Finding Your Place

By Benjamen Judd

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Susan Sontag once wrote that to collect photographs was to collect the world and current exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Finding Your Place In the World: Asian Photomedia does just that.

Photography was a turning point in the history of human culture – the ability to capture moments as they occurred gave a new meaning to what we understood as art. It also allowed for a new kind of representation, one that was considered more honest than the painter’s interpretation. Finding Your Place in the World is a collection of photos that documents the fast-paced social and political changes that occurred in their home countries at both community and national levels.

The artists included in this display all play a prominent role in the cultural life of their communities – not only as artists but also as gallery owners, curators and mentors – as well as representing those communities on the world stage. They use their art practices to comment on the effect of change in their countries, which have undergone fundamental transformations in the last century. In many cases the transition has been from colonial outpost to postcolonial democracy, while all have been confronted with an ever increasing global homogenisation of culture.

Finding Your Place in the World is now showing at the National Gallery of Australia and will run until August 10, 2014.