Solenne Ducos-Lamotte is a French specialist of the Indigenous Australian contemporary art sector. Her passion for this art led her to emigrate to Sydney where she notably developed and managed the Aboriginal Art Department of Michael Reid – Caruana & Reid Fine Art Gallery.
She has worked closely with Wally Caruana, former Senior Curator of Australian Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra for over twenty years.
Responsible for the exhibition and education programmes, Solenne Ducos-Lamotte has developed strong relationships with the Aboriginal art centres and stakeholders, and acquired a thorough understanding of the many aspects at stake in Aboriginal art both as a unique living artistic tradition and as a market.
Highlights of her career at Michael Reid – Caruana & Reid Fine Art include the annual landmark exhibitions ‘Important Aboriginal Art’; solo exhibitions of now prominent urban-based artists such as Julie Dowling and Danie Mellor; off-the-beaten-track exhibitions presenting fibre art and bush toys; and intense client education tours exploring Aboriginal community art centres and galleries throughout traditional territories – from Northern Territory’s Central Desert, Arnhem Land and Tiwi Islands, to Western Australia’s Western Desert and Kimberley, with stop-offs in Alice Springs, Broome, Darwin and Nhulunbuy.
Solenne Ducos-Lamotte has been working significantly with French-speaking communities and institutions. She notably contributed to the Australian Indigenous Art Commission at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris by co-translating the catalogue published for the museum’s opening in June 2006, and organising the Australia-based festivities, including the major Aboriginal art exhibition “L’Art Aborigène en Fête” at the French Consul-General’s Residency in Sydney.
Solenne Ducos-Lamotte is a regular writer, lecturer and curator for cultural and diplomatic institutions and corporations, in Australia and overseas.
She completed her education at the prestigious Parisian art schools Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and GRETA des Arts-Appliqués, and also gained a Master of Art Administration from Sydney’s College of Fine Arts. Her project management and leadership skills also originate in her initial Business School degree and previous experience in management consulting.