白砂糖と真珠 (Shirozatō to shinju): White Sugar and Pearls, 2025

Exhibition Catalogue

As a Nikkei Australian, a person of Japanese descent living in Australia, artist Elysha Rei references and reimagines Japanese-Australian histories. She feels compelled to create space for and to share these stories with new audiences and generations. In Shirozato to Shinju (White Sugar and Pearls), Rei brings important histories from North Queensland to the fore. For 12 years the first Japanese Consulate presided in Gurambilbarra / Townsville, marking Queensland's long history with Japanese-Australian relations. Nearly 4,000 Japanese migrant workers were drawn to this area for work across harvesting industries, including sugar cane, turtle, trochus, beche de mer, and pearling.

Rei has used archival records that document the Japanese migration and labour in these industries as the basis for hand-cut washi paper artworks. She depicts sugar cane, pearls, shells, and turtles gathered by early Japanese migrants in Queensland. The delicate, white forms contradict the harsh conditions these harvests were collected within. The installation is also an ironic gesture to the White Australia Policy, which inevitably restricted the Japanese population in Queensland, forcing the Townsville Consulate to close.

Read Celina Lei's ArtsHub article about Shirozato to Shinju (White Sugar and Pearls) here. Watch the video below or read more about Rei's family history in the SBS News article by Jesmine Cheong here. Read Elysha's individual artwork statements here