This has been a very special year for the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand as we celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. This significant milestone has provided the opportunity to reflect upon our beginnings and look to future achievements. After an auspicious beginning with funding of $7,000 from the Visual Arts Board, there were several points over the years when the Association’s fortunes floundered. In the face of dire circumstances it was the resolve, determination and commitment of past presidents, executive committees, conference organising committees and journal editorial committees that ensured AAANZ came through. Their tenacity was fuelled by an unwavering belief in the importance of the Association and what it provides for members. As the national body for writers, academics, art historians, curators, artists and anyone with an interest in history and/or contemporary practice, AAANZ plays a fundamental role in connecting people and providing a platform that promotes scholarship. Born in the era of the Whitlam government arts initiatives, AAANZ has always been spurred by the belief that access to art and visual culture, and the generation of knowledge and understanding it provides, enriches our cultural and intellectual heritage. To this end AAANZ’s focus on maximizing outreach through delivery of the annual conference and the journal have been vital achievements over the years.
A number of activities have been held to celebrate the fiftieth milestone including a party on the opening night of the conference. The conference theme provided a chance to reflect on the past, present and possible futures of art history and arts practice in the region. Another anniversary activity has been the digital memory timeline. Katrina Grant, Lachlan Thomson and Marni Williams, have been researching the AAANZ archives and compiling recollections about the Association from past and present members. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and it is not too late to add your reminiscences and images to the timeline. Thank you also to the Power Institute Foundation for Art and Visual Culture, University of Sydney for their support of this initiative.
The fiftieth anniversary has also been a time for the Executive Committee to review the priorities of the Association. We undertook a strategic planning day early in the year which included reflecting upon the original motivations and intentions of the inaugural committee. Robert Gaston from the original committee and Terry Smith, who joined the following year, met with us to shed light on the founding concepts, providing an opportunity for the Executive Committee to consider where the Association is now and future directions that are aligned with our core purpose and responsive to today’s needs. This has led to our first Strategic Plan which will be finalised in coming weeks following feedback from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika caucus held at the conference. The Strategic Plan marks an important new phase for AAANZ. It will provide the blueprint and guide the direction of the Association’s activities over the next three years.
This year we introduced the Early Career Mentoring Program. Four early career researchers were paired with four senior academics and industry professionals. Beginning with an introductory online session, the pairs met regularly throughout the year followed by another online check-in. The feedback we have received has been very positive and we have been encouraged to continue the program next year. I thank both mentees and mentors for their participation and Kate Warren and Soo Min-Shim for developing this program.
I thank the 2024 conference convenors Kate Warren and Robert Wellington for putting together such a stimulating conference this year. It is a mammoth task and the conference ran very smoothly thanks to their hard work and meticulous preparation. Held on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the conference began with a smoking ceremony by Paul Girrawah. Keynote addresses were given by Yorta Yorta curator Kimberley Moulton, Adjunct Curator Indigenous Art, Tate Modern and Senior Curator of RISING; Larrakia/Wardaman/Karajarri curator Tina Baum, Senior Curator of First Nations Art at the National Gallery of Australia, and David J. Getsy, Eleanor Shea Professor of Art History, University of Virginia. Thank you to the ANU School of Art and Design; ANU Research School of Humanities and the Arts and the Power Institute Foundation of Art and Visual Culture, University of Sydney for supporting the keynote addresses.
The first Indigenous caucus was held at the conference this year. An Indigenous only event it provided the opportunity for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori, Pasifika and other First Nations members to come together and discuss issues in the sector and how AAANZ can be more inclusive, relevant and better serve Indigenous members. Thank you to Ali Gumillya Baker and Fiona Foley for developing this important initiative. AAANZ was pleased to make 10 bursaries available this year and support 20 Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika delegates attend the conference through complimentary registration fees. These measures enable us to provide greater equity of access which are important steps towards improving inclusivity.
Thank you to the conference organising committee: Alex Burchmore, Keren Hammerschlag, Megan Hinton, Chatanya Sambrani, Sarah Scott and Pia Van Gelder from the ANU School of Art and Design; Erin Vink, Art Gallery of NSW; Oliver Giles, Art Monthly Australasia; Anthea Gunn, Australian War Memorial and Emma Kindred, National Portrait Gallery. Thank you also to conference administrator Rebecca Renshaw and the volunteers who helped ensure the sessions ran smoothly: Susie Russell, Sarah Hodge, Geoff Isaac, Rosemary Reynolds and Harry Schwarzrock. Thank you also to Lisa Hilli; Georgia Pike-Rowney from ANU Classics Museum; Tony Oates from the Drill Hall Gallery and School of Art and Design for the opportunity to visit exhibitions.
