2022 Art Trams (2022 - 2023_
The
Melbourne
Art
Trams
return
for
2022,
with
six
trams
once
again
featuring
designs
by
First
Peoples
artists.
Curated
by
artist
Jarra
Karalinar
Steel
(Boonwurrung/Wemba
Wemba),
the
collected
works
each
respond
to
the
theme
“Unapologetically
Blak”.
Jarra
Karalinar
Steel
is
the
Melbourne
Art
Tram
curator
for
RISING
festival
2022.
She
said
"I'm
really
excited
to
see
what
artists
come
up
with
for
this
theme.
I'm
very
excited
to
be
a
part
of
the
RISING
Art
Trams
and
curating
it
this
year. As
last
year,
I
was
fortunate
enough
to
have
my
artwork
selected
for
the
2021
trams,
thanks
to
the
amazing
work
of
the
curator,
Kimberley
Moulton."
2022
ARTISTS
:
-
Lin
Onus
(Yorta
Yorta)
-
Louise
Moore
(Wamba)
-
Patricia
Mckean
(Gundijtmara/Kirrae
Wurrong)
-
Dr
Paola
Balla
(Wemba-Wemba/Gundijtmara)
-
Tegan
Murdock
(Burapa)
-
Darcy
McConnell
/
Enoki
(Yorta
Yorta/Dja
Dja
Wurrung)
2022
CURATORIAL
STATEMENT
‘Unapologetically
Blak’
is
the
theme
for
the2002
Melbourne
Art
Trams
curated
by
Boon
Wurrung
artist,
curator
and
cultural
consultant,
Jarra
Karalinar
Steel.
‘Unapologetically
Blak’
invites
First
Nations
artists
who
are
either
Victorian
Traditional
owners,
or
a
First
Nations
person
residing/working
in
Victoria,
to
respond
to
ideas
of
family
and
kin,
connection
and
care
of
country,
personal
expressions
of
culture,
language,
and
blak
excellence.
The
theme
is
a
call
for
self-determined
expressions,
recognising
the
dynamic
ways
of
existing
as
a
First
Nations
person,
living
in
so
called
Victoria;
a
celebration
of
our
success,
our
growth,
and
our
continued
desire
to
be
stronger
as
a
peoples;
recognising
our
mob
disrupting,
and
redefining
what
being
blak
means
for
them,
and
that
we
can,
and
will,
continue
to
do
what
our
passions
are,
regardless
of
the
glass
ceiling
that
attempts
to
hold
us.
Creating
space
for
these
diverse
identities
allows
for
conversations
around
individual
identities
within
a
community
of
many
realities,
and
honouring
the
peoples
that
have
grown
within
this
space.
We
have
not
only
survived,
but
are
thriving,
and
creating
footsteps
worth
following
for
our
future
generations.
The
concept
pays
homage
to
the
1994
collaborative
First
Nations
group
exhibition,
Blakness:
Blak
City
Culture!
featuring
the
work
of
Destiny
Deacon.
Curators
of
the
exhibition
Clare
Williamson
and
Hetti
Perkins
described
Destiny
Deacon’s
development
of
the
term
‘Blak’
as
“part
of
a
symbolic,
but
potent
strategy
of
reclaiming
colonialist
language
to
create
means
of
self-definition
and
expression”.
Journalist
Kate
Munro
reflected
on
this
contribution
more
recently
in
her
piece,
Why
‘Blak’
not
‘Black’,
stating
that,
“Deacon
staunchly
redefined
both
the
spelling
and
the
meaning
of
the
word
‘black’
as
a
direct
response
to
non-Indigenous
people's
labelling
and
consistent
misrepresentations
of
our
people”.
The
brief
to
artists:
Be
bright,
bold
and
Unapologetically
Blak.
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