WE CAN ALL SPEAK IN TONGUES//GROUP SHOW//POLITIKANT

DARVIN VISUAL ARTS//26.6.2020

POLITIKANT
In a time where ‘The Arts’ have been cut from prominent portfolio spaces in the Northern Territorian and National political sphere, ART BITES BACK with POLITIKANT!

A collaborative exhibition of prominent Northern Territory artists, POLITIKANT riffs on the malaise, belligerence and environmental legacy of the current Australian political milieu.

In light of the upcoming Northern Territory election, artists give their voice to the visual language of protest, to the critical analysis of leadership and to the demands of social and climate justice in the high stakes game of a liveable life for all.

WE CAN ALL SPEAK IN TONGUES
For the Pentecostal, speaking in tongues is a sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, evidence of one’s full emersion into the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of Christian life. As a practice it represents a boundary that articulates an inside and therefore an outside of the faith community. This boundary encompasses and excludes based on many varied practices, informed by particular interpretations of scripture.

Current national discourse around redefining the boundaries of religious freedom vis-a-vis anti-discrimination within Australian law has been driven largely by a Pentecostal world view. Political leadership has determined the importance of these discussions as paramount. This work seeks to contribute to the discussion through an interrogation of the porousness of the boundaries against which discrimination seeks its justification.

I was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ at the age of 11 and subsequently can speak in tongues. Although I left the church at 22, I have managed to retain the 'gift' of speaking in tongues. Perhaps it was for this very moment in our national history when our political leaders need us to speak in a mode they can relate to and in a language they can understand.

We can all speak in tongues (Installation view) 2020, digital video on wax and graphene.