Grained: A Cross-Cultural Exhibition Exploring Rice, Memory & Collective Practice
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Layered rice-paper textiles by Jenn Tran and Claudia Chew form a delicate, collective visual language.
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An intimate installation gathers handwritten reflections and everyday materials into a shared space of care.
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Rice becomes material, memory and ornament in a tactile sculptural work by Priscille Xavier.
Grained, a cross-cultural group exhibition curated by Playte in partnership with Blak Dot Gallery and Nongkrong Festival, will open in Brunswick this summer, stitching together teachings of intergenerational and collective cultural practices, using rice as both nourishment and a vessel of shared cultural histories across the Global South.
Running from January 17 – February 8 at Blak Dot Gallery, Brunswick, Victoria, Grained will bring together artists from diverse migrant and Indigenous communities who share a cultural connection to rice, exploring themes of migration, identity and belonging. Drawing influence from the Rice Theory of Culture, the exhibition examines rice-based processes – harvesting, storing, planting and communal sharing – as catalysts for interdependent ways of living.
Inspired by the Indonesian concept of lumbung – a communal rice barn that stores surplus harvest for collective benefit – Grained functions as a lumbung of stories. Each artist’s contribution becomes part of a collective resource, strengthening community bonds and offering a framework to think through how food shapes guidance, care and cultural connection.
Through installation, sculpture, spatial intervention, mixed-media works and public programming, Grained gathers cultural knowledge, lived experience and memory into a living archive that continues to nourish beyond the exhibition itself.
By highlighting how a single ingredient connects people across borders, Grained positions rice as a powerful symbol of sustenance, resilience and interdependence, opening fresh conversations about cultural experience in contemporary Australia and the wider Global South.
Details
- Curated by Playte: Niyanta Sharma and Wes Hauler-Winterford.
- Exhibiting artists: Claudia Chew and Jenn Tran, Aisyah Kirana Fariansyah, Uncle Twis and Kaji Mundo, Mandeep Singh, Nongkrong, Priscille Xavier.
- When: Saturday 17 January 2026 – Sunday 8 February 2026
- Where: Blak Dot Gallery, 33 Saxon StreetBrunswick, VIC, 3056, Australia
- Opening event: Sunday 18 January, 2–4pm, with a special performance by Yasmin Middleton and Sekar Sari, and snacks courtesy of Nongkrong.
Public program
As part of Grained, Kulture Kitchen presents Liwetan – a communal dining experience hosted by Nongkrong. Rooted in Indonesian tradition, liwetan is a shared meal served on banana leaves, inviting participants to eat together with their hands as an expression of togetherness, care and equality.
- When: Thursday 29 January 2026, from 6pm.
- Tickets: $25 each (Limited seating, bookings essential – book here).
About the Artists
Jenn Tran is a Vietnamese-Australian multidisciplinary artist in Naarm working across moving image, textiles and animation. Since 2024, she has explored pearl inlay and its cultural significance in Vietnamese art. In 2025, she completed a residency at Air Hue (Vietnam) and has exhibited with ARIs including Blindside and Pari.
Claudia Chew is an illustrator, graphic designer and cook on Wurundjeri land, balancing kitchen work with an emerging interest in art therapy. Grounded in care and sensory collaboration, her practice spans tapestry, print and ceramics. She recently exhibited with Jenn at Blindside and enjoys bikepacking beyond the studio.
claudiachew.cargo.site / @claudia.chew
Aisyah Kirana Fariansyah is an Indonesian-born, multidisciplinary artist based in Naarm, working across performance, manifesto, and mixed media. Rooted in intuitive, relational, and material-based conceptual practice, her work explores embodiment, care, and ritual through everyday objects, inviting slow attention, shared reflection, and moments of connection in everyday life.
Uncle Twis and Kaji Mundo – We are an artist duo based in Bali, Indonesia working across intermedia art and natural dye/textile practices. We combine our distinct creative approaches to explore our shared environment, both tangible and intangible. The ‘Desa’ /Village where we live is the source that inspires our storytelling and imagination.
Mandeep Singh is a south Asian artist living, learning and working on unceded Wurundjeri land. Employing experimental photography and sculpture to explore themes of cultural and personal memory, Singh’s practice allows her to relearn her Sikh identity from a diasporic positionality. A major interest for Mandeep is collaboration, letting go of ego and allowing art to be made by multiple hands. This can elevate work and create a space for artists and materials to speak with one another. Singh reinvents the past and present through diverse materials, often working with natural and found objects.
mandeepsingh.cargo.site / @nap.enthusiast
Nongkrong is an Australian-Indonesian festival that platforms the voices and creativity of the Indonesian diaspora in so-called Australia through food and the arts, creating shared spaces of belonging, solidarity, and cultural exchange.
nongkrong.com.au / @nongkrongfest
About the Curators
Playte are a gastro-architect duo who use local food as a tool for collective healing. Their work is rooted in community – creating site-specific experiences that explore the intersection between art, architecture, and the politics of food.
Founded by Niyanta Sharma, an artist and architectural designer with Indian heritage, and Wesley Hauler-Winterford, a nutritionist and cook with Māori heritage. Together, Playte explores the joy of gastronomy.
More information: blakdot.com.au
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