Peter McLeavey

It is with sadness that we learnt today of the passing of Peter McLeavey, a great friend to New Zealand’s artists and a wonderful advocate for art.

Staff of Auckland Art Gallery have long had an enduring association with Peter and his much admired Wellington gallery on the first floor of 147 Cuba Street. Our thoughts go to his family and friends and we send them our sincere condolences.

Over the next week the E.H.McCormick Research Library (open Monday to Saturday 1 to 5pm) will have available Luit Bieringa’s documentary portrait The Man in the Hat and Jill Trevelyan’s prize-winning biography Peter McLeavey: the Life and Times of a New Zealand Art Dealer. Both film and book portray many of the qualities which made Peter a unique presence in New Zealand’s art scene for five decades.

Through the agency of NZ On Screen you can watch Luit Bieringa’s film online:
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-man-in-the-hat-2009

Peter mentioned to me on a number of occasions that the Auckland Art Gallery had been one of his gallery’s key clients. Nearly 100 artworks have entered this Gallery’s collection through Peter’s insight.

Our most recent purchase from Peter was in 2013 of Ava Seymour’s unforgettable Health, Happiness and Housing photo collages. In 1989 he enabled two of Charles Tole’s most important early paintings to enter Auckland's public art collection. In 2007 he ensured that this Gallery could acquire W.D. Hammond’s painting Giant Eagle.  There are many other instances of Peter working strategically to assist the growth of public art collections.

Every art acquisition made from Peter’s gallery could have a story related by him attached to it. Peter had a joint focus – to profile New Zealand's artists and to foster art collections. He worked closely with his clients and could instantly recall their purchases in detail. Peter's complete dedication to local artists was a trait that many people have commented upon and admired.

Numerous New Zealand artists have been mentored and nurtured by the expertise and long-term support of Peter McLeavey. His entire life was one of committed advocacy for our painters, sculptors, photographers and printmakers.

Image credit:
Marti Friedlander
Peter McLeavey 1981

gelatin silver print

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Marti Friedlander, 

with assistance from the Elise Mourant Bequest, 2001

Harvey Benge

Harvey Benge is a local camera artist with an international reputation for making photo-books in New Zealand. He recently gifted to the Gallery’s E.H. McCormick Research Library his entire photo-book production to date.

You can access an alphabetical list of Harvey’s books here and a chronological list here.

Harvey has generously offered to further gift his photo-books as he publishes them. The Gallery is currently the only museum where his complete photo book oeuvre is publicly available.

Harvey Benge's first book was Four Parts Religion Six Parts Sin (1993). That publication ranged over Auckland's urban spaces overlaid as it is with advertising, murals and graffiti. That book sign-posted how Harvey is interested in images that work as urban narratives.

On Sunday 21 June, as part of the 2015 Auckland Festival of Photography, the Gallery hosted a conversation between Harvey and me that focused on his photo books. We recorded Harvey's talk where he made fascinating comments about his four decade long involvement with camera media. Listen or download the talk

Please note that this conversation contains some language that may offend. 

One of the books I admire for its immediate mystery is Aide-memoire (2000). The cover reproduces a snapshot image of a boat that Harvey found during his frequent travels. In speaking about such snapshot and vernacular images, Harvey noted that he has never been interested in any affirmation of nationalist imagery.

Harvey Benge’s blog is read extensively. It probably receives more hits than any other locally produced blog dedicated to issues within photography. The blog is not really about Harvey's own artwork but serves a portal for introducing the art of others and for networking issues central to photography.

One of his most recent books is Any Lonely Person Write to Ponsonby. The book's title is carved into the succulent on the cover. The photograph was made many years ago and was rediscovered by the artist when he reviewed his early images.

A display of Harvey Benge's photo-books is currently on display in the E.H. McCormick Research Library's display cabinet on the Gallery's mezzanine level.

Robert Ellis and Billy Apple

Robert Ellis visited the Gallery this week to view Billy Apple's exhibition The Artist Has To Live Like Everybody Else for the first time. I had earlier gone on a tour of the show with Billy where he told me about the genesis of many of the artworks. The public enjoyed meeting him as we were walking through.

During the mid 1950s, Billy attended night classes at Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts on Great North Road. In 1958, he met senior lecturer Robert Ellis and they put together an art portfolio of Billy's figurative drawings and design work which was then submitted with Robert's support to London's Royal College of Art.

