Across many seas, First Nations artist of Kamilaroi and Bigambul descent, Archie Moore represented Australia at the Venice Biennale 2024 with his installation titled ‘kith and kin’ – an installation which traces his family tree as far back as 65,000 years.
What captured the attention of the judges, awarding the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, Australia’s first-ever Venice accolade?
Instantly, you are drawn into the scope of the installation located in the Australia Pavilion. There is five metre high and 60 metre long pitch black walls, along with the ceiling, featuring thousands of names, hand-drawn in white chalk. In the centre of the pavilion, a black steel structure filled with shallow water, and sitting on the structure, five hundred stacks of white documents containing information on 2,400 generations of indigenous ancestors across 65,000 years.
The message projected in the ‘kith and kin’ installation is both personal and political?
The writing are names representing recent generations, but as your eyes move up the wall towards the ceiling, the chart goes back in time, becoming more densely patterned and less legible. The gaps represent a loss in historical and cultural knowledge, broken by colonial violence, natural disasters, and plagues. Artist Archie Moore says, “kith and kin is a memorial dedicated to every living thing that has ever lived, it is a space for quiet reflection on the past, the present and the future.”
The installation curator, Ellie Buttrose adds that the installation‘s centrepiece, “includes the common ancestors of every human and all living entities – a timely reminder that we all have kinship responsibilities to one another.” This installation speaks of 65,000 years of resilience, grounding you with a personal human experience.
Despite the installation’s heavy subject and somber feel, this is a strong message projected by Moore, highlighting hardships felt across universal communities and ethnicities. Moore is the first Australian artist to receive the Golden Lion award. The spectacular visual installation is on view at the 60th Venice Biennale from April 20 – November 24, 2024.
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