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Join us as we bring great photography by emerging and established photographers that explores ideas and our world through an annual festival of exhibitions, workshops and conversations led by Australian and international artists and thought-leaders. Head On Photo Festival is presented by the not-for-profit Head On Foundation.
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Somos Brasil is a multimedia exhibition and book. The project explores the diversity of Brazilian identity at the outset of the 21st Century through ultra-high quality portraits, image activated app based soundscapes and DNA.
Over a six-month period Lyon toured Brazil exploring the most diverse corners of the country with a producer and sound recordist. Together they mapped the ancestral DNA, personal stories and visual identity of over one hundred remarkable Brazilians.
Somos Brasil draws three elements of identity: visual, spoken and genetic, together to cast light on the personal, social
and cultural diversity of Brazil. The work amplifies the stories of those nominated and encourages us to reflect on our own identities and roles in society.
The Somos Brasil audio guide, available in bothEnglish and Portuguese, is a bespoke image-activated app produced and developed alongside the project to enable the viewer to experience a deeper and more personal understanding of each of the remarkable Brazilians nominated.
Each individual photographed was nominated by a fellow Brazilian as an agent of change or a person of note within his or her community.
Marcus will be giving an artist talk at 12pm on 7 May at the Festival Hub (Paddington Town Hall).
Marcus Lyon (b. 1965) is a British artist. Commissioned and exhibited globally, his works and publications are held in both private and international collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
Born and raised in rural Britain, Lyon studied Political Science at Leeds University & leadership at Harvard Business School. His early working life working for Amnesty International in Latin America was the inspiration for his thirty-year exploration of the issues at the heart of globalisation. Outside the art world, Lyon is a determined social entrepreneur and an active public speaker on both photography and development.
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“The blanket of colonisation has been woven on violence and oppression has denied us all a kind truth. The impact of broken culture and languages and spiritual practices has left a deafening silence around violence in our intimate relationships causing violent assaults and sexual abuse.
Kindness is a movement. Sharing it is accessing your basic human right to personal and communal safely. We need to own our stories and come together to appreciate each other and listen. Violence hurts, it hurts society, its hurts families and it hurts you and I.
My Grandmothers were stolen from their families and enslaved, their culture and language denied. As a young person who witnessed family violence, I would never have believed I would be here today.
Understand that someone may not be ready to leave, and be kind and understand, don’t carry judgement or resentment of someone else’s journey. Give them a place to speak openly without being afraid or judged.
I said to my good friend, ‘I can’t live in this oppressive state of mind and not do nothing about the violence we are experiencing, personally and in society’. So begins the change when knowledge is learned and processed. Holding onto anger and resentment isn’t worth it.
No one person can be what you need to be or feel what you need to feel. Find safety within yourself.”
Dixie Link Gordon
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney
