Five Australian artists from different Chinese diasporic communities embrace their material histories to celebrate the process of becoming.

Through the hands of five Australian artists from different Chinese diasporic communities, The trace is not a presence … highlights both the active process of making, and the experience of transcending the past towards a present that is not immediately identifiable and complete.

A trace is a materialised passage of time, history, and memory. The exhibition includes historical documents and cultural objects to suggest traces of the past, as well as contemporary artworks by:

• Dongwang Fan 
• Jenna Lee
• Cyrus Tang
• John Young
• Louise Zhang

The paintings, sculptures, installations, videos and prints exhibited illustrate how traces can be fabricated, replicated and threaded into the present.

Here, the process of fabrication and reproduction is a positive act, destabilising staid notions of authenticity. The differences artists create potently distinguish them from being static copies or “doubles” of the so-called origin. 

Exhibition closed

24 August 2024 - 14 September 2025