Ms Brenda L Croft
Honorary Doctorate (Visual Arts), University of Sydney (2009); Alumni Award, UNSW (2001); Master of Art Administration, UNSW (1995), PhD candidate, UNSW Art & Design Australia
Associate Professor, Indigenous Art History & Curatorship, Centre for Art History and Art Theory, ANU School of Art and Design
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Areas of expertise
- Visual Arts And Crafts 1905
- Lens Based Practice 190503
- Performance And Installation Art 190504
- Performing Arts And Creative Writing 1904
- Other Studies In Creative Arts And Writing 1999
Research interests
Australian First Nations' contemporary visual arts and culture; international First Nations' contemporary visual arts and culture; critical Indigenous performative auto-ethnography, Indigenous Storying and Indigenous Knowledges; creative-led research; cultural representation and identity; re/memorying, memorialisation; personal and public archives and access
Biography
Brenda L Croft is from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra peoples from the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory of Australia, and also has Anglo-Australian/German/Irish/Chinese heritage. Brenda is Associate Professor, Indigenous Art History and Curatorship, Centre for Art History and Art Theory, College of Arts & Social Sciences, ANU.
Brenda’s cross-disciplinary practice-led research encompasses critical performative Indigenous auto-ethnography, representation and identity, Indigenous Storying and creative narratives, installation, multi-media and multi-platform work, personal and public archives, memory and memorialisation.
Brenda has a long-standing engagement with patrilineal family and community members, both on traditional homelands and also as part of dispossessed, Gurindji-affiliated communities. Her doctoral research project Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality, a collaborative exhibition with Karungkarni Art & Culture Aboriginal Corporation, UNSW Galleries, UNSW Art & Design and UQ Art Museum, commences a national tour from September 2018, through to 2021.
Brenda's work is represented in major public collections in Australia and overseas and private collections. In addition to working with the ANU she is a practising artist, independent writer and consultant. Brenda is also an Adjunct Fellow with the National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW Art & Design Australia, where she is completing her doctoral research.
Researcher's projects
Artistic/curatorial practice-led research, selected
- 2018: heart-in-hand, solo exhibition, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre, 13 July - 8 September. Canberra Critics Circle Visual Arts Award
- 2017: Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality, doctoral research project, National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW Art & Design Australia, 2012 - 2017; collaborative exhibition in partnership with Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation, Kalkaringi, NT; UNSW Galleries, UNSW Art & Design, and UQ Art Museum, University of Queensland, 2017; commencing national tour, Katherine, NT, September 2018, through to 2021
Artistic practice, selected
- 2018: Hindmarsh Prize, Canberra Glassworks, 21 - 30 September, Fitters Workshop, Kingston; Toyama Art Glass Museum, Japanm 26 October to 4 November 2018, shortlisted artist, https://www.hindmarshprize.com.au/2018-shortlisted-artists/
- 2018: Head-to-Head: Shifting Perspectives in Australian portraiture, Flinders University Art Museum, 26 April – 24 June
- 2018: Genius loci, group exhibition, Canberra Glassworks, 4 April - 3 June
- 2017 - 18: Tell: Ballarat International Foto Biennale, 19 August – 17 September, The Mining Exchange, Ballarat, Vic, touring 2018
- 2017 - 18: The Boomalli Ten: Boomalli 30th anniversary exhibition, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, Sydney, 3 Nov – 28 January
- 2017: Honouring Cultures: ACT Arts Residency, 4 – 29 September, Canberra Glassworks
- 2017: Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, 26 May – 10 September
- 2016 - 18: Resolution: contemporary Indigenous photography, National Gallery of Australia touring exhibition
- 2016: subalter/N/ative dreams, solo exhibition, doctoral research, Stills Gallery, Sydney, 27 July - 27 August
- 2016: Sea of Hands: 20th anniversary, commision, Barangaroo Cultural Precinct, May 27 - 3 June
- 2013: Brenda L Croft, survey exhibition, Yiribana Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, 6 Apr – 15 October
- 2013: Thicker than water, group exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Native American Art, Santa Fe, USA
- 2012 - 13: Shadowlife, Asialink/Bendigo Art Gallery touring exhibition, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand; Australia
- 2009 - 10: Homeland (Heimat), CACSA (Contemporary Art Space of South Australia), Adelaide; CACSA Projects 2010, Institute of Contemporary Arts, LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore
