Know My Name: Australian Women Artists begins national tour in regional Victoria

The National Gallery of Australia’s newest touring exhibition – Know My Name: Australian Women Artists – has begun a two-year tour of regional Australia.

Know My Name tells a new story of Australian art with over 60 works by 56 First Nations and Australian women artists.

The touring exhibition is part of Know My Name – an ongoing series of gender equity initiatives by the National Gallery to increase representation of women artists who have often been omitted from published histories and public collections.

The first presentation of this touring exhibition opens this Saturday 25 November at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC, just an hour’s drive from Naarm/Melbourne on Bunurong Country. Other venues scheduled to host the tour in 2024 include Horsham Regional Art Gallery, VIC, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, NSW, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, QLD, and Rockhampton Museum of Art, QLD.

The Know My Name exhibition provides locals and visitors to the region a chance to see the art, hear the stories and get to know the names of some of the country’s most influential women artists.

The tour showcases works from the National Gallery’s two-part exhibition held between 2020 and 2022, which was among the most comprehensive presentations of art by women assembled in Australia to date.

The Know My Name touring exhibition features important works from the national collection, including delicate portrait drawings by Janet-Cumbrae Stewart and the widely admired Flapper 1925 by Margaret Preston. Know My Name highlights groundbreaking feminist works from the 1970s and 80s by Vivienne Binns, including Mothers’ Memories, Others’ Memories 1980, with additional contributions from collectives including the Women’s Domestic Needlework Group. Other highlights include monumental paintings by First Nations artists Emily Kam Kngwarray (Anmatyerr people) and Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (Kaiadilt people).

The National Gallery’s Head Curator of Australian Art, Dr Deborah Hart says she is looking forward to continuing to tell the stories with her curatorial colleagues who have been working on the show of Australian women artists beyond Kamberri/Canberra.

‘Looking to moments in which women created new forms of art and cultural commentary, the Know My Name touring exhibition suggests new histories by highlighting creative and intellectual relationships between artists through time,’ said Hart.

‘Know My Name is not just about showcasing art; it’s about inspiring emerging artists and our communities. Through this exhibition, we envision a future where art, in all its forms, is accessible and representative of everyone,’ said Natasha Bullock, Assistant Director, Collections and Exhibitions, National Gallery.

Director of Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Danny Lacy described the touring exhibition as a major coup for the region.

‘Know My Name celebrates women and art throughout Australia, and we are honoured to be the first venue showing this collection of important works, right here in Mornington throughout summer. This exhibition will create conversation and spark inspiration and I admire the perseverance and passion the team at the National Gallery have invested into this touring exhibition which will amplify women artists across galleries around the world,’ said Lacy.

Featured artists:

Frances (Budden) Phoenix, Jean Bellette, Vivienne Binns, Dorrit Black, G.W. Bot, Hermia Boyd, Cressida Campbell, Mary Card, Grace Cossington Smith, Brenda L. Croft (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra peoples), Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Lee J. Darroch, Rosemary Dobson, Bonita Ely, Patricia Englund, Sue Ford, Frances Burke, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (Kaiadilt people), Garage Graphix, Marea Gazzard, Agnes Goodsir, Dulcie Greeno (Palawa people of the Pakana language), Lola Greeno (Pakana people), Marion Mahony Griffin, Fiona Hall, Ponch Hawkes, Alice Hinton-Bateup (Kamilaroi/Wonnarua peoples), Atipalku Intjalki (Pitjantjatjara people), Jeanette James, Carol Jerrems, Darani Lewers, Narelle Jubelin, Emily Kam Kngwarray (Anmatyerr people), Yvonne Koolmatrie (Ngarrindjeri people), Vida Lahey, Rosemary Laing, Leonie Lane, Jo Lloyd, Bea Maddock, Helen Maudsley, Marie McMahon, Tracey Moffatt, Bronwyn Oliver, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Margaret Preston, r e a (Gamilaraay/Wailwan/Biripi peoples) Alison Rehfisch, Freda Robertshaw, Julie Rrap, Thanakupi (Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher AO) (Dhaynagwidh/Thaynakwith people), Aida Tomescu, Lyn Tune, Women’s Domestic Needlework Group, Mrs N. Yunupiŋu (Gumatj people).

Know My Name: Australian Women Artists is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach program.

Curator: Elspeth Pitt, Senior Curator, Australian Art, Dr Rebecca Edwards, Acting Senior Curator, Australian Art and Deirdre Cannon, Assistant Curator, Australian Art.

DATES & VENUES

• Mornington Regional Art Gallery, VIC
  25 Nov 2023 – 18 Feb 2024
• Horsham Regional Art Gallery, VIC
  1 Mar – 19 May 2024
• Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, NSW
  31 May – 25 Aug 2024
• Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, QLD
  13 Sep – 17 Nov 2024
• Rockhampton Museum of Art, QLD
  29 Nov 2024 – 1 Mar 2025
• With more to be announced.

MEDIA PREVIEW

WHERE: Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC
WHEN: Friday 24 Nov 2023, 11am
RSVP: Thursday 23 Nov 2023

OPENING PROGRAM

Know My Name Curators’ Talk
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Saturday 25 Nov 2023 | 12-1pm
Join the conversation with MPRG curator Dunja Rmandic and the National Gallery Curators, Dr Rebecca Edwards and Deidre Cannon as they explore this unique exhibition and celebrate the pioneering women artists who changed the course of modern art in Australia.

IMAGES
available here

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Jessica Barnes
Senior Communications and Content Officer, Touring
P +61 2 6240 6431
M +61 437 986 286
E jessica.barnes@nga.gov.au