Showcase
 |
|
Date: Thu 2 Oct 2008
Time: 12pm
Type: Talk
Venue: F208, LASALLE College of the Arts
Admission: Free
Victoria will talk about her art practice in general since 2001, focusing on two major projects, ‘Through the Kebaya’ and the ongoing processes of making ‘Re-Dressing the Veil’. In addition, she will present and discuss one or two short screen based video works including ‘Garlic Red Onion’, a collaborative work with Masnoramli Mahmud, Malaysia.
I – ‘Through the Kebaya’ is a generative and research-based work that was presented in several locations in Indonesia and Australia over the duration 2002-2005 and which was her Master of Visual Arts research project. The work began with the ‘kebaya’ – a traditional blouse for women in Indonesia – as a means of exploring constructions of identity - in particular in relation to the ‘feminine’ - within a number of different cultural contexts, social groups and geographic locations within Indonesia. Beyond this, the work sought to challenge cultural constructions of identity within an intercultural discourse by situating and re-constructing the work in relation to a number of different sites outside of Indonesia - in Australia. The project utilises the kebaya as a cultural text through which to provide an increased comprehension of the changing roles and status of women in certain parts of Indonesia, and of how women see themselves today. Second to this - through its movement and reconstruction in contexts outside of Indonesia, the kebaya was used to stimulate a dialogue concerning the way those outside the ‘owner culture/s’ render cultural identity and meaning to those belonging to other cultural groups. Thirdly, the kebaya operates as a mirror, encouraging us to reflect upon and therefore examine how we define and assert our own cultural identity: how does the way we see and define ourselves limit or enrich our capacity to accommodate notions of cultural diversity.
II - 'Re-Dressing the Veil’, developing further upon the earlier methodology of the kebaya project, looks at perceptions of Islam within the dynamics and realities of multi-culturalism. The project, supported by an Australia Council for the Arts grant, has been undertaken in Singapore, Penang [Malaysia] and northern Queensland [Australia], and is currently in gestation stage. The work uses as an entry point the aesthetics of adornment of the Muslim head-covering often referred to generically as ‘hijab’, or ‘tudung’ as it is locally known, seeking to unveil stereotypes and explore attitudes around the wearing of ‘hijab’ from those who do not wear it. Bearing in mind the very topical and politicised nature of discourses surrounding the ‘hijab’, she prefers to take a ‘soft’ approach to the topic through the specifics on her workshops, providing a safe space for individuals to explore their perceptions [and misperceptions] of ‘hijab’, and by default, Islam. The final work, to be presented in Singapore 2009, is a digital media installation that is contextually located, incorporating portraits of local Muslim women and material from workshops conducted in Singapore.
About the Speaker
Victoria Cattoni is an Australian-born visual artist and independent researcher currently completing a visual arts/new media project that took place in Singapore, Malaysia and northern Australia. The project ‘ReDressing the Veil’ looks at perceptions of Islam using the veil as text. Born in Ingham, Queensland, Australia, Cattoni worked in Hobart and Melbourne before relocating to Indonesia where she was based from 1998 until 2004, following which she worked in Malaysia. She has also presented her work in Finland and Lithuania in performance art projects. Cattoni is currently resident in Singapore.
