Littoral Drift

2 June - 3 July 2009

Coastal areas, shores and rivers are fluid landscapes, their shifting geographies are localities of human transference and interaction.  In the seventeenth century, maritime trade networks between India, Southeast Asia and Australia experienced an influx of European interests that intensified coastal politics and marked a new era of commercial and cultural exchange.

Littoral Drift brings together six established and emerging artists based in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia who use photography and video to revise the relationship between place and its representation.

Nadiah Bamadhaj, Tejal Shah, Krisna Murti,
Yee I-Lann, Ricky Maynard and Simryn Gill

Curated by Matt Cox

Accompanying free public event
Littoral Drift Panel Discussion
Tuesday 2 June 4-5.30pm
UTS Gallery

Presented in collaboration with Transforming Cultures  (TfC) and the Indian Ocean and South Asia Research Network (IOSARN), join a group of curators and researchers for a discussion on the themes of place, migration and exchange as touched upon in Littoral Drift. With Beth Yap, writer and Postgraduate candidate UTS;
Thomas J. Berghuis, lecturer in Asian Art at the University of Sydney and consultant lecturer at the Sotheby's Institute of Art, Singapore; Devleena Ghosh, Associate Professor and Director of IOSARN, UTS; Yao Souchou, anthropologist and Associate Researcher at TfC, UTS; Jonathan Jones,  artist and currently working at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art department. Chaired by Ann Proctor, lecturer in Asian Art at the National Art School and the University of Sydney, committee member of TAASA.

Images  (from top)
1. Yee I-Lann, Sulu stories: Awn Hambuuk Sultan, 2005, digital print. Courtesy the artist & Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur 
2. Nadia Bamadhaj, Beyond Recognition, video, 12:26 minutes. Courtesy the artist andValentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur
3. Krisna Murti Airplane 6:40, 2007 (video still), DVD, classical wooden frame, transparent screen. Courtesy the artist
4. Simryn Gill A small town at the turn of the century, 1999 - 2000, type C photograph, number 29 from a series of 40 images. Courtesy the artist and BREENSPACE, Sydney

UTS Gallery is supported by Oyster Bay Wines
and Coopers Brewery

Media Partner: 2ser