Exhibition

The Womanifesto Way: Sydney Gathers

<p>The Womanifesto Way: <span>Sydney Gathers</span></p>

When

03 November 2023 -
17 December 2023

Location

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

181-187 Hay St, Haymarket

Exhibition opening day celebrations
Friday 03 November, 6pm - 8pm
Free | Register here.

The Womanifesto Way: Sydney Gathers is a hybrid digital and in-person exhibition and publication project exploring the histories and collective ethos of Womanifesto.

Presented in partnership with Power Institute, this project examines this ‘Womanifesto Way’ and its importance for often-overlooked women artists, and follows its lead, putting a multivocal form of art-history making alongside in-person and digital presentations of collaborative art practices.

Womanifesto began in 1995 with the first feminist Southeast Asia-based international biennial, and it has since brought together more than 150 contemporary women artists across 45 countries. A uniquely collective approach facilitated by its three founders, Varsha Nair, Phaptawan Sawwunukudt and Nitaya Tuk, has guided every Womanifesto initiative across three decades and informed its shifts from biennial exhibitions and community-based workshops, through to artist-led publications and online collaborative art projects.

Shirley Hilyard (1929–2023) and Virginia Hilyard, Shirley’s Park, 2023, mixed media installation with 360 degree virtual reality, stereo sound, dimensions variable. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Courtesy the artists; Shirley Hilyard (1929–2023) and Virginia Hilyard, Remembering Yellow, 2021/2023, modelling clay, pillows and plasticine, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists.
Shirley Hilyard (1929–2023) and Virginia Hilyard, Remembering Yellow, 2021/2023, modelling clay, pillows and plasticine, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists.
Helen Grace and Toby Huynh, Towards Empyrean Grove, 2023, single-channel video with sound, 4min 11sec. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Courtesy the artists.
Helen Grace, As It Was…, 2023, single-channel video with sound, 4min 05sec. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Courtesy the artist.
The Womanifesto Way Material Timeline, Material Timeline Production team: Con Gerakaris, Yvonne Low, Michelle Montgomery, Phaptawan Suwannakudt and Marni Williams, with Danielle Brown, Simon de Mayo, Ersiman Luo and Geshi Wang
The Womanifesto Way Material Timeline (detail), Material Timeline Production team: Con Gerakaris, Yvonne Low, Michelle Montgomery, Phaptawan Suwannakudt and Marni Williams, with Danielle Brown, Simon de Mayo, Ersiman Luo and Geshi Wang
The Womanifesto Way: Sydney Gathers, exhibition view
Phaptawan Suwannakudt and Shuxia Chen, Unspoken, 2023, fabric from Thai vegetation fibre (cotton, banana fibre and Kapok), nylon mesh, silver fabric, woven cotton, single-channel video 3m 09s, stereo sound. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Phaptawan Suwannakudt and Shuxia Chen, Unspoken (detail), 2023, fabric from Thai vegetation fibre (cotton, banana fibre and Kapok), nylon mesh, silver fabric, woven cotton, single-channel video 3m 09s, stereo sound. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Kyati Suharto, Charlotte Mungomery and Sue Pedley, KinaeSthetiC, 2021/2023, ink, graphite, pastel, Vietnamese Dó paper, single-channel video, stereo sound, dimensions variable. Assistance by Anie Nheu. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
Kyati Suharto, Charlotte Mungomery and Sue Pedley, KinaeSthetiC, 2021/2023, ink, graphite, pastel, Vietnamese Dó paper, single-channel video, stereo sound, dimensions variable. Assistance by Anie Nheu. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
  

Top image: Karla Sachse and Khun Pikul, Womanifesto Workshop, Boon Bandarn Farm, Kantharaluk, Thailand, 2001. Photograph by Varsha Nair; image courtesy of Womanifesto and Asia Art Archive

This work has been commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art with support from the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade;  Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body; the NSW Government through Create NSW; the City of Sydney; and The Power Institute, University of Sydney.