NINE months of hard work has come to fruition with the opening of Kuweni Dias Mendis’ exhibition at Brisbane’s Outer Space.
In this Running Rivers: People of Place exhibition, Kuweni has created a temple dedicated to the running rivers that connect us all.
This multi-sensory installation utilises the river as a symbol to explore the feminine expressions of the Sri Lankan 64 Mayam, embodying spirituality as a journey and destination.
Marked by local river mud, clay, insect pigments and rhythm, Kuweni reconciles cultural boundaries amongst diasporic complexity.
This is an offering of the river; it is a temple and ritual space that mediates migrant forms of belonging, grounded in body and place.
The first thing that strikes visitors as they walk into the exhibition is the sheer scale of the works.
Each artwork is metres high, suspended from the ceiling of the space and forming a room within a room.
The artworks lead into the heart of the exhibition, the temple of the Brisbane River, where, surprisingly, a screen plays images and video of the river.
It is an unusual and engaging aspect of the exhibition which merges cultures together, creating something truly special.
Kuweni said she is grateful for the team at Outer Space who have been very supportive and enabled her to bring her best work forward.
“It is another milestone moment in my career in the arts,” she said.
The exhibition opening featured performances of Sri Lankan music – a moving insight into Kuweni’s merging of two cultures.
Outer Space described the exhibition as an offering of hybrid cultural and spiritual intentions, honouring rivers, bodies, and divine femininity, a description that is wholly accurate.
Running Rivers is Kuweni’s ongoing exploration into states of belonging, regeneration, and remembrance through connectivity with waterways.
The third in her Running Rivers series, People of Place runs from September 20 to October 26.
Exhibition Details
Running Rivers: People of Place runs from September 20 to October 26.
WHERE: Outer Space, 420 Brunswick Street (cnr Brunswick and Berwick Streets), Fortitude Valley. During exhibitions, the gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am–5pm
Exhibition closing ceremony: Ritual Bodies, Moving Memories:
WHEN: 3-5pm, Saturday 26 October
RSVP + more info via the website outerspacebrisbane.org/
