mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson

projections, then video. She subsequently lived in Sydney for six years, where she joined Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative and was part of a seminal survey exhibition 'A Koori Perspective' at Artspace in 1989. She then moved back to Brisbane in 1989 for a Griffith University artist residency, during which she researched the holdings of the Queensland Museum. Watson's international career grew in the 1990s, with residencies in Italy, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, India and Spain. Concurrently, in 1993, she travelled around Queensland with Flying Arts Alliance to deliver workshops across regional and remote communities, including in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands), Injinoo, Winton and Longreach. Watson gained national prominence in 1995 when she received the Moët & Chandon Australian Art Fellowship — a prestigious award for artists under 35 years old that included a 12-month residency in Hautvillers, France. In 1997 her work was selected for the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with Ngarrindjeri artist Yvonne Koolmatrie and Anmatyerre artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye. 11 Watson then moved to Darwin to teach at the Northern Territory University from 1998 to 1999. Since the turn of the new millennium, Watson's career trajectory has sped up exponentially. Despite this success, however, she has maintained an educational focus through mentoring residencies, workshops and artwork collaborations that have benefited countless artists and arts workers, including myself. This activity has been recognised by Griffith University, Brisbane, with an Adjunct Professorship, and by The University of Queensland, Brisbane, with an Honorary Doctorate. A wealth of critical writing about Watson's practice was published in the 2000s. Instead of providing further analysis here, these deeply personal reflections are an attempt to establish the conditions in which Watson's career bloomed, and to explore how they informed her decision to become an artist. Art often provides a means of expression, and a voice to the voiceless. While her works are unique, Watson's perspective is shared by the generation of artists now at the forefront of Black art in the country. Was it Bjelke-Petersen's oppressive rule and denial of civil rights that spurred these figures to artistic action? Or does it go further back to the harsh restrictions placed on these artists' parents and grandparents? It is easy to forget that seemingly 'historic' atrocities happened in living memory. Although Watson's work is not overtly political, its spirit of activism runs deep; it sneaks up when you least expect it, but the moment it is turned on, like a light switch, its underpinning politics are blindingly obvious. OPPOSITE Watson making work for the Venice Biennale, Sydney studio 1997 the guardians 1986–87 44