Exhibitions 2010
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New Photographs from Kokwara Trail by Eric Bridgeman (QLD)
New Photographs from Kokwara Trail
Eric Bridgeman
‘New Photographs From Kokwara Trail’ is a new series of photographic/mixed media works from Australian/Papua New Guinean artist Eric Bridgeman.
In late 2009 following the completion of his work “The Sport and Fair Play of Aussie Rules” (2008/09) Bridgeman spent three months living in remote parts of the Chimbu (Simbu) Province, his mother country in the Highlands of PNG, revisiting family ground and searching for a deeper understanding of the nation’s contemporary post-colonial state and the histories that have contributed to it. During his travels Bridgeman became increasingly conscious of his own ‘white’ Australian presence and the cameras that accompanied him. Behind these new experiences, Bridgeman began to recognise the significant contribution the “white man and his camera” made towards contemporary national and cultural identity in PNG.
This selection of reconstructed photographic scenarios aims to discuss and subvert the historical and contemporary permanence of picture taking in the daily lives of Papua New Guineans. Bridgeman questions the methods of photographic capture of the land and natives from PNG during the 20th century and beyond. In ‘New Photographs From Kokwara Trail’ (2010) Bridgeman poses alternative scenarios and individuals resisting the categorical and archetypal depictions that once aided in the promotion and consumption of PNG as Australia’s next frontier.
This project was made possible with the assistance of the Australia Council for the Arts, Emerging Artist New Work Grant 2009.
Eric Bridgeman
‘New Photographs From Kokwara Trail’ is a new series of photographic/mixed media works from Australian/Papua New Guinean artist Eric Bridgeman.
In late 2009 following the completion of his work “The Sport and Fair Play of Aussie Rules” (2008/09) Bridgeman spent three months living in remote parts of the Chimbu (Simbu) Province, his mother country in the Highlands of PNG, revisiting family ground and searching for a deeper understanding of the nation’s contemporary post-colonial state and the histories that have contributed to it. During his travels Bridgeman became increasingly conscious of his own ‘white’ Australian presence and the cameras that accompanied him. Behind these new experiences, Bridgeman began to recognise the significant contribution the “white man and his camera” made towards contemporary national and cultural identity in PNG.
This selection of reconstructed photographic scenarios aims to discuss and subvert the historical and contemporary permanence of picture taking in the daily lives of Papua New Guineans. Bridgeman questions the methods of photographic capture of the land and natives from PNG during the 20th century and beyond. In ‘New Photographs From Kokwara Trail’ (2010) Bridgeman poses alternative scenarios and individuals resisting the categorical and archetypal depictions that once aided in the promotion and consumption of PNG as Australia’s next frontier.
This project was made possible with the assistance of the Australia Council for the Arts, Emerging Artist New Work Grant 2009.
