Artbank farewells Jackie Dunn
At the end of 2009 Artbank farewelled Jackie Dunn after 13 years with the organisation, the last 8 as senior curator. Her knowledge of Australian Contemporary art practice and her passion for, and commitment to, the organisation will be greatly missed. Her achievements at Artbank include, but are certainly not limited to,
• Helping secure a $124K Visions of Australia Grant for Artbank: Celebrating 25 Years of Contemporary Art, a national regional touring exhibition; and developing the exhibition and associated public programs;
• Being a member of the executive team responsible for the opening of Artbank’s Melbourne office and showroom, the first outside Sydney and celebrating its 5th anniversary this year;
• Developing and curating the Kiripuranji: Contemporary Art from the Tiwi Islands (2002-2006); Gelam Nguzu Kazi: Dugong My Son (2006-2009) and Balgo: Contemporary Australian Art from the Balgo Hills (2008-2011) exhibitions for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, touring Australian Embassies and High Commissions around the world;
• Co-authoring (with Dinah Dysart) ‘Artbank: Australian Art in Public Spaces’, a history of Artbank’s first 21 years;
• Overseeing the Curatorial team during a period of intense growth, and successfully managing an acquisitions budget that more than doubled to $1 million in 5 years.
Her major legacy will be the Artbank collection, where her curatorial vision and intelligence have resulted in a depth and range of work which have contributed greatly to the nations cultural assets. We wish her every success in her future endeavours.
Known Sites: Contemporary Australian landscape from the Artbank collection
February saw the opening of the exhibition Known Sites: Contemporary Australian landscape from the Artbank collection, at the Presiding Officer’s Gallery in Parliament House, Canberra. The exhibition features a diverse group of 30 significant landscape artworks in a variety of mediums by artists from all states and territories. The artworks are of known and specific places around Australia, and while all ‘recognisable’ as sites, the exhibition will refresh or even complicate our understanding of what landscape means. Artists include some of the most respected Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian artists working today, including Rammey Ramsey, Philip Wolfhagen. Elizabeth Nyumi, Howard Arkley and more.
Known Sites: Contemporary Australian landscape from the Artbank collection will be on show at the Presiding Officer’s Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra until 6 April 2010.
Geoffrey Cassidy
Director
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