Old ways, new ways – group exhibition

Photography can be a container, a mouthpiece, a medium of record: a tool for considering and enlivening the ways of the past through the eyes of the present. In Old ways, new ways, works from three collections sit together to consider the ways that First Nations photography makes links between times gone by and the present, placing traditions within contemporary practice, speaking (sometimes shouting, at times singing, sometimes performing) across generations and through passages of time.

© Peta Clancy. Lips, 2014, from the series, Puncture.
© Peta Clancy. Lips, 2014, from the series, Puncture.

Human experience is shaped by what comes before it. Through various approaches – from documentation of protests and ceremonies, to conceptual and performative photography – each photographer exhibiting at MGA could be seen to have co-opted the camera to test what this means to them.

Works are drawn for the Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, The Koorie Heritage Trust Collection and the Horsham Regional Art Gallery Collection.

© Leah Smith-King. Baby, 2018, from the series, Dreaming Mum again.
© Leah Smith-King. Baby, 2018, from the series, Dreaming Mum again.

Artists: Tony Albert (Girramay/Kuku Yalanji), Lisa Bellear (Minjungbul/Geoernpil/Noonuccal/Kanak), Peta Clancy (Bangerang), Brenda L Croft (Gurindji/Malgnin/Mudpurra) , Viva Gibb (Au), Gail Harridene (Wotjobaluk/Djubagalk/Jadawadjali), Dianne Jones (Balardung/Nyoongar), Leah King-Smith (Bigambul), Michael Riley (Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi), Damien Shen (Ngarrindjeri), James Tylor (Kaurna)

Old ways, new ways is an official exhibition of PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography (photo.org.au), a major biennial of new photography and ideas taking place from 29 April to 22 May in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

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November

Sydney: The exhibition delves into the State Library of NSW's vast collection of two million images, showcasing 400 photos – many displayed for the first time.

February

Ballarat: Scotty So is a Melbourne-based artist who works across media, using painting, photography, sculptures, site-responsive installation, videos and drag performance.

Melbourne: Jill Orr’s The Promised Land Refigured is an exhibition that reworks the original project created in 2012 with new insights that have emerged in the past eleven years.

Sydney: Curated by Lynn Smith, Urban Enigmas aims to unlock the subtle mysteries that lurk in out-of-the-way places in big cities: back lanes, river banks, street markets, abandoned factories, old bridges and so on.

March

Ballarat: Nan Goldin is an American artist whose work explores subcultures, moments of intimacy, the impacts of the HIV/AIDS and opioid epidemics on her communities, and photography as a tool for social activism.

Sydney: The Ocean Photographer of the Year Award, run by London based Oceanographic Magazine is in its 4th year and has quickly achieved recognition amongst photographers around the world.

Albury: The National Photography Prize offers a $30,000 acquisitive prize, the $5000 John and Margaret Baker Fellowship for an emerging practitioner, and further supports a number of artists through focused acquisitions.