Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Three rivers country, 2010. Corrugated iron, tin, mesh, wire. Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010. Image courtesy and © the artist.
Drawing from the MCA Collection, this exhibition places the practices of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in dialogue with one another.
The trajectories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women practices are considered in dialogue with one another in this collection-based exhibition. Aboriginal artists illustrate their distinctive relationships to their cultures and Countries and provide commentary on the multiple, interlocking oppressions of what it means to be a black woman in Australia. Non-Aboriginal artists narrate concepts around the presentation of women in contemporary western society; utilising the figure and forms of the self to reflect universal themes of ‘being’ and ‘doing’ female.
Like compass points, these artists point to the ways in which they experience, both in their internal and external lives, their womanhood. Communal identities, such as those reflected in Indigenous traditional and contemporary culture where the self is subjugated in preference for group preservation and maintenance, and individual identities that sit at various points on the spectrum of feminine experience are highlighted.
Works in distinct and diverse mediums reveal the way in which this group of artists hold and reinterpret histories, as well as locate a complexity of ideas about the performative aspects of female-ness.
Curated by Clothilde Bullen, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collection and Exhibitions.
Artists:
- Mabel Anaka-anaburra
- Lorraine Connelly-Northey
- Frances Djulibing
- Lindy Lee
- Maria Kozic
- Minnie Manarrdjala
- Susan Marawarr
- Noŋgirrŋa Marawili
- Kate Miwulku
- Shirley Purdie
- Julie Rrap
- Mary Walatjarra
- Gosia Wlodarczak
SOURCE: MCA Australia