Winner

Logan Art Gallery, Logan City Council

My story: the unbroken spirit of the Kalkadoons (Kalkadunga)

My story: the unbroken spirit of the Kalkadoons (Kalkadunga) is the title of a truth-telling exhibition of work by First Nations artist Colleen Sam (Ngungurnnumma Kalkadoon) and furniture designer Keith Weribone (Mandandanji), shown at Logan Art Gallery. This exhibition was a collaborative curatorial project between Colleen Sam and the Logan Art Gallery team and ran from 23 April to 5 June 2021. 

For four generations, since the Frontier Wars in the Kalkadunga (Kalkadoon/Mt Isa) region, the Sam family has passed down their stories of survival in secret. They include accounts of massacres, Kalkadoon (Kalkadunga) resistance, and frontier battles. 

In responding to the oral histories through art, film and design, the exhibition reflects on how Colleen’s people have survived and built spiritual and cultural strength through these experiences. Nationally acclaimed First Nations filmmaking company, Doublewire Productions, produced a truth-telling film as part of the exhibition which, importantly, allowed Colleen’s family’s story to be recorded in a First Nations-led and culturally appropriate process.

Intergenerational trauma is an ongoing issue that impacts Indigenous health and wellbeing. One of the major aims of the project was to broaden understanding of these issues and to facilitate conversations around healing and reconciliation with communities. Working together with the Sam family, Logan Art Gallery hosted culturally sensitive engagement sessions with new health and community sectors, including First Nations Elders aged care services from Logan and the wider Brisbane area.

The exhibition and complementary public programs were well received by the wider community of Logan. Over 1,700 people visited this exhibition over five weeks. The artist held a series of online talks and film screenings, and posted copies of the catalogue and supplementary information to regional and remote communities not able to physically view the exhibition. 90 people attended these online and alternative community outreach sessions across remote Kalkadunga communities situated in St George, Alice Springs and Mt Isa.

This is Logan Art Gallery, Logan City Council’s sixth consecutive GAMAA win.

Finalists

Museum of Brisbane

MoB Learn Assist: Improving Access to Museum Learning

Museum of Brisbane (MoB) is a social history museum located in Brisbane’s CBD that invests in Brisbane artists, designers, writers and local businesses to create innovative design-led exhibitions that tell the stories of Brisbane.

Revitalised in 2021 and 2022, the MoB Learn Assist program has made a tangible contribution to its community by providing free learning opportunities for children, young people and educators from low socio-economic backgrounds in Brisbane and Greater Brisbane. The program was funded through a fundraising campaign and philanthropic support. These curriculum-linked educational programs in the arts, social history and civic citizenship, support the delivery of child and youth-focused, highly engaging arts and cultural experiences. MoB was able to provide transport to and from the Museum, free educational experiences and free morning/afternoon tea to eligible schools and community groups. Significantly, this program removed the financial barriers for children to visit the museum located in the city centre.

MoB Learn Assist supported children, young people, and their educators from eight schools plus two community organisations. Overall, MoB welcomed 1,242 students and 155 teachers/educational support staff who accessed 32 individual Learn programs, workshops and tours. MoB Learn Assist developed two new partnerships in 2021: Little Dreamers, an organisation supporting young carers; and Smith Family, supporting educationally disadvantaged young people. By linking up with community-based non-profits who are already targeting disadvantaged children, and who are doing this targeting very well, they were able to reach the most marginalised communities of under-resourced and excluded children and young people.

HOTA Gallery, Home of the Arts

HOTA Collects

HOTA, Home of the Arts, proudly opened HOTA Gallery in May 2021. It is the new home of the City Collection, which was established in 1986 and now contains more than 4,500 artworks, including one of the largest collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in regional Australia.

HOTA Collects is the banner name which encompasses all aspects of exhibition, programming and education that are centered around the collection. This includes three floors of exhibitions; two showcases of works; an ongoing program of short documentary commissions about collection highlights; an online, in-classroom, and onsite education and public program offer; and the publication of an extensive collection Handbook – HOTA Collects – that features new writing on over 100 Australian artworks.

HOTA Collects provides invaluable opportunities to develop and present contemporary conversations within the Gallery and beyond, enabling visitors and audiences to engage with aspects of Australian contemporary and modern art. It highlights areas of the collection that have never been viewed publicly before as well as rekindling connections with much-loved favourites. 

HOTA Collects exists in new and accessible formats including a high-quality publication, online presence, education resources, videos, and face-to-face programs. It also features ‘must see’ exhibitions and public engagement activities that are quintessentially Gold Coast. The associated education and public programs for HOTA Collects further contribute to the legacy outcomes for this activity.