Destiny Disrupted Pdf Free Download
Marcelo Eichel
In the summer of 2023, the quiet that typifies the beginning of the art year in Queensland is being disrupted by a cool critique that fractures the lens held by many Australians. Destiny Disrupted, like the book from which the exhibition takes its title, offers a powerful perspective on public affairs.
The seminal text by prominent Afghan American author Tamim Ansary, which was written in the wake of 9/11, revises the canon of Western history. Nur Shkembi has curated Destiny Disrupted
in her capacity as an independent curator and brings forth a chorus of voices that challenges salient narratives in contemporary Australian culture.
Although the artists each have an affiliation with Muslim-majority nations, references to the myriad of Islamic beliefs held in the cohort are sparing and nuanced, if not absent. Yet an unworldly reverence may be observed in this collection of artworks that appear to transcend time, tongue and the material.
In both artworks, the deployment of text as media imbues a sense of disembodiment to the affectingly explicit material, a spirituality born of extrication from the material in the former, and symbolically engaging electrical lighting as ephemera in the latter. This implication of what may remain post-apocalypse was similarly investigated using neon through the Philip K Dick inspired Blade Runner films. Both artists speak for the disruption of destinies through death, dispossession and displacement.
The remnants of the tree appear ready for repurposing as fuel for a fire or scaffold for shelter. The artwork is celebratory of the reliance and resourcefulness of recent arrivals to this country. Extending beyond the injection of intellectual capital this community has offered our nation, their contribution through manual labour is also reflected upon in this diverse showcase.
The quasi-functional copper vessels by Australian artist with Lebanese heritage, Shireen Taweel, contribute to the hallowed atmosphere of this exhibition. She aptly applied repouss and engraving, techniques acquired from artisans in Turkey, to create Devices for Seeing (2022). Through these cylindrical forms a history of seafaring is contemplated, dating back to a time when deference to the heavens extended beyond the wind, rain and tides, to the stars by which the sailors would navigate.
The ferrying of asylum seekers may be considered a contemporary legacy. The objects are an explicit reflection upon nautical navigation. However, the practice of scrying for destinies in the sky is also implied through this artwork.
Destiny Disrupted invites audiences to consider a different lens, one that challenges many cultural constructs to which they have grown accustomed. The counter-narratives offer the perspective of diaspora: insights into why some were required to relocate, the resilience with which they resumed their lives, and what they brought with them.
The exhibition highlights these contributions of mind, materials and manual labour. Disruption catalysed their departure from their homelands and characterised their arrival in their new home. These artworks are a powerful reminder of what can be achieved with the suspension of expectation.
Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling) is a Brisbane-based an artist and writer. During her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Griffith University, she researched post-digital applications for traditional Chinese papercutting. Since 1997, she has exhibited across Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. The collections to house examples of her artwork include: the Huaxia Papercutting Museum in Changsha, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra and the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide. She has also contributed to variety of publications such as: the Information, Medium and Society Journal of Publishing, M/C Journal, Art Education Australia, 716 Craft and Design and Garland Magazine.
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