The Haunted and the Bad

4 July - 10 August 2008

Joel BIRNIE
Maleetyé; blossom
2008

A digital video and installation series, based upon the aspects of my Indigenous heritage being passed onto me through women. The images and installation are inspired by the photographs of Fanny Cochrane Smith originally taken in the late 1800's to the early 1900's before her death in 1905.

"What would I be as an Indigenous artist with out Fanny Cochrane Smith?", due to fairness of skin, an urban existence on the mainland and destruction of traditional Indigenous Tasmanian culture; such as language, art and religion etc., I find myself asking 'what is it for me to be recognised as an 'Indigenous' artist, and is it relevant? Would my work still be recognised by institutions and galleries if the same works were to be labelled as non-Indigenous, if they were not historic in theme and visual style? And what constitutes Indigenous art?; for example; when first approaching galleries with my earliest work, I was informed that my work did not look 'aboriginal' and would benefit by making my work to visually appear aboriginal and basing the subjects on past stories and people, the majority of which have passed away; a decade on, I cannot help but wonder would anyone be interested if it wasn't Palawa?

Maleetyé; blossom is a series of works symbolic of the processes undertaken by many displaced and dispossessed Indigenous people, of the need to research and uncover the often dark history of your own flesh and blood, culture and language. It contains, what for me, has been the emotional responses I have encountered whilst learning about my history and culture, such as the elements of Death, Family, Language, Gender and Identity.

The immediate focus of this piece is a mask made of hair (synthetic), inter- woven with clay and natural fibres i.e. Flowers and grass; used to represent death and decay - this combines the aspects of respecting the deceased by not showing the face, of a death mask, as well as the European tradition of cutting a lock of hair from a deceased loved one. It's also a reference to the famous portraits of Fanny Cochrane Smith, my great great great grandmother, her hair decorated with flowers and feathers and her neck graced with the traditional maireener shells; I have used this as a visual symbol of my Indigenous identity. The mask can also relate to the act of 'self covering', of wearing a disguise, of having to wear a 'costume' of my Indigenous heritage in order to be heard and have my artwork recognised as Palawa.

The costume, inspired by nineteenth century 'mission' dress, adorned with flowers, shells and symbolic embroidery, all represents the identification of contemporary Indigenous Tasmanian culture with the women who survived the genocide, of the fact that knowledge of my heritage has been passed down to me through women; my mother, grandmother and aunties, going back to the time of my great great great grandmother, as is probably the case for most of today's Palawa community. At times I've found this to be difficult and frustrating as I find I am unable to participate in cultural practices that my immediate ancestors performed; knowledge and practices that are labelled 'women only', such as the art of shell necklace making, I've gazed for hours over images of Fanny Cochrane Smith standing proud, draped with the almost endless string of maireener shells, yet know that I'm not allowed to participate in the creation of this beautiful art, this is symbolised by the series of small woven baskets; each knot a symbol of the learning, of the length of time it has taken to learn, yet so much of what I know I am unable to use thus the baskets are hollow and therefore useless. How do I make work when I am restricted by gender, age and location? I have included this costume as an installation, referential to 'Museum Culture'; this need to preserve and contain all that is associated with a person, object or event and to shed light on the fact that my work has been collected by Museums rather that contemporary galleries. Does my contemporary work belong in museums; Institutions renowned for being houses of the past?

Film

The objective of this piece is to breathe life into the myriad of still photographs of Fanny Cochrane Smith that have been ever present throughout my life. The act of dressing and wearing, of becoming another person, not necessarily her, but feeling the fabric, furs, and the shells and seeing myself in the recreation of these famous images that have emblazoned themselves on my memory. I'm attempting to understand and connect more deeply, by placing myself within these images, feeling the moment yet restricted, hidden and confined by the clothing and especially the mask, as if living in a mobile coffin; at times how I feel as an Indigenous Tasmanian and when creating work based entirely on the past. The act of doing this, relives mentally and emotionally, the death and decay, and the feminine aspect of my heritage, of what is lost forever and what has been gained and of all that I know of my heritage and how I have come to know it.

The 'performance' aspect of the work has been kept as simple as possible, the focus being on what the viewer is hearing (a recording of Fanny Cochrane Smith singing and orating in Traditional Indigenous Tasmanian language, recorded in the late 1800's and again in 1901,before her death in 1905) and not what the viewer is seeing; in effect, there is no movement I can make, images I can produce or words I can speak that would be as relevant as this record.

 

Installation Photos: