Exhibition: BOMB
An exhibition of the collaborative work of artists Adam Geczy and Adam Hill of video, photography, sculpture and performance at the world’s only museum devoted solely to Aboriginal Art, the Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht – AAMU.
The exhibition BOMB, at the Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art – AAMU, Utrecht, the Netherlands, is an artistic exploration of nationalism, racism and discrimination in Australia; it is also part of the cultural program celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Vrede van Utrecht (Treaty of Utrecht, 1713). Drawing the War of Spanish Succession to a conclusion, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht brought peace to the warring states of Europe, partly by refocusing aggression on other areas of the world. The Dutch were not seriously interested in colonizing Australia, despite having landed on the northeast coast in 1623. While Dutch East India Company merchants and mariners were the first recorded Europeans to set foot on the continent, their main interest was expansion of trade in Indonesia. Britain, which emerged as a world power as a result of the 1713 Treaty, went on to colonize Australia in 1788. When Great Britain began its colonization of Australia, it declared the entire island continent ‘Terra Nulls’ – land that belongs to nobody and could simply be taken. The Aboriginal population was not taken into account as being solely part of the flora and fauna. This historical framework provides the starting point for th exhibition BOMB. Part of Utrecht’s year-long commemoration of an event in its own history, the AAMU provided a staging ground for this critical exhibition. It reminds us of the historical reconfiguration of power relations that took place in this city 300 years ago, which had profound consequences elsewhere in the world.
The exhibition was on show between 11 June 2013 – 9 January 2014
Exhibition catalogue
The catalogue comprises exhibition installation shots and essays by Blak Douglas & Adam Geczy, alias Duff, Ian McLean, Maurice O’Riordan and George Petitjean.
95 pages
24 cm
including color illustrations
ISBN: 9789461610959
Snoeck Publishers, Belgium
2013
- Exhibition Review of BOMB by Mary Bouquet
Attachments
Contemporary Aboriginal art / Colonial history / Contested Heritage /
Network
Adam Geczy
Artist
Blak Douglas
artist
