DANCING WITH THE DEAD

Khadim Ali, Soojin Chang, Dr. Fiona Foley, Dr. Mojgan Habibi, Pieter Hugo, Lindy Lee, Pierre Mukeba, Sarker Protick, Stanislava Pinchuk, Jemima Wyman

Presented in partnership with the Lock-Up, Newcastle

Named after the infamous Madagascan dancing with the dead ritual of Famadihana, Dancing with the Dead is a group exhibition that aims to illuminate the convergence of memory and corporeality within a larger context of ‘deaths’ and the multiplicity of experiences that fall within it; whether that be physical death, spiritual death or cultural death. Much like the traditional Madagascan process (which sees families and loved ones exhuming bodies from tombs, carefully re-wrapping, then lovingly dancing with their corpses), this exhibition aims to explore the concept of death as permeable.

It is through adopting the imagery of dancing with and subsequently embracing ‘darkness’ and universal experiences such as loss, religiosity and ritual, that we hope will allow for communal and cathartic experiences that shine light on the paradoxically unique and universal experiences of death and endings.

Image 1:
Jemima Wyman Aggregate Icon (Black and White), Digital photo collage, 190cm, 2020. Commissioned by Antidote Projects, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist and Sullivan + Strumpf. Full caption details here.

Image 2:
Soojin Chang
Death Ritual (Shown in the Mirror), 2-channel video and sound, 21min. 2019 

Image 3:
Stanislava Pinchuk
The Red Carpet (4-9), Oil pigment, gouache & fine mesh press on paper, 103 x 153 cm each, 2020

Image 4:
Lindy Lee
Unencumbered, 2019. Flung bronze sculpture, 120cm diameter. Courtesy of the Artist and Sullivan & Strumpf

Image 5:
Khadim Ali
Untitled 6 from Fragmented Memories series, 2017-18. Cotton and nylon thread and ink on fabric, 223.5 x 163 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane