Sidespace Gallery: Henrietta Manning 10-15 August 2018 Solo Exhibition. LAST DAYS

Henrietta Manning, Grand Tour, Self, acrylic on masonite

Title: Henrietta Manning. A Cambodian Selfie.

Venue: Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Level 1/77 Salamanca Place, Hobart, TAS.

Dates & Times open to the public: 10th – 15th August 2018 10am-5pm

Date & Time of Official Opening: Friday 10th August 6-8pm

Speaker at Official Opening: Adriana Taylor. Commissioner Huon Valley Council

Website: info@salarts.org.au www.artcase.wikifoundry.com www.colvillegallery.com.au

Event Teaser …

The Grand Tour, at its height in1660–1820, was undertaken to complete the education of predominately wealthy young men, becoming a rite of passage forming part of an elite’s entry into polite society.

Often accompanied by a tutor or guide the most popular destinations were the cities considered to be major centers of culture, and sites with the remains of ancient Roman and Greek civilisation.

Surprisingly today’s tourist holds much in common with those earlier travelers; while the journey is unlikely to be as arduous, the mindset is similar. Our idea of a ‘holiday’ reflects the reality that time on the Grand Tour was frequently spent in more frivolous pursuits.

Most striking is the difference in speed. A Grand Tour lasted from months to several years while today the tyranny of distance has been vanquished, it is possible to dip in and out of cultures and worlds different from our own for a few weeks/days or even hours. There is no slow acclimatization and the real sense of distance travelled has been lost.

The collection of souvenirs was as endemic as today. Like the modern selfie, the desire to record one’s own image as traveler was met by commissioned portraits, painted either in iconic settings or surrounded by tokens of learning and acquired mementos.

Today a selfie takes only seconds to capture.

The artist’s self portrait, ’Grand Tour Self’ references the traditions of the Grand Tour commissioned portrait. In particular it’s proportions, composition and the pose of the artist is based on the 17th century Italian painter Pompeo Batoni’s portrait of the 22 year old Wyndham Knatchbull-Wyndham. Grand Tour sitters were typically portrayed wearing the luxurious silk ensembles they had tailored for them overseas in the company of their dogs that may even have accompanied them.

The artist is wearing Cambodian trousers and shawl, and not having any dogs has substituted her cat and chickens. As the artist’s worked in their studios, not out on site, certain props reappear. Noticing the chair in the Wyndham portrait appearing in a number of other Batoni portraits Manning has reincorporated it into her own.

‘A Cambodian Selfie’ contrasts the superficiality of mass tourism with the real world of Cambodia, a country struggling with extremes of wealth and poverty, corruption and privilege and the intergenerational trauma of civil war. In their tourist bubble focused on the stunning historical sites such as Angkor Watt what is learnt or understood about the current lives of its people? In 2017 the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs contributed 90 million of tax payer’s money to aid Cambodia’s ‘greater prosperity’. This to a country whose track record on human rights and democracy is lamentable, that the international Labor Organization reported that 10 cents in every dollar is lost to corruption. A government who’s Tourism Minister has stated ‘we have no crisis but there are politicians who are having a crisis themselves’ in reference to opposition party members fleeing the country after the forced disbandment of their party by the current government in preparation for the 2018 elections. While the tourism town of Seim Reap expands its accommodation and services government imposed economic land concessions rob farmers of their land and livelihoods. Half of the countries arable land, a quarter of the countries surface, has been conceded to private companies under the scheme. It has been estimated that 85% of Cambodians are now migrants, either internal, or external to countries such as Thailand.

Holiday travel is by its nature superficial and can only provide a small window to experience another culture but how much smaller is that window getting every day as the crowds hop off planes onto buses, following their tour leaders flag back to the safety and sterility of their generic hotel? The Grand Tour has become ‘grand tourism’, the crowds of people descending on ‘hot spots’ are now so vast that whole cities are considering limiting their numbers because of the impact physically and culturally of this stampede. What do these tourists really see and return home with? A bucket list ticked? A series of selfies loaded onto facebook and instagram?

The idea of travelling for the sake of curiosity and learning was an idea developed in the 17th century. With John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), it was argued, and widely accepted, that knowledge comes entirely from the external senses, that what one knows comes from the physical stimuli to which one has been exposed. Travel, therefore, was necessary to develop the mind and expand ones knowledge of the world.Today tourism is the world’s largest industry. More people are involved, either as a member of a host community, a travel/tourism industry player or as a consumer/tourist than in any other industry. The legacy of the Grand Tour lives on still influencing the destinations tourists choose and shaping the ideas of culture and sophistication that surround the act of travel, but of the staggering 2.5 million visitors to Angkor Watt in 2017, generating 52.5 million in six months, what is the real cost and benefit to the Cambodian people?

Exhibiting since1985, Henrietta is an established award winning artist represented by Colville Gallery, Hobart, and has been a finalist in many art prizes including The Wynne 1994/1996 and the 2017 Glover Prize.

Download invitation …

http://cdn-src.tasmaniantimes.com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/Henrietta_Manning_Invitation.pdf
Henrietta Manning, First published July 26