In September 1959 Billy started the College's graduate Diploma course in graphic design. He was assisted by a New Zealand government bursary under the aegis of the National Art Gallery, Wellington.

During the last year we hosted Robert Ellis' Turangawaewae exhibition, which coincided with the publication of a major monograph on his work.

For a superb and long-time selection of artist photographic portraits I recommend those taken by Jim Barr and Mary Barr on their Over the Net Studio site. They have made freely available one of the best sources for artist portraits in New Zealand.

– Ron Brownson, Senior Curator, New Zealand and Pacific Art

Photography's Auckland

Auckland celebrated its 175th anniversary two weeks ago. There was a true party feeling downtown. Tomorrow we mark 175 years since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Auckland anniversary festivities included a street display of huge blow-ups from historical negatives held in the Auckland Libraries collection. It was the biggest display of large Auckland photographs that I have seen.

Curated by Mike Mizrahi as part of the 175th event, there was a sequence of about 20 huge blow-ups displayed along Quay Street. They attracted thousands of people during their 72 hour display. Few people would have seen as many local photographs dating from 1860 to 1960.

These mammoth photos were irresistible. Many of the images were used as backdrops for selfies. The murals became a montage of attractions simply because they share history as images. The large labels were informative yet they did ignore the names of the camera artists who had created these images.

There's a lesson to be learnt there – don't forget to credit artists' names.

This exhibition proves that the public are fascinated with photographs of where they live, especially if they are of such a huge scale that one can scan them for detailed information.

I didn't know before seeing the above details that men’s trousers in the summer of 1860 were sometimes made with double-seamed linen in an unbleached coarse-weave or constructed from raw cotton woven as a mid-weight duck canvas. Or that caps were frequent head day-wear.

I liked the way Mike chose the sites for the enlarged photos. The above image related closely to where the photo was sited. It showed the central city recruiting station during World War 1. Volunteers visited daily and the names of the successful applicant to New Zealand's army were named in the next day's newspapers. The Auckland suburbs that they lived in were also named.

In the profile that the New Zealand Herald produced about Inside Out Company's work for the Auckland anniversary Mike said "The selfie generation will really love this as it's a perfect backdrop for seemingly blending into history and somehow becoming part of it."

The Lab: If you were to live here...

A year ago this month the 5th Auckland Triennial, If you were to live here… closed after receiving the highest Triennial attendance to date of 90,000 visitors to its nine sites. All venues were free for the first time, which had a significant impact on attendance.

An electrifying component of the Triennial was The Lab, located in the Chartwell Gallery on the top floor of Auckland Art Gallery. An initiative of curator, Hou Hanru, who described it as ‘the brain’ of the Triennial, The Lab included an open laboratory space for interactions and dialogue between local and international communities of creators.

This month a beautiful publication, The Lab: If you were to live here… was launched at the Gallery co-published with the University of Auckland (RRP $30 available from the Gallery shop).

The Lab was a design-based trans-disciplinary laboratory offering a unique opportunity to develop Auckland’s architectural culture. A joint project between the architecture and spatial design/visual arts faculties of AUT, The University of Auckland and UNITEC, this laboratory unfolded throughout the Triennial as a series of rolling workshops, lectures, exhibitions and a roster of related events – including lectures by international guests Teddy Cruz (Estudio Cruz) and Bijoy Jain (Studio Mumbai).

The Lab’s role was to act as an intellectual catalyst considering the questions: What role do the creative disciplines play in developing the urban realm? How might they bring about a different quality of life? How might we live here, ‘better’?

Placing these speculations within our broader urban culture, The Lab sought to ignite ongoing thinking, discussion and action within our cities.

The Lab space was designed by Mike Davis, as part of his PhD research, with Sara Lee and Sasha Milojevic of the School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland, creating a flexible framework to purposefully, and economically, enable the exhibition of 5 distinct projects, yet giving a coherent memory and relationship between the projects; and relating two sites - the ‘operations’ or exhibition space and reference library. The exhibition design is a finalist in the 2014 Best Awards. This physical space was supported by the design team of INDEX, Jonty Valentine and Amy Yalland, and their risograph printer, who produced signage systems, event sheets on demand, produced one-off artworks and manually updated the wall panels. INDEX also designed and produced The Lab book.

Hou had expressed a desire that the work of the Triennial would leave a physical legacy or evidence of transformation in Auckland.

