We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
Archie Moore / Australia b.1970 / Sacred sights (The first intervention) 2008 / Folded book / 14 x 48 x 27cm / Purchased 2008. The Queensland Government’s Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Archie Moore
Archie MooreSacred sights (The first intervention) 2008
Not Currently on Display
In this carefully crafted sculpture, Archie Moore communicates the effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people, in particular the introduction of Christianity. In his artwork, Moore draws on the experience of renowned Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira (1902–59) by creating a replica of the Lutheran Church that was built in Namatjira’s hometown of Hermannsburg.
Namatjira was celebrated as a great artist, but as an Aboriginal person he had few rights under the government legislation of the day. This work draws our attention to current government interventions into Aboriginal affairs, which continue to influence the lives of Aboriginal people.
Endnotes:
1. McLean, Bruce. ‘This land is mine/this land is me’. In ‘My country, I still call Australia home : Contemporary art from Black Australia’. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2013, p.16.
Archie Moore lives and works in Brisbane. He completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Queensland University of Technology in 1998, and in 2001 was awarded a prestigious Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship, enabling him to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
Moore’s diverse practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography and video. His work has featured in a number of major exhibitions including ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia’ at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, in 2013.
Discussion Questions
1. How has colonisation affected Aboriginal people? What does Moore express in creating a replica of a church out of a book about Australian Art on the page that details the life and art of the iconic Aboriginal artist Vincent Namatjira?
2. Compare Moore’s work with Irene Entata’s Mission Days and Pot: Mission Days. What makes the Hermannsburg mission a site that Entata would depict in a positive light while Moore adopts a different approach?
Activities
Find a book, magazine or newspaper (one that can be damaged) with a story about a person or character who has lived through a challenging situation. Create a sculpture, architectural form or vessel out of the pages that refers to the experience of a character.