Hetti Perkins facts for kids

Hetti Kemerre Perkins (born in 1965) is an Aboriginal Australian art curator and writer. She is famous for her work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. She worked at the Art Gallery of New South Wales as a senior curator from about 1998 to 2011. She also helped create many important art shows and projects.

Early Life and Education

Hetti Kemerre Perkins is an Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman. Her family comes from Central Australia. She was born in 1965. Her father was Aboriginal Australian activist Charles Perkins. Her mother was Eileen Munchenberg.

Hetti is the granddaughter of Hetty Perkins. Her sister is film director Rachel Perkins. Her brother is Adam Perkins. Hetti's mother made an art gallery in their garage in Canberra. This gallery showed Aboriginal art. Hetti was also inspired by her father's work for Indigenous rights. She was there when the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was set up in 1972.

She went to Melrose High School in Canberra. She finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986.

Career as an Art Curator

Perkins started her career at Aboriginal Arts Australia. This was an art gallery in Sydney. She worked with independent Aboriginal artists. She also worked with community art centres in remote areas. In 1988, she went to New York. She helped with the Dreamings: Art of Aboriginal Australia exhibition there.

Next, she became a curator at the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative in Sydney. She helped make the cooperative bigger and more well-known. Under her guidance, Boomalli held many art shows. These shows were in Sydney and other countries. They featured works by its members and other New South Wales artists.

She worked at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in Sydney starting in 1989. From about 1998 to 2011, she was the senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. She led many big exhibitions and projects during her time there. Perkins helped open the Yiribana Gallery at AGNSW in 1994. In 1991, she organized the Aboriginal Womens Exhibition. This show traveled around Australia.

In 1997, she helped choose the art for Australia's entry in the 1997 Venice Biennale. She worked with Brenda L. Croft and Victoria Lynn. This exhibition showed art by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie, and Judy Watson.

In 2010, she advised on "Eora Journey". This was a public art program for the City of Sydney. It focused on Indigenous art.

Also in 2010, she created the project art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art. This project included a major exhibition at AGNSW. It also had a book and a three-part TV show. The TV show was made by ABC Television. It aired in October 2010. Later, it was shown in Sweden as "Aborginernas konst".

Perkins was the curator for the National Portrait Gallery's fourth National Indigenous Art Triennial. This exhibition was called Ceremony. It ran from March 26 to July 31, 2022. As of 2022, she is a "senior curator-at-large" for the National Portrait Gallery.

In September 2022, she co-curated the 31st Desert Mob exhibition. This show was held by Desart in Mparntwe Alice Springs. She worked with Marisa Maher, who is an assistant manager at the art centre. This was the first time two Aboriginal women curated the exhibition together.

Other Activities and Roles

Perkins was on the International Selection Committee for the Biennale of Sydney in 2000. She also helped produce four TV series called Colour Theory. These were for SBS/NITV. She also helped curate the Australian Indigenous Art Commission. This was at the Musee du quai Branly in Paris, France.

Perkins has been a board member for several groups. These include the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council. She also served on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. She has worked with government agencies and community art groups. Her work helps promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts.

Recognition and Honours

• 2011: She was an Artist-in-residence for Bangarra Dance Theatre.
• 2018: She received an Australia Council Fellowship. This was at the National Indigenous Arts Awards.

Personal Life

Perkins is the mother of actress and activist Madeleine Madden. Error: no page names specified (help). In Spanish: Hetti Perkins para niños