Cultural dissonance
8 February 2024 - 8 July 2024
Curator:
Artist: Mich Duong
Artists:
Location: Niddrie Library
This exhibition explores the tension and interplay between queer identity and cultural norms through five photographic portraits. Each portrait features 'taboo' makeup and traditional attire, representing the embodiment of cultural pride and queerness in the lives of young second-generation migrants.
When illuminated by a phone flashlight, the portraits reveal hidden engravings of words taken from the subjects' real-life experiences. The words draw on the sitter’s dual Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Sudanese, and Samoan cultural and genderqueer identities. The series invite viewers to contemplate the limits and boundaries of identity in the pursuit of personal truth and self-expression.