Know My Name Conference

Delivered virtually over four afternoons and two evenings, the Know My Name Conference celebrates all women as artists, activists, researchers, intellectuals and mentors now and into the future.

The Virtual Conference was held as part of an extensive program of Know My Name exhibitions, events, creative collaborations, publications and partnerships. The Conference coincided with the opening of the major exhibition Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now – the largest presentation of art by all women held in Australia to date – which opened to the public on 14 November 2020.

A defining moment for the Gallery, the Know My Name initiative addresses historical gender bias to reconsider the stories of art and elevate the voices of all women. In 2019 the Gallery announced new Guiding Principles for Gender Equity in collection development, programming and organisational structures. This is a commitment to permanent change.

Presenting partners included the Australia Council for the Arts, Australian National University School of Art & Design, University of Melbourne and UNSW Art & Design.

Nan Goldin: one of the most important and influential artists of our time, over the last 45 years Goldin has revolutionised the art of photography through her frank and deeply personal portraiture and has created some of contemporary culture’s most indelible images.

Genevieve Grieves: a proud Aboriginal woman of the Worimi nation of Australia, Grieves is an educator, curator, filmmaker, artist, oral historian, researcher, and writer with 20 years’ experience in the arts and culture.

Jennifer Higgie: Australian-born writer, editor-at-large of frieze magazine and presenter of the podcast Bow Down: Women in Art History.

Griselda Pollock: Professor of Social and Critical Histories of Art and Director of the Centre for Cultural Analysis, Theory & History at the University of Leeds and the 2020 Laureate of the Holberg Prize, awarded for her contribution to feminism and art history.

OPENING KEYNOTE:
Genevieve Grieves
1pm – 3.30pm, Tue 10 Nov 2020

Genevieve Grieves is a Koorie educator, curator, filmmaker, artist, oral historian, researcher and writer with 20 years’ experience in the arts and culture.

IN CONVERSATION:
Griselda Pollock and Sally Smart
1pm – 3.30pm, Tue 10 Nov 2020

Feminist art historian Professor Griselda Pollock and artist and Professor Sally Smart discuss art histories, contemporary feminism and perspectives on gender.

SESSION 1:
Where are we now?
1pm – 3.30pm, Tue 10 Nov 2020

SESSION 2:
Alternate Histories
1pm – 3.30pm, Wed 11 Nov 2020

Facilitated by Dr Catriona Moore with Associate Professor Brenda L. Croft, Dr Anne Marsh, Dr Alex Martinis Roe, Elspeth Pitt and Salote Tawale.

Feminist and queer histories, decolonising projects and alternate voices continue to reframe the canon of art history to present new and diversified perspectives on the past, present and future.

IN CONVERSATION:
Nan Goldin & Jennifer Higgie
6pm – 7.30pm, Wed 11 Nov 2020

American artist Nan Goldin speaks with writer and editor-at-large of Frieze magazine and presenter of the Bow Down podcast Jennifer Higgie about the evolution of her relationship to photography and the ways in which feminism has shaped her approach to her craft.

SESSION 3:
Communities, Collectives and Lineages
1pm – 3.30pm, Thu 12 Nov 2020

Facilitated by Dr Mikala Tai with Dr Janine Burke, Fayen Ke-Xiao d’Evie, Associate Professor Mikala Dwyer and Bhenji Ra.

Collective and community-based practices champion a multiplicity of voices. This panel discusses how support networks foster artistic inquiry and experimentation.

ANNUAL LECTURE:
Decolonise Your Feminism: Keynote Presentation and Panel
6pm – 7.30pm, Thu 12 Nov 2020

Leading First Nations women Dr Crystal McKinnon, Kimberley Moulton and Paola Balla discuss perspectives on art, gender, power and feminism.

SESSION 4:
Future Practices
1pm – 4pm, Fri 13 Nov 2020

Facilitated by Julie Ewington with Atong Atem, Zoe Butt, Associate Professor Tara McDowell, Liz Nowell and Yhonnie Scarce.

How can we work together to enable more diversity and inclusivity in the arts? What does the future look like?

Convenors
Adriane Boag, Program Producer, National Gallery of Australia; Natasha Bullock, Assistant Director, Artistic Programs, National Gallery of Australia; Kelli Cole, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, National Gallery of Australia; Jessi England, Program and Campaign Manager, Know My Name, National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery Steering Committee
Adriane Boag, Program Producer; Natasha Bullock, Assistant Direct Artistic Programs; Kelli Cole, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art; Yvette Dal Pozzo, Assistant Curator, Australian Art; Jessi England, Program and Campaign Manager, Know My Name; Dr Deborah Hart, Henry Dalrymple Head Curator of Australian Art; Peter Johnson, Curator, Projects; Alison Kubler, National Gallery Council Member and Editor, VAULT; Dr Shaune Lakin, Senior Curator, Photography; Anne O’Hehir, Curator, Photography; Elspeth Pitt, Curator, Australian Painting and Sculpture; Professor Sally Smart, Artist and National Gallery Council Member

Producers
Adriane Boag, Program Producer, National Gallery of Australia; Jessi England, Program and Campaign Manager, Know My Name, National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery production team
Celeste Aldahn, Tim Fairfax Program Producer; Adam Bannister, Director, Pyrus Event Services; Sally Brand, Programs Manager; Sam Cooper, Imaging Manager; Justin Watson, Audio Visual Manager

Technical Director
Adam Bannister, Director, Pyrus Event Services

Virtual event and platform management
Kylie Clarke and Jade Pearce, Evise Pty Ltd

Partner representatives
Australia Council for the Arts
Patricia Adjei, Head of First Nations Arts and Culture; Dr Christen Cornell, Research Fellow and Manager, Research Partnerships; Rebecca Mostyn, Director, Research and Knowledge Management;
Celia Pavelieff, Director of Marketing and Communications; Dr Wendy Were, Executive Director, Advocacy and Development

School of Arts & Design, Australian National University
Irina Agaronyan, Gallery Administrator; Professor Denise Ferris, Head of School of Art & Design;
Saskia Scott, Senior Gallery Coordinator, ANU School of Art & Design Gallery

University of NSW Art & Design
Dr Diana Baker Smith, Lecturer; Dr Verónica Tello, Lecturer, Contemporary Art History and Theory

University of Melbourne
Professor Barb Bolt, Director, Victorian College of the Arts; Associate Professor Alison Inglis,
Co-Director of the Australian Institute of Art History; Dr Kate Just, Senior Lecturer in Art, Victorian College of the Arts; Dr Alex Martinis Roe, Head of Drawing and Printmaking, VCA School of Art, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music; Vikki McInnis, Acting Coordinator, MFA Program, VCA Art and Research Development Fellow, Centre of Visual Art