Family Album: A Re-imagining Memory
(2024)
(2024)
ft. Lê Nguyên Phương, Adrian Jing Song and Laura Chen
🌏 Hillvale Gallery, Melbourne
What is family? In what ways can we remember and understand it? What of family is preserved over time amidst the blurred apparitions of our memories? How do family images shape both personal and collective memory, and how do they construct a sense of identity?
Drawing on senses of authenticity, on everyday life, and our relationship with the past, the "family album" provides a sense of personal identity and a connection to one's own history. This exhibition combines unique works by three contemporary artists of Southeast and East Asian backgrounds and invites reflection on the family album as a repository of memories that allow individuals to construct narratives about their past, familial relationships and their position within a broader historical and cultural context. Through artistic techniques such as cutting, folding, collage, and juxtaposition, and through the media of photos, video, and installation, family albums are represented as "Les Lieux de Mémoire" (sites of memory) — spaces where narratives and memories are constructed and reconstructed. At the same time, these albums become a field where past stories are re-imagined.
Technically, this exhibition aims to transcend the boundaries of pure image interpretation within the realm of contemporary artistic photography. Methodologically, it explores the powerful role and impact of photography within historical and anthropological narratives.