proppaNOW is an arts collective for

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

artists in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Aiming to counter

cultural stereotype An ethnic stereotype or racial stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their social status , status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype does the same for ...

s and give a voice to urban artists, the collective has mounted several exhibitions around the country. The collective was founded by Richard Bell,

Jennifer Herd Jennifer Herd is an Australian Indigenous artist with family ties to the Mbar-barrum people of North Queensland. She is a founding member of the ProppaNOW artist collective, and taught at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, where she c ...

and

Vernon Ah Kee Vernon Ah Kee (born 1967) is a contemporary Australian artist, political activist and founding member of ProppaNOW. Based primarily in Brisbane, Queensland, Ah Kee is an Aboriginal Australian man with ties to the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidi ...

in 2003 and formalised in 2004.

History and mission

The collective was first conceived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1997. At its initial meeting, proppaNOW proposed to form as a group of

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 ...

artists who would support each other's work and "change ideas that people had about what

Aboriginal art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving, ro ...

is and what it should be". The trigger to formalise the collective came in March 2004 soon after Queensland's Premier,

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Labor Party from 1996 to 2007. Beattie was born in Syd ...

, established QIAMEA (Queensland Indigenous Artists Marketing Export Agency) to promote and market Queensland Indigenous art. The artists were concerned that QIAMEA's focus was initially directed towards the remote regions of Queensland such as

Mornington Island Mornington Island, also known as Kunhanhaa, is an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Shire of Mornington, Queensland, Australia. It is the northernmost and, at , the largest of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The larg ...

Aurukun Aurukun is a town and coastal locality in the Shire of Aurukun and the Shire of Cook in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is an Indigenous community. In the , the locality of Aurukun had a population of 1,101 people, of whom 997 (88.7%) iden ...

and Lockhart River, thus reinforcing

s. The collective has since evolved a mission to "give urban-based Aboriginal artists a voice... oreinforce that Aboriginal Australia is a living culture that has evolved over time". In June 2019, proppaNOW presented an open day at the

Institute of Modern Art The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) is a public art gallery located in the Judith Wright Arts Centre in the Brisbane inner-city suburb of Fortitude Valley, which features contemporary artworks and showcases emerging artists in a series of group and ...

in Brisbane. An exhibition entitled ''OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW'' was originally scheduled for 2019, but was rescheduled (due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

) to run 13 February – 19 June 2021 at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Art Museum, described as a major exhibition of the artists' work "after a five-year hiatus to focus on their individual careers". The title of the exhibition references the Australian TV show ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'', which is known for its sensationalist style and "derogatory representations of certain low

socio-economic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analys ...

and

minority group The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

s".

Members

Founding members were Richard Bell,

, Joshua Herd and

. Members of the collective are Bell, Herd, Ah Kee,

Tony Albert Tony Albert (born 1981) is a contemporary Australian artist working in a wide range of mediums including painting, photography and mixed media. His work engages with political, historical and cultural Aboriginal and Australian history, and his ...

, Gordon Hookey, Laurie Nilsen and

Megan Cope Megan Cope (born 1982) is an Australian Aboriginal artist from the Quandamooka people of Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah. She is known for her sculptural installations, video art and paintings, in which she explores themes such as identity and ...

Recognition

proppaNOW members Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd, Vernon Ah Kee, Gordon Hookey and Laurie Nilsen have all been interviewed by the

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

for the James C. Sourris Collection. In the interviews each artist talks about their life, their art and their inspirations. In October 2022 it was announced that the collective had won the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice for 2022–2024, by a unanimous decision of the jury, which commented: "... roppaNOWhas broken with expectations of what is proper ('proppa') in Aboriginal art; created a new sovereign space for First Nations artists internationally outside colonial stereotypes, desires for authenticity, and capitalist capitulations; and opened new political imaginaries".

Exhibitions

The collective has mounted a number of exhibitions, starting with one in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, in 2005. Since then, many have been based in Queensland, but several have toured the country or mounted in other locations. Some recent exhibitions include: ;2012 *''Touchy Fearly,'' Fehily Contemporary,

Collingwood, Victoria Collingwood is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3km north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Collingwood recorded a ...

, July 19 – August 11, 2012. *''Existence Resistance,'' Bega Regional Gallery,

Bega, New South Wales Bega () is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley. Place name One claim is that place name ''Bega'' is derived from the local Aboriginal ( Thawa language ...

, July 13 – August 18, 2012. *''proppaNOW,'' kuril dhagun

, Brisbane, May 14 – September 10, 2012. *''proppaNOW Studio Works'', Montague Road Studio Space, Brisbane, Dec 6 – 30, 2012. ;2013 *''Insurgence,''

Museum of Australian Democracy Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...

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 ...

, ACT, October 2013. ;2014 *''The Black Line'' ;2015 *''Dark + Disturbing: Gordon Hookey for proppaNOW'', Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, August 2015. ''Dark + Disturbing'' is a curatorial project by Ah Kee. ;2024 *''Tanah Tumpah Darah: Taring Padi & proppaNOW'', Griffith Art Museum, March 2024.

Commissions

* ''Monument: Yininmadyemi - Thou dids't let fall'': Four standing

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

s and three fallen

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

s in black

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and steel with

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

finish inscribe with war stories, installed in

Hyde Park, Sydney Hyde Park, Sydney, is an urban park, of , located in the Sydney central business district, central business district of Sydney, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest public parkland in Aust ...

on 25 April 2015

References

External links

* {{official website, https://proppanow.wordpress.com/
proppaNOW in conversation
State Library of Queensland Vimeo Australian Aboriginal art