Umbrella is responding to government restrictions for gatherings at this time and visitors must comply with our COVID-19 Safety Plan. Umbrella’s updated opening hours from Sunday 9 August 2020:  Tues-Fri 9am-5pm | Sat-Sun 9am-1pm | Gallery closed Mondays, public holidays and during exhibition install weeks | Shop open during gallery  open hours and Tues-Thurs of install weeks. Follow our social media for updates.

Sonia Ward’s video work Semiotics of the Bathroom subverts and contemporises Martha Rosler’s seminal Semiotics of the Kitchen with an iPhone selfie-style performance. The work is influenced by performance art, performance-like behaviour on social media platforms, and the COVID-19 situation that sees performances happening online and at home. The piece reflects on the role of the mask in a time when masks are considered protective, and questions if masks (and masked performances) protect, reveal or create identities in the viewer’s mind of the performer.

The artwork will be projected in Umbrella’s downstairs Vault space from 14 August – 27 September 2020 (with limited accessibility). Please note there is limited accessibility to the exhibition, as there is one staircase leading to the room (or access via the rear door on Ogden St), then a step up into the room. Please call Umbrella staff prior to your visit if you would like to discuss your options and arrange a time to access the space via our rear door. We apologise for any inconvenience and hope you can make it in to the see the project. Alternatively, please view it online here.

Exhibitions also on display 14 August – 27 September:  Liminal Space (Jenny Mulcahy) | Our Internal Shadows (Tony Lamont) | Ngumban (Susan Peters)

Commissioned through Creative Sparks, this project receives generous support from the Regional Arts Development Fund. RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the Townsville City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.