- 2009: She’ll be right mate: strangers in a strange land, solo exhibition, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
- 2005 - 6: Peripheral Vision, solo exhibition, Artplace, Perth; Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
- 2003 - 4: Man about town, solo exhibition, Artplace, Perth; Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
- 2000: Wuganmagulya (Farm Cove), Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Sculpture Walk, City of Sydney commission
- 1998: In my mother's garden, solo exhibition, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
- 1998: In My Father's House, solo exhibition, The Australian Centre for Photography with Boomalli Aboriginal Artists' Co-operative, Sydney
- 1994: Strange Fruit, solo exhibition, The Performance Space with Boomalli Aboriginal Artists' Co-operative, Redfern, Sydney
- 1993: The Big Deal is Black, solo exhibition, The Australian Centre for Photography with Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, Paddington, Sydney
Curatorial practice, selected
- 2017: A Change is Gonna Come: 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum and 25th anniversary of the Mabo Decision, National Museum of Australia
- 2015: Welcome to WonderLand, UNSW Galleries, UNSW Art & Design, curatorial advisor
- 2011: Stop(the)gap: international Indigenous art in motion, Adelaide International Film Festival, Anne and Gordon Samstag Art Museum, UniSA. Lead curator with Kathleen Ash-Milby (USA), David Garneau (Canada) and Megan Tamati-Quennell (Aoteoroa/NZ)
- 2007 - 9: Culture Warriors: inaugural National Indigenous Art Award, National Gallery of Australia, and national tour, 2008; international tour to Katzen Art Center, American University, Washington, DC, USA, 2009
- 2006 - 8: Sights unseen: Michael Riley, National Gallery of Australia and national tour
- 2002 - 6: Australian Indigenous Art Commission, Musée du quai Branly, Paris France. Co-curator with Hetti Perkins
- 2003: Southwest/Central: Indigenous art from southwestern Australia, 1833 - 2002, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth International Arts Festival
- 2000: Beyond the pale: contemporary Indigenous art, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Galler of South Australia, Adelaide Festival of the Arts
- 1997 - 9: fluent: Yvonne Koolmatrie, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Judy Watson, Australian Pavilion, 47th Venice Biennale, Italy. National tour, Australia. Co-curated with Hetti Perkins and Victoria Lynn
Publications
- Croft, B 2018, 'Grounded (red, black, white)', triptych, exhibited in Genius loci, Canberra Glassworks, 5 April - 3 June; selected for Hindmarsh Prize, Fitters Workshop, Canberra Glassworks, 21 - 30 September; Toyama Glass Museum, Toyama, Japan, 26 October - 11 November
- Croft, B 2018, 'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality', in Jacqueline Millner, Catriona Moore (ed.), Feminist Perspectives on Art : Contemporary Outtakes, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, UK, pp. 69-78. Best Indigenous Writing Award, AAANZ.
- Croft, B 2018, 'The Instability of Truth: Aspects of Developing a Specific Indigenous Methodology on Experimental Practice-led Research', Visual Anthropology Review, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 15-26.
- Croft, B 2017, 'home/lands', essay in Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality, (exh. cat.) UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, Qld, pp 19 - 31.
- Croft, B 2017, 'Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality', practice-led doctoral research exhibition, UNSW Galleries, UNSW, 5 May - 29 July. Curator, participating artist.
- Croft, B, 2017, 'shut/mouth/scream' (2016) (diptych), from the 'blood/type' series, exhibited in Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, 26 May - 10 September, 2017.
- Croft, B 2016 - 2017, 'shut/mouth/scream', (diptych) from the 'blood/type' series. Pigment print on archival paper. Exhibited in solo exhibition 'subalter/N/ative dreams', Stills Gallery, Sydney, 27 July - 27 August, 2016; 'Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial', National Gallery of Australia, 26 May - 10 September, 2017, then national tour
- Croft, B, 2016 - 2017, 'Wave Hill/Victoria River Country' (2016), 21 pigment prints on archival paper. Exhibited in ‘subalter/N/ative dreams’, Stills Gallery, Sydney, 27 July – 27 August, 2016; ‘Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial', National Gallery of Australia, 26 May - 10 September, 2017
- Croft., B, 2016 - 17, 'Self-portraits on country, 2014' (printed 2016), 13 pigment prints on archival paper. Exhibited in solo exhibition 'subalter/N/ative dreams', Stills Gallery, Sydney, 27 July - 27 August, 2016; ‘tell: Ballarat International Foto Biennial’, 19 August - 17 September, 2017
- Croft, B 2016, subalter/N/ative dreams - solo exhibition, Stills Gallery, Sydney, 27 July - 27 August.
