Eugenio Viola's Curatorial Debut at PICA Explores Partition Trauma

Eugenio Viola, former curator at Museo Madre in Naples and now senior curator at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), makes his debut with the exhibition 'I don’t want to be there when it happens', co-curated with Mikala Tai and Kate Warren. Originally staged at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney, the show has been expanded for PICA, adding works by Indian artists to the original Pakistani roster. The exhibition addresses psychological trauma from the 1947 Partition of India, when British decolonization led to the creation of India and Pakistan along religious lines, causing over a million deaths and mass migration. Works include Abdullah M.I. Syed's 'Flying Rug of Drones (Circle)' (2015-17), an installation of razor-blade drones with sound and light, and Adeela Suleman's hypnotic wrought-iron chandelier and 'After All it’s always somebody else who dies' (2017), referencing deaths in Karachi. Community engagement includes storytelling in English and Urdu during Open House Perth 2017. On view until December 24, 2017.