Solo exhibition at Gallery TPW, Torento June 3 - July 25, 2026
- Jul 21
- 1 min read
Coded Image/Coded Text
June 3 - July 25, 2026
Hoda Afshar and Vernon Ah Kee
Curated by Liz Ikiriko
In partnership with the 26th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective (ICCA)
Coded Image/Coded Text centres on a four-channel film - Code Black/Riot - developed by Vernon Ah Kee, Hoda Afshar and Behrouz Boochani, originally commissioned for the 2026 Sydney Biennale. Created in collaboration with the advocacy organization Change the Record, the work confronts the crisis of mass incarceration of First Nations youth in Australia. Through collective storytelling, Code Black/Riot amplifies the voices and experiences of incarcerated Aboriginal young people while highlighting the power of cross-cultural collaboration. Its presentation on Turtle Island for the first time underscores shared colonial histories affecting Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Aotearoa), encouraging a tri-nation dialogue on justice and sovereignty.
The exhibition also features Ah Kee’s striking text-based paintings and Afshar’s film Remain, which documents the lives of stateless men who stayed on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, after the closure of the immigration detention centre in 2017. Together, these works use photography, film and language to explore image making, collaboration and the enduring importance of narrative storytelling.
Coded Image/Coded Text is supported by National Show Systems, ShowTex and Smokestack.
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