue at a distance with the materials at hand; over WhatsApp calls with cousins in Australia, using lead from bullets that are abundant in the region.

Somewhat Eternal (2023) takes form as a multi-sensory installation that draws narrative focus on matrilineal practices and plant histories through new work using scent, video and textiles.

Co-commissioned by UTS Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, the exhibition opens at UTS Gallery on 3 October 2023, before touring to the IMA and ACE in 2024. The new work commission is supported by Creative Australia’s VACS Major Commissioning Fund and The National Art School.

About the artist

Justine Youssef work often begins with moments and places that reconfigure authoritative realities, most recently exhibiting with the Hawai’i Triennial, O’ahu (2022); Powerhouse Museum, Sydney (2022) and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2021). She lives across Wangal and Dharug Countries in Sydney, Australia, where she was a Parramatta Artist Studios resident (2018-21) and a recipient of the Copyright Agency’s John Fries Award (2019).

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Header image: Justine Youssef, Somewhat Eternal, 2023, three channel video (film still). Courtesy the artist.