Maree Clarke
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Maree Clarke (born 1961) is an Australian multidisciplinary artist and curator from
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, renowned for her work in reviving south-eastern Aboriginal Australian art practices.


Early life and education

Maree Clarke was born in 1961 at
Swan Hill, Victoria Swan Hill is a List of cities in Australia, city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River, Victoria, Loddon River. At the , ...
, of Mutti Mutti,
Yorta Yorta The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wale ...
,
BoonWurrung The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...
, and
Wemba Wemba The Wemba-Wemba are an Aboriginal Australian people in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba. Language Wemba-Wemba bears st ...
descent. She grew up in and around
Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...
in North Western Victoria.


Career

Clarke began working as an educator in her home town in 1978, which provided her with a solid base from which to develop her career in promoting and supporting South-East Aboriginal histories, culture and knowledge. Along with her brother and sister, Clarke established Kiah Krafts, an Aboriginal arts enterprise, in
Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...
. The
City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km2 and had a pop ...
became the first Victorian local government to establish a centre dedicated to actively promoting Aboriginal arts and culture, creating the first Koori Arts Unit in St Kilda. Clarke was the first Koori Arts Officer from 1994 to 1998, and instrumental in its success. In 1996, Clarke curated, with Kimba Thompson and Len Tregonning, the ''We Iri We Homeborn'' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Festival. Her collaborations with these two artists as well as Sonja Hodge can be seen in
public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
works around the city of Melbourne.


Art practice

Clarke works across a range of mediums including photography, sculpture, painting, and jewellery. Research and revival of cultural practices which have been lost as a result of colonisation form an important part of Clarke's art practice. Clarke goes to museums to research and work with objects in their collections. Her work has seen her become a pivotal figure in the reclamation of cultural and artistic practices of South Eastern Australian Aboriginal peoples. Her work has included
eel trap A fish trap is a trap used for catching fish and other aquatic animals of value. Fish traps include fishing weirs, cage traps, fish wheels and some fishing net rigs such as fyke nets. The use of traps are culturally almost universal aroun ...
s,
kopis The term kopis () in Ancient Greece could describe a heavy knife with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice, or refer to a single edged cutting or "cut and thrust" sword wi ...
, possum skin cloak-making, and kangaroo tooth necklaces (''Thung-ung Coorang''). She is committed to preserving intergenerational memories of cultural practices.


Recognition and awards

''Made from Memory (Nan's house)'' (2017) was purchased by the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
in 2017 in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the
1967 Referendum Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
. In 2021. Clarke was the first living Aboriginal artist to be featured in a solo exhibition in the
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
in Melbourne. In 2022, a major retrospective of Clarke's works titled ''Ancestral Memories'' was shown at the
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
in Melbourne. In 2023, Clarke won the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture, "for her recent experimental work in glass as well as the pivotal role she has played in the Victorian Indigenous art scene over the past three decades".


Personal life

Clarke has lived in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
since 1988 and .


Collections

Clarke's work is included in the following galleries and collections: *
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
*
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
*
Museum Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation that includes a number of museums and related bodies in Melbourne. These include Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks (Melbourne), Scienceworks, IMAX Melbourne, a research institute, the UNESCO W ...
*
National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...
*
Monash University Museum of Art The Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), formerly the Monash University Gallery, is a contemporary art museum on Monash University's Caulfield campus on Dandenong Road, Melbourne, Australia. History The Museum grew out of a number of ear ...
* Monash University Art Collection, Prato Campus, Tuscany, Italy *
Koorie Heritage Trust The Koorie Heritage Trust is an Indigenous not-for-profit cultural organisation based in Melbourne. It holds over 100,000 items in its collection from paintings and artefacts through to books, videos and photographs. It has "...a commitment to ...
*
City of Stonnington The City of Stonnington is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner south-eastern suburbs, between , from the Melbourne CBD. The city covers an area of . Within twenty years o ...
, Melbourne, Victoria *
City of Port Phillip The City of Port Phillip is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 km2 and had a pop ...
Art Collection, Melbourne, Victoria * Mildura Art Centre Collection, Mildura


Exhibitions


Solo exhibitions

* 2021 ''Ancestral Memories'',
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
, Melbourne * 2019 ''Eel Trap'' with Mitch Mahoney, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Footscray, Victoria * 2019 ''Translating Culture'' with Mitch Mahoney,
Canberra Glassworks Canberra Glassworks is an Australian gallery and glass art studio in Canberra. The studio is open to the general public to view the glass artists working. Opened in May 2007 by Jon Stanhope, it is the largest dedicated glass studio facility in ...
, Kingston, ACT * 2019 ''Ancestral Memory'', Treasury Gallery Old Quad,
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
, Melbourne * 2019 ''Reimagining Culture – Contemporary Connections to Culture'', Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura * 2018 ''Reimagining Culture'', Arts Space Wodonga,
Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...
* 2015 ''Ritual: Connection to Country'',
Koorie Heritage Trust The Koorie Heritage Trust is an Indigenous not-for-profit cultural organisation based in Melbourne. It holds over 100,000 items in its collection from paintings and artefacts through to books, videos and photographs. It has "...a commitment to ...
, Melbourne * 2011 ''Ritual & Ceremony'', Bunjilaka Gallery,
Melbourne Museum The Melbourne Museum is a natural and cultural history museum located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Located adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building, the museum was opened in 2000 as a project of the Government of Victoria, ...
, Melbourne


Group exhibitions

* 2019 ''Linear'',
Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...
, Sydney, New South Wales * 2019 ''Indigenous Design'',
Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the Legislature, legislative body of Politics of Australia, Australia's federal system of government. The building also houses the core of the Executive (government), execut ...
, ACT * 2019 ''The Women’s Show'', Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria * 2018 ''Colony: Frontier Wars'',
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
, Melbourne * 2018 ''Island Welcome'', Craft Victoria, Melbourne * 2018 ''The Women’s Show'', Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria * 2017 ''Defying Empire'': 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial,
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
, Canberra, ACT * 2017 ''An Unorthodox flow of images'',
Centre for Contemporary Photography The Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP), in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, is a venue for the exhibition of contemporary photo-based arts, providing a context for the enjoyment, education, understanding and appraisal of contemporary practi ...
, Melbourne, Victoria(as part of The Melbourne Festival) * 2017 ''Get the picture (Melbourne 2017 Fringe Festival)'' Blak Dot Gallery, Brunswick, Victoria * 2017 ''The Women’s Show'', Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria * 2016 ''Sovereignty'',
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank, Victoria, Southbank. Designed by W ...
(ACCA), Melbourne, Victoria * 2016 W''ho’s Afraid of Colour?''
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
, Melbourne


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Maree Australian Aboriginal artists 20th-century Australian artists 20th-century Australian women artists 1961 births Living people 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian people Women's Art Register artists