Hyphenated

Research Background My research on 'Curating Inclusive Cities through Art' draws from contemporary curatorial discourses and post-colonial theory. Writers include Terry Smith, Paul O'Neill and Homi Bhabba. Research Contribution My research asks the question: What are the voices of the Victorian-Asian contemporary art community? How can the curation of an exhibition exploring this theme be used as a strategy to identify key discourses artists identify with? To consider this area of research 'Hyphenated' was curated by Phuong Ngo and myself, presenting an exhibition of contemporary art by ten Victorian-Australian artists Rushdi Anwar, Sofi Basseghi & Ehsan Khoshnami, Andy Butler, Rhett D'Costa, Tammy Wong Hulbert, Nikki Lam, Eugenia Lim, Slippage, Vipoo Srivilasa and Hoang Tran Nguyen held at The Substation, Newport, Victoria, March 22-April 21, 2018. Each of the artists selected identified as Victorians of Asian heritage and have a contemporary art practice. The exhibition was framed through the concept of the hyphenated space between 'Asian-Australian' to represent artists existing between cultural spaces, and how this impacts upon their outlook. Research Significance The exhibition considered the space between cultures and the impact on individuals living between cultural spaces. We considered this as a legitimate voice expressing the complex cultural layers in the Australian context as part of a globalising society. The exhibition exemplified the diversity of individual expressions of the ten artists, but the artists were also unified by their personal struggle to belong in a post-colonial society and to reconcile their relationship with their cultural heritage, a significant theme, which emerged from the exhibition. As a co-curator, I wrote two reflection pieces on the exhibition for: Peril Magazine: http://peril.com.au/back-editions/edition33/hyphenated-between-cultures/ Garland Magazine: https://garlandmag.com/article/hyphenated/