Exhibition Copy 25588: The Great Hall of Women
Dianne JONES: artist
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Dianne Jones Artist statement
This series of images plays on ‘the idea for The Grand Tour’, a tradition whereby young men of British nobility (and some women with a chaperone) would literally tour the European continent as an educational rite of passage’. ‘The Grand Tour’ was for the ‘Grand Tourist’ to learn of the cultural legacy of the ‘classics’ and the Renaissance, study the great art works and listen to great music. The ‘Grand Tour’ has been described as the search the ‘roots of civilisation’ and critiqued as essential to ensuring ruling class control through the maintenance of cultural hegemony. As a Noongar artist invited to spend time in Parliament house I was taken on tours of the building, its many rooms, halls and artworks. I witnessed tours regularly. I learnt about the many symbols and traditions that evoke how a culture creats a sense of grandeur befitting the gravitas of ‘founding a nation’ the historical ties with Britain, the solemn rituals required for power to make laws impacting us, every day. The height, the arches, the statues and the leather-bound books are crafted to induce awe, to speak of some divine right to possess and govern. I am not a tourist here on Noongar land.
This series of images plays on ‘the idea for The Grand Tour’, a tradition whereby young men of British nobility (and some women with a chaperone) would literally tour the European continent as an educational rite of passage’. ‘The Grand Tour’ was for the ‘Grand Tourist’ to learn of the cultural legacy of the ‘classics’ and the Renaissance, study the great art works and listen to great music. The ‘Grand Tour’ has been described as the search the ‘roots of civilisation’ and critiqued as essential to ensuring ruling class control through the maintenance of cultural hegemony. As a Noongar artist invited to spend time in Parliament house I was taken on tours of the building, its many rooms, halls and artworks. I witnessed tours regularly. I learnt about the many symbols and traditions that evoke how a culture creats a sense of grandeur befitting the gravitas of ‘founding a nation’ the historical ties with Britain, the solemn rituals required for power to make laws impacting us, every day. The height, the arches, the statues and the leather-bound books are crafted to induce awe, to speak of some divine right to possess and govern. I am not a tourist here on Noongar land.
Title
Exhibition Copy 25588: The Great Hall of Women
Artist/Maker and role
Dianne JONES: artist
Date
2017
Medium
ink jet print on paper
Credit line
Purchased through The Leah Jane Cohen Bequest, Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2018
© Dianne Jones / Copyright Agency