Dobell Annual Lecture draws a crowd

Since 1985, the ANU School of Art has hosted an annual lecture where an eminent art historian, curator, or artist is invited to speak on some aspect of Australian art history or art practice.

Professor Ian McLean was the 30th speaker, and delivered the Sir William Dobell Annual Lecture ‘What’s in a name?’ to a packed house of over 130 guests at the School of Art in early June. The talk was opened by newly appointed Dobell Chair of Art History Professor Helen Ennis.

Professor McLean argued that a consideration of Indigenous contemporary art should begin with an examination of the word Indigenous itself, its history, usage and current meanings.

Professor Ian McLean speaking at the event

He discussed the history of a particular family of words – indigenous, savage, primitive, native, and Aboriginal – and related these words to ideas that have shaped Western thinking about art, culture and freedom. While the focus was on Australia he also made illuminating comparisons with other cultures shaped by colonial encounters, including Canada and New Zealand.

Professor McLean is Senior Research Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Wollongong and has published extensively on Australian art and particularly Aboriginal Art within a contemporary context.

His books include White Aborigines: Identity Politics in Australian Art and The Art of Gordon Bennett (with a chapter by Gordon Bennett) and he edited the anthology How Aborigines Invented the Idea of Contemporary Art.