About

'The view from elsewhere' features contemporary video art and cinema practice from across Asia and the Middle East, comprising a series of film and video screenings presented in the Australian Cinémathèque, and an exhibition of installed video works, 'Small acts', in the Media Gallery.

A cinema-based exhibition of digital feature film, documentary, shorts, experimental film and video art, 'The view from elsewhere' showcases works that address particular aesthetic, social and political contexts, while extending the possibilities of cinematic and artistic expression. Artists and filmmakers include Ayisha Abraham, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, Ranu Ghosh, Amos Gitaï, Hu Jie, Jocelyne Saab, Wang Jianwei, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Yoo Soon-mi.

'Small acts' features artists' videos in which the artist performs simple acts before a camera, alone or in conjunction with others, that are sometimes comical and often involve feats of endurance, physical gestures, or disruptive and untranslatable acts. Early works by Nam June Paik and Yoko Ono are presented alongside contemporary works by artists including Tsui Kuang-yu, Ghazel, Kimsooja and Song Dong. Currently, a significant number of younger artists are returning to performance-based video works using a simple digital camera. This parallels the freedom experienced by contemporary filmmakers using digital technology which allows fluid responses to different situations and a high degree of realism.

'The view from elsewhere' and 'Small acts' point to other ways of seeing and understanding and include works by nearly 50 artists and filmmakers. The integration of the cinema and video exhibitions creates relationships between moving image works produced for various audiences and contexts, while also respecting the historical specificities of art and cinema exhibition. The project is a partnership between the Queensland Art Gallery and the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, and an accompanying full-colour catalogue is available from the Gallery Store, Gallery Store Modern and online.

QAGOMA acknowledges all the archives, filmmakers and distributors who have generously provided screening materials for this program. In particular, the support of the National Film and Sound Archive Australia and Chinese-Taipei Film Archive. Program curated by José Da Silva, Australian Cinémathèque. Film notes are abridged; sources are indicated.

List of Works

Small acts

Media Gallery, GOMA

• Anthems 2000 | Artist: Bani Abidi
• Blind Alley 2007 | Artist: Vyacheslav Akhunov
• Moslem 2008 | Artist: Vyacheslav Akhunov
• Moby Dick 2000 | Artist: Guy Ben-Ner
• 'Me' series 2003–08 | Artist: Ghazel
• Performance: AIUEONN Six 1994 | Artist: Takahiko Iimura L
• Moon Calendar / Iraq (no date) | Artist: Hiwa K
• A Beggar Woman – Lagos 2001 | Artist: Kimsooja
• A Homeless Woman – Cairo 2001 | Artist: Kimsooja
• Video as Drawing 1997 | Artist: Taiyo Kimura
• Typical Japanese-English 2005 | Artist: Taiyo Kimura
• Journey of a Yellow Man no. 13: Fragmented Bodies/Shifting Ground 1999 | Artist: Lee Wen
• Mirror Seoul 9.27 2003 | Artist: Li Wei
• Cut Piece 1965 / Cut Piece 2003 | Artist: Yoko Ono
• Hands and Face 1961 | Artist: Nam June Paik
• Landscape 1999 | Artist: Qiu Zhijie
• Rally 2006–07 | Artist: Umut Sakallioğlu
• Jump 1999 | Artist: Song Dong
• Droppings (Exercises in Gravity) 1998 | Artist: Kiran Subbaiah
• Strip Tease 1999 | Artist: Kiran Subbaiah
• Flight Rehearsals 2003 | Artist: Kiran Subbaiah
• Simple Gesture and Temporary Sculpture 2008 | Artist: Tanaka Koki
• The Shortcut to the Systematic Life—Superficial Life: Superficial Life 2002 | Artist: Tsui Kuang-Yu
• 'Ventriloquists – Introduction' series 2008 | Artist: Yu Cheng-Ta

