Due to restoration of the Koori Floor, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) has temporarily closed its doors and moved its Bittersweet exhibition online with an extended digital program.
Curated by Western Sydney artist, Shivanjani Lal, Bittersweet is a poignant showcase of emerging and mid-career Fijian art, inviting ten iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) and Indo-Fijian artists to interpret ideas around food, language, stories, and their experiences as artists living in diaspora.
“Bittersweet has offered us some unique and personal perspectives from a variety of talented Fijian artists,” said CPAC Director, Craig Donarski. “As saddened as we are to be shutting our doors for now, we know how important this restoration is as a major piece of First Nations art, and we can’t wait to share it with the public when we re-open in November.”
“In the meantime, we’re thrilled to be offering an extended digital run of Bittersweet, full of new experiences for people to immerse themselves in.”
Audiences will have the opportunity to experience the original exhibition from the comfort of their own homes with a 3D virtual tour, available on the CPAC website.
The extended digital program also includes a podcast conversation with Shivanjani Lal and academic, Dr. Asha Chand, as they consider the importance of memory, objects, ideas of home, and how they shape our past, present, and future.
Audiences can also listen to interviews with collections of the artists featured in the exhibition, including Manisha Anjali, Mohini Chandra, Yasbelle Kerkow, C.A Moses, Luisa Tora, Sangeeta Singh and Shivanjani Lal.
Join CPAC Director, Craig Donarski, and Shivanjani Lal on 6 October for a free online screening of two films, made by filmmakers with deep connections to Fiji.
Don’t Forget to Go Home is a short film following two Fijian-Indian sisters as they escape their cousins wedding to get high on disobedience and drugs. And shot entirely on the island of Rotuma, one of Fiji’s 330 islands, to great international acclaim — The Land Has Eyes is a feature-length, coming-of-age story about a young woman attempting to escape the stifling conformity of Island culture. Both films will be subtitled in English.
Inspired by the Bittersweet exhibition, CPAC is offering the public an opportunity to participate in a free community writing project called Bittersweet Postal Society. Over a four-week period, artist Manisha Anjali will upload writing prompts to the CPAC website with details of where to send the letters afterwards. The pen-pal project aims to connect people and to create beautiful poetry. Participants can also have an online meeting with Manisha Anjali to discuss their letters.
Exhibition Details
What: Bittersweet Extended Digital Program
When: 28 September – 15 November
Special film screenings on Tuesday 6 October from 7pm. Booking Essential.
Where: https://www.casulapowerhouse.
Price: FREE
For further information visit www.casulapowerhouse.com
Stay up to date through: www.facebook.com/