- Croft, B 2016, Retrac(k)ing country and (s)kin: walking the Wave Hill Walk Off Track (and other sites of cultural contestation), Westerly, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 76 - 82.
- Croft, B 2015, 'Signs of the Times', in Rosie Scott, Anita Heiss (ed.), The Intervention: An anthology, Concerned Australians, Salisbury, South Australia, pp. 162 - 178.
- Croft, B 2015, 'Say my name', in Celina Jeffery (ed.), The Artist as Curator, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA, pp. 115 - 132.
- Croft, B 2015, 'Still in My Mind: An Exploration of Practice-led Experimental Research in Progress', Cultural Studies Review, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. pp. 230-248.
- Croft, B 2012, 'Revolutionize me (and you, and you, and you)' in Decolonize Me/Décolonisez Moi, (exh. cat.), Ottawa Art Gallery, Canada, pp 46 - 73.
- Croft, B 2011, 'Sell-abrasion of our nations', lead essay, exhibition catalogue, 'Stop(the)gap: international Indigenous art in motion', Samstag Art Museum and Port Adelaide Mill, Adelaide International Art Festival, guest curator (with curatorial advisors Kathleen Ash-Milby (USA), David Garneau (Canada) and Megan Tamati-Quennell (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Feb - March, 2011
- Croft, B 2007, 'To be young (at heart), gifted and blak: the cultural and political renaissance of Indigenous art in Australia', in H. Perkins and M. West (ed.), One Sun, One Moon: Aboriginal Art in Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, pp. pp285 - pp292.
- Croft, B 2007, 'Cannot buy my soul', in (ed.), Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, pp. x - xxvii.
- Croft, B 2007, Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia. Curator.
- Croft, B 2006, 'Up in the sky, behind the clouds', in (ed.), Michael Riley: Sights Unseen, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, pp. 17 - 43.
- Croft, B 2006, Michael Riley: Sights Unseen, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia. Curator.
- Croft, B 2006, 'Meeting, Not Colliding', Vision, Space, Desire: Global Perspectives and Cultural Hybridity, ed. Elizabeth Kennedy Gische, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, USA, pp. 68-75.
- Croft, B 2004, 'What about the dots and circles?! The children need them!', Banff Centre for Continuing Education Conference, ed. Lee-Ann Martin, The Banff International Curatorial Institute, in association with Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre, Canada, pp. 108 - 127.
- Croft, B 2003, 'Textiles and tactility; object list', in (ed.), Tactility: two centuries of objects, textiles and fibre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
- Croft, B & Jenkins, S 2003, 'Cultural life-force: ceremonial and traditional practices', in (ed.), Tactility: two centuries of objects, textiles and fibre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, pp. pp9-pp11.
- Croft, B & Jenkins, S 2003, 'Representing the figurative', in (ed.), Tactility: two centuries of objects, textiles and fibre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, pp. pp12-pp17.
- Croft, B & Jenkins, S 2003, 'Tactility: two centuries of objects, textiles and fibre', in (ed.), Tactility: two centuries of objects, textiles and fibre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, pp. pp3-pp6.
- Croft, B 2003, 'Ink to Inkjet', in (ed.), South West Central: Indigenous Art from south Western Australia 1833 - 2002, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA, pp. 21 - 35.
- Croft, B 2003, South West Central: Indigenous Art from south Western Australia 1833 - 2002, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA. Curator.
- Croft, B 2002, 'Laying ghosts to rest', in (ed.), Colonialist Photography: Imag(in)ing Race and Place., Routledge, London UK; New York, USA, pp. 20 - 29. Previously published in Portraits of Oceania, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997.
- Croft, B & O'Ferrall, M 2001, 'Indigenous art in the State Art Collection', in Indigenous Art: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, pp. 7 - 13.
- Croft, B 2001, 'Albert's Gift', in (ed.), Indigenous Art: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, pp. 76 - 93pp.
- Croft, B 2000, 'beyond the pale: empires built on the bones of the dispossessed', in (ed.), beyond the pale: empires built on the bones of the dispossessed, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, pp. 8 - 14.
- Croft, B 2000, Beyond the pale: contemporary Indigenous art, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, for the Adelaide International Arts Festival, Australia. Curator.
- Croft, B 1999, 'Boomalli: from little things big things grow', in Taylor, L. (ed.), Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia Press, Canberra, pp. 95-118.
