Exhibition: In the future everything will be as certain as it used to be

Christian Thompson, Howl for your troubles (2011)

16 Mar –
23 Apr 2017

Exhibition: In the future everything will be as certain as it used to be

This year, AAMU – Museum of contemporary Aboriginal art – in Utrecht has to close its doors after sixteen years. Since 2009 Framer Framed and AAMU have collaborated on several projects over the years. To not let the closure pass by unnoticed and to highlight the relevant collection of the museum, Framer Framed and AAMU-curator Georges Petitjean jointly present a selection of works from the collection in the Framer Framed exhibition space.

In the future everything will be as certain as it used to be (2017) gathers works of renowned artists from the AAMU museum and related collections. In their works the artists comment on the historical and contemporary position of the indigenous Aboriginal peoples in Australian society. They raise issues such as institutional racism, land dispossession and land rights, migration and displacement, colonial history, cultural identity and self-representation. The focus is on the Australian political situation, yet the artists transcend the local by forging connections to similar issues and events on a global scale.

Participating artists
Vernon Ah Kee, Brook Andrew, Gordon Bennett, Bindi Cole, Michael Cook, Brenda L. Croft, Blak Douglas & Adam Geczy, Gordon Hookey, Djambawa Marawili, Tracey Moffatt, Brian Robinson, Darren Siwes, Christian Thompson, Nora Wompi.

Gordon Bennett, Notes to Basquiat: In the future everything wil be as certain as it used to be (1999)

On the exhibition
The exhibition includes work by celebrated artist Tracey Moffatt, who will represent Australia in the upcoming 57^th Venice Biennial. Her photographic and cinematographic pieces focus on the trauma caused by colonisation on Aboriginal peoples; tracing scars left by racism and aggressive assimilation politics. Also featured is Gordon Bennett, often acknowledged as one of the most significant Australian artists. In his work Notes to Basquiat: In the future everything will be as certain as it used to be he presents the viewer with a grim future for Aboriginal Australians, questioning whether colonialism will ever really be over for his people.

Additionally, themes of cultural identification and the use of stereotypes are addressed in the photographic work of artist Christian Thompson, who uses his own identity to question what belonging to an Aboriginal community means. What is an Aboriginal Australian meant to look like according to the greater public, and how does his own, non-stereotypical identity subvert this?

Issues of displacement and land rights are addressed in the work of Djambawa Marawili, a prominent artist and leader of the Yolngu peoples in North-Eastern Arnhem Land. His art has played a crucial role in the land rights movement of his peoples, claiming back their territory by displaying their intrinsic connection to it through their art.

The selected works in In the future everything will be as certain as it used to be offer, on the one hand, a reflection on sixteen years of groundbreaking exhibitions in the AAMU, such as Theme Park (2008), Outsider/Insider. The art of Gordon Bennett (2012), BOMB (2013) en BLAK. Forced into Images (2014/2015). On the other hand, the pieces presented address several urgent, global issues; related to the present impact of colonisation on Aboriginal Australians – and the need of forging an undeniable future.

Bindi Cole, Watharung Mob (2008)

Period
16 March – 23 April, 2017 at Framer Framed, Amsterdam

The exhibition title is borrowed from the work by Gordon Bennett.

Made possible with support of
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Tolhuistuin, AAMU Museum of contemporary Aboriginal art