Originally presented for the 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, No Location is restaged at Carriageworks as part of Salote Tawale’s ambitious exhibition I remember you.
Built over a two-week period, Tawale worked with Joan Waqa and Suli Naulivou, alongside Hayden Fowler and Dodge Pangburn, to construct the vessel, which is based on a traditional Fijian watercraft known as a bilibili. A bilibili is used to transport people and goods downriver. It is made from readily available materials, which are disassembled and recycled at the end of a journey.
In this work the artist reinterprets the established method of making a raft. Using the labour-intensive process of bundling and binding bamboo for the structure, Tawale distinctly incorporates tarps and ropes – everyday materials typical of her work – alongside personal items chosen for the artist’s journey.
No Location is based on a childhood memory. On a visit to the Fiji Museum in Suva at 10 years old, Tawale recalls seeing a scale model of a bilibili. At the time she imagined the vessel as a way to move between her home in Australia and family in Fiji. In title and form, No Location embodies Tawale’s experience of displacement; of being ‘here’ but also from ‘there’.
Salote Tawale: I remember you
17 Nov 2023 – 28 Jan 2024
Wed – Sun, 10am – 5pm
Images by Zan Wimberley.
Purchased 2021 with funds from the Bequest of Jennifer Taylor through the Queensland Art Gallery l Gallery of Modern Art Foundation
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art