At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present, and to those emerging leaders in the community. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

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Weekends at PICA: Sancintya Mohini Simpson

Weekends at PICA: Sancintya Mohini Simpson

Join us for Weekends at PICA, a morning filled with coffee, performance and conversation with PICA’s Djilba/Kambarang artist Sancintya Mohini Simpson.

Simpson will present An exhalation: communicating with my ancestors through DNA and an ocean re-remembered. This experimental sound performance incorporates stainless steel vessels, water, salt, the body and breath, creating space to connect with ancestors by reimagining and recreating an ocean space.

Following the performance, Simpson will join artist Shivanjani Lal, a fellow member of the Indian indentured labourer diaspora, to discuss her practice and exhibition ām / ammā / mā maram. The rich, sensory exhibition features objects and paintings that reveal the often-absent narratives of Indian indentured labourers in colonial history.

About the Artist

Sancintya Mohini Simpson is a descendant of indentured labourers sent from India to work on colonial sugar plantations in South Africa. Her work navigates the complexities of migration, memory and trauma— addressing gaps and silences within the colonial archive. Simpson’s work moves between painting, video, poetry, and performance to develop narratives and construct rituals that reflect on her maternal lineage.  

Simpson is an artist, poet and researcher based in Brisbane, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include Sugar, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2022); New Old Archives, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2020); Kūlī _nām dharāyā/ they’ve given you the name ‘coolie’, Institute of Modern Art Belltower, Brisbane (2020); Echoes Over Oceans, Firstdraft, Sydney (2020); Remnants of my ancestors, Hobiennale, Hobart (2019); and And words are whispered, 1ShanthiRoad Studio Gallery, Bangalore (2019). Simpson is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia. 

Shivanjani Lal is a Fijian-Australian artist whose work uses personal grief to account for ancestral loss. Recent works have used story-telling, objects and video to account for lost histories and explore narratives of indenture and migratory histories from the Indian and Pacific oceans. Between 2017-18, she sought to globalise her arts practice with a prolonged stay in India, which led to periods of research in Nepal, Bangladesh and Fiji. Lal’s work has been exhibited across Australia, and internationally in New Zealand, India, Barbados, France, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Italy. In 2021 she graduated with distinction from Goldsmiths. 

Supporters

Supported by PICA’s Art Commissioners.

PICA’s opening events, public programs, family and learning programs and studio residencies are supported by our Community Engagement Partner the City of Perth.  

City of Perth

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