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Wansolwara: One Salt Water

17 January – 18 April 2020
10:00am – 5:00pm
UNSW Galleries
This event has ended
A series of exhibitions, performances and events from across the Pacific and throughout the Great Ocean. Wansolwara – a pidgin word from the Solomon Islands meaning ‘one-salt-water’ or ‘one ocean, one people’ – reflects not a single ocean, but rather a connected waterscape that holds distinct and diverse cultures and communities.

UNSW Galleries is taking a break from normal operations and will temporarily close to the public from 24 March 2020 until further notice. We are prioritising the health of our staff and community and hope to be open again soon. As we adapt to the COVID-19 health emergency in Australia, we will be supporting our exhibiting artists by sharing projects online and developing new initiatives to connect with audiences.
 
If you would like to get in touch please contact unswgalleries@unsw.edu.au or call +61 2 8936 0888
 
For more details on UNSW’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.covid-19.unsw.edu.au


Wansolwara: One Salt Water is a series of exhibitions, performances and events from across the Pacific and throughout the Great Ocean. Wansolwara – a pidgin word from the Solomon Islands meaning ‘one-salt-water’ or ‘one ocean, one people’ – reflects not a single ocean, but rather a connected waterscape that holds distinct and diverse cultures and communities. Through art, performance and conversation, the project celebrates the depth and diversity of contemporary visual and material culture throughout these regions, placing customary practices alongside contemporary articulations in art, writing and the moving image.

Unfolding across multiple sites over the summer of 2020, Wansolwara: One Salt Water profiles the creativity of the region through multidisciplinary forms. Artists Terry Faleona, Ruha Fifita, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Shivanjani Lal, Paula Schaafhausen and Vaimaila Urale all present significant bodies of work that trace connections to the Pacific through language, tradition, dance and ceremony. Artist and curator Léuli Eshrāghi also presents ‘O le ūa na fua mai Manuʻa’. This focus within the project expands the Pacific from a geographical region to consider networks and exchange facilitated by the Great Ocean. The exhibition brings fresh international perspectives to current endeavours to embody and awaken Indigenous sensual and spoken languages in works that focus on language, the body, gender, sex, desire and pleasure. It features works by asinnajaq, Sarah Biscarra Dilley, Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste, Mariquita Davis, Amrita Hepi, Caroline Monnet, Faye Mullen, Shannon Te Ao, Angela Tiatia and Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu. Sydney-based collective, Troppo Galaktika, will also curate the third iteration of ‘Club 4A’ focused on the continuing and contemporary cultures of the Pacific.

ʻO le ūa na fua mai Manuʻa
17 January – 18 April 2020 | Oxford Gallery

OFO HAKE: Koe Ngatu Teuteu 'o 'Akesa mo 'Isileli Fifita
17 January – 18 April 2020 | Nick Waterlow Gallery

Shivanjani Lal: Beta, ek story bathao
17 January – 14 March 2020 | Courtyard Gallery

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
17 January – 29 March 2020
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is a leading organisation dedicated to Asian-Australian contemporary art. For ‘Wansolwara’ 4A presents works by Terry Faleona, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Paula Schaafhausen and Vaimaila Urale. 4A is located on Hay Street, between Pitt and George Street, Sydney. For more information and opening hours visit www.4a.com.au

WHEN: 17 JANUARY - 18 APRIL 2020
WHERE: UNSW GALLERIES
ADDRESS: CNR OF OXFORD ST & GREENS RD, PADDINGTON NSW 2021
HOURS: TUES TO SAT, 10AM-5PM. CLOSED PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

More information

Presented in partnership with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and in association with Sydney Festival

Image: Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu, 'Garrutu’mi Mala – My connections' 2019. HD video, 30mins. Courtesy: the artist and Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre