Art by Great Women

‘HERE I AM: Art by Great Women’ is an exhibition within a diverse festival program based in Canberra and with satellite projects. Geared towards celebrating the remarkable talent of contemporary Indigenous and non-Indigenous women artists from around Australia working across diverse fields of practice.

Inspired by NGA’s Know My Name project, ‘HERE I AM’ seeks to amplify the art institute’s commitment, “to celebrate the work of all women artists with an aim to enhance understanding of their contribution to Australia’s cultural life,” guided by a set of principles for gender equality, and with projects, which shine a light on women artists past and present, and into the future. HERE I AM coincides with the Part 1 of Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, which is on view at until 4 July 2021, followed by Part 2 in late July 2021.

Until 28 February 2021 ‘HERE I AM’ is proudly presented by Kambri at The Australian National University (ANU), developed in cultural partnership with the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), and curated by aMBUSH Gallery.

Read on to discover A Rich Life’s picks of what’s on for ‘HERE I AM’.

Nicole Reed. Courtesy the artist and aMBUSH Gallery, Australian Capital Territory

With unwavering support for women artists Bill Dimas, the co-founder of aMBUSH Gallery said, “Over the past 13 years of aMBUSH we have worked with thousands of incredible women – this festival is a wonderful opportunity to bring more artists together alongside the great women the NGA will also be showcasing. Our aim is to make the festival a bi-annual event that bolsters creative women and holds their work up to acclaim.”

Audiences are invited to explore a dynamic program of street art, fine art, photography, illustration, digital art, sculpture, film and other artistic explorations. An array of outdoor public art activations, gallery exhibitions, live art, performances, music, talks, film screenings, ArtHack and other events is showcasing the work of more than 100 women artists. The festival is family-friendly and includes free activities and workshops to keep children entertained and involved in the creative atmosphere.

HERE I AM Canberra Highlights
Stationed on Exhibition Avenue in Kambri’s new cultural hub is a series of innovative large-scale public exhibition cubes currently displaying work by 24 diverse contemporary women artists including Aretha Brown, Gemma O’Brien, Nicole Reed, Nanami Cowdroy, George Rose, Libby Harward, Georgia Hill and Maddie Gibbs, to name a few.
Outdoors and accessible 24/7!

The ‘HERE I AM’ exhibition at aMBUSH Gallery Kambri has an exciting line-up of emerging and established artists working across painting, illustration, photography, digital art, object design and sculpture. Here you can explore works by artists such as Lucy O’Doherty, Jane Gillings, 23rd Key, Minna Leunig, Maddie Gibbs, Nicole Reed, Jenna Lee, Mafalda Vasconcelos, Bronte Leighton-Dore and Holly Greenwood, among others.
aMBUSH is open Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun 12-5pm.

Amala Groom, The Union, 2019, production still. Courtesy of the artist and aMBUSH Gallery, Australian Capital Territory

For Sydney-siders
Darling Quarter on the harbourside of the city is hosting a large-scale installation of four outdoor exhibition cubes showcasing work by eight contemporary Indigenous female artists: Noni Cragg, Elizabeth Close, Jody Haines, Molly Hunt, Nici Cumpston, Kate Constantine, Bronwyn Bancroft, and Amala Groom as part of HERE I AM: Art by Great Women.
Outdoors and accessible 24/7 until 30 January 2021.

What’s on screen?
Through December a series of free films will be profiling influential female artists. Audiences are invited to view Her Story Her Sound (2019), a documentary celebrating women in music, and the American documentary film about photographer Vivian Maier titled Finding Vivian Maier (2013), the fascinating film presentation of Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present (1988), and the French film about the life of sculptor Camille Claudel (1988).

TEDxCanberra is holding a series of talks by trailblazing thinkers and creators across TEDx Canberra Women 2020: Fearless, and TEDx Canberra 2020: Imagine. These will be delivered over two weeks in the Kambri Cultural Centre from 29 November to 6 December respectively. TEDxCanberra presentations are ticketed events.