TAMMY  WONG  HULBERT   黄雪慧

FAR FLUNG: CONNECTING INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILIES

In partnership with the City of Manningham
Partners: Birralee Primary School, Chinese Community Social Services and The Chinese Museum
Funded by Creative Victoria's Creative Suburbs program, 2019

Manningham Art Gallery, Doncaster
November 13 until December 14, 2019. 
Far Flung: Connecting Intergenerational Families was an research project resulting in an exhibition presenting the research collaboration of a 'Social-Artists-in-Residence' team who worked with eleven local diverse families to curate a collaborative art project during the months of June - September, 2019. The families of Far Flung families have migrated from around the Asia-Pacific region including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and Colombia, reflecting the growing and evolving diversity of Doncaster, Manningham. 

Drawing from Manningham's collection and studio focus on ceramic art, the families worked with artists on a range of social engagement and studio activities to connect with local place and rethink their own relationships with our globalising city. The resulting exhibition curates the group's perspective of having both a local and global sense of home, with participants expressing their sense of belonging and home through the comfort of dining and sharing. The gallery space was reimagined as a shared home, with the first room designed as a lounge to introduce and engage the audience through the voices and experiences of the participants through video and sound documentation. The main gallery becomes the shared dining room, adorned by portraits of the families. Each of the participants created their own hands and places at the dining room table, representing the creation of their own place in a new society. With support from the artistic team, the families have become both the subject and co-creators of the exhibition, presenting their shared perspectives and the journey they have undertaken. 

The families who participated in this project were Alice Moon & Jeong Min Lee (Julia Lee), Camila Duque Cavadid & Karen Lee Cavadid Ramirez, Candy Li & Di (Brian) Li, Charlene Chen & Hsin-Hui (Rita) Mitic, Doanh (Andrea) Lu/Han Lu, Jialin (Dora) Ke & Yu Xialin, Li Xuan (Alfred) Feng & Chau Man (Nancy) Tsoi, Matthew Huang (Yurui) & Lily Zhou (Zhijuan), Milano Zhang & Chi Zhang, Neena Lim & Kavitha Doraimanickam, Yi Chen Zhang (Eason) & Yehong Zhang (Vicky). The 'Social-Artists-in-Residence Team' comprised of Dr Tammy Wong Hulbert (lead artist and curator), Sofi Basseghi, Ai Yamamoto, Katayoun Javan (Photography, video and sound), Amy Kennedy, Yuso Lee (ceramics) and Rongping Jiang (family support and translator) with support from Manningham's Arts and Cultural team. I would particularly like to thank Jessica Simmons, Manningham's Arts and Cultural Officer, for her great commitment and enthusiasm in developing this project. 


Images: Installation shots of Far Flung at Manningham Art Gallery, Doncaster (above) and below images from the launch event on November 13, 2019 and progress shots of the families during our 'social-artists-in-residence' workshops between June - September, 2019. 


For more information about the process of Far Flung visit the Curating Art Cities blog.
 

Photographs taken by Tammy Wong Hulbert. 

Videos produced by collaborating artist Sofi Basseghi - Far Flung - Project Summation

These Hands Spoken word by Joel Ma presented at Table Talk, December 2019