Silent Screams of Memories
Telly Tuita, The Great Land of Oz (detail), 2023. Commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre. Photo by Jodie Barker.
upcoming
18 Jul
–
29 Aug
Telly Tuita
Silent Screams of Memories is an exhibition by Telly Tuita exploring childhood memories through an adult lens. Tuita, who was born in Tonga, spent the first nine years of his life there before being sent to live in Australia. Decades removed from this period, he is able to respond to horror with humour in Repressed Memories, a newly commissioned series at the heart of this exhibition. A head with soap in its mouth, a hand next to an axe, a head through a wall—these confronting images evoke moments of trauma from his time in Australia, a land often lauded for the opportunity it can offer those who relocate there.
Tuita’s new Screaming Idol series represents the artist’s fourteen years of childhood—nine years in Tonga and five in Australia—before he was kicked out of home and forced into adulthood. Older works, including The Great Land of Oz, have also been recontextualised, becoming a wry commentary on nationhood and belonging. Presented alongside this installation is Boy with Red Apple, a short film by Jamie Berry exploring Tuita’s earlier years in Tonga.
The darkness underpinning the exhibition has bled outward into Silent Screams of Memories’ visual form. Dominated by black, the exhibition marks a striking aesthetic departure for Tuita, who is known for his use of bright colours.
Curated by Brooke Pou