GANAN GANAN - Poor fella me
Exhibition by Uncle Noel Gulla Blair Curated By Libby Harward
13th Nov - 8th Dec
Artist Statement
Growing up in Cherbourg, we used different sayings, our English wasn’t the best and we used to speak slang words. One word that was popular was ‘Ganan Ganan’. It was a way we used to muck around and make fun of each other, if we were ‘big noting’ or ‘showing-off’. It’s like a gunna gunna fella, we gunna do this and that and everything but it’s all talk and no action. Like if we said we were gunna take out all the girls, it’s a name for someone that can talk the talk but that's all he or she can do, but never achieve anything. The old people used to use it a lot, referring to us kids and other people. It’s like saying “ahhh you’re Gammin”.
But also Ganan Ganan people are considered very special people too, cos they can mix with anyone and everybody. They have a very loveable personality which never offends anyone in any way.
This series of six posters titled “Ganan Ganan Poor fella me” have come from my reflections on things that have happened in my life. I have painted and carved and drawn since I was young and have carried this skill across the country in all the places I’ve worked. It has helped me survive and feel better when I had things on my mind. Now that I am older and have health issues I find it difficult to sleep at night so I sit up and draw. Sometimes I can fill a whole book in 1 night with drawings of what's on my mind.
These six printed posters sit in a series of conversations between animals.They portray some of the remarks we used to get. The things people used to say. They tell the stories from across my life and all the places I’ve travelled for work and all the things I’ve had to deal with. These are the thoughts I have at night while everyone's asleep taking me back to the old days when I was knocking around everywhere.
