Fresh From the Field… Through That Which Separates Us
DA is a huge fan of Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho‘s work, which has strong currents of social good, inclusion and equity throughout. We enjoyed collaborating with them on the 2020 Field Guide, and are in admiration of all the mahi Huriana is producing. Their latest piece to catch our eye was the striking cover design of Through That Which Separates Us. This Fresh from the Field features that new book which launches in The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora tonight.
The Brief:
Conceptualised and developed by contemporary artist Cushla Donaldson with publishers Te Reo Kē and The Physics Room, Through That Which Separates Us is a collection of writing, artworks, and interviews which form a genealogy of deportation in Australasia and the Pacific. The book details the experiences of people who have been brutalised whilst held in Australian detention centers. They are often called ‘501s’ in reference to the Australian Immigration legislation they are held under.
The Response:
Deportation is an organising principle that has begun to impress itself across all areas of social life. Yet discussions of deportation rarely interrogate the origins of the practice as a settler colonial technique, nor the complex relations between migration and indigeneity that these origins bring to light.
The book is designed by Gabi Lardies and illustrated by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho.
The collection understands the experiences of the so-called 501s, held in Australian detention centres and often deported on the basis of a ‘character test’, as a paradigmatic case illustrating the intersection of xenophobia and settler colonial violence. Through That Which Separates Us is a significant new collection that interrogates the epistemological, affective and aesthetic dimensions of life in a world structured by separation. As Trans-Tasman and Pacific tensions rise, the book serves as urgent reading.
The Launch:
Gather at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora’s Great Hall tonight to celebrate the publication of Through That Which Separates Us. Hear readings from some of the book’s contributors, a panel discussion focusing on the pressing issues of Australian Immigration Detention centers and the removal of people through deportation, the 501s’ detention in Australia, and what can and what is being done to address these human rights violations.
Date and time: TONIGHT Wednesday 26 May, 5:30pm
Venue: The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora’s Great Hall, 2 Worcester Boulevard
Tonight the book is available with a special release price: NZD$30 incl. GST (RRP: $35 incl. GST)
Venue: The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora’s Great Hall, 2 Worcester Boulevard
Tonight the book is available with a special release price: NZD$30 incl. GST (RRP: $35 incl. GST)
Image: Cushla Donaldson, 501s V.02 (installation view), 2020.
The Details:
Through That Which Separates Us (2021)
Published by Te Reo Ke and The Physics Room Contemporary Art Space
Edited by Simon Barber and Miri Davidson
Concept development by Cushla Donaldson
Designed by Gabi Lardies with illustrations by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho
Printed by SOAR Print
RRP: $35 incl. GST
Published by Te Reo Ke and The Physics Room Contemporary Art Space
Edited by Simon Barber and Miri Davidson
Concept development by Cushla Donaldson
Designed by Gabi Lardies with illustrations by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho
Printed by SOAR Print
RRP: $35 incl. GST
Contributors include: Adrian Maere, Anya Weti, Aseel Abdel Khaleq, Arama Rata, Aydan Brown, Carl Mika, Cushla Donaldson, David Hall, Faisal Al Asad, Julie Hill, Jamie Hanton, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Miri Davidson, Nisha Kapoor, Patrick Read, Pauline Smith, Safdar Ahmed, Simon Barber, Susan Schuppli, and Tusiata Avia.
