Nationalism in the Wake of COVID

9 July to 20 August 2023

Nationalism in the Wake of COVID reviews the dialectic between nationalism, localism and internationalism within the context of the global pandemic and the signals that drove nation-state border closures in Australia. The pandemic curtailed travel and tourism, putting the spotlight on the way events and place/name sites bound by geographical locations are spatially localised. 

Contemporary art practices see the long-term effects of the pandemic as a mechanism for dismantling some of the mixed notions of nationalism. At stake is recognising the importance of localism and its diversity, the environment, decolonisation, and First Nations knowledge systems as avenues of more in-depth investigating that will help shape a better future.

To form the narrative of nationalism for this exhibition the following core artists have been selected: Rebecca Agnew, David Griggs, NOT, Paul Ryan, Leanne Tobin and NC Qin together with works by the following artists courtesy of the Macquarie University art collection, Arthur Boyd, Mark Davis, Lawrence Daws, James Doolin, Louise Forthun, Rosallie Gascoigne, James Gleeson, Rew Hanks, Tracey Moffat, Sidney Nolan, Naata Nunggurrayi, John Olsen and Margart Preston. A Macquarie University exhibition in partnership with Cowra Regional Art Gallery.

_{Image credit: NC Qin Birdsong 2020, cast glass; Courtesy of the artist and Art Atrium Photo Pascual © NC Qin}

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