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1. Somersault,  2. Curtain, 3. Elsewhere, 4 Standard English

physical object
posted on 2024-10-30, 19:30 authored by Rhett D'Costa
BACKGROUND Shimmering Spaces 3, included four projects; Standard English (2013), Somersault (2013), Curtain (2012), Elsewhere (2013) exhibited in a solo exhibition, to test the conceptual premises framed by the inter-linked questions; How does Anglo-Indian identity emerge, shift and evolve in the context of nationalism, culture, community, history, migration and location? And how can artworks allow for a space of 'in-betweenness' to emerge in the context of an evolving Anglo-Indian identity? CONTRIBUTION These issues were approached from personal experience; as artist, researcher and Anglo Indian, contextualized across colonial and postcolonial discourses and contemporary fine art practice. As importantly, the exhibition was developed to test the spatial limits and conditions of the artworks, which Homi Bhabha describes as the 'breaching of boundaries'. That is, how do narratives and conceptual premises from individual works, engages and infiltrate each other and the space they occupy? How do specific narratives within artworks link and extend into inter-linked discourses? SIGNIFICANCE What was inherent in this enquiry were issues of place and belonging, which are intrinsically linked to culture and identity. The research engaged how the colonising of India led to the establishment of the Anglo Indian community. It explored how often conflicting and changing attitudes of Indian and British communities were negotiated by Anglo-Indians so to establish their own sense of an evolving identity. The research also examined the role migration played in the community and how diaspora communities dislodged notions of home, leading to a rethinking of the idea of home as nostalgic, ancestral, imagined and multiple.

History

Subtype

  • Original Visual Artwork

Outlet

Shimmering Spaces 3

Place published

Gippsland, Australia

Start date

2013-04-16

End date

2013-05-17

Extent

i photograph, + 3 installations

Language

English

Medium

multi-media

Former Identifier

2006075258

Esploro creation date

2020-06-22

Publisher

Switchback Gallery, Monash University, Gippsland Campus

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