Christos Tsiolkas: keeping the faith

Friday 3 September 2010, 11:27 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events

As far as significant birthdays go, an 175th birthday is up there. And Melbourne  just turned 175,  an event that certainly warrants some reflection.

It is timely therefore, that two Melburnians, writer Christos Tsiolkas and photographer Zoe Ali, have been reflecting on our 175-year-old city, asking questions about what we stand for and what we believe in.

These reflections have become the City Gallery’s latest exhibition - A New Jerusalem: Faith and the City. We asked Christos Tsiolkas about his experiences of faith and the city.

To talk about a ‘new’ Jerusalem, you must have an ‘old’ Jerusalem in mind. What is this old Jerusalem, and how does it connect with Melbourne today?

The old Jerusalem is a city of crucial importance to the three sibling monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

For many people in Melbourne it is these three faiths that are central to their religious and ethical beliefs. That is certainly true historically. Zoe [Ali, exhibition co-curator] and I wanted the title to reflect this historic relationship but also point to what we think is one of the best things about Melbourne, its matter-of-fact multiculturalism.

We wanted to point to the possibility of a ‘new Jerusalem’ that was not fractured by religious, sectarian and racist violence that is unfortunately the reality of the ‘old Jerusalem’. We wanted the exhibition to be hopeful about the diversity and polyglot nature of Melbourne. 

It is important for both of us to resist the pessimism embodied in the current politics of xenophobia and fear. They represent what is worst about us as a nation – we hope this exhibition points towards what is best about us. That is the hope of the title.

You’ve taken a fairly clear line with your definitions of faith: churches, temples, mosques and missions are the focus. Were you tempted to include more cultural forms of worship – a footy match at the MCG, or even a ritual such as Friday night drinks?

Part of the artistic process is sifting through a thousand thoughts and ideas and notes, then setting parameters and a structure within to work in. Zoe and I both consider ourselves secular, humanist, so there is a challenge for us to try and understand the very particular experience that is religious faith…

Also, over the last few years there has been a rise of what I consider quite smug and censorious atheism, an atheism that resorts to the kind of fundamentalist thinking it claims to condemn in religion.

One of the great historic gifts of atheism has been ‘freethinking’. Zoe and I, who both have an ambivalent, agnostic relationship to religion, wanted to treat the question of faith seriously, without resorting to smugness.

The exhibition includes text about imagined Melburnians. What were you trying to capture with this writing?

I want people to come away excited by the imaginative possibilities offered by a truly dynamic multicultural, polyglot city. We can step into each other’s shoes, we can be inspired by difference, we can approach faith and hope and charity without irony.

What do you have faith in?

People, that I know so many good people.

Some of the exhibition’s images are scenes of tranquillity and peace, others are scenes of isolation and neglect. How does faith fit with these distinct states of being?

Faith in something is easy when things are going well. I used to fight against this notion of tranquility, I was addicted to chaos and change. As you get older you come to understand that moments of peace are so important because they are so rare.

I think that is one of the great strength of Buddhism as opposed to the monotheistic tradition of religion I have personal experience of: the importance Buddhism gives to the moment.

Faith is hardest when you are suffering, when you are in pain and in despair. In these moments it is very easy to abandon faith but it is in these moments that faith is most important. So faith is most lovely in tranquillity but it is most meaningful when tested.

To give an appropriate secular and Melburnian example of what I am talking about, it was great to be a Tigers supporter in the seventies and early eighties, but it was also easy. The true test of faith is supporting them now. Which I do. Which is called hope. 

Did you visit the City of Melbourne’s Art and Heritage Collection? What treasures did you find there?

I could live there – I love poking into drawers and looking at the maps and paperwork and objects and paintings and photographs that give shape to my city. You have to come to the exhibition to see the treasures we uncovered.

How did Zoe and yourself originally conceive this project? What themes attracted you to one another’s work?

Zoe and I have worked together for over ten years now on work that combines text and photography.

Our first show was a response to the ill-treatment of refugees in detention centres and from then on our work has focussed on the experience of migration and displacement…the more we explored themes of loss and exile, the more questions of faith became important to our work.

The Torah, the Bible, the Qu’ran offer such rich language and metaphors through which to explore these questions: it seems foolish to sacrifice such a rich heritage on the altar of ‘secular correctness’.

I could work with Zoe forever – she is one of the people who gives me faith.

