
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Sculpture
Satyr with wineskin cast 19th century
after UNKNOWN ROMAN
International Art | Painting
The prodigal son c.1780-1840
UNKNOWN
International Art | Sculpture
Spinario cast late 19th century
after School of PASITELES
Asian Art | Print
Courtesans (reprint) unknown
after EISEN
Asian Art | Sculpture
Flying horse of Kansu cast 1973
after EASTERN HAN ARTIST
International Art | Sculpture
Bust of Niccolo da Uzzano unknown
after DONATELLO
International Art | Sculpture
Borghese warrior 19th century
after AGASIUS THE EPHESIAN
Pacific Art | Fibre
Jipai (mask) 2011
AFEX, Ben
International Art | Glass
Decanter c.1875-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
International Art | Glass
Vase c.1880-1900
AESTHETIC STYLE
Contemporary Australian Art | Installation
Blackboards with pendulums 1992
KENNEDY, Peter
International Art | Drawing
Design
ADAM, Sicander
International Art | Metalwork
Tea urn c.1770-1800
ADAM STYLE
International Art | Ceramic
Long necked vase c.1900-50
ACOMO PUEBLO
Pacific Art | Photograph
'Te Waiherehere', Koroniti, Wanganui River, 29 May 1986 1986, printed 1997
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Nature morte (silence), Savage Club, Wanganui, 20 February 1986 1986, printed 1999
ABERHART, Laurence
Pacific Art | Photograph
Angel over Whangape Harbour, Northland, 6 May 1982 1982, printed 1991
ABERHART, Laurence
Australian Art | Drawing
A memory of Gumeracha (study of flies) 1908
HEYSEN, Hans
Pacific Art | Print
The boxer 2009
ABEL, Patrik
When we translate from one tongue to another, it could be said that we arrive at a third form of speech that sits somewhere between the two. Drawn from the Collection, ‘A Third Language’ (2023) explores what happens when artistic traditions roam, mutate, clash and grapple with each other, and the rich expression emerging from cultural interaction and negotiation. Cultural encounters often occur within a context of asymmetrical power relations, notably colonialism or slavery; the works in this display reveal how such dynamics are resisted. Encompassing a wide range of hybrid forms, they show how difference can generate new ways of seeing.
Feature image: Installation view of ‘A Third Language’ featuring Mella Jaarsma’s Hi Inlander 1999 (foreground) and Iman Raad’s Days of bliss and woe 2018 (background), QAG Gallery 5, February 2023 / Photograph: Joe Ruckli, QAGOMA
Iman Raad’s large-scale mural commands the gallery space; the vibrant patchwork installation charts the migration of miniature painting across the Middle East and South Asia. As images are copied and re-copied in different locations, they are enriched by the inevitable mistranslations that occur in the chain of reproduction.
The neighbouring Ghanaian movie posters are transcultural adaptations, their surreal compositions blending influences from Hollywood dramas and Hong Kong martial arts movies with native Ghanaian and Nigerian stories. In a similar way, the tokatokoi (headdresses) from East New Britain in Papua New Guinea bring Christian motifs into local ceremonial tradition. The figure of the Virgin Mary is inscribed with Tolai cultural significance, forever changed through this reimagination.
Installation view of ‘A Third Language’, featuring larrakitj by Yalpi Yunupingu, Wanyubi Marika and Gulumbu Yunupingu in the foreground, QAG Watermall, February 2023 / Photograph: Joe Ruckli, QAGOMA
For other artists, translation leaves gaps that cannot be bridged. British artist Khadija Saye drapes herself in various objects from western African nation The Gambia, her parent’s country, likening their traditions to an antique photograph, locked in the past. This distance between ourselves and others is also signalled in Mella Jaarsma’s Hi inlander 1999. Made from treated frog, fish, chicken and kangaroo hides, the artist’s ‘second skins’ encourage us to imagine how it feels to inhabit another’s body.
‘A Third Language’ was on display in QAG’s Gallery 5 (Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries) and Watermall from 11 February to 9 July 2023.
1960
- present
Full profile for JAARSMA, Mella
1979
- present
Full profile for RAAD, Iman
1992
- 2017
Full profile for SAYE, Khadija