BIRTHRIGHT

15 September – 29 October 2021

This exhibition brings together two women artists from different backgrounds who share a common experience. It documents the ongoing journeys of cultural reconnection by painter Jasmine Coe (Wiradjuri & British) and textile artist Melinda Schwakhofer (Muscogee (Creek) & Austrian-American).

Both artists grew up geographically and culturally separated from their respective Indigenous families. Reaching out to their estranged communities has profoundly affected their creative expression. Through textile, painting and printmaking, art has provided a vehicle for cultural exploration, self-determination, self-realisation and a sense of belonging.

In a post-colonial world millions of people find themselves growing up at distance from their ancestral homelands. The lived experience of being separated from genetic heritage and cultures can sometimes be confusing or even invalidating. BIRTHRIGHT is dedicated to all people experiencing journeys of cultural disconnection or reconnection.