A 50+ collection of contemporary and historical works exploring the history of objectification from the perspective of Indigenous Australian artists will open this in Toowoomba this weekend. Here’s why you should see it:
The collection of ‘I, Object’ explores the complex relationships Indigenous Australian artists have to objects and the consequence of their collection by museums, or other public and private collectors over time.
The QAGOMA collection, first shown in Brisbane from August 2020 – August 2021, includes numerous Queensland artists and is currently on a three-year tour of regional Queensland.
Artist Tony Albert’s multimedia installation of whiteWASH 2018 will be on display a part of ‘I, Object’ at the Toowoomba Regional Gallery between April and July 2024
The exhibition was first developed by Bruce Johnson McLean, a former curator of Indigenous Australian Art at QAGOMA.
“We’re really thrilled this iteration of ‘I, Object’ will now tour to audiences in regional Queensland from 2023-2025 and after its showing in Rockhampton travel on to Caboolture, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Cairns, and Mackay,” QAGOMA Director Chris Saines said.
“The exhibition demonstrates the great pride and inspiration of inherited cultural practices and historical Indigenous objects, and reveals the difficulties posed by their collection and estrangement.”
The multimedia installation of Tony Albert’s whiteWASH 2018 has a collection of mid-century Aboriginalia ashtrays.
Vernon Ah Kee’s hand-drawn portraits of his male family members reflect the practices of anthropologist Norman B Tindale who recorded the genealogical information of Indigenous communities all over Australia in the 1920s and 1930s.
Vernon Ah Kee’s hand-drawn portraits of his male family members reflect the practices of anthropologist Norman B Tindale who recorded the genealogical information of Indigenous communities all over Australia in the 1920s and 1930s.
The exhibition also includes carved sculptures by Wik-Kugu artists Craig Koomeeta and Alair Pambegan.
The text-based sculpture DISPERSED 2008 by Fiona Foley is a monument to the Aboriginal people who were driven off their land, and many who were killed during the Queensland colonial frontier on the nineteenth century.
The exhibition opens at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery from April 6 – July 21, 2024.
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