Rite of Passage is a visionary group exhibition that developed as a response to the significance of the year 2020 – 250 years since James Cook first landed in Australia.
The exhibition aims to reframe the way that we perceive this year in our history. Rite of Passage showcases the strength of autobiographical work by eleven contemporary Aboriginal artists from across Australia.
Artists include Glennys Briggs, Megan Cope, Nici Cumpston, Karla Dickens, Julie Gough, Lola Greeno, Leah King-Smith, Jenna Lee, Carol McGregor, Mandy Quadrio, and Judy Watson. Described by curator Shannon Brett as explicit in their actions regarding their Aboriginal rites, the exhibition reveals how these artists define themselves as voices of their families and their ancestors in their quest to preserve their Aboriginality.
Shannon Brett, a former Cairns-based artist/designer/curator, a proud descendant of the Wakka Wakka, Butchulla and Gurang Gurang clans.
Lola Greeno is a Trawlwoolway (Tasmanian Aboriginal) shell necklace maker/stringer. Known for her distinctly patterned, often colourful and iridescent, delicate strands of shells, the artist collects her materials from the coastlines of the Tasmanian mainland and the Furneaux Islands.
As an extension to her cultural practice, Greeno has recently developed a series of works using different shells, to design a pattern based on the Cape Barren Goose. Within a contemporary context, the materials reference the fauna unique to the islands. Other recent work uses what the artist refers to as her ‘Reconciliation Necklace’ pattern, using black crow and white penguin shells, while another work combines rice, maireener and kelp shells.
Julie Gough is a Trawlwoolway (Tasmanian Aboriginal) artist, writer and a curator of Indigenous Cultures at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Gough’s Briggs-Johnson-Gower family have lived in the Latrobe region of North West Tasmania (Latruwita) since the 1840s, with Tebrikunna in the far north east of the island their Traditional Country. Gough’s art practice often involves uncovering and re-presenting conflicting and subsumed histories, with many artworks referring to her family’s experiences as Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
