“There are many things in life that require us to traverse delicately,” says curator Tina Wilson. “Whether it be social interactions, personal interactions or interactions with land and environment, we need to be constantly mindful of our actions now because of the lasting effects they can have in the future.”
Using this idea as a springboard for an exhibition of works drawn from the Tweed Regional Gallery collection, Wilson looks at our relationship with the environment through the lens of contemporary art. Bringing together work by Michael Cook, Rew Hanks, Penny Evans, Michael Kempson, Vernon Ah Kee and Victoria Reichelt, Wilson has positioned a large linocut panel by the Dhuwa artists of the Northern Territory at the exhibition entry, setting up a strong and immediate connection to the environment.
“This work illustrates how Aboriginal people lived in harmony with the land’s delicate ecosystems and responded to the natural flow of seasons,” Wilson explains. “As the exhibition continues, the works explore the devasting impact colonisation had on Aboriginal people and the environment—through introduced flora and fauna—and in particular, how this trauma continues for both Aboriginal people and the environment today.”
Further illustrating this is Judy Watson’s the holes in the land #1-6, 2015, a series of prints based on images of culturally significant objects and architectural drawings of the British Museum. Highlighting the removal of objects from their place on Country to institutions and archives far from their origin, Watson’s images are filled with a keen sense of loss, not only of the objects removed but of traditional culture. As Wilson says, “The exhibition acts as a reminder that even the most robust of environments and people of utmost resilience have a breaking point, and we are responsible for how we traverse these delicate terrains every day. Living gently, living kindly and living with respect will take us a long way into a better future.”
A Delicate Terrain
Tweed Regional Gallery
On now—26 January 2025
This article was originally published in the September/October 2024 print edition of Art Guide Australia.
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