Here’s Why Female Australian Artists Are Popping Up Everywhere Right Now

The average Australian could probably name five or so of our country’s artists, but how many of them would be women? Chances are, you’re more likely to think of a Sidney Nolan or Brett Whiteley than Tracey Moffat, Patricia Piccinini, Nat Randall or Kaylene Whisky. But, hopefully, that’ll change soon, as the National Gallery is launching a nationwide campaign to centre women artists in not just the canon, but everyday life.

Next year, the National Gallery of Australia is committing to fixing its statistics; currently, women are behind just 25 percent of its Australian art collection. From May to October, the gallery will exclusively showcase female artists (from the 20th century), but they’ll also be promoting them by canvassing their names across the country — on billboards, TV, social media and even on t-shirts.

It’s called #KnowMyName, and, in partnership with Instagram, Facebook, the Seven Network, the National Association for the Visual Arts and oOh! Media (which owns Junkee Media), they’re rolling it out as of today. The reasons are simple, and motivated by a similar project by the Washington DC’s National Museum of Women in the Arts. Called #5WomenArtists, the campaign asked a simple question: can you name five women artists? The National Gallery of Australia isn’t so sure we can, and, with their partners, want to change that.

“It is time to meet Australia’s culture makers, hear their stories, see their art and know their names,” said Alison Wright, Assistant Director National Gallery of Australia. “Women have been shaping Australian culture for more than 60,000 years and it is through the voices of artists we can define a country of tolerance, kindness and inclusion.”

Also on-board is Art Girl Rising, a t-shirt company that sells shirts with female artists’ names inspired by the #5WomenArtists challenge, donating profits to a series of causes that promote women in the arts. For #KnowMyName, they’ll be making Australia-centric shirts available to buy.

As part of the launch, the National Gallery was open for 24 hours from 10pm on Friday, with a pop-up bar till 2am. The gallery is encouraging people to use the hashtag to highlight Australian female creatives. More information is available on the National Gallery’s website.

Junkee Media and oOh! Media are proud partners of #KnowMyName.