Yal presents a selection of photographic work and large painted shields by multidisciplinary artist Yuriyal Eric Bridgeman in collaboration with members of the Yuri tribe of Sibmu Province and his diasporic family in Papua New Guinea. The title of the work translates to the Yuri word for ‘man’, fitting the exhibition’s exploration of social and cultural expectations and traditions relating to masculinity. Yal will open on Saturday March 12 and will run until Sunday June 5, 2022.
To Yuriyal, “The portraits come after the process, and the shield. It is important, but it is an afterthought. The process of discussing and sharing cultural knowledge with elders, the young and old, and creating space for men to express their culture is significant.”
After Yuriyal graduated university in 2010, he began travelling back to PNG to connect with family. While there, Yuriyal began learning and sharing knowledge with his tribe and elders. This artistic collaboration led to the formation of an arts collective known as Haus Yuriyal. Haus Yuriyal has built their craft around things that are significant to them as men – tradition and custom, contemporary stories, ceremony, the presentation of bilas (worn adornments), tribal fighting, and games of rugby. The collective finds their power through colour and optics, inscribing their names and identification through graphics and familial language.
Presented in this exhibition of photographic works is a story of war and peace, and a vision of what Haus Yuriyal is fighting for – ples (home). Throughout the photographs, Yuriyal reflects on what is means to be a man, and how Rugby League and creative practices may help quell the effects of tribal warfare. The shield paintings that stand alongside the photographs demonstrate Yuriyal’s work as Yal, a solitary man working away from his tribesmen, but constantly thinking of them.
Yuriyal Eric Bridgeman lives and works between Brisbane and the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In 2010, Bridgeman graduated with a Bachelor of Photography from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. Significant solo exhibitions include Haus Man, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2012); and The Fight, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne (2017). His work was included in the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2015-2016); The National: New Australian Art, Carriageworks, Sydney (2019); and the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, NIRIN, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cockatoo Island, with Haus Yuriyal (2019).
Yal allows insight into the variety of mediums, processes and meanings behind the cultural expectations related to masculinity as presented by Yuriyal Eric Bridgeman.
This exhibition is presented as part of PHOTO2022.
