Vernacular

It is through language that we connect, give meaning to our existence, create cultural value and comprehend the nuance of other cultures. Vernacular aims to explore the influence of language through the experience of displacement, loss, and hope. This exhibition examines how language poses the ability to cause division and have the power to unite.

“If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, to all the rooms inside.” Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist

In his recent artworks, Sha Sarwari has opted to incorporate the opulent aesthetic beauty and fluidity of Farsi script, particularly the Nataliq script, with the richness of Hazaragi vernacular. Sarwari aims to make visible Australia's cultural diversity and question the dominance of English language in linguistically diverse country such as Australia