50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1967 REFERENDUM FUND
DEFYING EMPIRE By existing By determining our identity By asserting our histories, our culture, our language By telling our stories, our way By being the oldest continuous culture in the world
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1967 REFERENDUM FUND
50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum Fund A 90.77 per cent ‘Yes’ vote in the 1967 Referendum showed unprecedented support across Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be fully counted as citizens on the census and for the Commonwealth to unify the governance of Indigenous affairs. The National Gallery of Australia will commemorate the 50th anniversary of this key event in 2017 with its third National Indigenous Arts Triennial, Defying Empire. As a survey of Australian contemporary art by thirty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, this major exhibition will enable Indigenous Australian artists to be showcased on a national and international level, highlighting the continued excellence and diversity of Indigenous art today. Defying Empire will open at the NGA in Canberra in May 2017 and will be followed by a tour of Australia. As an enduring national statement, the NGA will establish a commemorative collection of high-calibre works boldly exploring Australia’s history through contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. By donating toward the acquisition of ten major works from among the fifty included in the triennial, you will help us to recognise the importance of the historic referendum, capturing for all time the interests and stylistic approaches of the selected artists. Gifts of $10 000 or more will be acknowledged against specific works of art in perpetuity, and I take this opportunity to thank former NGA Council member Warwick Hemsley and the Hon Melissa Parke for launching this campaign by supporting the acquisition of Sandra Hill’s Double standards 2015. With the support of generous benefactors for the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum Fund, the capsule collection of ten artists represented in this brochure will join the national art collection as a fitting and permanent acknowledgment of this landmark event in Australian history. We would be delighted if you could assist us by becoming a donor to this special project. Dr Gerard Vaughan AM Director National Gallery of Australia 2
Defying Empire Identity is central to Indigenous Australians. It encompasses more than our skin colour, connections to Country and knowledge of and access to cultural lore. It is our very identity that marked us for categorisation, regulation and restriction under state and territory law since first contact. In the archives, Aboriginal people have been documented as being in ‘defiance of the Empire’ due to cultural misunderstandings and their perceived behaviour and unwillingness to adapt to the new colonies. As a consequence, many policies of integration and assimilation were developed and enforced. Until the 1967 Referendum, there was no standard regulating law for Indigenous people across the country, although citizenship and voting rights had already been granted in most states and territories. The referendum marked a significant change in Australian governance with an overwhelming ‘Yes’ vote by the Australian people, enabling Indigenous people to be counted on the Australian census for the first time. In practice, this meant that Aboriginal people with families across state lines were officially governed by the same laws as all other people in Australia, a watershed moment in Australia’s history. To commemorate this pivotal event, the NGA has invited thirty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to explore their historical and contemporary narrative with pride, determination, resistance and recognition of their identity, and what that means in contemporary society. The third National Indigenous Arts Triennial, Defying Empire, will celebrate the resilience of Indigenous peoples since first contact with the British Empire and mark the ongoing activism for recognition since the 1967 Referendum. Tina Baum Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art National Gallery of Australia
DEFYING EMPIRE 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial: Commemorating the 1967 Referendum The National Gallery of Australia, in partnership with our Indigenous Art Partner Wesfarmers Arts, is proud to present the 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, Defying Empire, in May 2017. Defying Empire is a survey of diverse contemporary work by thirty Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, responding to the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. These artists have been selected for their commitment to excellence, exploration of new fields of practice and artistic vision. The exhibition includes works of art from many different regions throughout Australia, demonstrating the incredible range of contemporary Indigenous arts practice. Defying Empire will provide a central and galvanising focus in Canberra for the official celebrations of this landmark anniversary. In addition, the exhibition will give Australians the space and opportunity to reflect on the importance of the Referendum as part of our history and to engage in conversation about its impact on our present and future. The National Gallery of Australia would like to acknowledge and thank our Indigenous Art Partner, Wesfarmers Arts, whose ongoing support enables an active and engaging Indigenous art program and has been vital to the staging of this significant exhibition. Visit nga.gov.au to find out more about Wesfarmers Arts and the NGA’s Indigenous art programs, collections and exhibitions.
Indigenous Art Partner Ray Ken Pitjantjatjara/Yankunyjatjara peoples Kulata Tjuta 2015 (detail) synthetic polymer paint on linen National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016
Daniel Boyd
Daniel Boyd is a leading contemporary
Kudjla/Gangalu peoples
Australian artist whose work involves
Untitled 2016
painting, sculpture, new media and
oil, charcoal and glue on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016
installation. In his award-winning work Boyd uses a pointillist or transparent dotting technique overlaying a base image to create a clear vision from afar. Untitled recreates the monumental battle and subsequent death of Captain Cook and the crew of the Endeavour by the Hawaiian people in 1779.
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Karla Dickens
Karla Dickens is an established artist
Wiradjuri people
who primarily works with found material
Assimilated Warriors 2014
to create her installations but also with
masks: vintage suits, emu feathers, dog muzzles, farm plough, mixed media National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016 Photo: Zan Wimberley
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photography, new media, poetry and painting collages. Assimilated Warriors honours the activists from the Sydneybased Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, and the later Aborigines Progressive Association, as a tribute to the many faceless warriors who fought for Aboriginal equality.
