Dale Harding, Through a lens of visitation

A descendant of the Bidjara, Ghungalu and Garingbal peoples, much of Dale Harding’s multilayered practice is motivated by the cultural inheritances of his families, who originate in the Fitzroy Basin and the sandstone belt of central Queensland. Harding’s works pay particular homage to the stories and presence of matrilineal figures in his family.

Produced to accompany an exhibition of the same title at Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Through a lens of visitation specifically explores the artist’s relationship to his mother’s Country of Carnarvon Gorge and documents a major new commission and first-time collaboration with his mother Kate Harding. A textile artist, who since 2008 has employed quilt-making to tell her stories of family, culture and Country, Kate Harding’s quilts are presented alongside painterly responses undertaken by Dale Harding across various mediums. Together, their works reflect on cultural knowledge as it is held, practiced and transposed across generations, gender and place.

Awarded Gold in the 2021 Designers Institute
of New Zealand Best Design Awards.

Related projects
Vivienna Binns, On and through the Surface

Dale Harding, Through a lens of visitation
Hardcover
158 pp., 260 × 345 mm
ISBN 978–0–6481529–8–9
Published by Monash University Museum of Art and Powered by Power
Edited by Hannah Mathews and Dale Harding
Lithography by Sebastiaan Hanekroot (Colour and Books)
Printed in the Netherlands