Carriageworks Unveils The First Major Solo Exhibition By Sydney-Based Australian-Fijian Artist Salote Tawale 18 Oct 2023
– Conceived as a ‘memory-bank’ the expansive exhibition explores memory through installation, painting, sculpture and karaoke –
Sydney, Australia: Carriageworks has today unveiled the first major solo exhibition by Sydney-based Australian-Fijian artist Salote Tawale, titled I remember you, opening to the public this Friday, 17 November 2023 and on display until Sunday, 28 January 2024. Across two spaces at Carriageworks, the exhibition considers how identity is formed through memory.
In Bay 21, the Carriageworks Clothing Store resident artist responds to the expansive scale of Carriageworks’ architecture. Conceived as a ‘memory bank’, the ambitious presentation of new work immerses visitors in a whole environment that brings together paintings, sculpture and karaoke. Inside the gallery we encounter cardboard hanging masks; plywood cut-outs of people and plants placed like theatrical set pieces; and a hibiscus floral pattern loosely painted across the gallery wall. A partial replica of the artist’s Fijian family home known as a vale – built on cinder blocks and clad with corrugated iron – stands complete with a clothesline out the back. At the rear of the gallery, pop songs play from a makeshift karaoke booth, inviting visitors to pick up a mic and sing along. With panels missing from the house, flowers fading out, and song lyrics misremembered, the installation is partially formed, materialising the fallibility of memory.
Alongside the installation in Bay 21, Tawale’s almost 14-metre-long bamboo raft, titled No Location (2021), is moored in the Public Space. Originally presented as part of the 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, the work 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 the traditional Fijian watercraft known as a bilibili. At the time, Tawale imagined the vessel as a way to move between her home in Australia and family in Fiji. No Location 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. In title and form, No Location embodies Tawale’s experience of displacement.
I remember you references Tawale’s personal experience growing up in Australia as part of the Pacific diaspora and continues her ongoing exploration of the relationship between the individual the collective.
The exhibition is accompanied by a free and ticketed public program, including an art-making workshop and guided gallery experience for families led by FLENK Collective; a live cooking demonstration inspired by classic Fijian recipes at the Carriageworks Summer Seasonal Market with Tawale, Pasepa Morell and Bloodwood Head Chef and Co-Owner Claire Van Vuuren; an in conversation between Tawale and art historian Verónica Tello; and a talanoa with Tawale and academic and social worker Jioji Ravulo, followed by a shared Fijian meal.
Artist Salote Tawale said: “Memory can come from a smell, sound, touch and a feeling. It is a pathway to our identity. The mind makes sense of this information, consciously and subconsciously. My upcoming exhibition, I remember you, is a translation of these things; of the histories that relate to me and my body. Through the manipulation of found materials, I reconstruct, expand and collapse these moments in time, to consider the power of objects, people and places, and the energy that emanates from them.”
Carriageworks CEO Fergus Linehan said: “We are honoured to present Salote Tawale’s first major exhibition at Carriageworks, continuing our commitment to working closely with Australian artists to develop and present ambitious new work. As a Carriageworks Clothing Store resident artist, Salote has created this significant new work here onsite. It’s been a privilege to be able to provide her a space to explore and develop her artistic practice. I remember you importantly foregrounds Pacific diasporic experience, and by looking at how memories are formed, the exhibition invites visitors to consider their own relationship between identity and remembrance.”
Curated by Aarna Fitzgerald Hanley, I remember you is open free to the public at Carriageworks from Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 5pm.
The project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through Create NSW. Bloomberg is a Major Partner of Carriageworks and is a proud presenting partner of Salote Tawale: I remember you.
MEDIA CONTACT: For further information or to request interviews and details of the media preview, please contact: Jasmine Hersee, jasmine@articulatepr.com.au, 0451 087 196 or Isabel Wright, isabel@articulatepr.com.au, 0400 359 485.