Kathy Waghorn, editor of The Lab publication, recalled at the book launch a number of changes and successes that had arisen out of the Lab projects:

Project 1: Muddy Urbanism, led by Kathy Waghorn and Teddy Cruz, culminated in a publication and two subsequent exhibitions – one in West Auckland, the other at Woodbury University Gallery in Los Angeles – and discussions held in The Lab with city councillors and local board representative has led to the establishment of a new trust to take on the task of developing the ‘muddy’ environment of the Whau River.

Project 2: led by emerging architect Sarosh Mulla. During the project he gave a lecture on a speculative idea for a ‘Welcome Shelter’ at the Longbush Ecosanctuary in Gisborne. The Welcome Shelter will be built before the end of the year – through the commitment of Triennial patron, Chartwell Trust, alongside 5 other financial partners and many volunteers.

Project 3: led by Carin Wilson and Rau Hoskins of UNITEC’s Te Hononga Centre for Māori Architecture and Appropriate Technologies built a Paparewa on the Auckland waterfront during 2013’s Matariki, providing a ‘real-world’ encounter and dialogue between the city, the people, and the 19 Tāmaki iwi as to the ways the tribes will reposition themselves in term of their kaitiaki roles and begin to assert their identity in the physical environment. This giant structure gained the attention of the city and has assisted much needed korero around the representation and visibility (or lack of) mana whenua in our city, and confidence that future projects will build on this kaupapa (agenda).

Project 4: AUT brought together 80 thinkers, collaborators, makers and designers to re-think the role of ‘the social’ and the ‘public’ as real spaces of conscious exchange and encounter to engender imagination and community values, through 34 projects staged over 21 days. This event has led to further projects of event based and social participatory practices including a symposium Engaging Publics/Public Engagement, 13 September, co-hosted with the Gallery.

Project 5: led by Andrew Barrie, with exhibition design by Melanie Pau, sought to address the impact of the Christchurch earthquake – using church facilities as a case study to reconsider how their land and facilities might better serve contemporary needs. During the exhibition, students presented their ideas to various Bishops, priests, representatives of parish councils, and congregation members. Following the Triennial, they continued to work with several parishes moving through the rebuilding process, eventually leading to Andrew being commissioned to design a multi-million dollar complex to replace the quake destroyed facilities of the Oxford Street Baptist Church in Christchurch.

– Louise Pether, Manager Special Exhibitions

Kupu T-shirt project

Gallery Assistant Nicola demonstrating Wednesday's kupu, nau mai 

If you are connected to the Gallery online or have been in the Gallery recently you may have seen staff members wearing T-shirts with one of these seven Māori kupu (words) printed on them. 

kōrero, inu, nau mai, āe, whetū, manuhiri, ngutu 

As part of the Gallery’s Matariki celebrations we assigned each of these seven words to a day of the week, and people wore their T-shirt with that day’s word. This was a chance for us to learn te reo Māori collectively, practise vocalising and talking about meanings and potential uses of our chosen kupu. If you’ve seen the online images you will know people were asked to demonstrate the meaning of their kupu by taking a photograph of themselves wearing the T-shirt.

So how did this come about?

I decided while creating Matariki programming that it would be a good initiative to have the Gallery’s staff actively engage with the Māori language and generate a broader awareness of Matariki and te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori language week). Kōrero (talk, speak) was one of the five principles of my kaupapa when putting together the Matariki public programme.

I started by looking at what other organisers were running nationally for te wiki o te reo and got in touch with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission). The organisation provided me with some great free resources to distribute and utilise as well as letting me know their plans to have kupu of te wiki (word of the week) for 52 weeks starting from Māori language week, Monday 21 July 2014.

Visitor Experience Team Leader Fan showing off a nice pair of ngutu

Our seven kupu were selected from their list of 52, so we could have kupu o te ra or word of the day for the four weeks of Matariki. Seven kupu appearing four times during the month would help to reinforce the usage and learning. The front of house management team were really supportive of the idea and we screen-printed 30 staff T-shirts for the project. I would like to thank Popo hardware for their quick turnaround and help with achieving this project.

The uptake by staff was overwhelmingly positive and it was really inspiring to see that people here were keen to invest and learn. We had 29 participants in the kupu T-shirt project, a mixture of gallery assistants, security, conservators, curators, educators and even café staff members all willing to don a t-shirt with their assigned kupu on their word’s allotted day.