Sandra Hill
Sandra Hill is an established artist who
Minang/Wardandi/
examines issues relating to identity,
Ballardong/Nyoongar
Aboriginal history and the female story.
peoples
Her works are a visual essay and historical
Double Standards 2015
reference to what she and her people have
rice paper, shellac, Marri
suffered and lost in the recent past. Seen
and Balga resin, ink and
from afar Double Standards is a glowing
synthetic resin
Australian flag, but on closer interrogation
National Gallery of
it reveals a disparity of lives and
Australia, Canberra,
experiences, giving a glimpse of the double
purchased with assistance
standards that Hill observed growing up in
from Warwick Hemsley
Western Australia.
and The Hon Melissa Parke, 2016
This work was acquired through the generosity of Warwick Hemsley and The Hon Melissa Parke, 2016.
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Ray Ken
Ray Ken is an emerging artist who works in
Pitjantjatjara/
paintings and more recently in installation.
Yankunyjatjara peoples
Kulata Tjuta reveals the undulating and
Kulata Tjuta 2015
luminous tali or sandhills in his desert
synthetic polymer paint
country and features six spears facing
on linen National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016
north with horizontal striations separating each of them. Kulata Tjuta is a major carving revival project at Amata where the senior men are teaching the younger generations the skill of carving punu (wood) and kulata (spear) production.
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Yvonne Koolmatrie
Yvonne Koolmatrie is a highly respected
Ngarrindjeri people
nationally and internationally recognised
River Dreaming 2012
contemporary coil bundle weaver. River
sedge rushes (Lepidosperma canescens) National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016
Dreaming is an adaptation of the large traditional mats that were originally used by Ngarrindjeri women to carry their children and digging sticks, and also used as a sleeping mat and a protective barrier from the rain. This work, also known as a story mat, shows human forms, a freshwater turtle, mats and seven sister baskets as vignettes of Ngarrindjeri life on the Riverlands of South Australia.
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Rusty Peters
Rusty Peters is a senior artisan from the
Gija people
Warmun community in the Kimberley
Manambarram 2013
region of Western Australia. Primarily a
natural earth pigments and binder on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2013
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painter, he uses natural earth pigments on canvas with his large-scale work Manambarram, which hints at the movement of the heavens and key stars as they progress across the darkened sky over his Gija country.
Reko Rennie
Reko Rennie is an established artist who
Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/
started out as a graffiti artist. His works
Gummaroi people
in paintings, prints, installation and neon
Royal Flag 2013
reflect this early practice. He explores his
24 carat gold on aluminium
identity and history as an urban-based
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2013
artist in contemporary society through the use of his traditional Kamilaroi designs. Royal Flag features a crown, symbolising sovereign status, within an Aboriginal flag outline making an emblematic statement about the original royalty of Australia.
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Brian Robinson
Brian Robinson is a prolific multidisciplinary
Maluyligal/Wuthathi/
Torres Strait Islander artist working in
Dayak peoples
diverse media, including printmaking,
Custodian of the Blooms
sculpture, design and public art. Custodian
2014
of the Blooms investigates the cultural
wood, plastic, steel,
narrative and traditional customs of the
synthetic polymer paint,
Zenadh Kes Islanders. Using plastic boards
feathers, plant fibre and
and bright colours, Robinson replicates the
shell
blossoming gardens of the Torres Strait
National Gallery of
Islands. He has described the flowers in his
Australia, Canberra,
works as symbolic of fertility, abundance,
purchased 2016
harvest and regeneration.
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Yhonnie Scarce
Yhonnie Scarce is an established practicing
Kokatha/Nukunu peoples
glass artist. Thunder Raining Poison is a
Thunder Raining Poison
monumental work revealing the British
2015
nuclear testing at Maralinga (1956–63),
glass, wire, metal
which affected her Kokatha homelands
armature National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016 Images: Š Janelle Low
in South Australia. Over 2000 signature hand-blown glass works in the shape of native yams, hung individually, create the illusion of a dissipating cloud after an explosion and the resulting debris and smoke raining its extremely hazardous, poisonous and radioactive poison back to the earth.
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Pedro Wonaeamirri
Pedro Wonaeamirri is an established
Tiwi people
artist who paints on bark and canvas,
Jilamara 2014
is a carver, a cultural leader, singer and
synthetic polymer paint on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2014
dynamic performer. His works reflect his strong connection with his Tiwi culture through the use of orderly abstract lines combined with a masterly sense of spatial balance. He methodically segments his work by using distinctive fine- and thicklined patterns using ochres, charcoal and clay. The dense patterning and intense layering of lines give a sense of movement or shimmer across the work, alluding to the ceremonial power of the Jilamara.
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cover: Brian Robinson Maluyligal/Wuthathi/Dayak peoples Custodian of the Blooms 2014 wood, plastic, steel, synthetic polymer paint, feathers, plant fibre and shell National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016 24