Campbelltown Arts Centre will open two powerful new exhibitions this weekend, bringing together deeply personal explorations of memory, identity, caste and colonial history through the work of internationally acclaimed artists Zico Albaiquni and Kirtika Kain.
“We are delighted to present Zico Albaiquni: To all the steps that shake the land’s memory and Kirtika Kain: Pitch at Campbelltown Arts Centre,” Director Mouna Zaylah said.
“Both artists bring deeply personal histories into monumental and materially rich artworks. These works ask audiences to sit with the complexities of labour, memory, caste, and colonial histories — questions that resonate deeply within our own diverse Campbelltown community.”
Opening on 27 June, the exhibitions place the artists’ distinct cultural experiences in conversation, inviting audiences to reflect on how history, place and identity continue to shape communities.
Albaiquni’s new commission, To all the steps that shake the land’s memory, features two monumental paintings exploring the relationship between memory, land and collective experience. Drawing on the Indonesian concept of lukis, his work embraces ritual, labour and spirituality as part of the creative process.
“‘Lukis’ is more than the painting,” Albaiquni said. “Meaning does not arrive beforehand. It emerges through encounter, meeting again, relation, through the painting being returned to the people and places from which it has borrowed.”
The exhibition follows two artist residencies at Campbelltown Arts Centre and reflects his ongoing journeys between Melbourne and his family’s home in Indonesia.
Alongside Albaiquni’s work, Western Sydney artist Kirtika Kain presents Pitch, a touring exhibition examining caste through her Dalit heritage and the social histories embedded within materials including gold, bitumen and turmeric.
“I have often felt isolated, as one of the few artists to speak about caste in Australia,” Kain said.
“I am interested in how we are expanding the discourse around caste in India, how we build solidarities with other diasporic communities who similarly have political and social divisions that inform their communities in this country.”
Kain’s exhibition arrives in Campbelltown after presentations at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Adelaide Biennale and Murray Art Museum Albury, marking another significant milestone in her growing national and international profile.
Rather than offering simple answers, both artists encourage audiences to embrace complexity and discover their own interpretations through works that challenge assumptions about history, identity and belonging.
(Image – Jeremy Weihrauch: Kirtika Kain, ‘Pitch’, 2026. Installation view, ‘nginha: here and now’, Murray Art Museum Albury, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery)
