Gateway Exhibition - Seagull Camera

When I was in Shanghai in 2009 I brought a Seagull camera very similar to the one pictured for Greg at the Antique Market. At the time I didn't really think about the camera's functionality because I was more interested in it as an object. Fortunately, my friend/colleague Tammy, who is more familiar with photography, checked to ensure that the camera would work.

I was in Shanghai as part of the preliminary stages of the Meridians Shanghai 2010; Art and Sound in Public Space project, which was completed in June 2010.

This year Greg and I are collaborating as artists towards an exhibition at the Museum of Australian Chinese History titled 'Gateway' due to open in April 2011. The exhibition will bring together the members of the Meridians team (myself, Greg Szopa, Cameron Robbins, Geoff Hogg, Tammy Wong, Claire Tracey, Joanna Buckley, and Wei Tienyu) with other Artists and the Museum staff and collection.

The exhibition will be the result of reflections on intercultural engagement between Australia and China through the visual arts. Each of the artists in the exhibition have had varied experiences of the Chinese context in China and through Chinese cultural expressions in the Australian context. They have used their experiences to reflect upon the space between cultures and investigate the dialogues that come from this space. This exhibition highlights the experience of intercultural dialogues from multiple perspectives including: Australian and Chinese artists who have experienced China through residency programs; Australian and Chinese artists who have collaborated on arts projects and Australian artists of Chinese descent reflecting upon their ancestry in the Australian context.

For our joint contribution Greg and I have decided to incorporate using the Seagull camera into our artwork. To date we have researched and brought the medium format film needed for the camera. The idea of using the camera appeals as it is a shared connection to our experience in China. We also both like that cameras in themselves are usually used to document, reflect, on experiences/travels etc.

At this stage in the process we are also exploring using objects from the Museum's archive, as we are both also interested in museology. In particular we are interested in visually exploring the engagement, reflection, and distortion of the museum experience and its objects viewers take away with them after having viewed/experienced museum collections when they have no immediate personal connection to the origins of the collection. Furthermore we are both interested in exploring the related concept of context and how it relates to knowledge and imagined narratives around museum objects.

We will use this blog to document our progress and ponderings related to the process as we move towards the final artworks and exhibition.