front gallery: eduard helmbold (sa) - I acknowledge

Opening: 1st August
Exhibition: 2nd - 18th August

 “Hy was geen boorling van dié ruim gebied…

Maar nou het hy…‘n vreemde dans gevoer uit sy land…

…en oor sy skouer

‘n jong bok gedra…

…maar woorde het hy geen enkele gesê.

I Acknowledge, eDuard Helmbold’s first solo show, is inspired by the contemporary use of Acknowledgement of Country as

“…a political act of defiance in the face of originary and ongoing dispossession, marginalisation, racism and genocide. It is a small sign of solidarity with Indigenous people and recognition of the theft and violence that founded and funds the Australian national project.”

Two shaman-like figures ami-Raka invite the viewer to participate in a Beuysian dance of reconciliation. Manifesto, an assemblage set on a stack of manure balls is both an acknowledgement of privilege and a statement of intent. Instead of an comprehensive and final statement, Manifesto is fragile and speculative, it is the origin of a manifesto for an emerging practice.

I Acknowledge aims to provide a space where the audience can reflect on rituals of reconciliation beyond words; it offers an opportunity “…to reflect on how we present ourselves through a combination of conscious and unconscious gestures and words with intentional and accidental mistakes.”