GLASSHOUSE PORT MACQUARIE REGIONAL GALLERY
list of works
bio
A river’s genesis now called Hastings, 2019
Love my culture, 2019
The land tells the story, 2019
British subjects, 2019
Nostalgically contemplating Cook in 2020, 2019
Tresspassed discovery 1818, 2019
Now now little Brother, 2019
We are connected, 2019
Should have ‘Spokes’ lived?, 2019
What am I to do?, 2019
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
Asher Milgate’s practice responds to the historic ‘Australian’ identity and its dual history. Drawing from dual histories, Milgate discusses the intersection of colonisation and
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
the ongoing challenges for Aboriginal people as a result. Milgate’s work is a transferal of history of lived experiences
Footprints for milennia, 2019
echoed through photography, video, installation and sound
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
recordings. Milgate seeks to engage the public’s interest in the breath of the ‘Australian’ landscape, through diversity, similarity
Give me land…Don't fence me in, 2019
and dual perspectives.
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
Let's talk, let's listen, 2019
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
The forest floor cares for its dead, 2019
100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
Asher Milgate has exhibited in multiple solo and group shows in Sydney, Newcastle and regional NSW including a solo exhibition at the Western Plain Cultural Centre, Dubbo in 2015. He is the founder of Survivors project, Wellington, NSW. Oral historian and Photographer, The Cooks River? The Cooks River Aboriginal Oral History Project, 2017. He has received numerous awards and has works in the collection of Orange Regional Museum and in numerous private collections throughout Australia and internationally.
asher milgate
duality 7 March - 19 April 2020
GLASSHOUSE PORT MACQUARIE REGIONAL GALLERY Gallery Curator: Bridget Purtill
Special Thanks to the Glasshouse team for all their efforts and
Graphic Design: Marie Taylor
collaborations to make this exhibition successful.
Catalogue Printing: Chrysalis Printing
A Glasshouse Gallery Initiative
Text Copyright: Bridget Purtill and Sandy Edwards. Images courtesy of the artist © Glasshouse Regional Gallery 2020
duality
The Glasshouse Regional Gallery is supported but Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
Cnr Clarence & Hay Streets Port Macquarie 02 6581 8888 info@glasshouse.org.au glasshouse.org.au
This publication is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research, study or as otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act, no part
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on show 7 March - 19 April 2020
may be reproduced by any process without permission. Enquiries should
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Cover image: The forest floor cares for its dead, 2019, 100 x 100,
be made to Glasshouse Regional Gallery.
Sat - Sun: 10am - 4pm Public Holidays: 10am - 4pm
medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
Printed on recycled paper
Government Sponsors
Now now little brother,
2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminum
Red valley divided, 2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminum
The Glasshouse is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
Founding Sponsors
introduction It is with great pleasure that the Glasshouse Regional Gallery
duality Asher Milgate
presents duality, an exhibition by artist Asher Milgate.
Asher Milgate is a multimedia artist who throughout his practice
Oxley (1784-1828) and Thomas Dick (1877 - 1927) for example. Photography is one of European culture’s methods of recording
local schoolteachers. After leaving Wellington as a young man,
artistic experiences for our community and visitors to our region.
realisations about the indigenous culture had subconsciously
duality is a personal interaction with our local landscape,
been absorbed and reverberated within him. He could see the
retracing history through the eyes of many who had tread before,
ongoing prominence of the Binjang clan of the strong Wiradjuri
observing and documenting how human intervention has
nation within the town. This experience has made a lasting
changed its original state, whilst contemplating what the local
influential imprint on his work as an artist.
area and culture would have looked like before the colonial shift.
Dubbo, consisted of intimate black and white, life-size close ups
the area’s bicentenary, (200 years since John Oxley surveyed the
of Aboriginal elders who grew up on Nanima Mission at The
region for early European settlement) our conversations were
Common, Bell River Flats. In addition to the photograph, each
focused on how to create a dual focus on this very sensitive
elder was recorded remembering life on the mission (the earliest
area’s history. Exploring with fresh eyes, Asher ventured to the
inland mission in NSW est. 1832).
attention to the dual perspective of the indigenous ancestors
acknowledge and to be guided by. For example publications
and the Europeans settlers. One cannot look at a map in Australia
such as ‘Birrpai Beyond the lens of Thomas Dick’, 2018 by author
to find Aboriginal place names, coexisting alongside European
and Port Macquarie local John Heath.
