Re-Register: Australian Women Sculptors from the Women’s Art Register

This exhibition of new work responds to the archives of the Women’s Art Register, in particular to the 1978 research and exhibition project Profile of Australian Women Sculptors: 1860-1960. The research, undertaken by Anna Sande and Bonita Ely (both early members of the Women’s Art Register), resulted in a substantial publication, a series of photographic portraits, an educational slide kit and two exhibitions.

A series of black and white photographic portraits of these women sculptors hangs in the Women’s Art Register office. It provided a touchstone for the development of this exhibition. The portraits led the artist to uncover many more names of women artists who have come before her.

The exhibition draws attention to all the people who have worked behind the scenes at the Women’s Art Register. The women whose hands tirelessly wrote and typed many pieces of correspondence, who have cared for and expanded the archive for over forty years, who have advocated for and promoted Australian women artists, and who continue to do so today, and into the future. What began as a desire to acknowledge the achievements, persistence and resilience of the 41 named sculptors, became a tribute to many other, often unknown, hands.

More work by the artist is currently on view at Richmond Library, along with original archival materials from the Women’s Art Register ‘s Profile of Australian Women Sculptors: 1860-1960 collection.

Re-Register: Australian Women Sculptors from the Women’s Art Register was exhibited at the Richmond Town Hall between 1 November, 2019 and 31 January, 2020

Image Credit:  Re-Register: Australian Women Sculptors from the Women’s Art Register, 2019, installation view, Richmond Town Hall. Photo by J. Forsyth.