The elephant in the room: public art in Brisbane

Artist-activist Fiona Foley recounts a recent incident of the commissioning of a public art work for Kurilpa (place of the kuril or native water rat). Kurilpa is the cultural precinct where GOMA is located. Foley imagines works by prominent Queensland Aboriginal artists dotted along that place.

More from this Issue

No Place without Other Places: Spinifex Arts Project at fifteen years

University of Western Australia lecturer Darren Jorgensen examine the Spinifex Arts Project from its inception with reference to a new exhibition happening August-October 2012 at John Curtin Gallery and asks the big question: "What would it mean if Aboriginal artists were not tied to language groups, communities, art centres and regional styles?"

Darren Jorgensen

The performative print: Alick Tipoti's Girelal

Jan Hogan

Artrave

Stephanie Britton

On the ground with Our Mob in 2011

Terry Cleary was the Statewide Indigenous Community Artists Development (SICAD) Program Manger with Ananguku Arts and Culture from 2009-2011. He reflects on the potential power of Our Mob when it works.

Terry Cleary

Parallel Collisions: 2012 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

2 March to 29 April 2012 Art Gallery of South Australia Curators: Natasha Bullock, Alexie Glass-Kantor

Chloe Langford

The Ballad of Jimmy Governor

Emeritus Indigenous curator Djon Mundine wrote this essay on the occasion of a production of Posts in the Paddock a play about Jimmy Governor by the company My Darling Patricia. The performance included members of the both families involved. Mundine addresses questions of familial and national forgiveness.

Djon Mundine

Science Fictions: Tricky Walsh

Bett Gallery, Hobart 9 – 31 March 2012

Craig Judd

Long Way Home: A celebration of 21 years of Yunggorendi First Nations Centre

Yunggorendi First Nations Centre for Higher Education and Research at Flinders University, celebrated 21 years of operation in 2011 with an exhibition of work selected by staff and students from the collection of Flinders University Art Museum. Artist Ali Gumillya Baker critically reviews selected works in the exhibition and the issues they raise.

Ali Gumillya Baker

Andrew McQualter: A partial index

Daine Singer, Melbourne 27 January - 3 March 2012

Emily Cormack

Panorama: are we there yet?

Daniel Boyd, Nadine Christensen, Sarah Goffman, Fiona Lowry, Bennett Miller, Arlo Mountford, Joan Ross, Caroline Rothwell, Bernie Slater, Jemima Wyman Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, NSW 27 January 2011 – 13 March 2012

Joanna Mendelssohn

Presences in the Riverland: Nici Cumpston

Una Rey

For architecture and country

Torres Strait Islander Kevin O'Brien, who is commissioning and directing an independent exhibition called 'Finding Country' at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 running from August to 25 November 2012, writes about an Aboriginal architecture that is not about buildings shaped like native animals.

Kevin O'Brien

View all articles in this issue