A major Western Australian arts festival is transforming perceptions of craft and its relevance in contemporary society, with five Malaysian artists exhibiting their works.
The Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (Iota) 2024, which debuted in 2021, is showcasing artists from across the Indian Ocean region untill October 2024. The festival will feature exhibitions, workshops and events hosted at numerous venues across the state, including the John Curtin Gallery and Curtin’s School of Design and the Built Environment. One of the highlights of the festival will be the flagship conference Futuring Craft 24: The Value of Craft.
Iota 2024 will spotlight Australian and international artists alike.
Anne Samat (Kuala Lumpur)
Anne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in textile design from the Mara Institute of Technology. Her works have been showcased in exhibitions worldwide, including in India and New York, US. Her recent projects have been featured at the Sydney Biennale. Her intricate textile works often explore themes of memory and cultural identity. Anne employs the Southeast Asian art of Pua Kumbu weaving, which she accentuates with dollar stores goods to construct brightly coloured, totemic works. Her works are inspired from deeply personal issue such as family and identity, love, individuality and liberation. Her works have their own narrative embedded. For Anne, it is paramount to embody what one feels to be from within. She infuses her familial history into woven structures and symbols. The pieces embody personal stories, each sculpture is inspired by a different family member of hers, with the figures of a mother and a daughter making a regular appearance. Handmade ropes cascade from armatures of radiating garden rakes and a pair of plastic funnels double as breasts as well as forks and spoons as a warp . Everyday trinkets and cultural markers blend seamlessly with Anne’s intricate weavings to produce a family mythology that transcends time and geography.
