Trained in the discipline of visual story-telling, Melbourne-based artist Alana Holmberg’s latest exhibition, ‘Resist Laughter’, comprises portrait photography, audio interviews, found materials and text. United by the common theme of politics and its impact on women in Turkey today, this emerging photographer assumed a journalistic role as an outsider to look into the complex issues women face in the region from 2015-16 – one of which is the harrowing statistic of female murders. The contents of the exhibition reflect Holmberg’s ongoing investigation into gender inequality and its relation to feminism, which varies across individuals.
Well-known for both her emotionally compelling portrait photographs and mixed-media exploration with sound, moving image, performance and new technologies, Tara Poole, Director of The Lost Ones Contemporary Art Gallery, explains the reason for having chosen Holmberg as an exhibiting artist for the gallery was that Holmberg’s ‘work is not only technically beautiful, it is poignant and powerful.’
Alana Holmberg, Portrait of Ezgi, 2016, archival pigment inkjet print on Canson Baryta FineArt Paper, 168 x 120cm
With the assistance of a $10,000 Pool Grant, awarded to Holmberg in 2016, her collection of 27 images culminated from a single social media post in 2014. The artist explains, ‘It was an image of young women laughing in the street, and the Turkish words #direnkahkaha (resist laughter). The post was one of thousands shared by Turkish women to protest comments by the country’s then Deputy Prime Minister who said that women should not laugh in public.’
Alana Holmberg, from the series ‘Resist Laughter’, 2017. © the artist
If anything, this exhibition is for those interested in the everyday experiences of women captured in varied places, each with their own story and opinion on diverse themes, from religion and politics to simply being a mother.
The Lost Ones
Until 1 April, 2018
Victoria
