immemorial - reaching back beyond memory

...is a unique collaboration and dialogue between Northern Territory artists and Indonesian artists. The curatorial rationale of immemorial seeks to investigate commonalities of people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, as they consider their ancestral histories and their present notions of cultural identity.

Exhibition and public forums at Roommate and iCAN, Yogyakarta, opening 14 November, running to 23 December.


My immigrant parents longed to be part of post-colonial Australian history, ignoring London and our sketchy Yenish heritage. Creating a new life in Australia involved constantly acquiring new possessions and attempting to eliminate accents. This work refers to my research into the vestigial, the remnants left behind from the death of loved ones.

Darwin Artists: Tobias Richardson, Hayley West, Min Wong, Jenny Fraser, and Catriona Stanton. Yogyakarta Artists: Wimo Ambala Bayang, Maryanto, Carolina Rika, Lashita Situmorang, and Sigit Bapak. Curators: Sudjud Dartanto (Yogyakarta) & Steve Eland (Darwin). A project initiated by 24hr Art - Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art. immemorial blog

immemorial, Yogyakarta

After the Gold Rush
installation shot at the opening

le 1er festival de video performance de Marseille, France

My work CAN has been selected for the 1st Video Performance Video Festival, Marseille. 16 to 23 November 2009


Selected Artists:
Alex van Jaber, Andreas Pashias, Anna Biskov, Chris Dupuis, Eleonora Giglione, Esther Achaernando, Francisko Orallo, Francisko Gonzales Castro, Fumiko Matsuyama, Giuseppe di Bella, Hayley West, Ignacio Martin, Juan Ji, Kate Tessa Lee, Marta Moreno Munoz, Mauro Romito, Nina Lassila, Pauline Payen, Roland Wegerer, Sabrina Harri, Sergio Cruz, Sinani Gunes, Suzanne Caines, Steef van Lent, Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, Zoe Gruni, Kai-Oi Jay Yung

1st Video Performance Video Festival, Marseille France 2009

Mediamatic Travel Launch

LAUNCH: Friday 16 October, 8pm - Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mediamatic Travel, a new DIY network to travel to the contemporary art worldwide. It consists of a Travel website, the exhibition at Amsterdam Biennale 2009 and the Mediamatic Travel catalogue Bestemmingen 2010. Mediamatic Travel website

Meet your Darwin Tour Guide: Hayley West!
Guide: Hayley West, Trip: Darwin=Hot

Working in the arts? Planning a trip? 45 euros will get you a consultation session of an expert guide at your destination. This is not your average travel network. Here we work together to help each other to find our way in the contemporary arts scenes in our respective cities. Mediamatic Travel is a collaboration between Mediamatic and Partizan Publik.

The Gleaners

a lost glove project (Paris/Darwin)


61 lost gloves found in Paris have been distributed to 61 artists, writers, psychologists and musicians to create their glove’s missing half, completing the pair.

Gleaned by Hayley West, Tobias Richardson & Asha Richardson
Inspired by Jean-François Millet.

Dates: 25 September to 17 October 2009
Opening: Friday 25 September, 6pm
DEAF Space, DVAA, 56 Woods Street, Darwin NT 0801

SAINTS vs CATS AFL GRAND FINAL!!!

Footy hotshots a Territory artform
Picture: NICK WELSH (NT News)
IN MELBOURNE football is a religion but in Darwin it could be argued it is closer to art... SAINTS vs CATS AFL GRAND FINAL!!! September 26th, 2009.

unfortunately not the result we hoped for: Cats 12.8 (80) d Saints 9.14 (68)

Clothes Drying, India (Paris 2008)

Togart (NT) Contemporary Art Award 2009
2 to 18 September, opening Thursday 3 September, 6pm
Parliament House, State Square, Darwin NT

Clothes Drying, India (Paris 2008) is part of an ongoing watercolour series derived from photographs taken of clothes drying on riverbanks from around the world. Sometimes in the hundreds, newly washed clothes lay side by side in an unknown order, a public presentation of private duties. Interest lies in the traces of presence, and what is left behind.

image is a detail

The Black Show

The Black Show
Darren Sylvester, Rob McHaffie, Tara Gilbee, Nevada Duffy, Rob McLeish, Brigid Healy, Angela Thirlwell, Lisa Benson, Hayley West, Roslisham Ismail aka Ise, Greg Spiller, Tim Sterling, Riki Metisse Marlow, Jon Butt, Eleanor Butt, Pip Davey, Kent Wilson, The White Trash of Asia, Rozalind Drummond, Gabriel Carazo, Mila Faranov

What is this Black?
For the artists participating we asked them to look at black from the centre of their own practice. The possibility exists to explore black as an emotive language or in its literal tome or perhaps re-configuring it in a philosophical sense. All of these possibilities are encouraged.

c3 contemporary art space
Abbotsford Convent St Heliers Street, Abbotsford, Victoria
22 July (opening 6pm) to 09 August 2009

Vestigial Loss

In his publication On the Origin of Species (1859) Charles Darwin referred to the vestigial organs of our anatomy and their role in the theory of evolution. Like wisdom teeth and the appendix, what was once necessary for survival, now merely exists as a reminder of what has been lost. With the death of loved ones, the traces left behind are persistent. Vestigial Loss explores how death can influence the understanding and sanity of what remains.

This is a exhibition of thoughts from a recent residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.

Showing at DEAF Space, 56 Woods Street, Darwin, NT

5-27 June, 2009 (opening Friday 5 June, 6pm)

Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard)

Michael has written my life story and posted it today on his blog. I was very detailed with my answers to his questions, so it's curious what parts of my life he chose to use for his project.

See what you think --------------------------------------------->
#171 Hayley West: The Build Up

welcome home