The Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative was founded in 1987 in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of

Redfern, New South Wales Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney located 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Strawberry Hills is a locality on the border with Surry Hills. The area ...

. Among the legacies of the

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

are the

Deadly Awards The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013. Description T ...

for achievement in the Indigenous Australian community, which have occurred annually from 1995 to the present. The 20th anniversary of the cooperative was celebrated in 2007 with an exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. The founding members of the cooperative are

Michael Riley Michael Riley (born February 4, 1962) is a Canadian actor. From 1998 to 2000, he portrayed Brett Parker in ''Power Play''. He has acted in over 40 films and television series, including '' This Is Wonderland'', for which he received a Gemini Awa ...

(1960–2004), Avril Quaill,

Tracey Moffatt Tracey Moffatt (born 12 November 1960) is an Indigenous Australian artist who primarily uses photography and video. In 2017 she represented Australia at the 57th Venice Biennale with her solo exhibition, "My Horizon". Her works are held in th ...

Fiona Foley Fiona Foley (born 1964) is a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist from K'gari (Fraser Island), Queensland. Foley is known for her activity as an academic, cultural and community leader and for co-founding the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-o ...

Brenda L Croft Brenda L Croft (born 1964) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, writer, and educator working across contemporary Indigenous and mainstream arts and cultural sectors. Croft was a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperat ...

, Jeffrey Samuels, Euphemia Bostock, Fern Martins,

Bronwyn Bancroft Bronwyn Bancroft (born 1958) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, and among the first Australian fashion designers invited to show her work in Paris. Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, and trained in Canberra and Sydney, Bancroft worked as a ...

and Arone Meeks.

History

Boomalli has its roots in the

National Black Theatre The National Black Theatre is a non-profit cultural and educational corporation, and community-based theatre company located on 5th Avenue in Harlem, New York. History The National Black Theatre (NBT) is a non-profit cultural and educational co ...

, which operated in Redfern in the 1970s and was part of "an explosion of pride and public confidence" in Aboriginal culture and organisations. The urban Aboriginal art movement was given attention in 1984 with an exhibition in

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low ...

, a suburb of Sydney. This was followed by a 1986 exhibition. A number of critics gave negative comments and called urban Aboriginal art "a passing fad". The ten artists who founded the cooperative were diverse in their art practices but together were seeking a way to be accepted in mainstream art. They have supported many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists through their gallery, which is now in the Sydney suburb of

Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...

. Their primary objective is to support artists from Aboriginal language groups in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The word boomalli means "make a mark" in at least three

Aboriginal languages Aboriginal language may refer to: * Indigenous language * Australian Aboriginal languages * Taiwanese aboriginal languages * Indigenous languages of the Americas * Aboriginal Malay languages The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-P ...

: Bandjalung, Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay and

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

. The launch of the cooperative in 1987 was made possible by photographer

and activist

Gary Foley Gary Edward Foley (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian activist of the Gumbainggir people, academic, writer and actor. He is best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and for establishing an Abo ...

, who was a director of the

Aboriginal Arts Board The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

and helped to get funding from the Board. But it was not smooth sailing. They were unable to achieve a permanent home and have had to move the cooperative gallery four times. Government ministers did not respond to requests, and the

Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system, superannuati ...

listed a major debt. With help from pro-bono lawyers the Cooperative was able to resolve their obligations and achieve legal rights to their current location. By 2012 the cooperative was being run professionally, with financial management, governance, and marketing. While the Leichhardt council is supportive, the Cooperative has received no funding or support from state of Federal government.

The Artists

The urban Aboriginal art movement presented strong political messages about the history and treatment of Aboriginal Australians, and their treatment in the 1980s. In the 1990s the popularity of Aboriginal Art was booming nationally and overseas, as the Cooperative built relationships with major Australian and International galleries. Today the cooperative includes and actively supports 50 Aboriginal artists many of whom are young emerging artists. Many of these members have had enduring and successful careers. The Cooperative presents exhibitions each year, and small galleries at the front of their Leichhardt location allow individual artists to self-curate small exhibitions. They also provide a shop of Aboriginal artists' work both in-gallery and online.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website''Boomalli''
at Redfern Oral History 1987 establishments in Australia Art galleries established in 1987 Indigenous Australian mass media Artist cooperatives Culture of Sydney Cooperatives in Australia Australian women artists