Greetings from lockdown! In an exciting twist, what was due to showcase in the PhotoAccess gallery transmuted to the digital realm! PhotoAccess invited guests - from wherever they were - to launch the online exhibition of A Young Black Kangaroo by Dean Qiulin Li.
Created over two years, Li's photo project documents people and stories from the public housing community in Sydney's Woolloomooloo. The suburb is often known for Finger Wharf, a fashionable harbour-side complex offering expensive apartments, fine dining and hip bars. The area is also, however, characterised by a high density of public housing and significant gatherings of homeless people. Long a site for battles over commercial development and the protection of accessible inner-city housing, Woolloomooloo is today a place where extreme wealth and poverty co-exist.
Drawn to the conspicuous nature of the wealth divide in Woolloomooloo, Li explores the evolving character of a community facing decline as public housing stock dwindles and entry thresholds continually raise higher. Through intimate portraits of residents and their homes, the artist boldly challenges mainstream perceptions of social housing tenants and their lives.
The exhibition was formally opened by Dr. Shirley Fitzgerald, eminent public historian of Sydney, on Thursday the 9th September, 6pm. Please enjoy the recording of this online event below.
View the online gallery by clicking on this link.