Photo Essay: Documenting my Culture in its Truest Form

Aboriginal Art Directory | 04.08.10

Being one of the very few professional Indigenous photographers in Australia, I find it my responsibility to record and document my culture in its truest form. My social documentary work focuses on health and education, as I believe that if our communities have the necessary levels of health care, only then are we able to concentrate on developing the appropriate educational skills that will allow us to be who we are. Aboriginal Australia is a progressive modern community that continues its link with the Earth and traditional practices whilst evolving and adapting to twenty-first century culture.” —Wayne Quilliam

Wayne Quilliam is recipient of Australia’s  2009 National Indigenous Artist of the Year, awarded in recognition of his continuous service to indigenous people throughout the world. He won the 2008 Human Rights Media Award for his work on the “Apology” and was twice a finalist in the prestigious Walkley Awards for a social documentary on the Redfern Riots. In harmony with his photojournalistic work he is recognised as one of Australia’s top 100 artists for his “Lowanna” art that infuses textures of earth over bodies. It is estimated that his photo documentary exhibitions on the “Apology” and “Sorry, More than a Word” at Australia’s Parliament House were viewed by more than a quarter of a million people. Mr. Quilliam works with indigenous groups in Mexico, Bolivia, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Guam, and is currently developing an intercultural exchange between indigenous photographers around the world.

URL: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/cache/bypass/home/archive/issues2010/achieving_global_health/waynequilliamphotoessaydocumentingmyculutre?ctnscroll_articleContainerList=1_0&ctnlistpagination_articleContainerList=true

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