This was not just about wearing a T-shirt as each participant understood they would have to know their kupu and be ready to answer and discuss what it meant with other staff members and the public. As mentioned, they were also tasked with capturing the meaning of their kupu in an image that would go online to reach to our online visitors.

Team kōrero having a tea party

Other extensions to the project came via staff-led initiatives as we progressed through the weeks, some staff learnt new phrases and kupu and actively sought to put them into use. One staff member asked that the Gallery’s closing announcement be translated into te reo to be read out along with the usually English announcement. I have also heard discussions from the front of house managers that the future staff uniforms could look to incorporate more te reo Māori into the design to foster more engagement from the public but also more learning opportunities for staff.

I feel the Gallery has really demonstrated an awareness of and commitment to te reo Māori, and that this project has been rewarding not only for staff members participating in Matariki, but also to the public who have shown awareness and engagement. I look forward to seeing this grow at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Definition and day of our kupu:

Monday’s kupu – kōrero 
1. (verb) (-hia,-ngia,-tia) to tell, say, speak, read, talk, address
2. (noun) speech, narrative, story, news, account, discussion, conversation, discourse

Tuesday’s kupu – inu
1. (verb) (-mia) to drink
2. (noun) drink

Wednesday’s kupu – nau mai
1. welcome

Thursday’s kupu – āe
1. (verb) to agree, give assent

Friday’s kupu – whetū
1. (noun) star, asterisk – sometimes used for other celestial bodies, eg comets

Saturday’s kupu – manuhiri
1. (noun) visitor, guest.

Sunday’s kupu – ngutu
1. (noun) lip, beak, bill, rim
2. (noun) entrance (of a cave, river, etc.), river mouth

– Martin Langdon, Toi Māori Intern

From South Auckland to the CBD: Public art and seeing art in public places

Working at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki has provided me with many insights into the diverse ways that art is conceived, made, maintained and displayed. This has tuned me into the possibilities for other art experiences outside the Gallery. Here, I want to talk about an idea that came to me by way of proximity and location-based chance encounters.

I digitally juxtaposed the images above to show a link between two sites I see in my travels to and from the Gallery. Parts of this new image may seem both familiar and unfamiliar to CBD goers and Papatoetoe residents alike. The two photographs depict public places that use light to attract and draw your eye along traced lines. For me, these juxtaposed images highlight (excuse the pun) for me, how art is reliant upon perception.

I admire the conviction of the makers of both to change and draw attention to space and architecture. On the left is an image taken in Papatoetoe, where I live and commute from; on the right is an image from Fort Lane in the Auckland’s CBD area, which I walk though to get to work.

The image on the left may appear crude and cheap – whoever created the light feature used LED Christmas lights to outline the architecture of a motel that has a room price of ‘$60 – $200’. But if we look at the lines and forms and think about the low-energy consumption of the materials and personal energy invested in creating the work, it makes for an effective, lasting and sustainable ‘artwork’ or ‘artistic solution’. The installation itself is immaculately presented and the lines are clean and architecturally responsive. Perceiving the artistic merits of this display means looking past the stereotypes of geographical situation and even, perhaps, the creator’s lack of desire to have their handy work seen as a piece of public art.

My ability to see everyday ‘things’ or sites at home through a new lens – one through which I see art where I may not previously have – could be due to the experience of seeing and walking below Eyelight Lane by Swedish artist David Svensson (the image on the right).

Svensson’s artwork seems to offer a new lease of life to the alleyway, which I believe was part of the Council’s intention when commissioning it. Eyelight Lane offers an energy to the alleyway through its responsive navigation of drainpipes, architecture, old signs and what were once small balconies. The work doesn’t re-invent the space by removing its past. Instead, it utilises the built-up history as an assemblage of points that highlight different construction periods and leftover artifacts. I remember this alleyway from my younger days when there were only nightclubs situated there. It used to be a dark and intimidating space that was for the ‘locals’ and associates of the club runners only, and during the day the space became redundant. Svensson’s work reimagines the space and signals a transition in its meaning and usage.

On reflection it can be said that all journeys offer new ways to see and experience what has already been experienced. I am responding to where I’m going but never forgetting the experiences of home. I’m instead inclusively accumulating an understanding of what I know in my negotiation of what I’m discovering.

