Shane Hulbert – Import/Export: Narratives & Myth in the Australian landscape
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Shane Hulbert’s photographic practice acknowledges landscape as a relational space between people, culture and nature. Through a range of photographic devices and processes he images the complexity of the Australian landscape and its connection to place, myth and history.
Import/Export explores the collective national identity through the popular iconography and myths that celebrates and defines Australian cultural identity. Featuring a combination of location, personality and ‘larakin’ humour, the photographs consider ways in which the idea of Australia is encapsulated in foreign locations, while concurrently responding to the evolving assimilation of imported cultural icons and their relationship to contemporary Australia.
The images present a collective national identity through distinct and now popular representations that illustrates a fascination with the connections between place, history and culture.
Iconic Statue of Liberty sign for The Manhattan Hotel in an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The feature event Wham Glam aligns with the then recent same sex marriage laws passed in Australia.
Statue of an Indian man riding a horse, located outside an Indian Restaurant in Halls Gap, with the Grampian Ranges in the background. The Grampians are a well known mountain range in Victoria, Australia.
Chinese tourists enjoying the popular theme part, Window of the World, in Shenzhen, southern China. The image celebrates Australian architecture and landmarks, The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, with the canals of Holland and Paris’ Eiffel Tour in the background. The women in the centre is capturing a ‘selfie’.
Australian bar in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Ned Kelly is an iconic Australian bushranger, who famously made a ‘last stand’ in the town of Glenrowan, Victoria.
Drive through and take away restaurant in a southern Melbourne suburb. A collision of Chinese and Italian cuisine creates a reflection on the multiculturalism of Australia.
Broken Hill is a mining town on the edge of the Australian Outback (desert). Fort Silverado is a local gun club shooting range in Broken Hill, referencing a narrative and town in Texas, US. Bronek Hill is home to the first foreign assult on Australian during World War 1 – questioning why the gun club imported a location and story from the US.
Interior of a Chinese restaurant in a remote country town in New South Wales, Australia. The opulent decor highlights the importation of culture and food from China.
Interior of a cafe in Glenrowan, Victoria. Glenrowan is the location of Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly’s infamous ‘last stand’, and the inclusion of a replica of his original armour is humorously offset by the addition of the pink (hers) armour.
