Description: A material intervention into Australian art histories, examining overlooked objects that unsettle definitions of nationhood and identity.
Brief description: Molly Duggins is Lecturer in Art History and Theory at the National Art School, Sydney, Australia. She specializes in 19th-century colonial visual and material culture with an emphasis on intersecting artistic and environmental discourses. Her research has been supported with fellowships and grants from the Yale Center for British Art, the State Library of New South Wales, the Strong National Museum of Play, and Winterthur Museum and Library.
Review Quotes:
"These Australian objects burst into life: they have stories, textures, characters and feelings inscribed in them. And once crafted, they extend the lives of those who created them, or live with them. A wonderful collection, that will make you reconsider your own cherished objects." --Stephen Muecke, Emeritus Professor of Ethnography, the University of New South Wales, Australia
"This book addresses how works of art made in or brought to Australia by Indigenous, settler colonial, and diverse immigrant cultures embody the complexities and fluidity of Australian identity. Paying attention to material sources, makers, constituent parts, and the life of the object, these essays powerfully interrogate exactly what we mean by the term "Australian."" --Edward S. Cooke, Jr. Charles F. Montgomery Professor of the History of Art, Yale University, USA