Jessi Rebel celebrates connection, culture and Country with new exhibition

TORQUAY First Nations artist Jessi Rebel wants audiences to feel something when they step into Platform Arts’ latest exhibition.

Yarrangany is the first exhibition Rebel, who uses they/them pronouns, has curated independently.

After months of collaboration with the Platform Arts team and fellow artists, they said the result feels deeply personal.

“The team at Platform Arts are really amazing. I felt really supported and trusted,” Rebel said.

Jessi Rebel has curated an exhibition solo for the first time. Photo: Matthew O’Donnell/Hails + Shine.

“It felt really nice to be given the opportunity to realy take over the space and explore doing an exhibition, but doing it my way.”

The exhibition brings together works exploring connection to ancestry, culture and place. Pieces from First Nations, Māori and Arab artists sit alongside one another throughout the installation.

“I really enjoyed how everything is still tied in together,” Rebel said. “They all explore ancestral lineage and roots, how we’re all really connected beyond the borders and beyond oceans.”

The word yarrangany translates to roots in Wiradjuri language. The artists’ works reflect on their experiences with systems that hold us beneath the surface across generations and beyond borders. Photo: Matthew O’Donnell/Hails + Shine.

“Getting to display that was really cool. I don’t think anyone went in going ‘That doesn’t belong here’, everything just intertwined really beautifully.”

Creating a contemporary viewing experience was central to Rebel’s vision, with the curator keen to move beyond the traditional gallery format of paintings hanging on white walls.

Instead, they wanted audiences to feel immersed in the space itself.

Exhibition curator Jessi Rebel wanted Yarrangany to feel immersive as people moved through the space. Photo: Matthew O’Donnell/Hails + Shine.

“It was great to have the opportunity to create this space in a way that the exhibition spills out beyond the walls, getting to paint the space and explore different ways that we could really make the exhibition immersive,” Rebel said.

“[It is] more than just walking in and looking at paintings.”

This desire flowed into the exhibition opening.

Wadawurrung Traditional Owners welcomed patrons to the exhibition and held a Smoking Ceremony

Yarrangany features works from First Nations artists on the themes of roots and belonging. Photo: Matthew O’Donnell/Hails + Shine.

“I really wanted it to be an experience that people were a part of and left feeling like they weren’t just there for an art exhibition, but they were there for something really beautiful and powerful,” Rebel said.

“Based off a lot of the responses I got from people, that was exactly what we were able to pull off, and so that was what I wanted. I wanted people to come and leave and be like, ‘Wow’.”

Reflecting on their own experience as a Wiradjuri person living on Wadawurrung Country, Rebel said the exhibition’s theme of roots helped them explore how they are connected to the land they have called home for the past decade.

Jessi Rebel is a proud Wiradjuri person living in Torquay on Wadawurrung Country. Photo: Matthew O’Donnell/Hails + Shine.

They said they feel like they have created new roots in the region.

“I’m really immersed in the community and the culture of this Country,” Rebel said.

“That really shows up in a lot of my work too. I’m really thankful that I am down here and have kind of that relationship to the Country and Wadawurrung community and share that through a bit of my art and storytelling.”

Yarrangany runs at Platform Arts until 11 July.