Volume: Bodies of Knowledge

'Volume: Bodies of Knowledge' is the latest iteration of the Community Reading Room project, which was founded by curator, artist and academic Torika Bolatagici in 2013. The Community Reading Room aspires to be a space for First Nations and BIPOC communities to encounter texts that place their lived experiences at the centre, rather than the margin.

'Volume: Bodies of Knowledge' features commissioned work by nine artists working in Australia, Hawai’i and New Zealand. Through video, quilting, photography, printmaking and installation, the artists shift the focus from the written word as the privileged material of the archive. Instead, the artists invite us to consider the body as an archive.

In the words of Julietta Singh, “the body archive is an attunement, a hopeful gathering, an act of love against the foreclosures of reason. It is a way of knowing the body-self as a becoming and unbecoming thing, of scrambling time and matter, of turning toward rather than against oneself.”

This exhibition features works by Denise Chapman, Ema Tavola, Emele Ugavule, Jane Chang Mi, Kelly Ka-Lai Chan, Laniyuk, Lia Pa’apa’a, Shivanjani Lal, Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe. Curated by Torika Bolatagici.

Accessibility information

This exhibition includes sound and moving images. Due to the varied sensory experience on display, this exhibition may be a difficult environment for visitors with sensory sensitivities.