I want to begin with a quote from Socrates: “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” That’s what I’m doing with this project Courting Blakness. I’m only making you think. I cannot teach you anything.
The ambition that currently drives many Aboriginal artists is to challenge notions of who we are as Australians. Through bringing eight Aboriginal artists into the Great Court we are reinterpreting this space. The artists are reshaping the way we think about Australian identity. Their artworks will reconfigure how non-Indigenous students interact with the space and think about contemporary society and Aboriginal politics.
What happens when you subvert constructs of power? I think that the University of Queensland’s Great Court is a construct of power and by subverting that space you actually create a more interesting space. Through Courting Blakness we’re going to enter into a dialogue that we’ve never had before.
Fiona Foley
Adjunct Professor Fiona Foley speaks about the project.
Fiona Foley creates work across media that deal with history, identity, sovereignty and personal signification. In all her work, she insists the viewer re-examine historical stereotypes.
Her national contribution to the arts was recognised when she was awarded the Australia Council artist of the year for 2013.
Throughout her career, Foley has engaged issues of indigenous identity on a regional, national and international level, creating a dialogue with artists and communities here and around the world.
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