Somewhat Eternal

Relationships to land and the endurance of ritual and belief are central to the work of Justine Youssef, whose auto-ethnographic films and installations reflect upon the impacts of displacement through forced migration, and consider our complicity in the reproduction of these conditions.

Supported by Creative Australia’s VACS Major Commissioning Fund and co-commissioned by UTS Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, Justine Youssef’s solo exhibition Somewhat Eternal (2023) takes form as a multi-sensory installation.

Drawing on familial narratives, Somewhat Eternal expands to consider how states of refuge can uphold cycles of dispossession. Through the maintenance and documentation of inherited practices, Youssef prompts a search for hope. Within acts of preservation, fragmented and altered across geographies, lies a belief in futurity and the alternatives it can offer us.

A three channel video work in a gallery with red walls

A close up photo of a silver angel charm

Embroidered text on an acrylic mink blanket

Pink cursive text on a red wall which reads "Their scent is a form of speech"

Pink cursive text on a red wall which reads "Burnet Rose produced on quick sale at Coles"

Pink cursive text on a red wall which reads "absorbing lead from the earth"

A close up photograph of hands holding a heart locket and a scent dropper

Publication

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Somewhat Eternal is accompanied by a major publication documenting this landmark exhibition. The publication expands on Youssef’s investigations into relationships to land, dispossession, and enduring beliefs.

Three commissioned texts reflect on the solidarities and postcolonial discourse Youssef’s practice engages with. Latoya Rule—a Wiradjuri/Te Ātiawa, takatāpu/queer writer, poet, and campaigner—writes of solidarity between Aboriginal, Lebanese, and Palestinian communities in Australia. Filmmaker and writer Chi Tran considers Youssef’s metaphysical connections to the world as a form of resistance against colonial regimes. Mykaela Saunders—a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer and editor, teacher, and researcher—bridges the distances implicit in Youssef’s inheritances.

Somewhat Eternal shares affinities, affirms solidarities, and articulates the political and social relations between those whose own distinct lived experiences trace the global outlines of Youssef’s concerns.

A red book with a large black heart on the cover

Somewhat Eternal

52 pages, 18.5 x 20 cm, softcover

Published by Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, the Institute of Modern Art and UTS Gallery.

$25. Enter your contact information and we will be in touch regarding delivery.

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About the artist

Justine Youssef’s work often begins with moments and places that reconfigure authoritative realities, most recently exhibiting With the toughest care, the most economical tenderness at the Hawai’i Triennial, O’ahu (2022); A Gateway or a Key at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney (2022) and Under the table I learnt how to feed you at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2022). She lives across Wangal and Dharug Countries in Sydney, Australia, where she was a Parramatta Artist Studios resident (2018-21) and a recipient of the Copyright Agency’s John Fries Award (2019).

Gallery directions

UTS Gallery

Level 4, Peter Johnson Building (Building 6)
702 Harris St, Ultimo,
University of Technology, Sydney

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Touring dates

Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane: 27 January – 6 April 2024

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental: 31 August– 19 October 2024

Somewhat Eternal is a co-commission by Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, the Institute of Modern Art, and UTS Gallery & Art Collection. This project is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts' Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy (VACS) Major Commissioning Projects fund and by the Gordon Darling Foundation. The National Art School supports the practice of academic staff and is proud to support Justine Youssef’s exhibition as part of the Academic Staff Development Grant Program.