The Third Space presents the work of five artists living between Australia and Europe, who have been forced to leave Kurdistan and Turkey through migration, displacement, or asylum. Their artistic practices have been shaped—and continue to evolve—through the crossing of not only physical but also cultural and emotional borders, marked by experiences of memory, identity, and belonging.

The idea of a Third Space, as theorised by Homi Bhabha, offers a lens through which to consider these crossings—as moments of cultural negotiation where new, hybrid meanings emerge beyond fixed identities or national narratives. Positioned between cultures, languages, and geographies, the artists in this exhibition bring a critical perspective shaped by displacement. In this in-between space, art serves to rethink the self, resist marginalisation, and reimagine community.

The exhibition shows how creative practices can be used to confront social structures, stand against inequality, and rebuild oneself. Art becomes a critical means of expressing experienced trauma, resilience, and the pursuit of freedom.

The works in the exhibition focus on the power of change, the defence of existence, and expression as a right. In the reconstruction of their own identities, artists convey their own thoughts and feelings beyond dominant discourses. Each work reflects not only the internal conflicts of the individual but also the reshaping of structures and problems in the world as part of a great collective change.

Art and activism have the power to transform an individual, a people, or a city. They not only present the viewer with an image but also ask a question: “What kind of world do we want to live in?”