An expanse of long rows of hundreds of delicate embroideries of native plants greet you as you enter the inaugural major exhibition in the newly relaunched and freshly renovated Artspace in Woolloomooloo. Meanwhile, strong and stoic illustrated portraits of Aboriginal elders are framed by stunning horseshoe-shaped arrangements of botanicals and natural objects; and intriguing sculptural assemblages are studded with carved emu eggs, masses of dried yellow paper daisies, piles of ceramics, and polished colonial furniture. With Untitled (Transcriptions of country), Wiradyuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones educates viewers about a lesser-known tangent of our shared histories, and provokes questions about ownership.
Jones considers the colonial transportation, trade and translation of Australian native plants and animals, and of Aboriginal portraits, objects, and music. The exhibition examines the French expedition to the southern lands that was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte, led by Captain Nicolas Baudin in the years 1800-1803. As part of this expedition, an extraordinary collection comprising countless Australian native plants and animals, along with the largest known ensemble of Sydney Aboriginal objects, were taken back to France, and kept at the private residence of Napoléon and Joséphine Bonaparte, the Château de Malmaison.
For this exhibition, Jones undertook extensive research in both Australia and France, shining a light on the dark truth that this collection is no longer intact – with many of the animals, plants and cultural objects taken by Baudin’s team of naturalists either dispersed, vanished or simply forgotten. This fascinating body of work premiered at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in November 2021, and Artspace has co-commissioned an expanded presentation featuring new companion works, a new 550-page publication, public programs, and community engagement.
The more than 300 embroideries that fill the room are reimagined from the hundreds of plant specimens preserved from Baudin’s trip at the herbarium at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. These handmade embroideries were created in collaboration with the ACE Embroiderers Collective, a group of migrant women organised through the Arts & Cultural Exchange in Parramatta.
“I’m curious about how we come to terms with objects that were collected and are now lost to the archive; how these objects can morph into new forms of dialogue, become tools of reciprocity and repatriation within the framework of decolonisation,” said Jones.
Untitled (Transcriptions of country) will draw you in with its eerily beautiful aesthetics, and it will entrance you with an exploration of history that is at once both gentle and cutting. Much like the medicinal properties of some of the plants represented, this exhibition is much more potent than it first appears.
Untitled (Transcriptions of country) is showing at Artspace, Woolloomooloo, until February 11, 2024, before touring nationally. Artspace Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am-5pm. Entry is free.
