From Old Ground

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery

27 November 2015 – 24 January 2016

Curator Joanna Bayndrian

Special Thanks to Simon Baré, Chris Ross

Coinciding with the 2015 Bicentenary Celebrations of the colonial settlement of Bathurst From Old Ground commemorates the Central West region’s early Chinese migrant history, inviting four Australian and Chinese artists to respond to the remnant narratives, folklore, artefacts and memories of the mid- to late-19th Century.

Jess Bradford’s video work takes the ubiquitous Chinese fortune cookie as a medium through which to contemplate the fortunes and futures of Bathurst’s early Chinese migrants. From hopeful messages of job opportunities overseas and success on the goldfields, to the different ways of dying, Bradford unfolds messages that reveal truths, near truths and possible truths. Bradford’s work plays with temporality, representing and deliberately misrepresenting the futures of the past to reflect on social history outside of a grand-narrative framework.

— Excerpt Joanna Bayndrian exhibition essay

TW: Video includes text mention of death and self harm

Exhibition Catalogue