Nanuma :
Karlina Mitchell
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photo access
Nanuma means to think and remember – together. This body of work draws on that principle to reimagine the colonial photograph as a site of reflection, resistance, and renewal. Rather than accepting these images as fixed historical records, the works disrupt their authority and returns focus to the sitter – their presence and dignity. Through processes of reworking, reframing, and recontextualising archival imagery, the project invites viewers to confront the layered histories embedded within the frame. Nanuma proposes a collective act of remembering that is active rather than passive, opening space for dialogue and reinterpretation. By centring the perspectives of iTaukei people, this body of work transforms the colonial gaze into a platform for self-representation and cultural continuity. In doing so, it honours those depicted not as subjects of documentation, but as individuals whose stories, strength, and identities endure beyond the photograph.
Exhibition artist
Karlina Mitchell
Karlina Mitchell is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines how layered cultural identities shape the formation of self and ideas of belonging. Using photographic practice as a base to then alter the photograph and create installations within spaces, she transforms images into immersive environments that reflect memory, displacement, and connection to place. Drawing on personal history and community narratives, her work holds space for complexity and contradiction. Mitchell invites audiences to reflect on their own relationships to heritage and home, proposing identity as fluid and continually evolving, shaped by experience, environment, and the ongoing negotiation between past and present.
Related events
Upcoming exhibitions
Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize
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Exhibition and competition celebrating both emerging and established talents in photo media.
Halfway Seen Halfway Home (半窥半归) :
Guylieuzy (Ming Liew & Will Wang)
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A moving-image exhibition exploring Chinese–Australian hybrid identity shaped by migration, memory and cultural negotiation.
LUCKY ROCKET:
Yani Clarke
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LUCKY ROCKET follows Yani Clarke’s return after the 2022 floods, revisiting Bun Bang Fai rocket festivals to explore place, ritual, and resilience.