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Vanua 2 2011

Accession No.
2023.395
Date Created
2011
Gallery location
Not on public display
Department
Pacific Art
Dimensions A
34.3 x 30cm (comp.); 40 x 45cm (overall)
Media Category
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Place Created
Suva
Credit Line
Gift of Bruce Sowter through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2023

The title of this work translates to ‘place’ or ‘land’. In this work, Bakalevu uses the construct of a circle divided in half to explore the dualities of place as expressed through many of the ancient stories and legends of Fiji. For example, the land, with both feminine and masculine attributes, and is viewed as a nurturing force as well as a site of destruction and decay. The work depicts two sides of a face etched into slightly different tonalities of paint, emphasising that the contrasting facets of the vanua are in balance as parts of one whole.
 

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© William Bakalevu

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Stories featuring this object

Colourful paintings installed on a white gallery wall
APT11

William Bakalevu

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Exhibitions featuring this object

A view of a sculptural work made out of glowing red forms, installed on a gallery wall

‘The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial’

Nov 2024 - Apr 2025

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