Henna at OzAsia Launch
Henna at the OzAsia Launch and getting painted by artist Clifford Frith
The exciting program of Oz Asia 09 was launched last friday,and because i am part of the festival this year, I was invited to do Henna there to promote my Art. http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/
I am part of Oz Asia, this year and have been working for a few months on the pieces that will be exhibited for this show. It’s an honor to be able to have my works the same exhibition as India Flint- http://indiaflint.com, Noorjehan Bilgrami – http://koel.com.pk, Aranya artists of southern India, Ernabella textile artists of northwest South Australia and batik artists of Indonesia – Agus Ismoyo and Nia Fliam – who work in collaborations with Indigenous women from desert communities.
On the launch night, while painting a few people, a person standing in the crowd, said he would like me to do a Henna on him but in return he would like to paint something on me too. I have to admit, I was quite hesitant, because seriously I had no clue who he was. There were so many people standing there, who heard his request, and I felt really bad saying no to him. So I told him he can draw but it has to be little and obviously he agreed to it. While I was painting him, the curator of the show, Susan Jenkins saw it happening and she rushed over to get the camera guy… I was quite surprised and when she came back I asked her who this person was. Obviously to my surprise, turns out this polite old man was a very well known South Australian artist, Clifford Frith. At first I didnt believe it, and asked a few people to confirm…I was showing what he drew on me to people, and one of the person there said, ” Humna, your hand has just become even more valuable, now that he’s drawn on it, you might want to frame it”
It felt so so SO cool…and at that point I could understand in a way, why and how people feel when they get painted by me…(not that I am comparing myself with him!! but having an artwork on me by another artist, just felt extremely exciting!!) I was on top of the world that night, being touched by an honorable artist from Australia. He took the invite to my solo show and promised to come, hope he can come along.
The pieces that will be exhibited for this exhibition, are probably the kind of art I would love to keep doing in future exhibitions, as they truly bring out the textile designer in me. Also, I am thrilled to be part of such a festival, that promotes the Asian cultures in Adelaide. I thank the whole team, organizing the Ozasia festival, they are so amazingly helpful and fun people to work for. I am excited the exhibition is coming closer, and very keen to hear comments about this work, as this is my first time exhibiting such large, hand painted silk panels. Hope you can come!
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