Damien Shen, Message from God to the Blackfellow 19, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 160x100cm.
Image: Wild Light Projects copyright 2018 Change Media

Change Media presents two experimental art exhibitions, ‘The Colony’ and ‘The Unity of Oppression’ as part of its national What Privilege? Initiative.

Curated by Jen Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell, What Privilege? is a national Change Media initiative with a range of diverse partners, to investigate how we can creatively notice, disrupt and reframe colonizing mindsets and behaviors that maintain privilege and reinforce oppression. It explores the reciprocity of our shared humanity: How is your liberation bound up with mine - and mine with yours?

Jelena Vujnovic, Lived Body, 2015, mixed media on canvas. 
Image: Wild Light Projects copyright 2018 Change Media

‘What Privilege? - The Unity of Oppression’ explores what unites and divides us: We share a finite planet, what futures will we forge from the infinity of darkness?

Playing with the duality of light and dark, using acrylics, sculpture and mixed-media, five artists from culturally diverse backgrounds create a journey into the complexities of power, privilege and oppression - inviting you to peel away hidden layers and join them on a creative crime scene investigation of our shared humanity.

Emilijia Kasumovic, Interbeing (detail), 2017, acrylic on tulle fabric, 100x70cm. 
Image: Wild Light Projects copyright 2018 Change Media

The Unity of Oppression works are co-curated with interdisciplinary Ngarrindjeri-Chinese artist Damien Shen [painting, mixed media] and feature emerging artists Emilijia Kasumovic [drawing, mixed media] and Jelena Vujnovic [drawing], alongside work from Jen Lyons-Reid [line art, poetry, mixed media, sculpture] and Carl Kuddell [poetry, mixed media, sculpture]. 

Jen Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell, The Handshake, 2018, mixed media on canvas.
Image: Wild Light Projects copyright 2018 Change Media

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, and by the South Australian Government through Arts SA.

The project has been supported by Nexus Arts and the Regional Gallery Murray Bridge.

ARTIST INFORMATION

Damien Shen:
Damien Shen is a South Australian man of Ngarrindjeri (Aboriginal) and Chinese descent. As an artist he draws on both of these powerful cultural influences to create works of intense personal meaning. In using his artistic talent to share his story he aims to open the eyes of viewers to new ways of seeing Australian identity and Aboriginal art.

Emilijia Kasumovic:
Emilija Kasumovic is Serbian born, living in Adelaide. Her work is concerned with human condition and what defines us as human beings beyond our biological bodies.

Jelena Vujnovic:
Fascinated by natural and artificial structures, Jelena Vujnovic sees the building blocks of our bodies and our urban environment as the scaffolding on which we construct our lives. Focused on an uninterrupted and organic development of her work, she is constantly playing and experimenting with new materials and forms.

Jen Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell:
Artistic director and graphic artist, Jen Lyons-Reid, and creative producer and writer, Carl Kuddell, are Tallstoreez Productionz co-founders and award-winning multidisciplinary artists and filmmakers. Since 2002 they have explored satire across art forms, from poetry, cartoons, sculptures, live art, to documentaries and several TV series. They run Change Media as a national arts initiative, focusing on critical literacy through arts and media. They have delivered hundreds of workshops and performances with thousands of participants across Australia. Their strategic advisory work includes investigations into value, equity and harm in socially engaged arts, as part of an ARC Linkage partnership with VCA in 2013-14 and Jen’s 2-year Australia Council Fellowship 2015-16.

For more information go to
https://whatprivilege.net/create-blog/the-unity-of-oppression