Next year AAANZ will hold our first Indigenous-led conference, which will be hosted by the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, the Berndt Museum and the University of Western Australia School of Design from 3 to 5 December 2025. The theme is ‘Unruly Objects’ and the call for panels opens on 17 March 2025.
Thank you to the judges of our selection panels and prizes this year and sponsors of the Art Writing and Publishing Awards. Thank you to the editorial committee of the journal based at the University NSW for the demanding task of publishing two issues of the journal this year, particularly Editor-in-Chief Verónica Tello and Managing Editor Anastasia Murney together with the editorial committee: Diana Baker Smith; Jennifer Biddle; Shuxia Chen; Jaye Early; Bianca Hester; Kasia Jezowska and Astrid Lorange.
I made contact with Gregory Perry, CEO of the Association for Art History, this year. Our sister organisation in the United Kingdom, they are also celebrating their fiftieth anniversary and it has been interesting to compare the common ground and differences in our journeys. They are also facing the same issues in their universities with financial cutbacks resulting in downsizing and amalgamations of departments. Greg sent a special birthday video message which can be viewed on the AAANZ website. It is hoped that this can be the beginning of reciprocal benefits between our Associations.
This is my last year as President and I will be stepping down and handing over the reins to Katrina Grant who has been actively involved on the Executive Committee since 2015, recently as Coordinator of Marketing and Communications and collating the fiftieth anniversary memory timeline. I wish Katrina all the best in the role. I will be staying on as Advocacy Representative, a position created for Past Presidents when Anthony White stepped down from the role.
I’d like to thank the Executive Committee for their support throughout my Presidency. We have achieved a lot together. We developed a number of new initiatives aimed at early career researchers including the Mentoring Program and the Early Career Publishing Program. We have a contract with Routledge to publish five doctorates in a book format and the series editors, Rex Butler and Anthony White are providing mentoring to successful applicants. I thank both Rex and Anthony for driving this initiative and the selection panel: Ngarino Ellis, Helen Ennis and Chari Larrson. This program is a really important mechanism by which AAANZ can invest in the future of the discipline.
In partnership with the Australian Institute of Art History we invest in scholarship in the sector through the Art History Research Grants. A total of $125,000 in grant money has been devolved over four years to 21 researchers. I thank Anne Dunlop, Director and Gerard Vaughan, Chair AIAH, for making this important initiative possible.
The Art Writing and Publishing Awards have grown and we now have 10 categories in recognition of the broad range of arts writing and publication in our region. We’ve redeveloped the PhD Prize, which was previously judged on an oral presentation at the conference, pivoting to a video format during COVID, and is now selected based on the merits of the written exegesis. A further change undertaken this year is to distinguish between practice-led and research-based doctorates which will be held in alternating years to ensure greater parity.
We launched the Directory of Art Historians and Art Researchers in the Asia-Pacific region, a project developed by the previous President Anthony White in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Art History and the International Committee for the History of Art. A searchable database, it now has the profiles of 224 academics, writers, editors, curators and museum professionals specialising in art, design and visual culture. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to add your profile.
We’ve been active in campaigns advocating on a range of issues from Black Lives Matter and The Voice referendum to recent calls for Toitu te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty) in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’ve raised our concerns to governments on the lack of support for sessional staff during COVID, the increase to humanities fees, the defunding of Trove, and written submissions to the Australian Universities Accord and the federal government on the cultural policy. We’ve also been active campaigning for university departments, museums and galleries at threat of closure.
We carried out the first review of our governance documents in over 20 years and developed our first Strategic Plan which will guide the Association’s activities for the next three years. We implemented an integrated database in the backend of the website which allows us to carry out administration for memberships and conference registrations in a semi-automated system.
Our finances are in good shape and our membership base has grown with 429 members including 26 art galleries, museums, libraries, publications and university departments. I’m really pleased that Creative Australia has recently become a member. Our international membership has increased and we have members from a range of European and Asian countries, the United Kingdom and United States. And most importantly we have increased our engagement with Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika scholars, curators and artists and the number of Indigenous members has risen substantially in recent years. Thank you to the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika representatives past and present on the committee who have worked hard to raise the profile of AAANZ amongst their colleagues, particularly Ali Gumillya Baker, Fiona Foley, Ngarino Ellis and Caroline Vercoe.
I’d like to thank the Executive Committee, past and present, who have worked tirelessly over the years to enable AAANZ to deliver so much and a special thanks to our members who are the bedrock of AAANZ. We are largely a volunteer run organisation dependent on the good will, energy and commitment of so many people to continuously deliver our program of activities. The strength of the Association today is testament to each one of our members and your dedication and belief in the importance of AAANZ’s role in connecting people and providing opportunities to promote critical discussion and scholarship in art and visual culture.
Dr Wendy Garden
PRESIDENT