Circles About the Body: Australian Body Adornment
Dates:
7 December – 19 February 2000
Artists:
Bob Burruwal, Djupuduwuy, Greg Healey, Barbara Heath, Shelley Hilton, Marian Hosking, Sieglinde Karl, Mick Kubarkku, Bridie Lander, Bessie Liddle, Marion Marshall, Jason Moss, Alice Nampitjinpa, Palawa Women, Darryl Pfitzner, Deb Pirajal, Dave Wopit #2, unknown makers
Curators:
Doreen Mellor and Ray Norman
Location:
Monash University Gallery
Monash University, Clayton Campus
About the exhibition
This group exhibition addressed the relative lack of visibility and critical discourse surrounding personal adornment in contemporary Australian visual arts. It explored the rituals, ceremonies and cultural functions of adornment across both Indigenous and non-Indigenous contexts.
Featuring fifty-three works, the exhibition presented a wide range of mediums—from traditional jewellery materials such as sterling silver, stainless steel, nylon, and precious elements like gold, ruby and lapis lazuli , to natural materials, including seeds, pebbles, grass stems, bark fibre, ochre, wood, buffalo horn and shell.
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