Julie Gough
'In All of Us is History'
About Julie
Julie Gough is a Hobart-based artist, writer and curator. Her work explores the representation of Aboriginal histories, particularly in Tasmania where her maternal heritage is linked to Tebrikunna country, far north-eastern Tasmania. Julie has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas and her work is held in many private and public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
About Julie's artworks
Julie engages with many different methods and materials and her work is most often presented as installation, sculpture and/or video. Based largely in archival research, her work explores untold and often conflicting histories about Aboriginality, with a particular emphasis on Tasmanian colonial histories. She uses text, found artefacts and natural and man-made materials to re-present these histories in ways that question and re-evaluate their impact on Australian culture today.
Film
In this film, Julie talks about a range of artworks and the motivations behind her practice generally. She discusses the importance of archival research in her work, and how her work has evolved over time. She confesses to her detective tendencies and explores how she views colonial Australia as a crime scene. She talks about the importance of continuing to interrogate the past, and of asking ‘what happened next?’
Activity and question sheet for students (470KB Adobe PDF)