Nationalism in the wake of COVID 19: exhibition work as research

The disruptive forces of the pandemic affected all facets of life with the wheels of neo capitalism coming to a screaming halt worldwide. In recognition of this major global disruption, the Macquarie University Gallery conceptualised the exhibition Nationalism in the Wake of COVID as a research project to review the dialectics between internationalism, nationalism and localism. It focussed on the way events and place/name sites bound by geographical locations are spatially localised.
The curatorial framework combined artworks from the University’s permanent collection with recent works from a core group of contemporary artists working within this dialectic. The artists remit was to re-examine national identity within its past and current state of contradictions, conflicts and homogenous affiliations to dismantle fixed notions of nationalism and its contrived orientation of uniformity.
The structural components and visual textures inherent within the exhibition gave rise to a polemical discourse. Encountering the interchanges between localism, regionalism and globalism informed the curatorial narrative that reconceptualised local histories as pertaining to national and global narratives, creating a stream of pathways in reviewing nationhood.
The inclusion of First Nations knowledge systems represented by the work of contemporary Dharug artist Leanne Tobin revealed the interconnectedness of personal and public histories as a visual roadmap to truth telling. Such personal narratives specific to site/place, time and identity of First Nations artists enabled pathways for the processes of decolonisation to take place.
The cultural production behind Nationalism in the Wake of COVID created a site for evolving discussions questioning fixed notions of nationhood. It became a mediation of artists, curators and audience elucidating nationalism post-pandemic. Research experimentation by exhibition is well suited to the academic gallery.