YOYI (Dance)

Title: YOYI (Dance)

Summary: How can Tiwi knowledges around change, continuity, and tradition be communicated in a contemporary art context? This project aims to highlight the intimate relationship between Tiwi country, painting, and dance and give visibility to Tiwi art and culture. YOYI is an exhibition and research program based at the Margaret Lawrence Gallery (MLG), Southbank Campus, in 2022.

Its first intersecting component is a major four-channel video installation featuring individual selections of traditional adornments, body painting, Jilamara fabric, screen prints and everyday clothing, and performers dancing on Country. As an immersive audio-visual experience, each clip fades in and out to the rhythms of Tiwi yoyi (dance). This work is a platform for telling stories and sharing culture.

Its second intersecting component comprises 30 bark paintings by emerging, mid-career, and senior Tiwi artists. This will be the first time that a collaborative Tiwi video installation incorporating artists dancing on Country is shown in tandem with a major selection of Tiwi bark paintings. Place, performance, and the body are central to Tiwi art-making. YOYI draws on this performative foundation to bring dance, language, and vision of country into the gallery.