In a varied career in the arts I have been an artist, arts administrator, curator and academic who has worked extensively with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and artists over the last 30 years. Most recently I was employed as the inaugural Director of Godinymayin Yjard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre in Katherine in 2012 (gyracc.org.au). Before that I was Director of 24HR Art (now NCCA) in Darwin, lecturer at Charles Sturt University, Director of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and lecturer at Charles Darwin University, NT. I hold a PhD from the Australian National University in the field of Aboriginal Art and Culture.
The content of this site represents a selection of the art, writing and exhibitions I have created over the last 30 years. Apart from a few ceramic works, most of the material on this site was created after I moved from Sydney to Darwin between 1991 and 2006, then during the time I was in Canberra from 2006-8 undertaking my PhD. After a stint in Wagga from 2007 – 2010, I relocated to Katherine in the NT to take up the position of Director of Godinymayin Yjard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre where further content was created.
This site is basically an archive of my art and writings, but the main reason for its existence is to be a lasting record of a period of artistic activity in Darwin and other regional areas at particular times. I was recently looking for images and information about arts activity in Darwin in the early 2000s for a paper I was writing and I found, to my disappointment, that none of that material was still available on the internet. That material was there once. I know because I helped to put it there. But it no longer exists anywhere I can find it. This is an attempt to put a small amount of that material back in public circulation.
The Art Thinking part is an occasional blog of my thoughts about exhibitions I have been to and art that I am making or thinking about making. The blogs vary from quite thoughtful exhibition reviews to random thoughts from my studio.
The site is also a repository of knowledge about some lesser known Aboriginal artists whose work I have researched and about whom not a great deal is known, particularly artists from Ngukurr, Roper River who were working from 1987 until about 2005, all of whom have now passed away. Their work was the subject of my PhD research and I have written a number of papers about specific aspects of their artistic practice, downloadable on this site. I curated an exhibition of works by those artists called Colour Country: art from Roper River, which can also be seen on the site. The whole catalogue for the exhibition is available to download. The hard copy sold out of 2 editions produced by Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and I hope this e-version will prove useful to people who are interested in those artists. The same goes for the Yidumduma Bill Harney catalogue, which is also available to download. The exhibition was initiated by myself, curated by Margie West and produced at Godinymayin Yjard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre. Both exhibitions toured the country with the assistance of Visions of Australia and the Gordon Darling Foundation.
It has been a great privilege to work with these and many other artists over the years. One of the most rewarding projects I have worked on recently has been as artistic director of two Woman of the World (WOW) Festivals in Katherine. This necessitated trips to London to see how it was done by Jude Kelly, mastermind of the WOW Festivals, that have now become a global phenomenon. The two festivals produced at Godinymayin Yjard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre in 2013 and 14 were created with the hard work of the whole team and the Board and with special input from Cathy Hunt (WOW Australia), Jude Kelly and Jawoyn Board member Lisa Mumbin. I believe these festivals changed things in Katherine, made the place better and led to some practical reconciliation. That’s why we work in the arts and that’s what makes it all worthwhile. But I have done enough of that tough stuff for a while and now live on the south coast of NSW and making ceramics and writing for pleasure.
Cath Bowdler 