Mithu Sen's 'mOTHERTONGUE' Challenges Eurocentric Language and Colonial Structures at ACCA Melbourne
Mithu Sen's exhibition titled 'mOTHERTONGUE' is currently on display at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) in Melbourne from 22 April to 18 June. This showcase confronts Eurocentric modes of communication across multiple fields and includes performances, videos, sculptures, and drawings spanning the last twenty years. Sen challenges restrictive languages that affect refugees and artists, exemplified by her piece 'Un-acknowledgement' (2023), which signifies her departure from performative inclusivity. The exhibition is structured like a mind map against dark grey walls, featuring significant works such as 'Be beyond being' (2021) and 'Contracts #2 #3 #6 #8 #11 #17 #21 #24' (2018–23). It critiques the impact of Eurocentric language on colonialism and migration dynamics.
Key facts
- Mithu Sen's exhibition 'mOTHERTONGUE' is at ACCA Melbourne from 22 April to 18 June.
- The show includes performance, video, sculptures, and drawings from the past two decades.
- Sen uses the prefix 'un' to subvert languages that define refugees, migrants, and artists.
- The eight-channel video 'Be beyond being' (2021) documents Sen Zoom bombing Yale University lectures.
- Contracts #2 #3 #6 #8 #11 #17 #21 #24 (2018–23) replicate Indian Non-Judicial Stamp Paper format.
- 'Unlynching: You never one piece' (2017) contains objects for each year since the 1947 Partition of India.
- 'UnMYthU: UnKIND(s) Alternatives' (2018) is a nearly 4m x 12m installation with skeletal bodies and political imagery.
- 'Alexa' (2018) shows Sen questioning Amazon's Alexa AI in a fabricated dialect and English.
Entities
Artists
- Mithu Sen
Institutions
- Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
- Yale University
- Amazon
Locations
- Melbourne
- Australia
- India
- Kerala