Marramarra: Indigenous Artists Making History Visible
Brook Garru Andrew, and Jessica Neath
Co-Published by UNSW Press and Garru Editions
English
Softcover
256 pages
210 x 260 mm
2024
ISBN 9781742237039
Marramarra (a Wiradjuri word meaning to create, make, or do) explores how contemporary Indigenous artists and their communities are revealing hidden histories and finding pathways to healing.
Marramarra shares conversations with leading contemporary artists, including Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin (Pitjantjatjara, Arrernte, Australia), Judy Watson (Waanyi, Australia), Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe, Canada), Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit and Unangax̂, Alaska), and Pauliina Feodoroff (Skolt Sámi, Finland). Indigenous Elders and knowledge holders also provide insights about important community projects, places of memory, and history lessons about colonisation.
Led by Indigenous voices and presenting ground-breaking artworks from the Pacific, Turtle Island (North and Central America), Brazil, Finland, Taiwan, Afghanistan, and beyond, Marramarra provides new ways to think about the past and imagine a planet that is bright for Indigenous futures – a place that is better for all.
About the Authors:
Brook presents his artwork in Australia and internationally, with research-based museum and public space interventions, and the Wiradjuri language being central to his practice. Brook’s museum interventions began in 1996 with Dispersed Treasures at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. The use of Wiradjuri language began shortly after, evident in early works such as Ngajuu Ngaay Nginduugirr (I see you) (1998), an installation combining photographic print and neon text. In 2017, Brook’s artistic career was recognised with a large-scale, immersive solo exhibition – Brook Andrew: The Right to Offend is Sacred at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. As a leading thinker and researcher in his field, Brook is Enterprise Professor in Interdisciplinary Practice and Director of Reimagining Museums and Collections at the University of Melbourne; Associate Researcher, Pitt Rivers Museum, and Associate Research in the Wominjeka Djeembana research lab, Monash University. He holds a DPhil from the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. In his role as Director of Reimagining Museums and Collections at the University of Melbourne (2022 – ongoing), Brook founded BLAK C.O.R.E, a collective driven by First Nations methodologies, research, and cultural practices focusing on walumarra (protection), yindyamarra gunhanha (ongoing respect,) and murungidyal (healing in the museum).
(Source: https://www.brookandrew.com/ngadhi/me)
Jessica Neath is a non-Indigenous Australian of settler descent and has been supporting research development at Djeembana since October 2019. In February 2021, she commenced as a Research Fellow on the Australian Research Council project “More than a guulany: Indigenous Knowledge Systems” led by Dr Brian Martin and Associate Professor Brook Garru Andrew. In 2016, Jessica began working with Associate Professor Brook Garru Andrew as a research assistant on the Australian Research Council project “Representation, Remembrance and the Memorial”, supporting research collaborations with artists, scholars, and communities across Australia and internationally, coordinating the RR.Memorial forum, and assisting with publications and exhibition outcomes. She continues to work with Brook across various research projects and initiatives. She was awarded her PhD in art history at Monash University in 2015 and has published writing in The Journal of Australian Studies, Arena Magazine, eyeline, The History of Photography, Landscape Architecture Australia, and Fashion Theory.
(Source: https://www.monash.edu/mada/art/people/jessica-neath)
About the Publishers
In addition to his artistic and scholarly practices, Brook established the publishing arm Garru Editions in 2020. Publications include galang 01 and galang 02 (2022), volumes by the Powerhouse-galang, an Indigenous-led think tank, collective, and sovereign space initiated by Brook in his role as Powerhouse artistic associate. Dual/Duel (2021), a collaborative artist book by Brook and Trent Walter, was also produced by Garru Editions, and in 2025, a story consultant and researcher for the Australian ABCTV second series “The Art Of… S2”. GARRU EDITIONS is the publishing arm of Brook Andrew Studio. The publications include both digital and printed matter. We are excited to collaborate with creatives, writers, and communities to produce books, essays, and bespoke experiments.
https://www.brookandrew.com/
(Source: https://www.brookandrew.com/garru-editions)
UNSW Press Limited is a not-for-profit Australian company. Operating since 1962, it is a controlled entity of the University of New South Wales, based on campuses in Sydney, Australia. Its mission is to contribute to intellectual and cultural development in a sustainable environment by providing publishing and bookselling services which will promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and scholarship, and enhance the global reputation of UNSW. The main activities of UNSW Press are book publishing, representation and distribution services in Australia and New Zealand, and retail bookselling on the Kensington campus of the university. At our award-winning university press, there is a strong commitment to publishing Australian research and defining Australian experiences. Whether a book emerges from peer-reviewed university-funded research, lived experience, literary mastery, or all three, our team strives to bring stories to Australian audiences and to readers around the world.
https://unsw.press/
(Source: https://unsw.press/about/)
