Luke Scholes on curating, caring and collaborating

10/31/18 • 22 min

When Luke Scholes talks about being a curator, he turns toward the origins of his role: he discusses how curating means to be ‘a carer of things’. For Scholes, this largely involves caring for art collections, through his role as Curator of Aboriginal Art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT).

In this podcast Scholes unpacks his curatorial work, revealing how his position falls across three broad areas: facilitating the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards, curating exhibitions, and maintaining and developing MAGNT’s Aboriginal art collection. It’s this third responsibility that Scholes particularly delves into. “It’s not just about acquiring more examples, it’s about acquiring the right examples,” he explains. “What a curator should seek to do is develop a really strong and historical record of art movements.”

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-luke-scholes-on-curating-caring-and-collaborating

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered Mino Peric.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-luke-scholes-on-curating-caring-and-collaborating

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered Mino Peric.

Previous Episode

Glenn Iseger-Pilkington on being a conduit

Glenn Iseger-Pilkington likes to joke that he’s an “arts handyman”. Yet the phrase does have merit: he’s an artist and writer and has held various curatorial roles at the South Australian Museum, Western Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Nowadays, he’s the lead consultant at Gee Consultancy, where he works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and arts workers.

In this podcast Glenn, a Yamatji Nyoongar man from Western Australia with Dutch and Scottish migrant history, talks about his curatorial and consultancy roles, discussing how he sees himself less as a voice of authority and more as a conduit. He also talks about the experience of judging the 2018 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and, finally, tells us what changes he’s noticed in the arts in Australia over the last 15 years — both for better and worse.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-glenn-iseger-pilkington-on-being-a-conduit.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Art Awards.

Produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered by Mino Peric.

Next Episode

Gunybi Ganambarr on creating, building and etching

Since embarking on a creative path only a mere 15 years ago, Yolŋu artist Gunybi Ganambarr has been continuously praised for his weaving of Indigenous forms and traditional stories with a contemporary sensibility. He has been called a “revolutionary”, “genius” and “an innovator”, and has accumulated many accolades, including the 2018 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).

But as Ganambarr explains in the podcast conversation, visual art was not the first form he gravitated towards. His foremost creative experience started as a didgeridoo player, which allowed him to travel nationally and internationally. Prior to becoming an artist, Ganambarr also spent 12 years as a builder, and he credits this experience with familiarising himself with the tools and materials that would later find their way into his creative practice.

Gunybi discusses his 'pre-art' life, the experience of winning the 2018 NATSIAA, and the advice he has for younger artists.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-gunybi-ganambarr-on-creating-building-and-etching.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

The Interview with Gunybi Ganambarr was produced and hosted by Tiarney Miekus. Episode mix by Mino Peric and soundtrack by Jessie Warren.