Wayne Quilliam facts for kids

Wayne Quilliam (born 1963) is a famous Aboriginal Australian artist. He takes amazing photos and helps people understand Aboriginal culture. He lives in Melbourne and is known for his pictures of people and beautiful nature scenes. He also helps organize art shows and gives advice about culture.

Wayne Quilliam's Early Life

Wayne Quilliam was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He grew up in the city suburbs. When he was a child, he spent time in the wild areas of Central Tasmania. His uncles and grandfather taught him a lot about the land there. Even though he learned about the land, he was not very connected to his Aboriginal culture at that time.

Wayne Quilliam's Career Journey

When Wayne was 15, he joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1979. He got his first camera when he was 17 years old in 1980. This was when he was working in Hong Kong.

Later, when Wayne was 21, he bought special equipment for developing photos. He bought it from a customer whose chimney he was cleaning!

He also worked for an Aboriginal newspaper called the Koori Mail. Today, he teaches as a professor at RMIT University in Melbourne. He works in the School of Media and Communication.

Wayne Quilliam's Photography Work

Wayne Quilliam has spent over 20 years taking photos of important Indigenous events. These include the Sorry speech and the 1967 Referendum Anniversary. He has also photographed many festivals like Garma, Laura, Burunga, Dreaming, and Yeperenye. He has visited hundreds of Aboriginal communities across Australia.

Wayne also works with Indigenous groups in other countries. He has visited places like Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, and Vietnam. His goal is to create art and cultural exchanges around the world. He hopes to put on global art shows.

His photo series called ‘Lowanna’ uses textures from the earth on human bodies. His ‘Towindri’ landscape art and ‘Smoke’ exhibition show the meaning of smoking ceremonies. These ceremonies are very important in Aboriginal culture.

Wayne is the official photographer for the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures. This big festival takes place in Arnhem Land.

Exhibitions and Shows

Wayne Quilliam has had his own art shows in many cities. These include Havana, Tokyo, Mexico City, and New York City. He has also shown his work in Berlin, Sydney, and Melbourne. His photos have even been shown at the United Nations in New York.

His photo exhibition about the ‘Apology’ is called ‘Sorry more than a Word’. It first opened at Parliament House in Canberra. Over 250,000 people have seen it, and it continues to travel around the world.

His art has been shown in many other places too. These include the Museum of Young Art in Vienna and galleries in Berlin. He has also had shows in Russia, Guam, and Indonesia. His ‘Towindri’ exhibition in Cairo was very popular. It then toured to Riyadh and Beirut in 2014.

Here are some of his past exhibitions:

• Shades of Black (late 2004 - January 2005); Kluge-Ruhe Gallery, Virginia, United States
• HOME (2012); Wyndham Art Gallery, Wyndham City, Victoria
• Instaculture (July–August 2019); amBUSH Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales
• DJIWARR (April–August 2020)
• Earth Burns, Water Cries (July–September 2021); Venetian Media Group, South Yarra, Victoria

Wayne Quilliam's Personal Life

Wayne Quilliam is known as "a freshwater man." This means his family comes from the central highlands of Tasmania. He has been with his wife, Jodie, since the early 2000s. They have a daughter named Tanisha.

Books by Wayne Quilliam

• Culture is Life (2021); Hardie Grant

Awards and Recognition

Wayne Quilliam has won many awards for his amazing work. He won the AIMSC Business of the Year award. National Geographic also nominated him as a Master of Photography. He was a finalist for the Prix Pictet in Paris. He was also a finalist for the Bowness Photography Prize.

• 2008 Human Rights Media Award
• 2008 Walkley Award
• 2009 NAIDOC Artist of the Year
• 2019 Survival International 2020 Calendar Photo Competition
• 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize