Banana Kids

 This week, the Museum is opening Banana Kids – a small, experimental, mini-exhibition in our main temporary space.

Banana Kids is a collection of quirky and expressive sculptures, by Chinese Australian ceramic artist Douglas Cham. These sculptures, 12 in all, are over-sized chopstick-holders, depicting Australian native animals emerging from banana skins. They refer to Chinese Australians, and each member of the family of sculptures represents ‘Chineseness’ as well as certain characteristics of Australian culture. Bliss Jensen, one of our exhibition project coordinators, reviewed this collection last year on East Side Radio 2RES:

Douglas Cham’s polished earthenware packs a political punch and reflects on his personal experience of displacement as a Chinese male in Australia. The title Banana-kids, is drawn from the term used by immigrant Chinese about first generation children, inferring “yellow on the outside, but white on the inside”… They are beautifully rendered pieces which make you want to move right up close to view them. Upon doing so, you are confronted with a subtle sourness in the detail, such as the red inked banana brand stamp on each skin showing the date 1901-1973, the lengthy period of the White Australia Policy. Through his ceramics, Cham isn’t just reflecting his personal immigrant experience and the tension between traditional and Western culture, he also looks at his standing in a broader, collective, Australian position on cultural relations, to expose some interesting tensions.

Projects such as this give us the chance to explore and reflect on the diversity of our contemporary culture, and what happens when different cultures come together. Our museum is a great place to try new ways of sharing and discussing these issues. We would love to hear what you think, both about the issues raised in this installation, and about the installation itself, so please leave your comments here! Banana Kids is on show at the Museum until November 21st. And if you do visit, you may hear some construction work going on behind the walls – that’s our next exhibition going up – tell you more about that one later…


Russ Weakley , Web Designer
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5 comments

Tina Fong - 8.11 PM, 22 November 2010
What Douglas has revealed here is very true! The Aussie family down the road where I and my family live is very unfriendly. Their children often make racist remarks to us for years when we pass by. I wish they had been properly educated.
Jane Wilson - 7.11 AM, 21 November 2010
Congratulations, Douglas! I think I’m going to be an art lover after seeing your show. The Banana-kids are so well made and they are very rich in content! I can look at them for days. Thanks a lot, Australian Museum.
kimbavince - 5.11 PM, 20 November 2010
It is a fabulous exhibition, very interesting! I’ve spent more than half an hour just to look at those well-polished banana-kids. The technique is so unblemished. Putting up wall panels to explain the works is a good idea; however, I would like more detail explanations since I haven’t been trained with artistic language. I couldn’t quite catch the meaning of the oversized chopstick holders until I had a chance to chat with the artist. Overall, I’m very impressed and hope there will be more great show like this in the future!
Priscilla Chan - 4.11 PM, 19 November 2010
It is a great exhibition. Bravo, Douglas. Finally there is someone brave enough to speak out. Thank you very much, Australian Museum, for the chance to make our voice heard.
woonkum - 10.11 PM, 18 November 2010
Fantastic! It is indeed a very meaningful exhibition. I like it very much. The entrance design is very eye catching, especially the two Chinese lanterns which tells what we are going to see. The panels and the video help me a lot in understanding the art works. Above all, the well-designed Banana-kids are so finely created that I would like to bring them home. Thank you for running such a great exhibition! I hope there will be many quality exhibitions of similar kind in the near future.

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