I enjoy my walk to work through the bustling CBD from Britomart to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. So much so that it will be part of a public sculpture walk I am hosting for the Gallery during Matariki.

It seems serendipitous that as I have been looking at the public use of light and art the Gallery has just announced an exciting new exhibition – the Light Show comes to Auckland from the Hayward Gallery in London, in time for summer. As the title suggests, the exhibition showcases the use of light in art, and it focuses on the period since the 1960s. The show will explore the experiential and phenomenal aspects of light and is a great chance to see, embody and learn about aspects of light and relate that to our everyday experiences. You may, after seeing the exhibition, see the world ‘in a new light’.

– Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Toi Māori Intern

Korurangi

I have now been working at the Gallery four weeks – I had to check my calendar as it feels like time is moving so fast. I have been tasked with a number of projects, most under the guidance of Indigenous Curator Māori Art Ngahiraka Mason, to ensure that I am meeting the high standards that the Gallery sets.

These projects include uploading information to Vernon (a collection management system), identifying works in the collection that require copyright permission for display on the web, working on extending programming for the My Country 'Story Corner', creating a Learning Centre activity space for the next big exhibition, conducting research into the Gallery’s collection and video archives and – not least of all – putting together programming for the upcoming month of Matariki.

The Matariki programme is taking up the majority of my time at this stage, as I have committed to a tight deadline with a wide ranging programme involving screenings, art bites, family drop-in activities, public sculpture walks and even an internal project that involves te reo T-shirts and staff participation (more on this later).

To help myself centre programming ideas I devised what I saw to be the five core principals of Matariki. These are not mutually exclusive themes but were guiding points for considering ‘does this fit with the kaupapa of Matariki?’ I decided that all programming must connect to two or more components of the kaupapa to be both focused and succinct while remaining diverse.

The five points of my Matariki kaupapa are:

• Te Ao Māori (Māori world) – The meaning and tradition of Matariki, stories and significance
• Korero (dialogue) – language, discussion, talks, communication, interpretation (this month of Matariki also includes te wiki o te reo Māori – Māori language week)
• Kai (food) – nurturing, growing, harvesting, sharing of food
• Tangata (people) – Whānau, family, whakapapa, relationships, intergenerational learning
• Whenua (land) – Site, history, place, architecture, environment, sustainability

I think the Gallery realises the importance of Te Ao Māori (a Māori world) and by encouraging me to actively seek to partner and create content and understanding around Matariki, they are offering the chance to shape the perception of ‘Māori’ for the many people connected to the Gallery.

My hope is that by creating engaging content around Matariki, it will help to further the understanding of the value of all things Māori as well as the inclusive nature of relationships and togetherness that Matariki inspires. For communities who may feel under represented this is your chance to be a part of the Gallery, share your uniqueness and add to the complex tapestry that is Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Te Ao Māori is reflected in the redeveloped architecture through works by Fred Graham, Arnold Manaaki Wilson and Lonnie Hutchinson. It is also apart of the building’s architectural conception, The realm of Tāne: ‘Inspiration was drawn from the parkland setting of the Gallery with adjacent shelter of mature pōhutakawa trees, Māori consider the bush the realm of Tāne Mahuta, a place where spiritual and creative renewal occurs. This became a central leitmotif of the design.’ⁱⁱ For me, all these structural inclusions set up a place of engagement and now it is about connecting people, art, life, site and architecture. To increase the presence of the people reflected in structure would be to energise and complete the Gallery’s purpose. The ongoing presence of Māori has been literally immortalised in stone and wood by these three artists.

Image 1                               Image 2                                                Image 3

To me these works say: You are represented here and your voice and presence is welcome. I must mention how amazing and historically uplifting it is that at this very moment the Gallery has two Indigenous focused shows running simultaneously Five Māori Painters curated by Ngahiraka Mason and My Country: Contemporary Art from Black Australia curated by Bruce McLean, Curator Indigenous Australian Art, QAGOMA, who is a Wirri/Birri-Gubba man with heritage from the central coast of Queensland.

– Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Toi Māori intern
_____________________________________________________

ⁱ The title of this blog Korurangi references an exhibition of the same name held at Auckland Art Gallery in 1995. Korurangi: ‘a Māori motif in which two spirals surround each other without meeting – a coexistence that recognises difference.’ –  notes from the exhibition introduction, Korurangi: New Maori Art 1995.

