Emily Beckley acquired by the National Gallery of Australia
Emily Beckley, Sabagorar Susueri (Bridal Necklace), 2019, silver (oxidised), silk, 85 x 90 x 2 mm (pendant size). Photo Melinda Young
Emily Beckley’s work Sabagorar Susueri has been acquired for National Gallery of Australia‘s Art Cases Program.
The National Gallery of Australia Art Cases is a free outreach program coordinated through the NGA’s Touring Exhibitions team which involves lending art filled suitcases to schools, libraries, galleries, aged-care homes and other community organisations across Australia. The program was developed to provide an opportunity for people of all ages to experience and handle works of art. The cases travel to venues individually or in pairs, with each case containing six works. The works have been chosen to generate discussion and an enthusiasm for art, and the cases are used for art-making activities, storytelling, school outreach and Art and Dementia programs.
Thanks to the generous support of the Neilson Foundation, NGA has refurbished the existing three cases and expanding the program to a total of five cases. This includes undertaking a thematic rearrangement of the works, acquiring additional works which add to the diversity of artists and art practices represented and updating the education kit and other accompanying resources.
Featuring 30 works of art by a range of Australian artists including some of the country’s leading contemporary artists, the Art Cases speak to five broad themes. The themes – ‘Bodies’; ‘Earth’; ‘Form and Function’; ‘Land and Country’; and ‘Past, Present, Future’ – bring works of art into generative conversations with one another, providing pathways of engagement for audiences.
LIST OF FEATURED ARTISTS:
BLUE CASE | EARTH
featuring Carmichael, Megan Cope, John Edgar, John Prince Siddon and Angela Valamanesh
COPPER CASE | LAND & COUNTRY
featuring Penny Evans, Carol McGreggor, Jimmy John Thaiday, Aubrey Tigan, James Tylor and Lena Yarinkura
ORANGE CASE | FORM & FUNCTION
featuring Lulu Cooley, Karl Lawrence Millard, Cinnamon Lee, Gilbert Riedelbauch and Shireen Taweel
RED CASE | BODIES
featuring Lionel Bawden, Richard Byrnes, Karla Dickens, Matt Harding, Emily O’Brien, Neil Roberts
YELLOW CASE | PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
featuring Emily Beckley, Ian Howard, Carol McGreggor, Patricia Piccinini and David Wallace
Emily Beckley
Year of Birth: 1965
Language Groups: Meriam Mir, Kala Lagaw Ya
Place of Birth: Thursday Island, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia
Emily Beckley is an artist based on Horn Island, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland. She belongs to the language groups Meriam Mir and Kala Lagaw Ya. A trained painter, Beckley’s work in painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
Beckley’s art is often concerned with reviving and maintaining cultural practice from her Meriam Mer ancestry. She draws on her experiences along with the stories and history of her culture from her parents from the Meriam – Samsep of Mer and Panai of Mabuiag to create works in metal as a way to connect the past to the future.
Her Contemporary Jewellery practice evolved through two workshops held by The Indigenous Jewellery Project (curator Emily McCulloch Childs and contemporary jeweller Melinda Young) during 2018, at Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Torres Strait Island and at ANU School of Art & Design Jewellery & Object Workshop.
The sabagorar pendant was originally carved as a bride’s pendant from a turtle shell and was part of the many items that was collected by Alfred C Haddon in 1898 during The Recording of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. It is held in the collection of the British Museum. It has been approximately 120 years since this pendant was taken from Mer (Murray Island), Torres Strait, and decades since these pendants have been created.
The recreation of this pendant in the contemporary era links the past to the present, which is of vital importance. This is done in order to revitalise an art practice in metal jewellery, which brings life to the beauty of a hidden treasure of Torres Strait art.
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