About this Event
You're invited to the launch of “occupation studies”, a collection of audio-visual works made by Tahlia Palmer during the inaugural Creative in Residence Program at the Victorian Archives Centre.
Palmer is an artist of Murri and European descent, living in Narrm / Melbourne, who explores history, identity and perception. She works to interrogate the impact of colonisation on people and Country, and to unpack and heal inter-generational trauma in her own family. Utilising archival footage, field recordings and AI-generated imagery, Palmer has created a series of hypnotic video pieces which invite us to reflect on our own relationship with history and challenge us to take steps towards change.
"the intellectual focus of my research is on analysing the european colonial mentality, and critiquing how & why local knowledges built across at least 9000 generations of land and water management were largely dismissed by those with power in settler-colonial society, while also tracing how that disrespect trickled down in to the settler citizenry's attitude over approx 9 generations since european colonisation.
the experimental body of work developed from this research is an expression of the psychic tension experienced as i learnt glimmers of intimate details of the bureaucratic processes which enabled bending and breaking of Country according to biopolitical racism and profit driven directives. i read letters that speak to the entitlement that drove us all into our shared contemporary eco-cultural mess, and i felt tired, and sad.
the works are hypnotic compositions of sound and image built from records from the archive, audio and visual field research across Wurundjeri, Wadawurrung, Djadjawurung, Taungurung, Gunditjmara and Dhuduroa Countries, and AI generated sounds and images based on that data. the work invites audiences to reflect on their relationship with history, with Country, and with socio-economic disparity on this continent.
grief, frustration, and inspiration towards change. change like trusting Indigenous knowledges, scientific and cultural combined, no separation. reciprocal nourishment feedback between all life forms, including the rocks, the water, the sky: there is spirit in all of it, stories in all of it. we owe our continued existence to that way of thinking. we can build a better future for everyone with that way of thinking." Tahlia Palmer
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, Australia
AUD 0.00