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Official opening for cantchant exhibition
An Institute of Modern Art touring exhibition, cantchant, by contemporary Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee will be officially opened at the University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery at 6pm Thursday 17 February.
Josh Milani of Milani Gallery in Brisbane will open the exhibition, and Kerry Neill of local Indigenous art company, Goombuckar Creations, will perform a Welcome to Country ceremony.
Ah Kee, who is a key figure in urban Aboriginal art, will attend the opening of his exhibition, which will remain on show at USC until Saturday 19 March.
USC Gallery Curator Dawn Oelrich said the cantchant exhibition takes on the iconic subject of the beach and casts a critical eye on its special role in forming Australian identity.
“It pushes aside the commonsense of the beach as a destination for leisure, relaxation and fun, and presents it as a cultural battleground,” she said.
“The exhibition includes surfboards painted with north Queensland rainforest shield designs, wall text and a three-screen video installation.”
Ah Kee is a member of the Brisbane-based artist collective proppaNOW. He has exhibited in France, Germany, Austria and Canada, and is represented in the collections of Queensland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
cantchant is supported by the Contemporary Touring Initiative through Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian Government and state and territory governments.
The USC Gallery is located at the University campus on Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs. It is open free to the public from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sundays and public holidays.
— Terry Walsh