Nexus Exhibition Explores the Theme of Migration

Artists Amal Al Babyli, Hilary Buckland, Ruth Halbert, Julie Jackman and Alberdina Plug,from diverse backgrounds in Iraq, Africa, Europe and rural Western Australia, investigate their shared experience of migration using the media of painting, print, sculpture and textiles.The group came together with a desire to use their emerging visual art practise and friendship to contribute to the conversation on immigration and across cultures. The artists hope that visitors to Nexus will continue this conversation across diverse cultures.

City of Melville Curator Soula Veyradier said, “Migration is a theme which occupies many West Australians and this group brings together their unique perspectives.”

“City of Melville residents are as diverse as the group of artists on show and each resident has their own story to recount.

“This exhibition will allow for reflection on the theme of migration in a broad sense as well as a recollection of the personal experiences along the way.

“The artists involved in this exhibition have come together through studying visual art at Edith Cowan University and meet on a regular basis to share ideas, experiences and art practices. I have no doubt the exhibition will appeal to a wide range of people.”

The Nexus exhibition will be opened on Friday, 19 August 2011 at 6.00pm by Edith Cowan University, School of Communication and the Arts, Lecturer Visual Arts, Gregory Pryor.

RSVP to the opening by Monday, 15 August 2011 to claire.bushby@melville.wa.gov.au or phone 9364 5666.

Nexus will run from Saturday 20, August to Sunday 25, September 2011 at the Heathcote Museum and Gallery on Duncraig Road in Applecross. Gallery hours are: Tuesday to Friday 10.00am to 3.00pm and Saturday and Sunday 12.00 noon to 4.00pm.

Further information contact 1300 635 845 or visit www.melvillecity.com.au//facilities/museums/Heathcote

Artist backgrounds:

Artist Amal Babyli said, “My early thoughts were shaped by the history of Iraq, the country I grew up in. The fact that I left behind my family and friends due to various reasons has had a big impact on my consciousness and has given me the desire to bring a message of nostalgia, peace and love through my artworks.

“I am merging my new culture with my old culture, the peace I have found in Australia with the peace I yearn for in Iraq.”

Artist Alberdina Plug said, “In the early 1950s, my parents’ families arrived in Australia.

Sixty years later, digging through the stories and listening to the older generation reminisce, I realise these are my stories; my past bearing on the present. My paintings begin with the narrative. However, just as life is larger than one incident, so my paintings represent more than a story.”

Artist Hilary Buckland said her childhood was spent in the cotton manufacturing area of Lancashire in the 50’s and 60’s and the story of cotton was a familiar one.

“The cottonseed and production of cloth and clothing has migrated around the globe over centuries and with it many of the practices of growth and production that are unsustainable, environmentally damaging and inequitable,” he said.

“In Australia, I learned to spin and weave and work with cloth, paper, and natural fibres such as wool, hemp, flax, silk and plant materials and discovered ways of dyeing using native plant species and a wealth of knowledge on Indigenous use of resources.

Artist Julie Jackman said, “I was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria at the beginning of the Biafran Civil War and smuggled out with my mother when I was three days old."

"My lived experiences have informed my art practice and mirror my personal and creative evolution. Each art piece I make I view as a self-portrait and an extension of myself."

Artist Ruth Halbert said, ”I grew up in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, influenced by isolation, seasonal rhythms, farm work, weather and the diverse personalities of the district’s inhabitants. My art practice of making textiles by hand allows me to express and question ideas, such as migrating and making a new home.’’