Nineteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper explores how Australia has purposefully shaped its cultural memories in the years since the country’s colonisation, and curated them within Australian art galleries. It will propose that the emotion of shame has been an underlying force in this remembering, or forgetting, of Australia’s colonial past, from its convict heritage to the genocide of First Nations peoples. Works of art that epitomise these shame points will be highlighted, including colonial painter John Glover, Australian modernist artists Russell Drysdale and Sidney Nolan, as well as a gamut of contemporary First Nations artists including Julie Gough, Dean Cross and Marlene Gilson. This paper works to understand how shame can be harnessed within curatorial practice in postcolonial countries, arguing that by acknowledging and embracing postcolonial shame, it can lead to more nuanced and honest displays of national art.