TINA BAUM Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, National Gallery of Australia
Tina Baum is from the Gulumirrgin (Larrakia), Wardaman and Karajarri peoples of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, German and Scottish heritage, and has been working for more than 30 years in museums and art galleries around Australia. Baum has been curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) since 2005 where she most recently curated the Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. Baum has also worked on the NGA/Wesfarmers Arts’ Indigenous Arts Leadership and Fellowship program since its inception in 2010 as a mentor to the 100-plus alumni – a presenter and organiser who is proud to be a part of a team that continues to strengthen capacity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts workers around Australia.
“I’m really proud to work with some incredible Blak leaders and playing a role in progressing museums,” says Braum. “I look forward to seeing what the next leaders like those from the NGA/ Wesfarmers program do for communities, artists and the sector.”
Pictured right is an image of Tina Baum produced by her brother, Gary Lee, who is a respected Larrakia/Wardaman/Karajarri artist. Lee described the meaning for the portrait saying that he liked the idea of working with a photo of Baum as a child and reworking it through his own markings to enhance this sense of an enduring essence. Part of this essence is Baum’s Aboriginality, which includes her primary Larrakia and Wardaman Aboriginal identities both through her mother and
Karajarri identity through her father.