04.03.22 – 05.06.22

James Tylor and Rebecca Selleck are presenting their installation Warpulyainthi (Colonial Slavery in South Australia) at the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Free/State, at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Warpulyainthi is a site specific artwork that responds to the myth of South Australia as a “free state” – where no convicts were settled or used for labour – by acknowledging the use of slave labour by local Indigenous peoples, including the Kaurna people where the Art Gallery of South Australia sits. The installation is a colonial kitchen with edible flora and fauna from the Kaurna Nation cast in polished bronze, reflecting the forced removal of culture, land and physical liberty.

Currated by Sebastian Goldspink, Free/State assembles a group of artists who are fearless; the provocateurs, vanguards and outsiders – challenging histories and art forms, and in the process, offering reflections on an era of multi-faceted global upheaval. The exhibition explores ideas of transcending states, from the spiritual and artistic to the psychological, and embraces notions of freedom in expression, creation and collaboration.

The exhibition runs until 5 June. Further information at the AGSA Website

Image: Installation view of Warpulyainthi (Colonial Slavery in South Austraila) with James Tylor, 2022.