Words: Maggie Zhou

The broken relationship and continual mistreatment of Aboriginals in design captured my attention after a captivating lecture by Brian Martin. Naturally, I thought I’d explore the exhibition ‘Furnishing Cupra’ in Blak Dot Gallery.

The Australian Indigenous Design Charter: Communication Design (AIDC:CD) exists to provide information and guidance on the “creation, distribution and ownership of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual and media arts.” (Kennedy & Kelly, 2016)

A sense of calm immediately envelops you as you enter the quiet side street of Siteworks, where Blak Dot Gallery resides. The dark building has a striking mural of an Indigenous child peering up towards the sky, with hope in their eyes. On the other side of the wall is a contrasting mural of hand-drawn, curvaceous shapes – the Indigenous and non-Indigenous artforms already starting to collide.

‘Furnishing Cupra’ showcases furniture that has been created from salvaged surplus River Red Gum from an abandoned milling operation on Culpra Station. As a “cross-cultural collaboration”, it’s an act of reconciliation. (Blak Dot Gallery, 2019) It is joint project between the Culpra Milli Aboriginal Corporation (CMAC), an Aboriginal organisation that holds and manages land for its members, and OFFICE, a multidisciplinary not-for-profit design studio who uses design to “create outcomes for the public good.” (Blak Dot Gallery, 2019)

Notedly, OFFICE has had a relationship with CMAC and the Pearce Family, the custodians of Culpra Station, for the last six years. One of AIDC:CD’s guidelines how all collaboration, co-creation and procurement should be genuine. It’s understood that these relationships are built up over time, with a foundation of patience, transparency and inclusiveness.

As you walk inside the gallery, the smell is the first thing you notice – the strong, earthy smell of wood.

A stark two-metre-long piece of wood is hung in the middle of the black wall. The top layer of the unassuming tree bark has been neatly cut to reveal a warm, red-toned smooth wood. While smooth, it’s highly detailed and lined with undulating curves.

There are three tables and nine stools scattered around the small room. The wood has retained its unique markings, every piece is markedly different. On top of the tables are natural decorations – feathers, grass weaving, baskets and other handmade items. It makes me question how normalised mass-produced furniture really is.

On the wall, there are three projections of the vast Australian landscape. “The things about red gums is…” the subtitles of a silent documentary about the building of a canoe begins. The video continues to talk about ethical usage of the earth. The bark and the water is all in fair usage – “you wouldn’t cause harm to it,” the video remarks.

As I exit the exhibition, I’m met with the courtyard of Siteworks. The wooden crates and tables incite a curiosity within me. I wonder where, how and who made them. The gallery is merely a tiny, black rectangular room. It makes me think – it’s not what’s in the gallery that really matters, it’s what it leaves you with afterwards that does.

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REFERENCES

Kennedy, R., & Kelly, M. (2016). Australian Indigenous Design Charter – Communication Design. Australia, Melbourne: Deakin University.

Blak Dot Gallery. (2019). Furnishing Cupra. Retrieved fromhttps://blakdot.com.au/current-exhibitions/2019/2/1/furnishing-culpra

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An insight into my design practice | Words by Maggie Zhou

Since I can remember, my work and creativity have been intrinsically linked to my racial identity. They say you write and create from what you know, and I can definitely see that play out throughout my photography. Being an Australian-born Chinese female, I’ve often felt stuck between two worlds, not really knowing where I belong. Heightened by the media’s lack of Asian representation (or their damaging stereotypes), I’ve always sought to document Asian identities as they truly are: individualistic, unique and multi-dimensional.

This same mindset is shared in Dimeji Onafuwa’s 2018 article. He notes that “coloniality, modernity, and design are inextricably linked.” This similar perspective is portrayed in Tony Fry’s article. He shines light upon how marginality is not just about the locations of marginalised communities, but how it is more a state of mind. Marginality “is being on the edge or outside of the relations of exchange, no matter where [one may be] located.” (Fry, 1989) This collision of identities is highly prominent in Australia. We boast of being multicultural yet there is still an obvious conflict between races.

I really resonated with the idea of ‘Respectful Design’ mentioned in Onafuwa’s article. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, a design anthropologist, researcher, academic leader, writer, and educator, created this program to question the role of allies in design. She aims to amplify the voices of the oppressed by “repatriating the ownership of aesthetic cultures instead of the over-simplification of how such cultures are represented” in mainstream designs. (Onafuwa, 2018)

This is seen in my photographic series ‘This is a Celebration of Us’. I begin with a written piece.

“We are not just your Asian grocery store owners, your $2 discount shopkeepers of your karate instructors. We are not merely your masseuses or your manicurists…”

By directly shining light on the damaging stereotypes invading our daily lives, I begin to showcase the three-dimensional and complex characters of the Asian race.

I photographed two of my friends, who are also Monash Communication Design students, for their bold and experimental fashion style. Coming from New Zealand and Brunei respectively, I wanted to explore different Asian backgrounds and personalities. Dressed in unique and quirky outfits, I photographed them against cliché backgrounds, one shopfront literally called ‘Oriental Discount Shop.”

One established designer who I deeply admire is Alexander Wang. Wang is a Taiwanese fashion designer born in San Francisco in 1983. With his lines stocked in over 700 stores globally, he is recognised as one of the 21^stcentury’s most influential fashion designers.

His Asian heritage plays a large part in his designs. The inclusion of Asian models, the repetitive use of red and other cultural symbols such as Chinese characters and headpieces are a common thread throughout collections.

On his homepage, Chinese rapper Vava stars in his latest campaign. Underneath a yum cha table, she’s edgy and daring, yet Wang still plays with traditional cultural symbols. (Newby, 2019)

This serves as an example of a successful designer embracing his cultural heritage for his art practices. And that’s pretty inspiring to me.

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REFERENCES

Fry, T. (1989) A Geography of Power: Design History and Marginality. Design Issues.  Cambridge: The MIT Press

Newby, J. (2019) Chinese Rap Queen Vava Fronts New Alexander Wang Campaign. Radii China. Retrived from: https://radiichina.com/chinese-rap-queen-vava-fronts-new-alexander-wang-campaign/

Onafuwa, D. (2018) Allies and Decoloniality: A Review of the Intersectional Perspectives on Design, Politics, and Power Symposium, Design and Culture. Cambridge: The MIT Press