ⁱⁱ Chris Saines, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki – A Place for Art, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2013, p 39. This kōrero was provided to the Gallery by Haerewa, the Gallery’s Māori advisory group, through their representative, Bernard Makoare.

Image 1. Arnold Manaaki Wilson, He Aha Te Wa – Moments in Time, 2010
Image 2. Fred Graham, Te Waka Toi o Tāmaki, 2011
Image 3. Lonnie Hutchinson, Te Taumata, 2011

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki: a working environment with a big friendly team – and even bigger smiles

I have recently begun to work at the Gallery as the Toi Māori Intern. This opportunity was made possible by the support of Toi Māori, a charitable trust that encourages and supports the potential of contemporary Māori art with the aim to ‘promote the uniqueness, quality and cultural expression of Māori art’.

So, who am I? I’m Martin Awa Clarke Langdon and I recently completed my Masters in Fine Art at The University of Auckland. I am a practising artist based in South Auckland with a background in graphic design, sign writing and print. My multidisciplinary art practice looks at the spaces between cultures, spaces of tension and conversation. I whakapapa to Tainui and Ngāi Tahu and was born and raised in Papatoetoe, Auckland.

Auckland Art Gallery always seemed a far off place to me. I thought I might only be associated with through my art making – that at some point in my career I could create a work of distinction, one that may be included in a collection such as Auckland’s.

Before starting here I saw art institutions like the Gallery as places that provided mediation (to those in and outside of the artworld) in the ongoing conversation of the whakapapa of Aotearoa New Zealand art. Now that I am here, I feel humbled by the access I am given and the view I have into the way this art institution runs, as well as being able to learn more about te ao toi – the art world. I never considered a possibility of being on the other side of those stanchions, working behind the scenes to make things happen.

Auckland Art Gallery is the largest organisation I've ever worked in – its staff is just over 100 people. My next largest workplace had a staff of 12. The Gallery has its internal networks of teams who work in the fields of curatorship, visitor services, marketing, art conservation, editorial, exhibition design, learning programmes, retail and more. It is also a public institution, part of the Auckland Council structure and accountable for its operations in the same way the city’s other facilities are – for example the stadiums, MOTAT and the zoo.

The magnitude of the organisation is slightly daunting. There are so many layers and components that make the Gallery work. From the outside we see a clean, well-maintained and ever-changing display of art and public programmes, which show art engagement at its best. I think the measure of the Gallery’s success is just how effortlessly these exhibitions, spanning medieval to contemporary art and including almost every medium, appear for our pleasure.

Now that I am part of the behind-the-scenes machine, I ask myself where and how does a Māori/Pakeha artist from South Auckland fit in? Where I am from, institutions like this are seen as alienating, elite places, too hard to access and where ‘we’ don’t fit in or are even appreciated for what we know and what ‘we’ bring to the conversation. But, my experience in the first few weeks has been amazing: I am starting to realise the value of what I bring in experience and understanding. I am also starting to engage with the content housed in the Gallery’s collection – artwork, text and archives. I feel the richness of knowledge the Gallery holds.

And, as a ‘newby’, the staff here appear welcoming, friendly and helpful. Offers of a helping hand and useful bites of information from different people have allowed me to better understand the Gallery and all its interwoven threads, hopefully providing inroads to a successful transition into being ‘part of the team’. The many friendly faces and even more helpful words have provided some relief to the initial feeling of awe. 

Watching the team in action is something to behold – everyone taking on their responsibilities with confidence, working alongside and interacting with colleagues to ensure the smooth running of the place that you see when you visit us.

– Martin Awa Clarke Langdon, Toi Māori Intern

The hardest words to say…

Tony Albert, Sorry 2008, Found kitsch objects applied to vinyl letters,
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Image courtesy: QAGOMA 

My Country includes artworks that directly comment on Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s 2008 Apology to members of the Stolen Generations and their families. Tony Albert’s Sorry, 2008, spells out the climax of Rudd’s speech in large black type, but reverses the word to read YRROS and in doing so calls into question the effect of the Apology. For Albert, ‘Sorry is just a word which means nothing if it is not backed up by real outcomes.’ The objects that decorate this text – ashtrays, plates and other pieces of Aboriginalia – were picked up by the artist in second-hand stores. They show a persistent representation of Aboriginal bodies in items of Australian home décor and tourist souvenirs. Male figures dominate – a figure holding boomerang and spear faces off against a kangaroo on a cork beer mat in one of many examples of that ethnographic stereotype, the ‘noble warrior’. Stereotypes such as this, authored by someone else, erase individuality. They do not reflect the realities for the Stolen Generations, or those before them. Covering arguably the most important word of Rudd’s Apology in the material which helped build a generalised and damaging perception of Aboriginal people offers uncomfortable visual evidence of why the Apology was necessary.

