The National Gallery of Victoria has launched an audio and video series to accompany the She Persists publication, alongside essay excerpts from the book, in a newly dedicated online hub. Featuring 34 perspectives from various authors, She Persists explores the intersections of art, gender and protest, and artists whose influential works are housed in the NGV Collection.
Featuring exclusive audio recordings with contributors to She Persists, selected publication essays, magazine articles and videos, the She Persists virtual hub will offer unique insights into significant NGV collection works, in an exploration of women’s contribution to art and design from the 17th to the 21st century.
Audio narratives from boundary-pushing thinkers, essayists and curators will be featured, including curator and Yorta Yorta woman Kimberley Moulton, Art historian Dr Lisa Mansfield, author Claire G. Coleman, and NGV curators Amanda Dunsmore and Judith Ryan AM.
“This curated online experience ensures the stories of women in art and design featured in She Persists are accessible via the depth and breadth of our online NGV Collection resources. This new platform, dedicated to the publication, features a rich offer of virtually accessible content, reinforcing the NGV’s commitment to promoting works by historically underrepresented artists,” said Tony Ellwood AM, Director, National Gallery of Victoria.
Based on She Persists’ five themes – ambition, perseverance, activism, feminism and identity – the website will feature interviews with selected essayists, presented alongside their essay and accompanying NGV Collection work. The virtual hub will feature recordings from:
- NGV assistant curator Annika Aitken responding to her essay Divergent Ambitions, which explores the social and cultural impact of dolls hand-crafted by The Door of Hope Mission in China;
- Author and Noongar woman Claire G. Coleman discussing Aboriginal Feminism and Gender, an essay highlighting the importance of art made by people of colour, the queer, and the gender diverse, through an examination of Ghandi Returns 2013 by TextaQueen;
- NGV curator Jane Devery providing insights into her essay Living Libraries: Feminist Histories in the Art of Emily Floyd, through an exploration of the monumental sculpture The Dawn 2014 and the screen-printed series Solve your personal problems socially 2014, alongside a video interview with the artist;
- NGV assistant curator Myf Doughty discussing her essay Beyond Pretty: The Possibilities of Contemporary Jewellery with a focus on Kyoko Hashimoto’s Coal musubi neckpiece 2019, Susan Cohn’s Last the blast 2006 and the taxidermy work It’s a Wonderful Life 2012 by Julia Deville;
- NGV senior curator Amanda Dunsmore discussing her essay Hester Bateman: An eighteenth-century entrepreneur via insights into the artist’s silversmith collection that built a family empire;
- NGV senior curator Dr Ted Gott providing insights into his essay Dancing on the Edge, which discusses the dance inspired works Chocolat (Project d’affiche) 1914 by Sonia Delaunay and Speed by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth 1921;
- Art historian Dr Lisa Mansfield on her essay Mary Beale: Pioneer of Portraiture with a discussion of the artist’s trailblazing career as an early female portraiture artist and her key work Portrait of a lady c. 1680;
- Curator and Yorta Yorta woman Kimberley Moulton reflecting on her essay She Is Like No Other: A Call and Response to Umma (Mother), spotlighting Wakka Wakka and Yaegel woman Hannah Brontë and her intersectional feminist approach to art, accompanied by an excerpt of the artist’s video work;
- NGV head of publications Megan Patty taking audiences through stirring examples of protest art by the Guerrilla Girls in response to her essay Are you Listening? The poster as a sight of resistance;
- NGV assistant curator and historian Dr Maria Quirk sharing insights from her essay Fashioning Identity: Madeline Green, Gwen John and Claude Cahun, through a discussion of the subversive works Glasgow 1930 by Madeline Green and Interior with figures 1898 by Gwen John;
- NGV senior curator Judith Ryan AM discussing her essay Indigenous Voices of Creative Assertion and Resistance, and discovering work from the remote Western Desert art movement, accompanied by a virtual tour of the NGV’s Indigenous art exhibition Marking Time;
- NGV assistant curator Meg Slater on her essay Raising the Flag, which explores designs inspired by the plight of refugees, via a discussion of Refugee Flag 2016 created for refugee athletes for the 2016 Rio Olympics by artist and refugee Yara Said;
- NGV assistant curator and historian Dr Maria Quirk responding to England-based historian Dr Zoë Thomas‘ essay Selling Suffrage: Visual Culture and Merchandise and a discussion of the Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM And Family Research Suffrage Collection;
TO ACCESS THE SHE PERSISTS ONLINE HUB VISIT: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/she-persists
ABOUT SHE PERSISTS (THE PUBLICATION)
She Persists is a new book published by the NGV featuring 34 essays by local and international scholars and cultural commentators. The publication is a cross-cultural exploration of women’s contribution to art and design history. It examines the determination of pioneering art and design practitioners, unveiling their formidable ambition and creativity as well as their activism at pivotal moments in history. She Persists includes reproductions of over 140 works by artists in the NGV Collection, including Maree Clarke (Australia), Sonia Delaunay (Ukraine/France), Guerrilla Girls (USA), Agnes Goodsir (Australia), Alexandra Kehayoglou (Argentina), and Fumie Taniguchi (Japan).
She Persists is edited by Annika Aitken, Dr Isobel Crombie, Megan Patty, Dr Maria Quirk and Myles Russell-Cook. The publication design is a unique collaborative effort between designers Public Office (Melbourne) and Karina Soraya (NGV), and typographer Jungmyung Lee (Netherlands).
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