Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism

15 Dec 2017–25 Mar 2018

Main Exhibition Gallery
Free

Read the Media Release here

Read more about the Film Program and view the screening schedule here

View the Unfinished Business education resources here

EXHIBITION COLOURS BY DULUX
Vivid White Dulux Enviro Flat Acrylic
White Dulux Professional Flat Acrylic
Ticking Dulux Matte Acrylic
Dulux Wash and Wear, Low Sheen, colour matched for the Round Table

 

Listen to the Unfinished Business podcast series here:

Forerunner: Unfinished Business

We won’t be silenced: Women* in and of the media

Next Gen(der)

Don’t tell me to smile: Blak feminism and intersectionality

Isms: Feminist art and editorial histories

Learning From Each Other

In addition to our public programs, ACCA was delighted to host a number of special events with Lead Partner the Trawalla Foundation and Program Partner The University of Melbourne. These included Professor Cordelia Fine in conversation presented by the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia and The University of Melbourne, Faculty of Arts; Laura Tingle in conversation presented by The University of Melbourne, School of Government Pathways to Politics Program for Women;  The Stella Prize 2017 Winner Heather Rose in conversation with Dr Natasha Cica.

Listen to the podcasts below:
In conversation with Professor Cordelia Fine:

In conversation with Laura Tingle:

The Stella Prize: Heather Rose in conversation with Natasha Cica

Continuing ACCA’s ongoing series of Big Picture exhibitions focussing on contemporary art’s relation to wider social, cultural and political contexts, Unfinished Business is a major exhibition conceived to animate critical, albeit under-represented, practices and debates within contemporary Australian art and society.

Surveying the diverse scope of feminist art practices – including painting, performance, photography and film to community engagement and cultural activism – the exhibition focuses upon the dynamic formal invention and social engagement of feminist artists. It explores strategies and analyses of gender identity and representation, intersectional politics, and practices which embrace performative codes, text and media technologies, humour and critique.

Adopting a collaborative, polyphonic form which encourages diverse voices, practices and debates, Unfinished Business presents new commissions and recent work alongside selected historical projects, programs of film and performance, and a publication with contributions by art historians, artists and theorists from the 1970s to the present.

The exhibition is being developed by a curatorial team that includes ACCA’s Artistic Director Max Delany and Senior Curator Annika Kristensen, working in collaboration with:

  • Paola Balla, Wemba-Wemba and Gunditjmara artist, curator and academic, Victoria University
  • Julie Ewington, curator, writer and broadcaster, and previously Head of Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art
  • Vikki McInnes, Managing Editor, Art & Australia, and Research Development Fellow, Victorian College of the Arts
  • Elvis Richardson, artist and initiator and chief researcher of CoUNTESS

Asking why feminism is still relevant, necessary and critical, Unfinished Business explores trans-generational legacies, inheritances and shifts, alongside contemporary conditions and concerns – to stimulate new debates and discussions around the ‘unfinished business’ of feminism today.

Watch the exhibition video made by Art Guide Australia with ACCA here:

Watch exhibiting artists Mary Featherston and Emily Floyd in conversation:

Watch the highlights from Bodies of Evidence performance program:

Programs

Lead Partner

Lead Donor

Margaret Morgan Wesley Phoa

Government Partner

Program Partner

Symposium Partner

Sheila Founation

Exhibition Partners

Round Table Donors

Lou and Will McIntyre

Media Partners