PEOPLE DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE BIGOTS YOU KNOW

Pat Hoffie

Exhibition Dates: 4 April 2014 - 10 May 2014

For people do have the right to be bigots you know Pat Hoffie has taken bumper stickers sold to Australian tourists in Bali and transferred their often outrageous texts onto kitsch “traditional” carvings that are also manufactured for the tourist trade. This is a very amusing exhibition with a sharp, sobering edge. It offers a startling insight into the way Balinese people see us. And it isn’t necessarily pretty. Taking its title from a statement by former Attorney General, George Brandis, Hoffie has produced a provocative exhibition that asks us to consider how we see ourselves through the eyes of another culture. First shown as you gotta love it at Artspace in Sydney in February 2013, Hoffie has updated the work to include revealing quotes from Australian politicians that shed light on current relations with Indonesia. Again, it isn’t pretty but you gotta love it.

Image: Pat Hoffie, people do have the right to be bigots you know, 2013/2014, installation, wood, paint, dimensions variable