names. These images reveal many subtle and gross signs of
one hundred kilometers to the west, north and south of Port
Survivors, (2015), exhibited at Western Plains Cultural Centre,
the Hastings landscape and stories in a contemporary way. With
Through intense colour infrared photographs he directs our
history are very different. There are indigenous historians to to
land, Milgate set out with a map of the area approximately
of storytelling - part historian, part photographer. His series
to life through a series of conversations on how to document
history, however indigenous traditions of passing down
Determined to make visible the Aboriginal presence in the
Throughout his career Milgate has developed an effective form
As an artist in resident in 2019, Asher’s exhibition duality came
The dryly-titled Cooks River? (2017), exhibited at Bankstown Art Centre, confirms Milgates commitment to making contemporary Aboriginal stories with connection to place visible, by bringing the river alive through employing colour and environmental
Macquarie and followed the length of the Hastings River (known
Shot with infrared film and recorded landscapes, duality flips
of the colonisation of Australia. It was named (by Oxley) after the Governor of NSW, Lachlan Macquarie. The town was founded as a penal settlement in 1821 when Newcastle became unviable in
portraiture. Commissioned by Cooks River Alliance and the
its role as a second offence centre, because it had lost its sense of isolation due to expanding settlement. This shared history is something we are all living with. There is deep cultural resistance to recognising this history fully. Artists like Milgate are working in a thought-provoking way asking non-indigenous Australians to open their hearts and minds to the lessons of the landscape and
and non-indigenous artist-photographer collaborations,
allow healing to happen. duality reveals a vital story of Australian
documenting indigenous communities and featuring a friend, a
our local landscape. It was an absolute pleasure to get to know Asher during his residency and throughout the development of this exhibition.
Wiradjuri man from Wellington, Jeff Amatto and his very personal
history before and after white settlement.
story of survival and hardship of substance addiction. This work
In Asher Milgate’s words (talking about his formative experiences
was a finalist in the Incinerator Prize 2018. Each of these projects
I would also like to extend a massive thank you to Sandy
in Wellington, NSW),
confirming Milgate’s dedication to uncovering stories through
Edwards, Curator/Producer at ARTHERE Photography Project
“What I learnt most was to listen, I mean really listen. Deep
exploring place and the stories they hold.
Services, Sydney for her insights in the following essay.
listening is what you’d call it. Listening, hearing and feeling
As Artist in Residence, at The Glasshouse Regional Gallery in
Bridget Purtill
Port Macquarie, 2019, Milgate singles out the landscape around
Gallery Curator
Port Macquarie. He carries with him the perspective of his
Glasshouse Regional Gallery
background and further develops his deep commitment
the stories relayed to you. Letting them wash over you and flow through you. I also learnt that I knew very little about the Aboriginal experience. I’ve just been given glimpses.” Sandy Edwards
to see improvement in the understanding of indigenous issues
Curator/Producer www.arthere.com.au
in Australia.
BRIDGET PURTILL Should have ‘Spokes’ lived?, 2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminium
The land tells the story, 2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminum
Aboriginal presence.
Dividing Range.
The 2018 video work A point in time, explored indigenous
I would like to sincerely thank Asher for this incredible insight into
the care and devotion, the songs and ceremonies, of centuries of The history of Port Macquarie is a reminder of the harsh history
Sydney River.
opportunities to reflect, admire and respect all that has been
European farming practices however it still holds the memory of
after the Governor General of India) to its inception in the Great
custodianship felt about this important and valued Western
the known perspective of these landscapes, creating new
interferences to the landscape. Clearly it has been changed by
by the Birpai as Doongang, named Hastings by John Oxley
Federal Government, the work established a strong sense of
before and contemplate what might evolve in the future.
“recorded soundscapes capture the present moments of observation, allowing the landscape to speak, to tell stories of what had been before whilst celebrating the life it now has.”
of his precursors - explorers, surveyors and historians John
primary school alongside Aboriginal peers. His parents were the
providing opportunities to develop new work and present quality
landscapes that presented itself on his path.
documenter. As a white Australian he follows in the footsteps
Milgate grew up in Wellington, central western NSW, going to
commitment to supporting contemporary Australian artists,
Immersing, listening and documenting the undulating and varied
combination of historical researcher, journalist and poetic
has prioritised the power of the photographic document.
This exhibition continues the Glasshouse Regional Gallery’s
outer edges of the land, crossing mountains, rivers and sand.
It is not surprising that Milgate’s role in duality has been a
Love my culture, 2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminum
Footprints for millennia, 2019, 100 x 100cm, medium format, infrared film, dye sublimation on aluminum