Strange Voices
an exhibition by Peter Van de Maele

Strange Voices is a print-based installation work by artist Peter Van de Maele exploring his Flemish and Australian identity and personal journey from Belgium to Australia on the Italian ship 'Flavia' as a child.
In 2008 Van de Maele returned to Belgium for an artist residency where he began to reflect and make work about his immigration to Australia. The result is an exciting departure for Van de Maele into installation work and new ways of using printmaking.
In the centre of the gallery is a suspended wooden boat, collaged with the imagery of a well walked journey and a family's immigration story. Around the boat are printed etchings of strange skeletal or coral-like trees onto wallpaper, images that reference the experience of arriving in a strange and alien land. Strange Voices is an evocative experience and one to which many will relate.
'As a young boy I fondly recall, with some humour, sitting in a Flemish household in rural Australia, speaking a 1950s West Flanders Flemish, consuming a steady diet of European culture while at the same time being surrounded by a fascinating Indigenous Australian landscape and culture. This juxtaposition is still with me – a personal journey that continues to endow me with a rich fabric – this is the subject of this exhibition.'

For further information contact:
Megalo Print Studio + Gallery
49 Phillip Ave Watson ACT
Tel/ Fax: (02) 6241 4844
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