17Nov

17Dec

PROJECT BANABA

Katerina Teaiwa and Yuki Kihara

PROJECT BANABA

17 November – 17 December 2017

Carriageworks

NSW, Australia

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Exhibition Details

PROJECT BANABA 

Carriageworks presents Project Banaba from 17 November until 17 December 2017, a solo exhibition by Banaban scholar and artist Katerina Teaiwa that commemorates the history of Banaba Island in the Pacific Ocean. Banaba Island was destroyed by environmentally devastating phosphate mining during the 20th century, leading to the total relocation of its people in 1945, with the 72nd anniversary of their displacement being marked on 15 December 2017 during the exhibition dates.

Curated by Yuki Kihara, working closely with artist Katerina Teaiwa, this exhibition brings together rare historical archives and new work that sheds light on this little known era of Australian history and its ongoing impact on contemporary Pacific communities.

From 1900 to 1980 a phosphate company that became the British Phosphate Commissioners – owned collectively by Australia, New Zealand and Britain – mined Banaba, also known as Ocean Island, in what is now the Republic of Kiribati. The phosphate was manufactured into superphosphate fertiliser and applied to farms across Australia. As a result of the extensive mining operations, the island of Banaba was rendered uninhabitable and the Banabans relocated to the island of Rabi in Fiji.

Artist Katerina Teaiwa commented: “Project Banaba is a conceptually layered, multimedia exhibition that interweaves rare textual, film and photographic records alongside personal narratives including the political injustice endured by generations of my family, and how the rock of Banaba, te aba, the body of the land, and the body of the people, was viewed and transformed by powerful imperial interests.”

Project Banaba Curator Yuki Kihara added: “Katerina’s exhibition aims to highlight this period of Australia’s imperial legacy in the Pacific. For me, it also resonates with the history behind the trains carriages made and repaired from Eveleigh Railway Yards some of which were used to transport phosphate to enrich the soils across Australia. But where did the phosphate come from?”

Carriageworks Director, Lisa Havilah, said: “Carriageworks is proud to present Project Banaba, supporting culturally diverse communities to tell their stories to Australian audiences through this important new exhibition.”

For most of the 20th century, phosphate was a matter of national and food security. During her research for the exhibition, Katerina Teaiwa identified approximately 518 metres of government files associated with the BPC in the National Archives of Australia, some of which have only recently been declassified.

The valuable rock found naturally on Banaba was first identified from a sample in a Sydney company office, which was then manufactured into superphosphate fertiliser and applied to farms across Australia and New Zealand, resulting in a dramatic increase in agricultural productivity in those countries.

The value of the minerals on Banaba also made the island a target for Japanese occupation during World War II and many Banabans and Pacific Islander or “kanaka” mining workers were killed during this period.

KEY DATES & DETAILS: Project Banaba is open free to the public daily from 10am until 6pm, 17 November – 17 December. There will be a free artist talk at 11am on Saturday 18 November 2017.

MEDIA CONTACTS: For further information and interviews please contact Kym Elphinstone, kym@articulatepr.com.au 0421 106 139 or Julia Barnes, julia@articulatepr.com.au, 0402 678 589.

ABOUT KATERINA TEAIWA:

Katerina Teaiwa is Associate Professor in Pacific Studies at the Australian National University. She is of Banaban, Kiribati and African American descent. She is the author of Consuming Ocean Island (2015) and editor with Polly Stupples of Contemporary Perspectives on Art and International Development (2016). Katerina has a background in contemporary Pacific dance and was a founding member of the Oceania Dance Theatre in Fiji. She has performed in Suva, Canberra, Honolulu, Santa Cruz and New York. Most recently Katerina worked with visual artists, designers and scientists transforming her work into a comic book at the Anthropocene Kitchen, an “Interdisciplinary Laboratory Image Knowledge Gestaltung” at the Hermann von Helmholtz Centre for Cultural Techniques, Berlin.

ABOUT YUKI KIHARA:

Yuki Kihara is an Interdisciplinary artist working between visual and performing arts. Kihara’s works has been presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (solo exhibition, 2008); Asia Pacific Triennial (2002 & 2015), Auckland Triennial (2009), Sakahàn Quinquennial (2013), Daegu Photo Biennial (2014) and Honolulu Biennial (2017). Kihara collaborated as artistic co-director alongside Berlin-based Choreographer Jochen Roller on a dance production entitled Them and Us (2015) which premiered at Sophiensaele Theater, Berlin touring several venues across Europe including Kampnagel, Hamburg. This year, Kihara was awarded the Thonelaar van Raalte Fellowship from The National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands. Kihara recently hosted an art salon presented at the National University of Sāmoa.

ABOUT CARRIAGEWORKS:

Carriageworks presents a contemporary multi-arts program that engages artists and audiences with contemporary ideas and issues. The program is artist led and emerges from Carriageworks’ commitment to reflecting social and cultural diversity. The Carriageworks artistic program is ambitious, risk taking and unrelenting in its support of artists. Carriageworks is a cultural facility of the NSW Government and is supported by Arts NSW. The Carriageworks program can be viewed at http://www.carriageworks.com.au

This project is supported by the School of Art in the College of Arts and Social Sciences, and the School of Culture, History and Language in the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University.

PHOTO FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE BRITISH PHOSPHATE COMMISSIONERS, COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Carriageworks
245 Wilson St Eveleigh (cnr. Codrington St)
PO Box 3035 Redfern NSW 2016