'Spirits of the Showgrounds' Back to Back Gallery, Newcastle, Australia
A visual art series created by artist Tahlia Undarlegt.
Exploring the complex lives lived by the Australian showmen particularly her own family’s history.
It highlights the tension between their travelling Romani roots and a society dominated by a white colonialist 9-5 narrative.
Showmen are welcomed when they bring the shows to town with promise of bright lights and good times but are shunned as outcasts as soon as they leave the safety of the showgrounds. Bound to homes on wheels and the open roads they move from one show to the next.
The repetitive pattern of three artworks captures their shared experiences, loyalty, love and way of life that has always been so well hidden away to avoid the judgement and ridicule from the outside.
Newcastle Art school Diploma of Ceramics Graduation show