Vivien Joan Johnson (born 1949) is an Australian sociologist, writer on

Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...

, and former editor-in-chief of the

Dictionary of Australian Artists The ''Dictionary of Australian Artists'' (DAA) was the outcome of a project begun in the 1970s at the University of Sydney under the leadership of Bernard Smith, and was continued after his retirement in 1981 by Joan Kerr. The dictionary wen ...

Online. Johnson is notable for the publication of several key reference works in the field of

contemporary Indigenous Australian art Contemporary Indigenous Australian art (also known as contemporary Aboriginal Australian art) is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded a ...

, including ''Western Desert Artists: A Biographical Dictionary'' (1995), ''Lives of the

Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...

Artists'' (2008) and ''Once Upon a Time in Papunya'' (2010). In 2005 she was made Professor of New Media Narrative and Theory at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. she is Adjunct Art and Design Professor. She was a longtime friend of artist

Kumantje Jagamara Kumantje Jagamara (1946 – November 2020), also known as Kumantje Nelson Jagamara, Michael Minjina Nelson Tjakamarra, Michael Nelson Tjakamarra and variations (Kumantye, Jagamarra, Jakamara), was an Aboriginal Australian painter. He was one of ...

, and spoke at his funeral in March 2021.

References

1949 births Living people Australian Aboriginal art Australian sociologists Australian women sociologists {{Australia-sociologist-stub