/ culture
photographyandQlm-makingstyleartistically,itis impossible to separate this art from the politics that encompass it. Everything from the premise, execution, andreceptionareactsofdeQanceagainstthe hegemony of the white lens. Through Robinson, the audience is forced to reckon with not only the mourning of real lived experiences of minorities of the Golden Age, but also the unlived experiences that will never be spoken into existence. The diva born for the limelight, basking in her own glory. The assertive cowboy, guns blazing,readytoacethestand-oandrideintothe sunset. The two comfortable, wealthy ladies, who have the luxury of time. The luxury of simply sitting and staring, decorating themselves in detailed makeup with their hair stacked painfully high. Two ladies who need not concern themselves with making a living from minimum wage, with serving their white communities at the nail salon, the laundromat, the restaurant. Who need not be concerned with being another statistic of violence towards Asian women.
hadtheopportunitytobrieRyspeakwithRobinsononth night of the reception. Incredibly sweet and down-to-earth, matter in literature?” with her entire essay dedicated he was all bashful smiles as I thanked him for the beauty to the (in)visibility of Asian writers in the publishing of the night. For someone who had just about every right industry, as well as more broadly Asian representation to be busily networking and dealing with more important in Australia. She notes that “we don’t assume people things, his patience and kindness to a complete stranger have read our books and know our characters, or will is something I respect dearly. He remarked upon the want to buy our books and know our characters. We attendance of the night, which had spilled out of the gallery have to hustle the shit out of them.” She dives into and burst onto the street. He seemed surprised by the the complex manoeuvres Asian authors face in order turnout; he had thought he’d overestimated the number for their stories to be palatable to white audiences: of pies he’d need and they’d go to waste. Little did he know Pung recalls her own father asking in regards to her they would be demolished within the hour, alongside the autoQction Her Father’s Daughter, “Do you think there’s rest of Robinson’s work. Even an Asian man as talented toomuchsueringinthisbook?Whitepeopledon$t and internationally renowned as Robinson is surprised in wanttoreadabouttoomuchsuering.You$vegottobe the ability to be granted the space he deserves. What kind careful.” The onus, she describes, is on the author to be of art will we discover when we give Asian Australians the malleable to the white reader—sometimes so far as to space to breathe? question the mutilated object left in its wake. This is the setting within which On Golden Days situates itself. Robinson is hardly alone in his questioning of the visibility of the Asian diaspora, and he utilises this foundation of discussion to build his own reaction against the nostalgia industry of the Golden Age in his work.RobinsonhimselfhascommentedsigniQcantlyon the representation of Asian Australians. In an interview with Liminal Magazine, he notes: “Any time there’s an Asian character there’s this implicit sense of ‘why are they here? Why are they Asian?’ And there has to be some reason why this character is Asian; they can’t be a regular character who also just happens to be Asian. What I hate is when people say, ‘it doesn’t really, you know, suit our story’. I’m like, ‘how does it not suit your story?’ But I guess it’s a major part of being a person of colour in Australia. As in, I’m here in Australia just like anyone else, you know? I exist.” On Golden Days undoubtedly seems to respond to this critique, depicting Asian characters who suit Australian (and Hollywood) stories perfectly. As much as I wish that a review such as this could be based simply on the ingenuity of Robinson’s
Photographs courtesy of James J. Robinson
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