The view from elsewhere

Australian Cinematheque, GOMA

• In Transit 2008 | Artist: Lida Abdul
• Straight 8 2005 | Artist: Ayisha Abraham
• One Way 2007 | Artist: Ayisha Abraham
• You Are Here 2008 | Artist: Ayisha Abraham
• Vatan 2005–06 | Artist: Shaarbek Amankul
• Duba 2007 | Artist: Shaarbek Amankul
• Zindan 2007 | Artist: Shaarbek Amankul
• My First Film 1991 | Artist: Sasithorn Ariyavicha
• Drifter 1993 | Artist: Sasithorn Ariyavicha
• Birth of the Seanema 2004 | Artist: Sasithorn Ariyavicha
• Kam Sanabanyz (Everything Is OK) 2007 | Director: Akjoltoy Bekbolotov
• New Age 2007 | Artist: Keren Cytter
• Spelling Dystopia 2009 | Artist: Nina Fischer, Maroan El Sani
• Quarter no. 4/11 2007 | Director: Ranu Ghosh
• House (Bait) 1980 | Director: Amos Gitaï
• A House in Jerusalem (Bait be Yerushalayim) 1998 | Director: Amos Gitaï
• News from Home / News from House 2005 | Director: Amos Gitaï
• Khalil Joreige | Artist: Joana Hadjithomas
• Al Film el mafkoud (The Lost Film) 2003 | Artist: Joana Hadjithomas
• Measures of Distance 1988 | Artist: Mona Hatoum
• Remote Mountain 1996 | Director: Hu Jie
• Though I Am Gone 2006 | Director: Hu Jie
• Daichi o Tataku Onna (The Woman Who Is Beating the Earth) 2007 | Director: Inoue Tsuki
• Gong gong chang suo (In Public) 2001 | Director: Jia Zhangke
• Sanxia Haoren (Still Life) 2006 | Director: Jia Zhangke
• Stairway 2001 | Artist: Gülsün Karamustafa
• Unawarded Performances 2005 | Artist: Gülsün Karamustafa
• Squatterpunk (Iskwaterpangk) 2007 | Director: Khavn
• Five Long Takes Dedicated to Yasujiro Ozu 2004 | Director: Abbas Kiarostami
• Slingshot (Tirador) 2007 | Director: Brillante Mendoza
• Jihad 2004 | Artist: Almagul Menlibayeva
• I Never Forget This 2005 | Artist: Almagul Menlibayeva
• Headcharge 2007 | Artist: Almagul Menlibayeva
• On Three Posters 2003–08 | Artist: Rabih Mroué
• Pangyau 2003 | Director: Amir Muhammad
• Village People Radio Show (Apa Khabar Orang Kampung) 2007 | Director: Amir Muhammad
• May 2004-08 | Director: Oki Hiroyuki
• Diary of Matsumae-kun's Love 2008 | Director: Oki Hiroyuki
• La Dame de Saigon (Sayidat Saigon) 1997 | Artist: Jocelyne Saab
• November 2004 | Artist: Hito Steyerl
• Huong Vi Pho (Taste of Noodles) 2006 | Artist: Wang Jianwei
• Living Elsewhere 1999 | Director: Wang Jianwei
• Hostage 2008 | Director: Wang Jianwei
• ISAHN 2004 | Artist: Yoo Soon-Mi
• Ssitkim: Talking to the Dead 2004 | Artist: Yoo Soon-Mi
• Dangerous Supplement 2006 | Artist: Yoo Soon-Mi
• Like the Relentless Fury of the Pounding Waves 1995 | Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Primitive: A Letter to Uncle Boonmee 2009 | Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Program Notes

Public Programs

Curator's Tour

Media Gallery, GOMA

3.00pm Sunday 26 July

Tour 'Small acts' with exhibition curator Kathryn Weir, Curatorial Manager (International Art and the Australian Cinémathèque). No bookings required / Free

New Wave Program: for tertiary students and young people

Media Gallery, GOMA

2.00pm Saturday 10 October

Tour 'Small acts' with the assistant curator of the exhibition Naomi Evans (Assistant Curator, International Art). No bookings required / Free

Gallery Members Programs

In situ – monthly lunch and lecture in the Gallery

Media Gallery & Foyer Bistro, GOMA

11.30am Thursday 15 October

Small acts' talk by Naomi Evans (Assistant Curator, International Art). Bookings required / $35 Gallery Members / $45 Members' Guests (includes lunch and a glass of wine, followed by coffee and sweets) / Please call (07) 3840 7278 to RSVP by Friday 17 July

In situ – in-Gallery tour and talk

Media Gallery, GOMA

2.00pm Saturday 17 October

'Small acts' talk by Naomi Evans (Assistant Curator, International Art). No bookings required / Free