SALLY MUMFORD, Languages of Knowing, 2022, unique state 6-colour reduction lino print and watercolour on thirty library catalogue cards
Dimensions: 76.2 cm x 100 cm (12.7 cm x 20 cm each)
There are different ways and systems of knowing. Knowledge is stored in the shelves of a library, in digital platforms and in country. It is held in stories, songs and art. Knowledge is also lost and erased.
This artwork explores such ideas in a central Australian context. For over 60 years, the CSIRO laboratory in Alice Springs had been a vibrant place where locally relevant and internationally influential research was carried out.
It was disbanded in 2016, deemed to be of low value by CSIRO and other government bodies. The library was disassembled and dispersed; some of it was sent to landfill.
I have created my own language of knowing with the abandoned library cards. The colour coding on the cards evokes algorithms and data while the six-colour reduction lino-cut print of Tjoritja (West Macdonell Ranges) celebrates country and with it, indigenous traditional knowledge.
// Australia //
Image courtesy of the artist