A call and response across the ocean
Thania Peterson – JAWAP
Dhomala
Histories do not stay silent.
A call and response across the ocean brings together living histories of the Indian Ocean, reuniting friendships and kin ties that were severed through transglobal acts of colonisation. This reconnection offers a vision of the world in which generosity, empathy and cross-cultural collaboration can begin to heal the wounds of the past.
Thania Petersen is deeply informed by the histories of the Indian Ocean and Trans-Oceanic memory, tracing the interconnectedness of cultures, migrations, and shared experiences. As an African Creole artist, she seeks to retell and reclaim histories and cultural memory. Tracing the migration of Sufi music and ritual, Petersen’s large-scale olfactory installation Rampies Sny and film JAWAP – an Australian premiere – fill the galleries with smell, sound and sumptuous imagery. Petersen’s new multi-channel sound work Jeiker uses recordings taken on site in Makassar, Indonesia, in collaboration with Yolŋu and Makassan musicians who hold knowledge of their shared histories. Evoking a call and response across the ocean space, the work explores historical friendships, linking northern Australia, Makassar and Cape Town. In a performative act of decolonisation, Petersen’s work moves beyond trauma to focus instead on friendship and love.
Dhomala provides a deeper context to the connections between Australia and Indonesia. Historical and contemporary artworks from Arnhem Land and Makassar demonstrate the dynamic exchange of culture, language, song and story that have informed this relationship since a pre-colonial era. Sail-making and cross-oceanic trade is celebrated through a range of media including animation, drawing and textiles.
Drawing from living and historical archives of song and story, the artworks that come together in A call and response across the ocean unpick legacies of colonial oppression, creating shared and celebratory spaces in their place.
Exhibition Details
Exhibition Open: 6 February – 3 May 2026
Supported By: Perth Festival
The Artists
Thania Petersen’s practice is deeply informed by the histories of the Indian Ocean and Trans-Oceanic memory, tracing the interconnectedness of cultures, migrations, and shared experiences. As an African Creole artist, she seeks to retell and reclaim histories and cultural memory through textiles, multi-sensory performance, and installations.
A direct descendant of Tuan Guru — an Indonesian Prince in the late 1700s brought to South Africa by the Dutch as a political exile — Petersen explores personal and historical identities by reconstructing herself in varied guises and theatrical personas. Her reference points include the history of African colonial imperialism, contemporary consumer culture, her personal ancestral rituals, and the legend and myths of Sufi Islamic religious ceremonies.
Header image credits: Installation view of Thania Petersen, Rampies Sny (detail) at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town, 2022. Courtesy of the artist, Ames Yavuz, and MOCAA, South Africa.
Gallery image credits: Image 1: Thania Petersen, JAWAP (still), 2025, single channel video with five channel sound.Edition of 10. Courtesy of the artist and Ames Yavuz. Image 2: Process view of Thania Petersen, Rampies Sny, 2022, organza bags, citrus leaves smoked with frankincense, essential oils, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist, Ames Yavuz, and MOCAA, South Africa. Image 3: Installation view of Thania Petersen, Rampies Sny(detail) at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town, 2022. Courtesy of the artist, Ames Yavuz, and MOCAA, South Africa
