Artlink’s annual Indigenous edition plays a unique role in making accessible new writing on Indigenous arts and culture, giving it an edge over other art magazines. Guest editors provide insider perspectives that the more establishment institutions or market forces are not in the position to deliver.
Ian McLean
Hugh Ramsay Chair, University of Melbourne
Larissa Behrendt (Eualeyai/Kammilaroi) is an academic, lawyer, novelist, filmmaker and presenter of Speaking Out, ABC RN. Pauline Clague (Yaegl) is an academic, writer and producer for 25 years, she has worked across many visual forms.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been telling their stories for thousands of years. The last 230 years has been one of hiding or oppressing our voices. As our people begin to use the accessibility of new technology to strip the colonial constraints placed around their works, our artists are presenting a different lens to shape a new identity. In this way, they are “Indigenising” the space, using film, music, dance, performance, writing and the visual arts to unpack the archive, embracing the non-linear DNA of old storytelling techniques, to show that our culture is thriving and in many cases reviving in the digital space.
Above: Bangarra performing Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu at Sydney Opera House. Photo: Daniel Boud. Cover: Larissa Behrendt and Pauline Clague in the Data Arena, UTS, Sydney. Photo: Ben Simons
