Transfer focuses on contemporary visual artists with connections to Southeast Asia and the Pacific who explore textiles as a medium. Spanning embroidery, stitching, sculptural installations, film, wall-based works, performance and participatory pieces, the exhibition showcases a proliferation of textiles and fibre art practices that aim to reinterpret cultural heritage through a contemporary lens at the intersection of art and life.
The selected artists are recognised as important figures in this conversation, offering work that reimagines and elevates deeply personal practices while transmitting cultural experiences and traditions. The diversity of pieces on display act as intimate records that carry meaning and impart fresh perspectives on how culture is passed down from generation to generation and how it changes over time.
The works' tactile and sometimes decorative nature is employed as a strategy to draw viewers into conversations concerning cultural specificity, community, critical reflections on political, social, and historical contexts, and the dissection of power structures.
Eko Nugroho Undecided Century 2024. Embroidered painting, 278 x 292cm. Courtesy the artist.