NO NAME STATION
–

Artists: Brook Andrew (Wiradjuri, Melbourne), Gao Shiqiang (Beijing, China), Newell Harry (Sydney), Mabel Juli (Warmun, W.A), Liang Shuo (Beijing, China), Rusty Peters (Gija, Warmun, W.A),Rammey Ramsey (Gija, Warmun, W.A), Sally Smart (Melbourne), Wang Wei (Beijing, China), Zhao Zhao (Beijing, China).

Curators: Alexie Glass-Kantor (Gertrude Contemporary), Jacqueline Doughty (Gertrude Contemporary), Colin Chinnery, Nicole Chen, Zuo Jing, Maggie Fletcher, Michelle Newton, Quentin Sprague

Exhibition Dates: 16 March - 7 April 2012
(Closed Good Friday, Open Easter Saturday)

Opening: Saturday 17 March 2012, 3-5pm Artist Talks 3:30pm
 
No-Name Station was an innovative China/Australia cultural exchange project.

This exhibition at Gertrude Contemporary marks the final phase of a program that had extended over two years, from the East Kimberley in Western Australia, to Beijing in China, and finally in Melbourne for its concluding instalment.

A collaborative endeavour between Gertrude Contemporary (Melbourne), Iberia Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), and Warmun Arts Centre (Warmun, WA), this multi-faceted project involved contributions by 13 visual artists, 1 writer, and a curatorium from Australia and China; and encompassed 2 exhibitions, a group residency, a major publication and public programs from 2010 – 2012.

No-Name Station begun with the idea of cross-cultural contact and its impact on individual histories. Central to the project was the belief that a true exchange requires more than the freighting of artworks between two countries. Accordingly, the project was launched in June 2010 with a moment of encounter: a residency that gathered together 22 Chinese and Australian participants for one week at Warmun Art Centre, located in the Indigenous community of Warmun in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. This creative encounter provided a catalyst for the subsequent publication and the exhibition in Beijing, which took place at Iberia Center for Contemporary art in October 2010.

This exhibition returned to Melbourne for its final instalment, and included contributions by Chinese artists Gao Shiqiang, Liang Shuo, Wang Wei and Zhao Zhao.and Australian artists Brook Andrew (Wiradjuri, Melbourne), Sally Smart (Melbourne) and Newell Harry (Sydney), alongside work by senior artists from the Gija community of Warmun, Western Australia: Mabel Juli, Rusty Peters, and Rammey Ramsey.

The exhibition presented Indigenous art from a remote community alongside work by urban practitioners from Australia and China. Two of the Chinese artists, Wang Wei and Liang Shuo, traveled to Australia to create site-specific works for the Gertrude Contemporary galleries.

On Saturday 17 March at 3.30pm, these artists were joined by Brook Andrew, Sally Smart, Newell Harry and the curators, to present talks about the No Name Station project at Gertrude Contemporary. The talks took place during the exhibition’s opening function from 3.00 – 5.00pm.

The exhibition was accompanied by an award-winning, Fabio Ongarato designed, 224-page publication which documents the artists' work with the Warmun residency that launched the project.

No-Name Station was supported by a number of organizations throughout its two years. The exhibition in Melbourne was generously supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-China Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The residency and earlier exhibition in Beijing were funded by the Australia Council of the Arts; the Australia International Cultural Council (DFAT); Arts Victoria; the Australian Embassy in Beijing and the Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts. The No-Name Station publication has been made possible through the generous assistance of the Gordon Darling Foundation, Jason Yeap, and Fabio Ongarato Design.