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GF, 7 Ltl. Miller St
Brunswick East,
VIC 3057 AUS

Opening Hours

Thurs–Fri 12–5pm
Sat 10–2pm
or by appointment

FB, TW, IG.

Exhibits,

Dean Ansell ḡaumaḡauma (act of taming, recognition of the bloodline)

Opening: Wednesday 21st May, 6-9pm Dates: May 21 - June 28 2025
A close-up photograph of someone holding a bunch of wild basil in their hand. In the top left corner is someone’s legs. Overlayed is an image of a wild basil leaf with a hole extracted from its centre. Photo Credit: Gemona Kila (my (Ansell’s) aunty).

Ḡaumaḡauma (pronounced ow-ma-ow-ma), meaning “the act of taming” or “recognition of the bloodline” in the Balawaian language, refers to both a spoken mantra and a ritual enacted when passing through sacred sites. Through this practice, ancestral spirits are alerted to the presence of kin, ensuring protection for those who pass.

Functioning as a transitional space—a threshold or portal—the gallery space is reimagined as a sacred site through which one moves from one state or realm to another. At both entryways to the gallery, a leaf with a hole hollowed out of its centre hangs in the doorframes. Traditionally, these magical leaves are used to ward off a great serpent, a mystical being invisible to the naked eye. The hole in the leaf—known as ‘bogaboga’— functions like a lens, allowing one to glimpse the serpent’s hidden form. In the ritual of ‘ḡaumaḡauma’, a protective rite, the leaf is ceremonially waved twice to the right and twice to the left, a gesture that prepares the body for passage and shields it from unseen forces.

Once inside, the gallery space responds to the presence of visitors through contact microphones and resonant speakers that amplify movement, enveloping participants in a living soundscape. ḡaumaḡauma (act of taming, recognition of the bloodline) is an immersive environment combining installation, soundscape, work on paper, and live performance. It becomes a touch-sensitive experience in which the connection between the body and Melanesian cultural practice and mythology is made tangible.


Ansell will be engaging in a performance during the opening celebrations.

Dean Ansell is a multidisciplinary artist of Melanesian (Riḡorabana, Balawaia, Papua Niugini), Maltese, and Anglo-Celtic descent, based in Magandjin, Australia. His practice connects his cultural heritage to material processes that harness his body and the environment. Spanning installation, soundscape, and embodied performance, Ansell interprets Melanesian mythologies and rituals. Poetically correlating inherited knowledge with his personal experiences of cultural displacement, Ansell’s work is an expression of the complexities of his Melanesian diasporic experience.

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