John Curtin Gallery will unite artists from across Australia, South Africa and Indonesia in a series of interrelated exhibitions that share the dynamic exchange of culture, language, song and story, as part of Perth Festival 2026.
Running from February 6 to May 3, ‘A call and response across the ocean’ is informed by connections spanning the Indian Ocean, which remain despite years of colonisation.
Thania Petersen – JAWAP has at its core a new multi-channel sound work, Jeiker.
Created using recordings taken on site in Makassar, Indonesia, Jeiker tells the story of a chant shared between Makassar, Cape Town and Arnhem Land, revealing the connections between each place.
Petersen’s work traces the migration of Sufi music and ritual, reuniting friendships and family ties severed through transglobal acts of colonisation.
Petersen said sound holds our memory and, when these sounds are decoded, you can hear time, place and people from a different land.
“There was a time when we sang together, otherwise how could we know each other’s songs, each other’s melodies?” Petersen said.
“How would these melodies have transferred from one continent to another?
“There is no way we have been separate our whole existence, because we sing the same songs.”
Petersen’s large-scale installation Rampies Sny, is a community-led work that evokes memory, place and ancestral histories through the sense of smell.
Created on-site in Perth, Rampies Sny comprises of thousands of small organza bags, each filled with freshly cut citrus leaves and infused with frankincense and essential oils.
These aromas permeate the gallery with what Petersen describes as “smells that recall a thousand places.”
Traditionally gifted to men during religious rituals, the satchels function here as gestures of love, while evoking the lands from which Petersen’s ancestors were forcibly taken.
Petersen’s Australian premiere film, the titular JAWAP, reunites what colonialism severed, tracing the Indian Ocean as a pathway of return.
Psychedelic visuals and a five-channel soundtrack evoke a cyclical, non-linear landscape where past and future selves evolve together.
In the exhibition Dhomala, a celebration of sail-making and oceanic travel provides a deeper context to the connections between Australia and Indonesia and continues the narrative of Petersen’s work.
Historic and contemporary works by Yolŋu and Makassan artists span a range of media, including animation, drawing and textiles. Together, they explore the dynamic exchange of culture, language, song and story that has shaped this relationship since pre-colonial times.
Complimenting these interrelated exhibitions are ocean-themed works within the Gallery’s Atrium. Greeting audiences to the space are the lyrics to Maambakoort – the Noongar word for ocean – by acclaimed soul artist Bumpy.
Inviting reflection on belonging, identity and the enduring connection between people, place and ocean, the song is accompanied by powerful Curtin University Art Collection works from artists including Brian Robinson and Laurel Nannup.
Through immersive installations, film, sound and historical works, A call and response across the ocean invites visitors to experience the rhythms, stories and scents of the Indian Ocean, tracing connections across continents and reflecting on the enduring legacies of cultural exchange and resilience.
