Hetti Kemerre Perkins (born 1965) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

art curator and writer. She is known for her work at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, where she was the senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the gallery from around 1998 until 2011, and for many significant exhibitions and projects.

Early life and education

Hetti Kemerre Perkins is an Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

. She was born in 1965, the daughter of

activist Charles Perkins and his wife Eileen Munchenberg. Hetti is a granddaughter of Hetty Perkins; sister to film director Rachel Perkins and brother Adam Perkins. Her mother created an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

showcasing Aboriginal art in the family home's garage in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, and she was influenced by her father's Indigenous rights advocacy. She attended the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972. She attended Melrose High School in

, with her sister. Perkins completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986.

Career

Perkins started her career working at Aboriginal Arts Australia, an art gallery in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. As part of her work there, she worked with independent Aboriginal artists as well as community art centres in remote areas. In 1988, she went to New York with the ''Dreamings: Art of Aboriginal Australia'' exhibition. She was then appointed curator at the

Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative The Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative was founded in 1987 in the Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales. Among the legacies of the Co-operative are the Deadly Awards for achievement in the Indigenous Australian community, which occu ...

in Sydney, where she was responsible for the expansion of its premises and raising of its profile. Under her curatorship, Boomalli mounted many exhibitions in Sydney and internationally, showcasing its members and other

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

artists. She worked at the

(AGNSW) in

from 1989, was the senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the gallery from around 1998 until 2011, when she resigned. She was responsible for some major exhibitions and initiatives during her time there. Perkins helped to the Yiribana Gallery at AGNSW, which opened in 1994. In 1991 she curated the ''Aboriginal Womens Exhibition'', which included a national tour. In 1997 she co-curated the Australian entry for the 1997

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

(along with Brenda L. Croft and Victoria Lynn), which featured the work of

Emily Kame Kngwarreye Emily Kam Kngwarray (c.1914-1996) was born in her Ancestral lands, Alhalker located in the Sandover region of the Northern Territory, Australia. One of the world’s most significant contemporary painters to emerge in the twentieth century Kngw ...

, Yvonne Koolmatrie, and Judy Watson. In 2010, she was curatorial adviser to "Eora Journey", the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

's Indigenous public art program. Also in 2010, she curated the project '' art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art'', which included a significant exhibition at AGNSW, a book, and a three-part television documentary made by ABC Television. This was aired in October 2010, and later shown on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

as "Aborginernas konst". Perkins was curator of the NPG's fourth National Indigenous Art Triennial: ''Ceremony'' (26 March–31 July 2022). in 2022. Perkins is described as "senior curator-at-large" of the NPG. In September 2022, she co-curated the 31st Desert Mob exhibition, held by Desart at the Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre in Mparntwe Alice Springs, along with assistant manager of the art centre, Marisa Maher. This was the first time that the exhibition had been curated by two Aboriginal women.

Other activities

Perkins was a member of the International Selection Committee for the Biennale of Sydney in 2000. She co-produced four series of ''Colour Theory'' for SBS/

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

, and co-curated the Australian Indigenous Art Commission at the Musee du quai Branly in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. Perkins has served as a board member of several bodies, including the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. She has also worked with other federal government agencies, as well as community arts organisations, and local government on various initiatives featuring and advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts.

Recognition and honours

* 2011:

Artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

for

Bangarra Dance Theatre Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-bor ...

* 2018: Awarded Australia Council Fellowship at the National Indigenous Arts Awards

Personal life

Perkins is the mother of actress and activist Madeleine Madden.

Bibliography

* ''Yanada'' (New Moon). (1993) In association with the

. . * ''True Colours: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists raise the flag''. (1994) In association with the

. * ''Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius''. (2000) Eds. Hetti Perkins and Hannah Fink. Art Gallery of NSW in association with Papunya Tula Artists. . * ''Tradition Today: Indigenous art in Australia''. (2004) * ''Crossing Country: the alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art''. (2004) . * ''Contemporary Aboriginal Art: the Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund''. (2006) . * ''One Sun One Moon: Aboriginal Art in Australia''. (2007) Eds. Hetti Perkins and Margaret West. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales. . * ''Half light: Portraits from Black Australia''. (2008) . * ''Nganana Tjungurringanyi Tjukurrpa Nintintjakitja'' (We are here sharing our dreaming). (2009) In association with Papunya Tula Artists. . * ''Art + Soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art''. (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Hetti Australian art curators 1965 births Living people Australian people of German descent Australian people of Irish descent Arrernte people Australian women curators Hetti Perkins