MOTHER, 2021

RMIT First Site Gallery, Melbourne.

This exhibition is about the difficulty of being a mother. Mothers inhabit multiple roles, and this can compromise their own identity. Mita is a Bangladeshi Australian artist and mother who expected the treatment of mothers to be better here than in her country of origin.

Mita grew up in Bangladesh with a mother who did not have a strong identity of her own. Her identity was as the children’s mother as her husband’s wife, and she felt pressure to work constantly to ensure the family’s success. In Australia, the mothers that Mita speaks to tell similar stories of invisible labour. Mita herself struggles to juggle the role of mother, artist, wife, friend, and member of her community.

The artworks in this exhibition depict mothers in the form of the Hindu deity Durga. Durga is the goddess of strength and the protective mother goddess. She has multiple hands, which represent her power. However, in Mita’s works, these hands also symbolise the sheer labour and many roles that mothers occupy. These goddess mothers are powerful and overrun by labour; an issue mothers face in Australia and Bangladesh.