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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Running from February 6 to May 3, \u2018A call and response across the ocean\u2019<\/em> is informed by connections spanning the Indian Ocean, which remain despite years of colonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thania Petersen \u2013 JAWAP <\/em>has at its core a new multi-channel sound work, Jeiker<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Created using recordings taken on site in Makassar, Indonesia, Jeiker<\/em> tells the story of a chant shared between Makassar, Cape Town and Arnhem Land, revealing the connections between each place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petersen\u2019s work traces the migration of Sufi music and ritual, reuniting friendships and family ties severed through transglobal acts of colonisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Petersen said sound holds our memory and, when these sounds are decoded, you can hear time, place and people from a different land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was a time when we sang together, otherwise how could we know each other\u2019s songs, each other\u2019s melodies?\u201d Petersen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow would these melodies have transferred from one continent to another?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no way we have been separate our whole existence, because we sing the same songs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petersen\u2019s large-scale installation Rampies Sny<\/em>, is a community-led work that evokes memory, place and ancestral histories through the sense of smell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Created on-site in Perth, Rampies Sny<\/em> comprises of thousands of small organza bags, each filled with freshly cut citrus leaves and infused with frankincense and essential oils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These aromas permeate the gallery with what Petersen describes as \u201csmells that recall a thousand places.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally gifted to men during religious rituals, the satchels function here as gestures of love, while evoking the lands from which Petersen\u2019s ancestors were forcibly taken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Petersen\u2019s Australian premiere film, the titular JAWAP,<\/em> reunites what colonialism severed, tracing the Indian Ocean as a pathway of return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Psychedelic visuals and a five-channel soundtrack evoke a cyclical, non-linear landscape where past and future selves evolve together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the exhibition Dhomala, <\/em>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\u2019s work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Historic and contemporary works by Yol\u014bu 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complimenting these interrelated exhibitions are ocean-themed works within the Gallery\u2019s Atrium. Greeting audiences to the space are the lyrics to Maambakoort<\/em> \u2013 the Noongar word for ocean \u2013 by acclaimed soul artist Bumpy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through immersive installations, film, sound and historical works, A call and response across the ocean<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Curtin Gallery will unite artists from across Australia, South Africa and Indonesia in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":30192,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":28,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,95],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-30188","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-design","category-fine-arts"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/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-1-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/30188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/30188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30188"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=30188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}