The Cultural Bridge
In the year 2002 I had my first solo international exhibition with The Pengosekan Art Gallery and Community of Balinese artists in Bali. It was a great opportunity to liaise with artists from Indonesia and to learn more about Balinese culture.
During this period in Bali, fellow artist and good friend, Pak Bundhowi, visited my exhibition and we discussed future exhibitions.
I also met Canadian artist, Sandra Phillips. When my exhibition finished in Bali I flew with my partner to Yogyakarta and that evening the first Bali Bombings occurred.
We needed to return to Bali about a week later before heading for home and found that Pak Bundhowi had been involved in helping police with identifying victim’s bodies and interpreting.
It was a devastating time for everyone especially the families of the victims and the Balinese communities, many of whom were in a state of perpetual shock.
On return to Australia we kept up a dialogue through the internet between Canada, Australia and Indonesia and shared our thoughts and feelings on events that followed.
“The Cultural Bridge” Exhibition became a forerunner to our joint exhibition, “Kedamaian” which has involved three countries participation, support and involvement.
The Indonesian Exchange with the Pengosekan Community of Artists was a unique experience in cultural understanding.
A solo exhibition was the result of 12 months of work, blending both spiritual and cultural ideas with painting and new technologies.
