Australian Art

This subject pivots on a series of provocations regarding art, identity and geography. It poses the question, one proposed to artist Bessie Davidson in the late nineteenth century: does art have a nationality? It interrogates settler/invader/colonial art and its persistence in the face of 65,000 years of continuous culture. Largely chronological in approach, and encompassing all Australian art traditions including First Nations art, this subject examines where Australian art happens, and introduces us to those who made it, and who continue to make it today. It examines historic and recent art histories including those written by Bernard Smith, Joan Kerr, Ian McLean and Rex Butler that argue for, and against, national art histories. In so-called Australia, can there even be a national art history, and if so, who gets to call it?