Michael Cook, Majority Rule [Bridge], 2014. Inkjet print on paper, ed 4/8, 84 x 120cm. Donated through the Australian Cultural Gifts Program by Caroline O'Rorke and Bruce Forbes Graham for the James Cook University Art Collection in 2023. Reproduced with permission.© Michael Cook, 2024. Photograph by Through the Looking Glass Studio.
This year’s exhibition Insights has been curated by the Library Special Collections team, and with the endorsement of exhibition patron Gail Mabo, to shine a light on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks in the James Cook University (JCU) Art Collection. It showcases a selection of these exciting works and provides some insights into their meanings, significance and the artists who created them.
Right now, there are 26 diverse artworks by 23 artists available for viewing. They can be found on the ground and first floor levels of the Mabo Library. Be sure to check the Library opening hours to plan your visit.
Artwork styles and mediums on display include graphic, representational and abstract landscape, animal, plant and human forms in paintings, prints, photography and sculpture. Connections and reconnections with culture are explored through their imagery, and culture is both shared and retained through the stories the artworks contain and depict.
* James Billy
* Michael Cook
* Karen Doolan
* James Doyle
* Larrtjanga Ganambarr
* Goobalathaldin (Dick Roughsey)
* Gail Mabo
* Narritjin Maymuru
* Arone Meeks
* Rosella Namok
* Susan Peters Nampitjin
* Tommy Pau
* Jeannie Mills Pwerle
* Brian Robinson
* Teho Ropeyarn
* Joel Sam
* Bai Tapau
* Thanakupi (Gloria Fletcher Thancoupie)
* Alick Tipoti
* Clare Jaque Vasquez
* Judy Watson
* Aicey Zaro
Through Insights, JCU Library is working to develop understanding and appreciation of the Arts and Cultures of Australia’s Indigenous artists and their creative output and contribution to our nation’s culture. We recognise and acknowledge the artists’ Indigenous custodianship of Country, and aim to draw attention to their cultural and artistic knowledge and practices, as well as to the interdisciplinarity of the works and themes explored.
The exhibition includes connected displays on level 1 of the Mabo Library of publications and materials drawn from the Library Special Collections. The physical exhibition will be supported by a growing digital presence for the artworks featured in the JCU Art Collection, through NQHeritage@JCU – the online repository for the Library Special Collections.
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Clare Jaque Vasquez, Flight Path, 2023, Acrylic, oil and impasto on canvas, 195 x 195 cm. Reproduced with permission © Clare Jaque Vasquez, 2023. Andrew Rankin Photography. |
Explore the Collection further through its growing digital presence being established here in NQHeritage@JCU.
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Goobalathaldin Dick Roughsey, Untitled bark painting. Pigment on bark, 62 x 37 cm. © Dick Roughsey/Copyright Agency, 2019. Photograph by Michael Marzik |
i Valuing Art, Respecting Culture: Protocols for Working with the Australian Indigenous Visual Arts and Craft Sector, Doreen Mellor and Terri Janke, National Association for the Visual Arts, 2001.
ii ibid
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