A New Jerusalem: Faith and the City is at the City Gallery until Saturday 22 January.

Photo credits:

1. St Paul’s Cathedral, Zoe Ali (Detail)
2. Celestial Avenue, Zoe Ali (Detail)
3. Melbourne from Alexandra Avenue, Ritter-Jeppesen Studios, Melbourne (1960s), City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection.

Hot Spots: hook turns with Bus Projects

Thursday 19 August 2010, 11:39 AM
By The Team | Posted in Places

Melbourne’s myriad laneways are home to an industrious network of artist-run and independent art spaces, promising all manner of brain fodder and creative inspiration should you venture in their direction.

Hot Spots caught up with Drew Pettifer from Bus Projects  to find out what makes this gallery’s wheels go round (and round).

What makes Bus different from other artist-run initiatives (ARIs) and independent art spaces?

Bus Projects focuses on the exhibition of sound and spatial art, which certainly distinguishes it from other ARIs and independent art spaces. 

We are still open to all forms of contemporary art production, particularly if it is experimental or adventurous, but sound and spatial art is our main focus.  Our mission is ultimately to get more art by more young and emerging artists seen by more people more often.

What kind of artists have you had on your roster in the past?

Bus has shown a broad range of different artists during the past nine and a bit years. Artists such as Chris Bond, Helen Johnson, Tai Snaith and Viv Miller have all acknowledged the significant role Bus played in the development of their artistic careers. 

We’ve had some great sound performances at the gallery too, by artists such as Marco Fusinato, Phil Samartzis and Rod Cooper. 

Bus closed its Little Lonsdale gallery doors in March.  Is Bus now going to move into a real bus?

That’s certainly part of the plan…We had planned to launch a mobile art space on a bus earlier in the year, but had problems with the roadworthiness of the vehicle we had in mind.  I think our ideal situation is to have both a permanent gallery space and a bus which we use as a mobile project space.  Hopefully, in the coming months, one or both of these spaces will become a reality.

Is there a stronger focus on off-site projects? 

We’re interested in satellite projects and project spaces and engaging artists and audiences in new ways.  Until we have a new space of our own we will certainly continue functioning as a kind of roaming gallery – we’ll certainly be sticking around for a while longer.

Keep an eye on the Bus Projects website for details of coming projects. Some big things are in the wings, we hear.

www.busprojects.com.au

Little-seen worlds: now showing

Tuesday 27 July 2010, 3:31 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

Tim Burton is a man who sees the dark corners in light rooms. He coaxes the edges of life towards the middle, turning outsiders into heroes, loners into legends and the misunderstood into magical beings. And he puts little-seen worlds onto the big screen.

What can we say – we love his work.

Coinciding with the much-celebrated and enthusiastically-attended Tim Burton exhibition, the fine folk at ACMI have kindly scheduled screenings of all of Burton’s films. If you’ve seen the exhibition and now feel compelled to see Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow or Mars Attacks! again – ACMI is here to help.

Films screen on Friday nights and Sunday mornings and afternoons – so you can go to the exhibition before or after a film. And tickets are only $6 – not bad! Follow the links from here to view the program.

As well as films, ACMI is hosting a series of talks and lectures. Into the Shadows: gothic suburbia in the work of Tim Burton, on Sunday 1 August looks at the ways Burton, who once described his suburban childhood as ‘hellish’, continues to be fascinated by suburbia.

Other lectures will discuss specific films, including sessions on the two Batman movies;  his animations; and his big action adventure movies – Mars Attacks! and Planet of the Apes.

The Burton Club is a special event happening each Thursday (now extended into August). The exhibition is open until late, plus ACMI puts on free live music, performances and more. Well worth a visit, we hear!
 

Families should also look out for the special small-fry-sized activities, including an exhibition trail. A friendly monster will be your guide – sharing secrets along the way and steering little ones towards Burton’s kid-friendliest works. Plus, kids can drop by the activity centre where drawing and colouring wildly and copiously is highly encouraged

The Tim Burton exhibition is a rare opportunity to explore a rare film-maker and artist’s world. We say, make the most of it and explore beyond the exhibition walls. And if you go to any of the above – drop us a line!

 LINK:

 Tim Burton: The Exhibition

Image credits: 
Tim Burton on the set of Corpse Bride – Derek Fey
Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories) (Detail), Tim Burton, 1998.