2023 yapang Emerging Art Prize winner
Art Almanac congratulates Muruwarri artist Dr Virginia Keft, winner of the 2023 yapang Emerging Art Prize for her work We were here long before the Hills Hoist, 2022, which celebrates connection to place and community through the powerfully symbolic stylisation of the iconic Australian clothesline adorned with woven flying foxes using techniques that she learned from community Elders.
Inspired by the thousands of grey-headed flying foxes that inhabit her own neighbourhood, where human activities have displaced them from their natural habitats, Keft created the work to “overwrite the Hills Hoist as a potent symbol of white Australian suburbia and reclaim the space with eucalyptus branches collected from Dharawal Country (Wollongong).” The work is a statement about the resilience of Aboriginal culture and critiques the mindset of the colonial project, which aimed to colonise, conquer, and disperse.
This year's judging panel comprised of independent curator Sebastian Goldspink, Torres Strait Islander artist Toby Cedar, and curator Jessica Tobin, who described Keft's winning work as “outside the box.” Cedar adding, “The way she did her technique that was passed down was not just doing the same thing everyone else is doing … You have to have a strong story to make your artwork powerful.”
Keft's We were here long before the Hills Hoist will be acquired by Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, yapang in New South Wales, joining its collection. In addition, Keft will be supported by MAC yapang to develop a body of work for a future exhibition. Also, acquired and highly commended by the judges: Shaun Allen's C.F.C and Adam Manning's Three Unknown Ancestors. Other highly commended works include David Dennison's entry, Serpent Dreaming.
Held every two years, the yapang Emerging Art Prize is an acquisitive art prize developed to celebrate, promote, and support emerging First Nations artists from across Australia. The 2023 yapang Emerging Art
