Roberta Joy Rich takes the transformative Purple Rain Protest as the basis for this exhibition, immersing her audience in a purple-hued celebration of humanity.
Rich juxtaposes the harsh histories of racial segregation in settler nations South Africa and Australia, finding a dual struggle of enforced boundaries that would inform resilience and solidarity. The Purple Shall Govern presents installation, video, audio, and archival objects that re-frame this history and the artist’s own family narratives, in the hope to shed light on our experiences in public spaces, past and present.

Roberta Joy Rich, And so, the mood was quite intense, 2022, sound installation with analogue radio, fabricated seating, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), 2023. © the artist. Photograph: Dan McCabe. Courtesy the artist and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Western Australia
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA)
3 November to 31 December 2023
Western Australia