Soft power: ‘Antipodean Stories’ in Milan

AUSTRALIA. Antipodean Stories, exhibition installation view, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (PAC), Milan, 2019–20, with the work of Patricia Piccinini, Fiona Hall, Judy Watson and Jill Orr; image courtesy the artists and PAC, Milan; photo: Nico Covre Vulcano

Milan is one of Europe’s most vibrant cities, and the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea is its centrally located contemporary art space. Its annual program includes solo projects by major Italian and international artists – Tania Bruguera is upcoming – and in recent years has focused on a series of exhibitions of contemporary art from specific nations. It is in this context that the current exhibition ‘AUSTRALIA. Antipodean Stories’ (until 9 February) is presented to Italian audiences.

Guest curator Eugenio Viola has invited 32 artists and collectives, of different cultural backgrounds, interests and experience to participate: Vernon Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Khadim Ali, Brook Andrew, Richard Bell, Daniel Boyd, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Barbara Cleveland, Destiny Deacon, Hayden Fowler, Marco Fusinato, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Julie Gough, Fiona Hall, Dale Harding, Nicholas Mangan, Angelica Mesiti, Archie Moore, Callum Morton, Tom Nicholson (with Greg Lehman), Jill Orr, Mike Parr, Patricia Piccinini, Stuart Ringholt, Khaled Sabsabi, Yhonnie Scarce, Soda_Jerk, Dr Christian Thompson AO, James Tylor, Judy Watson, Jason Wing and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu. Viola worked with many of these artists while he was Senior Curator at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and he travelled widely during his two years based in Australia. He is now Chief Curator at the Modern Art Museum of Bogotá in Colombia.

‘Antipodean Stories’ does not present an overriding theme or statement; rather, Viola’s curatorial approach encourages conversations between works and meaningful juxtapositions. He is interested in practices that reflect the diversity of cultural, political and social perspectives in Australia, informed by current thinking and everyday realities. The exhibition assembles a strong representation of artists whose works examine a range of concerns such as race, identity, gender and class; colonisation and its legacies; national issues of history, knowledge and agency; and contested stories and suppressed narratives. Many of the artists critically engage with social and political issues; others draw more broadly on conceptual, linguistic and performative approaches. The exhibition unfolds with meaningful connections from room to room. Several works were made specifically for Milan, and the program includes performances by Fusinato, Parr and Ringholt, screenings of Soda_Jerk’s TERROR NULLIUS (2018), workshops, talks and roundtable discussions. A major publication features photographic documentation of the installations and performances.

Here, artists of all disciplines lead the critical inquiry, enlisting their individual circumstances, histories and intellectual rigour in the service of cultural provocation. ‘Antipodean Stories’ reflects on themes that invariably relate to an Australian context; yet in times of international ‘soft power’ – including artist projects that specifically address the state of society and the world – the exhibition transcends the local and resonates globally.

Judith Blackall is an independent curator and writer. She contributed a catalogue essay for ‘AUSTRALIA. Antipodean Stories’ and travelled to Milan for the exhibition installation and opening.