CLOTHILDE BULLEN Senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Exhibitions, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

In 2017, Clothilde Bullen, a Wardandi (Nyoongar) Aboriginal woman with English/French heritage, joined Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art Australia after curating with the Art Gallery of Western Australia for more than a decade. Bullen has published extensively and curated a number of independent shows, as well as serving on arts boards in the government and private sector. And yet, despite her considerable achievements as both a curator and writer, she insists what is most important to her is building capacity and sustainability in the sector; creating and holding space for the next generation of arts workers and leaders.

Bullen is particularly proud of two things. The first is the development of an Indigenous writer/mentor program – the Indigenous Voices Program – in conjunction with Art Monthly Australasia and supported by the Power Institute at the University of Sydney; the other is being a member of the development committee for the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) Indigenous Arts Leadership and Fellowship program supported by Wesfarmers Arts. The program supports Indigenous arts professionals to deepen their understanding of the art sector and build their network of support. From that program a significant alumni of Indigenous arts workers have emerged who are all making their own extraordinary contributions to the arts around Australia.

“I am so proud to help develop that [NGA/Wesfarmers] program, which sisters like Tina Baum have continued to evolve over the past 10 years,” says Bullen. “It is absolutely critical that institutions create sustainable pathways for other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the arts to ensure authentic representation and interpretation of ourselves across all forms of our cultural material is mandatory to addressing the imposed identities and histories placed upon us by the dominant culture in this country. It is not just an economic imperative for our arts workers and communities but a political one also.”

The painting of Clothilde Bullen (opposite) is by Thea Anamara Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman and emerging artist whose practice incorporates both painting and installation and explores her Indigenous identity as well as conceptual investigations into art-making itself.