Manuwangku, Under the Nuclear Cloud | Photographs by Jagath Dheerasekara | Curated by Sandy Edwards | Customs House | Head On Photo Festival | Sydney | 4 May - 8 July

Manuwangku, Under the Nuclear Cloud is featured in the Head On Photo Festival . Head On is Australia's largest photo festival and world's second largest. The exhibition is curated by Sandy Edwards and hosted by Customs House. (Level 2, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, NSW 2000). Customs House will continue to host the exhibition even after the Head On Photo Festival until 9 July during the VIVID Festival and the NAIDOC Week. For this project, photographer Jagath Dheerasekara, won the Amnesty International Human Rights Innovation Grant Award in 2010 and the exhibition is currently on tour.

Extracts from the comments in the media and other sources on the Manuwangku, Under the Nuclear Cloud series:

"The photographs are excellent. They are a moving portrayal of Aboriginal Australia that all Australians aught to know about on an issue that wont go away."

- John Pilger, Writer and Filmmaker, January 2012

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"They (photographs) are just beautiful. They show how we live. We don't want the nuclear waste dump coming to our land. That place is very important for water. This exhibition will be a real eye opener for people in the cities. It shows the realities of our lives in the outback, out under the stars. People need to see what is really happening."

- Penny Phillips Napangardi, Traditional Owner of Mukaty (Manuwangku), April 2012

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‎”These photographs are an enormous achievement on Jagath’s account. There are many examples of photographers coming to Australia full of desire to photograph Aboriginal people. There have been many mismatches and misinterpretations. Jagath has combined his humanism and his personal experiences and has achieved a delightfully accurate portrayal of the Muckaty community in all its subtlety. He has created a lasting positive document that will remain invaluable as we hopefully continue to develop more photographic archives of Aboriginal Australia that combine realism with a keenly felt positive empathy. "



- Sandy Edwards, Photographer and Curator, Jan 2012

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They are wonderful. Just wonderful. He's taken the time to be with the people. Otherwise he wont have gained so much of their trust.

- Mervyn Bishop, Photographer, January 2012

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"They are composed with a purpose. They show there is nowhere in Australia that Aboriginal people don't live and care about the land.

- Djon Mundine OAM, Art Curator, January 2012

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Exhibition has so far travelled to ...
Sydney | The Pine Street Gallery, Chippendale | January 2012
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Melbourne | Sustainability Living Festival 2012 | February 2012

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Perth | FotoFreo Photo Festival 2012. Divergence : Photographs from Elsewhere | March ~ April 2012

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Sydney | Head On Foto Festival + VIVID Festival + NAIDOC Week | Customs House, Circular Quay | May 4 ~ July 9 2012
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Exhibition will be travelling to ...

Melbourne | La Trobe University, Library, Bundoora Campus | Curated by Dr Vincent Alessi, Artistic Director, La Trobe University Art Museum | May ~ July 2012 (Including NAIDOC Week)

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Darwin | Darwin Festival | Thursday 9 ~ Sunday 26 August 2012

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Alice Springs | Alice Springs Festival | Friday 7 ~ Sunday 16 September 2012

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Tennant Creek | Desert Harmony Festival | August 24 ~ September 2 2012