Angelica Mesiti

<p><b>A contemporary reimagining of solstice traditions by the renowned Australian video artist</b><br/><br/>Angelica Mesiti is one of Australia''s leading contemporary artists. Celebrated for her distinctive moving-image and sound-based works, the Sydney-born, Paris-based artist explores individual and communal forms of expression, ranging from sign language, choreographic gesture, Morse code, and whistling to ancestral musical traditions, body percussion, and communication between nonhuman species.<br/><br/><i>The Rites of When</i>, Mesiti''s first solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, pays tribute to ritual practices of seasonal renewal, both ancient and contemporary. The monumental, seven-channel video installation—comprising two sweeping movements that conjure hibernal (winter) and aestival (summer) solstice celebrations—is an immersive reflection on the age-old and continuing relationship between humankind, the natural world, and the cosmos. With choreographed performance, new music compositions, and soaring aerial views, the exhibition offers a vision of an enmeshed world and the renewal of hope.<br/><br/><i>Angelica Mesiti: The Rites of When</i> documents the second major commission for the postindustrial Tank space at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Richly illustrated with stills from Mesiti''s cinematic video installation, it features a new essay by Isobel Parker Philip and an interview by Beatrice Gralton. An additional visual section illuminates the influences that shaped the work.</p>