OBSERVER: Major exhibition at Heide Museum
Heide Museum of Modern Art has announced a major exhibition developed in partnership with The Torch.
Presented from April 5 to July 20, the exhibition Blak In-Justice: Incarceration and Resilience calls attention to the pressing issue of Indigenous incarceration in Australia through a compelling selection of artworks by leading First Nations artists alongside participants of The Torch program.
The Torch provides art, cultural, and arts industry support to First Nations people who are currently incarcerated or have recently been released from prisons in Victoria.
Curated by Kent Morris, Barkindji artist, curator and Creative Director of The Torch, Blak In-Justice presents works by acclaimed First Nations artists that address the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system and the crisis of deaths in custody.
Their powerful responses are shown alongside the remarkable creative achievements of former and current prison inmates, many of whom have connected with their culture and Country through The Torch program.
Generating powerful political commentary, the exhibition includes work by the internationally renowned Birri Gubba and Darumbal artist Gordon Bennett, whose visceral triptych Bloodlines confronts colonial violence; provocative and darkly comic photographs by the trailblazing Kuku and Erub/Mer artist Destiny Deacon; Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman, and Gurang Gurang artist and activist Richard Bell’s painting Walk On (Bell’s Theorem) that reworks words from the Old Testament to engage with the complex history of race relations in Australia; the major painting Brush with the Lore by Ngarrindjeri artist Trevor Nickolls, offering sharp social commentary on contemporary Aboriginal life; and emotive portraits by Badimaya artist Julie Dowling that draw from a range of artistic traditions, including icon painting and Renaissance portraiture, to individualise and elevate real-life stories about the incarceration of First Nations people.
A selection of works in diverse media by Walmajarri man and artist Jimmy Pike will also be on display, reflecting stories of his Country. Pike’s unique style was developed while he served time in Fremantle Prison, before rising to prominence as one of Australia’s most significant national and international artists. Never before seen garments from his early Desert Designs range are also included in the exhibition.
First Nations Australians make up 3 per cent of the Australian population yet represent 32 per cent of the national adult prison population.
Isabel Wright
Photo: Kent Morris