Welcome to the November 2007 newsletter from www.rebeccaswan.com
This is the BIG NEWS I've been waiting to announce
Assume Nothing, the photographs, the book and the film, become
Assume Nothing, a National Touring Exhibition!
The New Dowse Gallery, Lower Hutt, has commissioned an exhibition of Assume Nothing http://www.rebeccaswan.com/pub_assume.php
It opens 11th April 2008 and runs until 31st August 2008. The New Dowse have developed it into a touring exhibition that includes The Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui and Te Manawa Gallery, Palmerston North. The touring dates and other venues are yet to be confirmed.
http://www.newdowse.org.nz
http://www.sarjeant.org.nz
http://www.temanawa.co.nz
The Assume Nothing exhibition is a collaboration between myself and international award winning film maker, Kirsty MacDonald. Kirsty and I have been working together and in parallel for three years now, both exploring the nuances, intimacies and complex layers of gender identity. The exhibition will be a celebration of all the people who did us the honour of sharing themselves and trusting us with their images and their stories.
In the exhibition there will be photographs and film works. Kirsty’s new film Assume Nothing is now underway as it’s just received Screen Innovation funding. Its focus is on gender identity through creativity and will screen at the exhibition. Kirsty will also create filmic portraits using animation that will be viewed alongside the photographs within the gallery
The last image that has been taken for the exhibition is a collaboration with the amazing artist Shigeyuki Kihara. http://www.shermangalleries.com.au
I photographed Shigeyuki last weekend while Kirsty and Chris filmed the shoot. It was a very potent day, as Shigeyuki said “you better turn your smoke alarm off, we’re on fire in here!” We were all excited about what was created. It was unexpected and perfect.
Shigeyuki Kihara being photographed by Rebecca Swan. Photo by Kirsty MacDonald.
'Ola, Aitu, Mauli; the inner person' 2007
Rebecca Swan and Shigeyuki Kihara
Photography and mixed media
Courtesy of Rebecca Swan, Shigeyuki Kihara and Mark Hutchins Gallery, Wellington
'Ola, Aitu, Mauli; the inner person' references a title of a chapter in a publication entitled 'Tapua'i; Samoan worship' written by Fanaafi Aiono Le Tagaloa (Malua Press 2003) which explains the inner person of the Samoan life force being divided into three elements; the ola, the aitu and the mauli.
Le Tagaloa explains; 'Ola focuses on the physiological or the biological side of the person. Ola is therefore being able to breathe or being alive; Aitu is the creative and cheeky part of the inner being of the person which utilises satire, irony, humour and sarcasm to raise issues before the authority; Mauli is the psyche. It is a major part of the intellectual life of the person.' Through the combination of these three elements the work addresses and challenges the current emphasis on superficiality or the 'outer shell' of a person rather then the 'inner shell' in contemporary culture.
Shigeyuki Kihara is a visual and performance artist and co-curator of the upcoming trans-Tasman group exhibition entitled 'Hand in Hand' with Australian Aboriginal Artist Jenny Fraser. 'Hand in Hand' explores the contemporary experiences of indigenous and 'queer' (ie: Fa'a fafine, Takatapui, SistaGirl, Queenie, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intesex) artists who are Australian Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders, Niuean, Fijian, Maori and Samoan. The exhibition is held at Boomalli Urban Aborginal Artist Co-Operative and Performance Space, both venues are in Sydney in February 2008 as part of the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival.
For more information please contact: Shigeyuki Kihara savagesamurai@gmail.com.
http://www.boomalli.org.au
http://www.performancespace.com.au
While the Assume Nothing photographic works are exhibited at The New Dowse, they are represented by Mark Hutchins Gallery, at 216 Willis Street, Wellington http://www.mhgallery.co.nz. Mark will be showing new work of mine in June 2008.
Here’s a sneak preview of the new work that looks at the notion of surrender. I'm interested in the play between surrender and resistance.
“9/15/07, 2:34:40 PM” by Rebecca Swan
BLACK AND WHITE
This award winning documentary, directed by Kirsty MacDonald is featured on Imagining Ourselves.
Imagining Ourselves was started to inspire women all over the world to create positive change. More than a million people from more than 200 countries participated, adding comments, reading stories, and contributing to a dialogue for positive change.
http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?G=1&C=0&id=1438&lang=1
Here are some of the results from their participant survey:
72% reported being more aware of issues important to young women globally
73% reported three or more personal changes resulting from participating in the exhibit
53% reported taking three or more actions towards positive social change as a result of participating in the exhibit.
THE TRANSGENDER INQUIRY
The Human Rights Commission's Transgender Inquiry report will be
released in December. This final report draws on information from trans
people, health professionals and others who made submissions, as well as
responses from government agencies. It looks at three major issues that
impact on the human rights of trans people:
* discrimination (including a specific chapter on the experiences of
trans children and young people)
* access to health services
* legal recognition of a person's gender identity
The Inquiry makes recommendations about steps needed to reduce the
discrimination and improve the human rights of trans people. The Human
Rights Commission has a commitment to working with trans people,
government agencies, health professionals and others to make these
recommendations happen over the next three years.
The report includes 10 trans people talking about their lives. I was lucky enough to take their photos, and those of other trans and intersex people.
The Final Report will be available on the Human Rights Commission's
website http://www.hrc.co.nz/transgenderinquiry from mid December. If you would
like to be sent a copy, you can contact the Inquiry's Project Manager,
Jack Byrne on jackb@hrc.co.nz
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So that's the latest news for now, thanks for your interest.
I'll write to you again in March.
Rebecca Swan |
