Defying Empire

By Danielle Pope

Tony Albert - The Hand You're Dealt 2016 - Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan + Strumpf 
Photo: Sam Noonan
Tony Albert - The Hand You're Dealt 2016 - Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan + Strumpf Photo: Sam Noonan
The National Gallery of Australia has proudly announced the artists participating in the 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial.

The National Gallery of Australia has announced the 30 Indigenous artists
participating in Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial.

The exhibition brings together established, mid-career and emerging Indigenous artists from across the nation, whose works mark the ongoing resistance, resilience and defiance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people against colonisation from first contact to recognition through the 1967 Referendum and up until today.

This major exhibition surveys contemporary art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander artists in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum
granting Indigenous peoples the right to be counted as Australian for the first time.

Maree Clarke is one of 30 Indigenous artists who are being showcased in the event.  Photo: Jon Augier/Museum Victoria
Maree Clarke is one of 30 Indigenous artists who are being showcased in the event.
Photo: Jon Augier/Museum Victoria

‘At the 50th anniversary of this watershed moment in Australian history, it is
important to showcase the significance of Indigenous art in defining our national
cultural identity,’ said Gerard Vaughan, NGA Director. ‘The creation of a strong
school of contemporary Indigenous practice has played a crucial role—nationally and
internationally—in recognising the power and relevance of Indigenous visual
culture.’

Issues of identity, racism, displacement, country, nuclear testing, sovereignty and
the stolen generations are explored through many media: from painting on canvas
and bark, to weaving and sculpture, and video, prints, photography, metalwork and
glasswork.

‘This exhibition reflects the strength, creativity, diversity and pride of contemporary Indigenous artists, highlighting the historical and ongoing activism by Indigenous people to gain equality in this country,’ said Tina Baum, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

Ray Ken Kulata Tjuta 2013 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased 2014
Ray Ken
Kulata Tjuta 2013
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 2014

Defying Empire follows on from the success of the National Indigenous Art Triennials of Culture Warriors and unDisclosed in furthering the conversation on Indigenous issues through contemporary art practice.

Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, from 26 May until 10
September 2017. Admission is Free.

For more information head to http://nga.gov.au

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