Opening weekend of Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia | Artist Talk

Sat 29 Jul 2023 2–3pm

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Join us on the opening weekend of Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia to hear from Tina Baum, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at National Gallery of Australia, in conversation with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki senior curator Nathan Pōhio and two artists from the exhibition, r e a and Christopher Pease. In this kōrero they will share their insights into the themes and artworks of the exhibition, which brings together works by over 160 First Nations artists from Australia.

Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia is presented by the National Gallery of Australia and Wesfarmers Arts in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and supported by the Australian Government.

Image credit: Daniel Boyd, Kudjla/Gangalu/Kuku Yalanji/Jagara/Wangerriburra/Bandjalung peoples, Treasure Island, 2005, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2006.

Date: Sat 29 Jul 2023
Location: Auditorium
Cost: Free

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<p>Tina Baum is from the Gulumirrgin (Larrakia)/Wardaman/Karajarri peoples of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Scottish and German heritage. She has over 30 years’ experience working in museums and galleries throughout Australia and is the Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia. Baum has curated major national and internationally touring exhibitions including Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art</p>

<p>Triennial (2017), Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia (2021–23) and Emerging Elders (2009). Baum has a passion for learning and sharing First Peoples cultural knowledge and representation through the arts, culture, histories and Indigenising/de-colonising voices, perspectives and truth-telling. Baum has a focused passion to Indigenise best practice methodologies through appropriate cultural-care, identification, documentation, and Community engagement/co-management of Indigenous collections by reasserting traditional language, cultural authority and agency within Museum and Galleries throughout Australia and internationally.</p>

<p>Image Credit: Patrice Riboust</p>

Tina Baum is from the Gulumirrgin (Larrakia)/Wardaman/Karajarri peoples of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Scottish and German heritage. She has over 30 years’ experience working in museums and galleries throughout Australia and is the Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia. Baum has curated major national and internationally touring exhibitions including Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art

Triennial (2017), Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia (2021–23) and Emerging Elders (2009). Baum has a passion for learning and sharing First Peoples cultural knowledge and representation through the arts, culture, histories and Indigenising/de-colonising voices, perspectives and truth-telling. Baum has a focused passion to Indigenise best practice methodologies through appropriate cultural-care, identification, documentation, and Community engagement/co-management of Indigenous collections by reasserting traditional language, cultural authority and agency within Museum and Galleries throughout Australia and internationally.

Image Credit: Patrice Riboust

<p>Nathan Pōhio (Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāti Pākehā) is Senior Curator, Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and is the coordinating curator for Ever Present: First Peoples of Australia. A graduate of the film programme at Canterbury University’s Ilam School of Fine Arts, Pōhio is an artist and a curator. Before starting his role at the Gallery, he was at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū from 2002–2021, working as a technician, exhibition designer and assistant curator. During his tenure he curated significant exhibitions including Te Rua o Te Moko (2015–16), Ship Songs (2016–17), He Rau Maharataka Whenua: A Memory of Land (2016–18), Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kāhui Whiritoi (2021–22) and co-curated Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania (2021–22) and Ralph Hotere: Ātete (to resist) (2021). Pōhio was nominated for Walters Prize 2016 and was intivited to participate in Documenta14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany in 2017.</p>

Nathan Pōhio (Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāti Pākehā) is Senior Curator, Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and is the coordinating curator for Ever Present: First Peoples of Australia. A graduate of the film programme at Canterbury University’s Ilam School of Fine Arts, Pōhio is an artist and a curator. Before starting his role at the Gallery, he was at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū from 2002–2021, working as a technician, exhibition designer and assistant curator. During his tenure he curated significant exhibitions including Te Rua o Te Moko (2015–16), Ship Songs (2016–17), He Rau Maharataka Whenua: A Memory of Land (2016–18), Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kāhui Whiritoi (2021–22) and co-curated Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania (2021–22) and Ralph Hotere: Ātete (to resist) (2021). Pōhio was nominated for Walters Prize 2016 and was intivited to participate in Documenta14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany in 2017.

<p>Christopher Pease is a Minang/Wardandi/Bibbulmun man from south Western Australia, whose visual language is at once deeply embedded within the western history of figurative oil painting and traditional First Peoples storytelling. Western notions of home and land ownership and the consequent loss of Aboriginal culture are referenced throughout Pease’s vocabulary of visual metaphor. Pease is represented in numerous public collections around Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Naarm/Melbourne; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Boorloo/Perth; Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane; along with other public, and corporate collections as well as significant private collections both in Australia and in the United States of America.</p>

<p>Image Credit: Courtesy of Gallerysmith</p>

Christopher Pease is a Minang/Wardandi/Bibbulmun man from south Western Australia, whose visual language is at once deeply embedded within the western history of figurative oil painting and traditional First Peoples storytelling. Western notions of home and land ownership and the consequent loss of Aboriginal culture are referenced throughout Pease’s vocabulary of visual metaphor. Pease is represented in numerous public collections around Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Naarm/Melbourne; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Boorloo/Perth; Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane; along with other public, and corporate collections as well as significant private collections both in Australia and in the United States of America.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Gallerysmith

<p>*r e a is a descendant from the Gamilaraay/Wailwan people from central west New South Wales and Biripi people form the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Their research-lead creative practice is informed by experimental digital arts, which is deeply grounded in lived experience that interrogates Western cultures, ideologies and knowledge systems.</p>

<p>r e a is a black, queer truth‑teller who pushes boundaries across representation and thought, whether it be in academic or creative forms. They appeared at the 2022 Venice Biennale as a participant in aabaakwad (it clears after a storm), a unique, annual Indigenous-led conversation on Indigenous art by those who create, curate and write about it. Their work is held in numerous private and public art collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra; Art Gallery of South Australia, Tarndanya/Adelaide; Australian Museum, Powerhouse Museum and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Warrang/Sydney. *r e a is the artist and author’s full name. r e a is also known as ‘r e a noir’, a play on representations of the colour black and its relationship to Pierre-August Renoir, the French Impressionist painter. Due to Western and academic naming conventions, some of r e a’s writings are published under r e a Saunders, Dr r e a (Regina) Saunders or as Dr Regina M. Saunders (Morris).</p>

<p>Image Credit: Abi Kelly</p>

*r e a is a descendant from the Gamilaraay/Wailwan people from central west New South Wales and Biripi people form the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Their research-lead creative practice is informed by experimental digital arts, which is deeply grounded in lived experience that interrogates Western cultures, ideologies and knowledge systems.

r e a is a black, queer truth‑teller who pushes boundaries across representation and thought, whether it be in academic or creative forms. They appeared at the 2022 Venice Biennale as a participant in aabaakwad (it clears after a storm), a unique, annual Indigenous-led conversation on Indigenous art by those who create, curate and write about it. Their work is held in numerous private and public art collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra; Art Gallery of South Australia, Tarndanya/Adelaide; Australian Museum, Powerhouse Museum and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Warrang/Sydney. *r e a is the artist and author’s full name. r e a is also known as ‘r e a noir’, a play on representations of the colour black and its relationship to Pierre-August Renoir, the French Impressionist painter. Due to Western and academic naming conventions, some of r e a’s writings are published under r e a Saunders, Dr r e a (Regina) Saunders or as Dr Regina M. Saunders (Morris).

Image Credit: Abi Kelly

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