Aboriginal Art and Knowledge Engagement

Aboriginal Art and Knowledge Engagement

Gateway Building, Trinity College, The University of Melbourne

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Ben Thomas

T: +61 3 9348 7533

  • SYMPOSIUM

The free one day symposium Aboriginal Art and Knowledge Engagement will examine the central role Australian Aboriginal artistic practice plays in the exchange of ideas, especially in teaching and cultural learning. Keynote presenter Dr Henry Skerritt, Mellon Curator of Indigenous Arts of Australia at the Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia will be joined by colleagues from The University of Melbourne, Aboriginal art communities, conservators and the commercial gallery sector, to explore this fascinating subject.

The Aboriginal Art and Knowledge Engagement symposium will be held in the Gateway Building, Trinity College, at the University of Melbourne, on Sunday, 25 November, between 9.30am-5.00pm, following by networking drinks.

Keynote Speaker

Dr Henry Skerritt is the Mellon Curator of the Indigenous Arts of Australia at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia.

He has written extensively on Australian art, including contributions to catalogue publications for the National Museum of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Harvard Art Museums, and the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College.

He is the editor of the books No Boundaries: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Abstract Painting (2015); Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia (2016); and The Inside World: Contemporary Memorial Poles from Aboriginal Australia (2019), and served as the consulting curator on the touring exhibitions of the same names. Skerritt holds a PhD in art history from the University of Pittsburgh and a Masters in Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne.

Skerritt is currently working in the planning stages of the exhibition Madayin, showcasing more than seven decades of Yolngu bark painting produced by artists from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land.

There is no cost to attend but attendees are required to register for catering purposes.