Suai Media Space

Culture is a priority on Suai Media Space but it is not ‘curated’ with the idea to provide an opportunity to explore the meaning of  ‘friendship’ or to sell art or create cultural tourism. The writer is not a scholar of Timorese culture I am a media practitioner and communicator with a background in cultural development.  The inclusion of particular works and forms has come about through friendships rather than curatorial research and scholarship.  Cultural exchange is being facilitated to provide access to those outside East Timor, (especially for the people who are attempting the community to community friendship), with diverse cultural and artistic expressions to enhance knowledge and understanding in the friendship.

It is intended to show the interests, pre-occupations and concerns of people in the friendship, beyond political agendas. The project to show this work comes from faith in the idea that art forms and artists have the ability to assist cross-border conversations  in unique and eloquent ways.

Cultural knowledge of East Timor is limited in Australia; Australian mass media representations of  Timor  primarily as a site of conflict, violence, poverty, incapacity and instability mean positive images of the people and their culture have been rare in this country. Because deep knowledge of our regional neighbours is limited, it would be easy for many, who have been more exposed to Indo