Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the UN-declared International Women’s Year (1975), the exhibition charts the relationship between art, protest and social change over the last 50 years.
By facilitating a conversation between women and nonbinary artists across the decades, Protest is a creative act confirms that many of the issues addressed by women photographers in the 1970s – around the body, sexuality, race, national identity and the environment – have not been resolved. These concerns are shared today by a younger generation of artists who build upon inheritances of the past, demonstrating their objection and defiance through new creative strategies. Collectively, the historical and contemporary works in the exhibition show the importance of friendship and community, and the good that can come from working together to advocate and agitate for change.
Protest is a creative act exhibits important and rarely seen photographs by some of Australia’s most celebrated women photographers. It includes work from their personal archives, as well as from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Ballarat and the Museum of Australian Photography.
The exhibition will be complemented by a schedule of illuminating programs and a podcast where invited artists, academics and curators will address the exhibited work and its context at the intersection of feminism and the arts both in Australia and around the world.
Artists
Sophie Cassar, Miriam Charlie, Virginia Coventry, Mary Cox, Brenda L Croft, Destiny Deacon, eX de Medici, Sandy Edwards, Bonita Ely, Liss Fenwick, Sue Ford, Juno Gemes, Viva Gibb, Helen Grace, Janina Green, Ponch Hawkes, Siri Hayes, Amrita Hepi, Alana Hunt, Carol Jerrems, Ellen José, Laresa Kosloff, Rosemary Laing, Honey Long & Prue Stent, Angela Lynkushka, Ruth Maddison, Alex Martinis-Roe, Viv Méhes, Eden Menta and Janelle Low, Jill Orr, Wendy Rew, Elvis Richardson & Virginia Fraser, Therese Ritchie, Jess Schwientek, Tara Shield, Tina Stefanou, Salote Tawale, Kawita Vatanjyankur, Jemima Wyman
Curated by Guest Curator Kelly Gellatly and MAPh Senior Curator Angela Connor.
Significant lender
National Gallery of Australia
Image: Sandy EDWARDS, Feminist filmworkers conference Minto, 1979, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist.
Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh)
(Formerly Monash Gallery of Art)
860 Ferntree Gully Road
Wheelers Hill VIC 3150
T: +61 3 8544 0500
E: mga@monash.vic.gov.au
W: mga.org.au
Opening Hours
Tuesday - Friday: 10am–5pm
Saturday & Sunday: 12pm–5pm
Entry is Free
The Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV) acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands where our office is located, and all Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and Australia. We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples enduring traditions and continuing creative cultures. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
We are an LGBTQIA+ friendly organisation that celebrates diversity. We are committed to providing safe, culturally appropriate, and inclusive services for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity.
