Judy Watson
A Waanyi artist in Italy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/qre.26498Keywords:
Aboriginality, contemporary art, First Nations artists, Indigenous Australian art, Judy Watson, Venice Biennale, Waanyi peopleAbstract
Artist Judy Watson, a member of the Waanyi people of north-west Queensland, has spent several periods in Italy, including on a residency in Tuscany in 1992, and when selected to present her work in the Australian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and as a speaker at the aabaakwad gathering of First Nations artists at the Biennale in 2022. In the interview, Watson reflects on her connection to culture and Country and speaks of the works inspired by her stays in Italy. She also comments on changes over time in the Venice Biennale, as well as the interest in Indigenous Australian artists in Italy.
References
Judy Watson, quoted in Kerry Gardner, Australia at the Venice Biennale: A century of contemporary art (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, 2021), p. 124.
See https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/archives/whatson#skeletons [30 November 2022].
Hetti Perkins, ‘F L UE N T’, in F L UE N T : XLVII Esposizione internazionale d’arte – La Biennale di Venezia 1997: Australian Pavilion (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997), p. 9.
See Judy’s discussion of this work at https://nga.gov.au/on-demand/judy-watson-canyon [30 November 2022].
The Stones of Venice, by art historian and poet John Ruskin, was first published in three volumes in 1851 and 1853.
Croft, Brenda L., Russell Page in Venice, 1997, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. See https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2002.71.a-c/russell-page-in-venice
The Honourable Linda Burney is Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Australian government at the time of writing.
The catalogue, titled True Colours: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists raise the flag, is in the National Library of Australia, https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1776704?from=list. It includes statements by the artists: Brook Andrew, Richard Bell, Brenda L Croft, Destiny Deacon, Lin Onus, Rea, Judy Watson, H.J. Wedge.
‘Biennale’, La Repubblica, 7 April 1997; Vagheggi, Paolo, ‘Fra gli Australiani l’Aborigena senza nome’, La Repubblica, 13 June 1997.
Vagheggi, Paolo, ‘Fra gli Australiani l’Aborigena senza nome’, La Repubblica, 13 June 1997, translated by Claire Kennedy.
The citation for the work in the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) collection is: Judy Watson / Waanyi people, b.1959 / Maria Rita Barbagallo, b.1959 / bones + crosses 1993 / Digital video digitised from U-Matic, ¾” and Super 8 film: 10:46 minutes, sound, colour. https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/objects/31912 [30 November 2022].
Varda Che Bruta … Poretta [Look how ugly she is … poor thing] is a one-woman show written by Dina Panozzo and first performed by her in collaboration with Open City for Sydney Festival & Carnivale, 1993. See C. J. McLean, ‘Interview: Dina Panozzo’, Glam Adelaide, 9 November 2018. https://glamadelaide.com.au/interview-dina-panozzo/ [30 November 2022].
Ricky Swallow, quoted in Kerry Gardner, Australia at the Venice Biennale: A century of contemporary art (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, 2021), p. 148.
Wiyana Perisferia Periphery (1992) was curated by Hetti Perkins and Liliana E. Correa. See https://aiatsis.library.link/portal/Wiyana--Perisferia-Periphery-a-collaborative/lLxCwjEdH0U [30 November 2022].
See https://aabaakwad.com/homepage [30 November 2022].
See https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/22nd-Biennale-of-Sydney-2020-Exhibition-Report.pdf.pdf [30 November 2022].
Vernon Ah Kee, quoted in Kerry Gardner, Australia at the Venice Biennale: A century of contemporary art (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, 2021), p. 182.
See https://australiacouncil.gov.au/news/media-releases/new-australian-pavilion-in-the-historic-venice-biennale-gardens-opened-today [30 November 2022].
