Celebrated Australian artist William Yang and the Queensland Chamber Orchestra reflect on artistic decades in William Yang: Milestone.
By Dean Arcuri
How would you mark a milestone like your 80th birthday?
For one of Australia’s most revered visual and performance artists, William Yang, there’s only one option.
It’s a chance for Yang to reflect on his remarkable life in the most artistic way possible.
Welcoming Queensland audiences to journey through his extraordinary life and photographic archives, documenting Asian-Australian identity and queer culture.
In William Yang: Milestone, Yang’s photographs and captivating stories are complemented by a haunting score performed live by Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.
Capturing queer history like no other
Some of Yang’s most iconic works document the birth of Australia’s LGBTQI+ rights movement.
Capturing the early days of Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras to the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 90s.
Reflecting on Yang’s work, art critic John McDonald of the Sydney Morning Herald writes, “All of us have similar stories…”
“We have our own landscapes that we carry around in our minds,”
“A gallery of missing friends, a personal list of life-changing moments, of triumphs and regrets.
“By focusing on his own life, Yang has produced a body of work that speaks a universal language,
“Inviting us to forget about those differences that are only skin deep and reflect on the things that are truly important.”
Unassuming, evocative, and honestly examined, Milestone looks back on his vast archive of photography.
Contemplating five decades of social change and the evolution of Australia’s bohemian artist community.
