BETWEEN TWO WORLDS AT NEWCASTLE ART GALLERY – TAASA Review September 2019

Catherine Croll Tight yellow buds of Australian wildflowers lie, full of promise, amongst the broken shards of a Chinese tea cup … F rom the earliest recorded migration over 180 years ago the Chinese have held an integral position in the development of the Australian community.

In designing Between Two Worlds we sought to create new opportunities for dialogue and cultural exchange between Chinese and Australian artists and audiences.

To do so we have selected work by four generations of Chinese Australian artists produced during the past two decades. Our artists include descendants of those Chinese who arrived on supply ships from Canton (Guangzhou), indentured labourers from Amoy (Xiamen), `gold’ migrants from the Pearl River Delta and refugees who fled to Australia following the Japanese invasion of China during the Second World War. We have also included more recent arrivals: Mandarin speakers from the north (following the final death of the White Australia Policy in 1973), ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, economic migrants from Hong Kong and the large number of students who settled, post Tiananmen Square protests, in the early 1990’s. Between Two Worlds presents viewers with an opportunity to acquire a better understanding of the transcultural challenges faced by these Chinese Australian artists...