ERASURE

ERASURE

Curated by Nur Shkembi
Centre of Visual Art, University of Melbourne

The word erasure has a multiplicity of meanings and applications; to remove, rub or scrape out written or drawn marks; to remove recorded matter; to remove from existence or memory; and to nullify the effect or force of something. This term is also used to describe the multitude of ways in which people (or an entire community) may experience various forms of erasure due to discrimination levelled against their gender, sexuality, colour, class, ethnicity or religion, or at the intersections of such identity ‘markers’. The act of erasing something can be enacted as a form of violence, or as something sinister or mischievous. But it can also be utilitarian in nature or even enigmatic or glorious; sometimes we may erase to create space for something new, in that we repurpose, reclaim or renovate. In ancient spiritual practices, such as Sufism, erasure or annihilation of the self (of one’s ego) is considered the ultimate act of love. The act of erasure contains within it the potential for both beauty and violence. In a complex society such as Australia, where the fraught and violent history of colonisation, migration and the movement of bodies seeking asylum (who are often hidden and deemed illegal), along with the exploitation of the land, of natural resources and of people, our contemporary condition manifests the many realities of erasure.

The eight artists in this exhibition explore erasure as a conceptual element in their practice. They explore social, political, philosophical or personal narratives through various mediums such as photography, painting, material exploration, installation, moving images, 3D technology and sound.

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SILENCE/VIOLENCE co-opts a handwoven Bokahra rug, of a kind made in Pakistan and Northern India, worn threadbare towards erasure. This installation speaks to a complex array of violences; from colonialism to anti-Muslim violence, to the Indian bridal dowries of which a rug forms part and the horrors of bride burnings, bride murders and gendered violence. Bridal dowries were initially enforced by the British in colonial India and continue to be a focal point of horrendous violence against women. The rug situates violence in the domestic sphere, within tensions at the juncture of familial relationships. Grains of rice form SILENCE, whilst obscured under the rug, VIOLENCE is scattered as if by a kick. Tracing my own Indian heritage (which has been subject to erasure), I use rice as a signifier of my close ancestral connections and of the intergenerational violence handed on in daily routines as unquestioned as rice to a meal.

Most recently, President Modi enacted the most severe lockdown in the world. Within four hours, he forced the exodus of millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people from the cities of India, to walk thousands of kilometres in crowds to their villages, without food, sanitation or water and exposed to Coronavirus. As the rice text in the work is scattered, so too are the most vulnerable, erased out of wealthy cities and towards what is likely to be a genocide of the poorest. In India, anti-Muslim violence is escalating. Further compounded by lockdowns, violent perpetrators are increasing their attacks on women and children who are unable to escape. Gendered violence is surging globally. Silence and violence are entwined, used to suppress victims and ensure that systems of power can be sustained. Coronavirus is magnifying these existing imbalances, making visible the underlying violence that is no longer hidden.