“My Australia,” co-curated by Dr. Shiau-Peng
Chen and Dr. Meng-shu You, will be exhibited
at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (KdMoFA) from July
1 to August 7, 2011.
Chen and You are both Taiwanese artists and researchers
who used to live in Australia for years. They have been
interested in the unique Australian cultural experience as
an outsider.
As the Australian scholar Papastergiadis mentions,
Australian culture is hybridity. It has been formed by
its colonial history and ambiguous political-geography.
Therefore, this exhibition “My Australia” presents an
outsider’s point of view to interpret the unique cultural
phenomenon in Australia.
“My Australia” transmits the artists’ observation of
and reaction to their Australian experiences. There are
around 12 artists and their identities and nationalities are
various, such as Australian-born, Indonesian Australian, Chinese Australian, Australian Jewish, American, Mexican
and Taiwanese.
The art works to be exhibited include oil painting,
video, photography, multimedia and installation. Their
art projects would provide a wider vision of Australian
society from different perspectives.
Through the art works, the artists address the relationships
between themselves and their Australian experience:
such as polemics on social issues and concerns
about identity. Moreover, they attempt to define the ideology
of “their Australia.”
“My Australia” brings a cross-national art and culture
exchange between Taiwan and Australia by exhibiting the
latest Australian contemporary art at the KdMoFA, for
the people of Taiwan to understand and appreciate the
culture of Australia more deeply and broadly.