Transforming Tindale: Learning Notes

Vernon Ah Kee

Vernon Ah Kee is a conceptual artist and also a member of the Brisbane-based proppaNOW artists’ collective. He completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons) at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, majoring in drawing and screenprinting. Vernon’s work critiques Australian society, particularly the segregation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures.

Vernon has represented Australia at the 2009 Venice Biennale . He’s featured in group exhibitions such as Revolutions – Forms That Turn: 2008 Biennale of Sydney and Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial at the National Gallery of Australia. Vernon features in the National Gallery of Canada, the Hood Museum of Art in New Hampshire, USA, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. He was a 2012 Archibald Portrait Prize finalist for his portrait of Indigenous activist Lex Wotton.

Solo exhibitions include ill-like at the Kluge-Ruhe Gallery in Charlottesville, USA (2012), tall man at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne (2011), Vernon Ah Kee at City Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand (2010), Blow Your House In at Mackenzie Gallery, Regina, Canada (2009), Belief Suspension at ArtSpace, Sydney (2008) and Can’t Chant at Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2007), where they published borninthisskin (2009), the first major publication about his practice.

"I'm expanding the idea of what it means to be Aboriginal and what it means to be human. A lot of the problem this country has with Aboriginal people is that it struggles to see Aboriginal people as fully human." – Vernon Ah Kee

Tindale Genealogical Collection

Tindale’s original research is held at the South Australian Museum . State Library has copies of genealogical information and some photographs from the Tindale collection for the Queensland Aboriginal communities of Mona Mona, Yarrabah, Palm Island, Woorabinda and Cherbourg, as well as two northern New South Wales communities at Boggabilla and Woodenbong.

State Library has also created an online index of names recorded in the genealogies. There are restrictions on who can access the full family tree information and photographs.

Access to these records can be arranged by contacting the John Oxley Library.

The Tindale collection is a great resource for researching Aboriginal family history; however, it does contain some inaccuracies. Information from this collection should not be your only source for family history research.

Learning notes

Designed to complement State Library’s Transforming Tindale exhibition, the learning notes align with the Australian Curriculum in History, English, and Visual Arts, with a focus on the cross-curricular priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. This resource can be used to enhance students’ learning experiences pre-visit, whilst visiting Transforming Tindale , and post-visit. The activities can also be adapted for adult learners.

Using the learning notes offsite

State Library recommends visiting the exhibition. If you are unable to visit, some of the activities can be used independently. Students can also access information and images from the exhibition website.

To locate primary resources for further research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, use State Library’s OneSearch catalogue .

Acknowledgements

State Library thanks Jonathan Nalder, Principal Project Officer, Indigenous Education and Training Futures Division, Department of Education, Training and Employment, whose input ensures these activities bring out the best in our exhibition and the learner experience. Jonathan assisted SLQ as part of the Learning Associates Program.

State Library gratefully acknowledges the support received from the South Australian Museum to provide access to the Tindale collection.