“Colonising West Space”
Salote Tawale
14 Nov → 13 Dec 2014
Salote Tawale set out to colonise West Space through the placement of sculptural objects, colour branding and photographic imagery. The objects are constructed from found materials, modified to reflect the artist’s own cultural references and the site West Space, an organisation that facilitates creative/cultural projects.
The works will be placed in all spaces throughout 1/225 Bourke Street, through performed rituals documented and presented in the Back Space as a celebration and archive of Colonial settlement. When underlying structures of an already established space are shifted through physical interactions and the introduction of objects, new emotional and historical narratives are made possible. It is through this that cultural exchanges occur, new social engagements arise and established modes of interaction are transformed.
Working across performance, moving image, painting and installation, Salote Tawale probes ideas of self-representation, humorously challenging stereotypes and presenting nuanced articulations of the complex negotiations around identity as a Fijian woman living in Australia. Tawale’s recent works expand these concerns, acknowledging the growing significance of indigenous knowledge systems to individuals living in the diaspora in navigating this particular time and space.