Thinking about the space of the gallery in which i will be opening my next solo show. The gallery is a biggish new space that is located above an open access print studio in Brisbane. The show is called Flash...etc(see image) I am looking at the idea of Bilas & multiple identity... so Bilas is dressing up in Papua New Guinea; enacting specific clan rituals at special events, places; celebrations generally...Sometimes ostentatious sometimes minimal; the focus is about representing something about where you are from, your identity & carry on the tradition & strength of the clan. It's usually a moment when tribal spiritual beliefs are displayed in public with the same fervor as christian beliefs and people get into the spirit of things making the spectacle even more captivating.
I saw an interesting coverage of the Goroka show(famed gathering of peoples throughout PNG as well as adventurous tourists i guess) on ABC online which sparked a series of collages & thoughts about myths.. The ABC story consisted of photos of a bizarre group dressed in balaclava's with some men painted in black grinding their bums together making twirking like movements as well as so many other beautiful creations that really inpired me. .In the last few years we have celebrated PNG Independence Day in Brisbane with dancers,musicians & singers from throughout PNG & Queensland performing. Thats been an invigorating experience because it unites all the people settled in Brisbane with those in PNG in a cultural celebration we dont experience too often in Brisbane. Theres Chinese,Greek,Italian but anything from the Pacific is rare.
So what does Bilas mean in this instance??
Nowadays Bilas is a generic term for putting your best on & stepping out with your wantoks. My interpretation in this series is imagined in a space of departure;a distance in which i have been living,working in Australia without language or culture really..It is also a transitional & transformative state that i want to explore in the manner of using this ephemera...invoking this place & my connections through collage of materials.
I am finding it is an intriguing learning experience trying to remember & to know the place you have been as much as trying to determine the future. I have forgotten so much that it is like an archaeological exploration with threads that lead to all sorts of possibilities. How did i get so estranged from all this? Well i supposes like most migrants i went to school here & lived a life of constant information about how to be "Australian" that i learned within the broad brush of 'assimilation'...and multiculturalism...To me it seemed pretty obvious..we accept you; now you are one of us ..anzacs..explorers, bushrangers, flags, waltzing matilda...don't go inland, go to the beach but don't get eaten by a shark! All interesting information & rhetoric that seemed a diversion, a ruse to what was really going on.Another estrangement...
Though i have the majority of collages,drawings,prints done i am in the midst of completing objects. Specifically Ive been assembling these little critters made out of Fimo..which id like to populate a low space..they are whimsical & reminde me of when i was a kid & all the time i spent with the other kids wondering along the reef that surrounds my grandfathers island playing in the hot shallow water,looking at all the creatures...hmm seems like a few threads in this show then..we' ll see!?#*
