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Colonial Confusion

Thursday 26 October 2023 to Friday 8 March 2024

Curated by artist megan evans, Colonial Confusion asks us to look at our conflicted relationship to the past to reframe our perspective in the present.

Commenting on periods of colonial nostalgia , this faux-museological display of objects from the City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection sits with artworks by the artist-curator, whose own collection of Victorian objects have been reframed by her critical interventions. Reflecting a confusion of art and historical objects, Colonial Confusion aims to unsettle typical readings of the historical collection.

Bio

megan evans is a multidisciplinary artist, who works in video, photography, sculpture and installation. Her work is informed by social issues, and she examines the nature of belonging and the impact of colonisation on identity, both personal and national. She began her creative life making large political murals in the 1980s, at which time she met and later married Indigenous artist and activist the late Les Griggs, who informed her perspective on colonisation.

megan s current work considers how colonisation has shaped the identity of the coloniser, and it approaches the task of decolonisation through dismantling the aesthetic of the colonial era. megan positions herself as the colonial body in contemporary Australia and examines how to take responsibility for a past she has inherited. She has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, and her work is held in state and regional gallery collections. 
 

our acknowledgement

  • Torres Strait Islander Flag
  • Aboriginal People Flag

The City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we govern, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin and pays respect to their Elders past and present. 

 

We acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations.

We accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and are committed to walking together to build a better future.