Recentring: Towards a More Diverse Ecology of Contemporary Art
2 December 2022 at 4:30:00 am
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Session Convenors
Tristen Harwood, RMIT University
Grace McQuilten, RMIT University
Session Speakers
Safdar Ahmed
Tristen Harwood, RMIT University
Brian McKinnon, RMIT University
Grace McQuilten, RMIT University
Nur Shkembi, University of Melbourne
The panel will explore a new methodology for art history, developed through a collaborative research project and book Recentring art: Towards a more complex ecology for art history. The project, and book, weave together a rich and complex ecology of contemporary art that recognises the important contributions of artists with exceptional lived experiences. It does so through a process of co-creation with artists and writers. This includes artists with disability and neurodiversity, diverse mental health, incarceration, and artists from refugee, migrant and Muslim backgrounds. At the heart of this book is the understanding that the ecology of contemporary art in the nation state known as ‘Australia’ – which we problematise further in this panel discussion – is much more inventive, multifaceted and substantial than prevailing narratives would have us believe. The reasons dominant art histories and museum and gallery practices have limited understandings of contemporary art include: the ongoing legacies of colonial structures, increasing levels of social and economic disparity and significant barriers to access for education, employment and social capital for minority communities.
The panel will be convened by two of the researchers and co-editors, Tristen Harwood and Grace McQuilten in discussion with co-authors Safdar Ahmed, Brian McKinnon and Nur Schkembi.
The panel will allow us to share our methodology of collaboration and co-creation, which breaks new ground, introducing art historians and artists to an attentive, collaboratively reconsidered picture of contemporary art.
Panel format: Each participant will discuss their contribution to the book (approximately 10 minutes each) followed by discussion about art history methods and collaboration/co-authorship between the panel members.
Safdar Ahmed
Tristen Harwood, RMIT University
Brian McKinnon, RMIT University
Grace McQuilten, RMIT University
Nur Shkembi, University of Melbourne
Biographies
Tristen Harwood, RMIT University
Tristen Harwood is a writer, editor and sessional lecturer. He works in research at RMIT and teaches at the Victorian College of the Arts. Tristen has published on Indigenous art, architecture, decolonial practices, and literature in Artlink, Art + Australia, Art Guide, Art Almanac, Overland, un Magazine, The saturday Paper, The Monthly, and The New York Times Style Magazine. He is a board member at MeMo Review, un Projects, and Plumwood Mountain Committee. He recently guest edited an issue of Index Journal exploring the theme of colonial monuments.
Grace McQuilten, RMIT University
Grace McQuilten is a published art historian, curator and artist with expertise in contemporary art and design, public art, social practice, social enterprise and community development. Grace's research challenges and transforms conventional understandings of the relationship between margin and centre in relation to the cultural economy, contemporary art practice and art history. She has pioneered work on the field of art-based social enterprise in Australia, and has worked extensively in migrant and refugee settlement. She has a multidisciplinary approach that engages with a range of fields including art, design, architecture, sustainability, sociology, business and international development.
Safdar Ahmed
Safdar Ahmed is an artist, writer and educator who lives and practices on the traditional lands of the Guringai, Gadigal and Wangal peoples of what we call Sydney. He works across a range of mediums, including drawing, graphic narratives, painting, musical performance and installation. Safdar’s art practice focusses on issues of representation and belonging, referencing personal history, graphic storytelling, cultural exegesis and Muslim tradition.
Brain McKinnon, RMIT University
Born to an Amungu mother and Wongai father, Brian McKinnon grew up in a Geraldton fringe camp named Blood Alley at the foot of Mount Misery, and left home at the age of twelve to work along Western Australia’s coast wherever he could. At 18 he settled in Geelong, Victoria and has exhibited widely since 1996, nationally and internationally showing powerful work that addresses his experiences of growing up in Western Australia’s Mid West and the ongoing challenges of Aboriginality in today's world. Brian is currently a Vice-Chancellor’s Predoctoral Fellow at RMIT University.
Nur Shkembi, University of Melbourne
Nur Shkembi is a Melbourne (Naarm) based curator, writer and scholar. Nur has produced and curated over 150 events, exhibitions and community engagement projects, including You Am I, the first nationwide annual exhibition of contemporary Australian Muslim artists. Nur holds a Masters from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA & MCM) and is currently a PhD candidate (Doctor of Philosophy – Art) in the Department of Art History at the University of Melbourne. Nur is also an Academic Teacher and a guest lecturer for the Masters of Art Curatorship course, University of Melbourne, and Lecturer in the Masters of Gallery and Museum Management at RMIT University.