A group of works in the exhibition bring the realities of those generations and families affected by racist laws and practices to light, bridging the gap between collective and individual histories and emphasising the personal with artworks which embody specific familial stories and practices. Some of these works relate to the body, recalling objects that were worn or carried, and convey a sense of everyday realities – their physicality evokes the spirit of the individual and their daily struggles.

Dale Harding, Unnamed 2009, lead and steel wire
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Image courtesy: QAGOMA 

Dale Harding’s Unnamed, 2012, a lead breast plate inscribed with his grandmother’s new name – ‘W38’ – connotes the harsh treatments and the specific use of ‘king plates’ as a method of identification. The rust and weight of the object with its alphanumeric code symbolises the dehumanising process of classification and control; its decayed surface suggests a forgotten or buried history. Looking at the breastplate gives us a sense of connection with Harding’s grandmother, and we empathise with the indignity she would have felt being forced to hang the large, heavy plate around her neck and having her name replaced by a code.

Wilma Walker, Kakan (Baskets) 2002 (installation view) 

Individual stories are powerfully communicated in works which convey a sense of the physical presence of the body. Wilma Walker’s Kakan (Baskets), 2002 recalls the baskets made by her mother. As a baby, Walker was hidden in baskets like these to avoid being forcibly removed from her family – to avoid becoming one of the Stolen Generations. Looking at the baskets’ bulbous forms we can easily imagine her tiny body curled up inside and covered by leaves.

Foreground Wilma Walker, Kakan (Baskets) 2002,
background Tony Albert, Sorry 2008 (installation view) 

One of the most striking moments in the exhibition is the presentation of these baskets in front of Tony Albert’s Sorry. Here, the life of someone personally affected by a state policy in practise confronts Rudd’s Apology, as interpreted by Albert. Walker’s handmade baskets, infused with the memories of her early life and with the making traditions of her people, evoke a sense of intimacy and human frailty and contrast the brittleness of the mass-produced Aboriginalia in Sorry. Both works remind us of trauma suffered and together create a confronting reminder about the need to honestly face historical facts.

Bindi Cole, I forgive you 2012, Emu feathers on MDF board
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Image courtesy: QAGOMA

In the exhibition’s final room Bindi Cole’s response to the 2008 Apology is writ large in emu feathers attached to letters. The sensual and protective qualities of I forgive you, 2012 – its layers of soft plumage – look capable of absorbing shock, which in forgiving one must do. Like Wilma Walker’s baskets, I forgive you was made by hand, each feather stuck down individually to create each word of the powerful sentence. In contrast to the critical position of Albert’s Sorry, and its seeming rejection of the Apology, Cole’s feathered forgiveness is empowering – reconciling differences and opening the door for future relations. According to Cole, ‘forgiveness is about taking your power back . . . no longer allowing that thing that hurt to live inside you.’

– Julia Waite, Assistant Curator, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 


Image credits:

Tony Albert
Girramay people
QLD b.1981
Sorry 2008
Found kitsch objects applied to vinyl letters
99 objects: 200 x 510 x 10cm (installed)
The James C Sourris, AM, Collection
Purchased 2008 with funds from James C Sourris through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation

Dale Harding
Bidjara and Ghungalu peoples
QLD  b.1982
Unnamed 2009
Lead and steel wire
35 x 26 x 3cm
Gift of Julie Ewington through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2013

Wilma Walker
Kuku Yalanji people
QLD  b.1929 d.2008
Kakan (Baskets)  2002
Twined black palm (Normanbya normanbyi) fibre (basket), with lawyer cane (Calamus sp.) fibre (handle)
Three baskets:  93 x 37 x 36cm;  77 x 29 x 26cm;  68 x 32 x 31cm
Commissioned 2002 with funds from the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant

Bindi Cole 
Wathaurung people 
VIC b.1975 
I forgive you 2012 
Emu feathers on MDF board 11 pieces: 100 x 800cm (installed, approx.)
Purchased 2012. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation