Rebecca Hossack
{{Short description|Australian gallerist (born 1955)}}
{{infobox person
|name = Rebecca Hossack
|image =
|caption = Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Rebecca Hossack, London
|birth_place = Melbourne, Australia
|birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|October 1955}}
|occupation = Gallerist
|years active = 1988–present
|birth_name = Rebecca Anne Hossack
| spouse = Matthew Sturgis
}}
Rebecca Hossack (born October 1955), is an Australian-born London gallerist, who helped introduce Indigenous Australian art to a British audience.{{cite web|title=British Museum Collection - BIOG Rebecca Hosssack| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG13556}}{{cite news| work=The Guardian|page=British Identity and Society| title=Tales of Belonging: 1980s, Australia, Rebecca Hossack|last1=Barkham|first1=Patrick| date=7 April 2008|url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.immigration}}{{cite news|work=Studio International, New York|date=24 October 2018|last1=McKenzie|first1=Janet|title=Damien Coulthard: Songlines XXX, Adnyamathanha Yarta|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/damien-coulthard-interview-songlines-adnyamathanha-yarta-aboriginal-australian-rebecca-hossack-gallery}}{{cite news| work= The Independent|title=Rebecca Queen of the Desert| date=26 March 1998|last1=Walsh|first1=John| url=
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/rebecca-queen-of-the-desert-1152931.html}} She is considered an expert on Aboriginal art, Australian Aboriginal culture and non-Western art traditions,{{cite web| work=Queensland Government Australia| page=Media Statements| title=Indigenous Australian Art from Torres Strait on show in London |date=11 September 2008|last1=Mickel|first1=John| url=
https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/53539}}{{cite web|title=Dream Traces: a Celebration of Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art, April 2003-May 2003 |url=http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/whats-on/gallery/gallery-exhibitions-2003/dream-traces-a-celebration-of-contemporary-australian-aboriginal-art |work=University of Brighton, Arts/Culture Exhibition, Symposium and Publication}} who was the first to introduce many of the Aboriginal Australian artists to Europe, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.{{cite news| work=National Indigenous Times| title=Rebecca Hossack is the International Art Gallery Championing Indigenous Artists|last1=Blogg|first1=Phoebe|date= 27 September 2023|url= https://nit.com.au/27-09-2023/7850/rebecca-hossack-is-the-international-art-gallery-championing-indigenous-artists}}{{cite web| website=Aboriginal Art Directory|title=Rebecca Hossack at SF Fine Art Fair| url=https://aboriginalartdirectory.com/san-francisco-rebecca-hossack-art-gallery-at-sf-fine-art-fair}}{{cite web|date=29 May 2020 |first1=Rebecca |last1=Hossack |title=The Wonders of Australian Aboriginal Art |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vYv3nfMmFU |website=YouTube, TedxOxford}}{{cite web|work=TexOxford|title=Rebecca Hossack Talk|url=https://www.ted.com/search?q=Rebecca+Hossack}}{{cite news| title=Rebecca Hossack art gallery celebrates launch of new indigenous sculptural exhibition| date=10 January 2024|last1=Blogg|first1=Phoebe|url=https://nit.com.au/10-01-2024/9256/rebecca-hossack-art-gallery-celebrates--launch-of-new-indigenous-sculptural-exhibition}} She also curates African Art and indigenous art from other countries such as Papua New Guinea.{{cite magazine| magazine=Arts and Collections Magazine| title=Rebecca Hossack Gallery shows art of the African bushmen|last1=Jenkins|first1=Chris| date=April 2021|url=https://www.artsandcollections.com/rebecca-hossack-gallery-shows-art-of-the-african-bushmen/}}{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of Museum Ethnography |title =Review. Kauage's Visions: Art from Papua New Guinea at The Horniman Museum 2005|issue=18|last1=Gore|first1=Charles|jstor =40793824|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40793824}}
She founded the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in 1988. Janet McKenzie, co-editor of Studio International said, "Hossack has almost single-handedly introduced Australian Aboriginal art to Britain and Europe". In 1989 Hossack launched the first of her ongoing Songlines seasons of Aboriginal art, which ran from June to September annually. The exhibitions are named in honour of Hossack's friend Bruce Chatwin, inspired by his famous novel about Aboriginal culture, The Songlines.{{cite news|work=Prospect Magazine|last1=Greer|first1=Germaine| date=16 October 2016|title=Depths of Ignorance|url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/essays/51614/depths-of-ignorance}}
Early life and education
Hossack was born and raised in Hawthorne, Melbourne, one of four daughters of the surgeon Donald W. Hossack and his wife Joan.{{cite web|work=University of Melbourne Blogs|title=Driving Ambitions|url=https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/3010/driving-ambitions/}}{{cite web|website=Surgical News, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Magazine News|page=47|title=Storied Life Becomes a Memoir|last1=Murphy|first1=Karen|url= https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/surgical-news/sn_janfeb_2018.pdf}} Her father was awarded an OBE for his research into seat belts in cars, which in 1970, resulted in Victoria being the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate the wearing of seatbelts.{{cite news|date=16 May 2016 |title=How Dr Donald Hossack's research has saved thousands of lives on the road |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/how-dr-donald-hossacks-research-has-saved-thousands-of-lives-on-the-road-20170515-gw54f4.html |work=Sydney Morning Herald}} Her father published his autobiography at the age of 90.{{cite web| website=National Library of Australia Catalogue| title=The Weaver's Son: Odyssey of an Australian Surgeon|type=Autobiography|date=2017|last1=Hossack|first1=Donald W.|url=
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/7253499}}{{cite book|editor=Belinda Nemec|title=The Weaver's Son: Odyssey of an Australian Surgeon|date=2016 |publisher=Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne |isbn=978-0-7340-5313-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeYrnQAACAAJ}}{{cite news|work=The Independent|title=Rebecca Queen of the Desert|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/rebecca-queen-of-the-desert-1152931.html}}{{cite web| website=Monk Gallery| page=essays| title=Rebecca Hossack, Dreamtime Girl|url=https://monk.gallery/essays/rebecca-hossack-dreamtime-girl}}
Hossack attended St Catherine's School in Melbourne,{{cite web| website=St Catherine’s School| page=Old Girls| title=Rebecca Hossack|url=https://www.stcatherines.net.au/old-girls/rebecca-hossack/}} Geelong Grammar School,{{cite web| website=Issuu Magazines| title=Light Blue (Geelong Grammar School Magazine)|issue=79|date=December 2009|page=37|url=https://issuu.com/geelonggrammarschool/docs/light_blue_2009_dec/37}} and went on to study law at the University of Melbourne,{{cite web| website=University of Melbourne Alumni Magazine 3010|title=Driving Ambitions|last1=Munro|first1=Erin|url=https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/3010/driving-ambitions}}{{cite web| website= University of Melbourne Alumni Blogs|title=Gallery Owner Rebecca Hossack|url=https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/3010/the-gallery-owner-rebecca-hossack-llb-ba-1978}} in addition to taking a History of Art degree at the Australian National University at Canberra University College.{{cite web|work= University of Melbourne Alumni Blogs| title=Driving Ambitions|url=https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/3010/driving-ambitions}} She was president of British branch of the Melbourne University Alumni for nearly two decades.
As gallerist
In March 1988, Hossack opened her first London gallery on Windmill Street in Fitzrovia.{{cite web|work=SOAS Research Online|title=From Songlines to Transvangarde, contemporary Indigenous Australian art at two private galleries in London, 1988-2020, abstract|last1=Ahmad|first1=Arjmand|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/42129/}}{{cite news|work=Artsy|title=Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery|url=https://www.artsy.net/partner/rebecca-hossack-art-gallery}} She soon opened a second space at 28 Charlotte Street. In 2007, she took the lease on a four-story building in Conway Street and retained her Charlotte Street gallery as a secondary space in central London.{{cite web| work=Photo London| type=Exhibitors| title=Rebecca Hossack Gallery|url=https://photolondon.org/exhibitors/2018-2/rebecca-hossack-art-gallery}}{{cite web| website=Fitzrovia Arts Festival|page=About|title=Rebecca Hossack|url=https://www.fitzroviaartsfestival.com/about-3}}
In 1989, Hossack met the Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum in Alice Springs, and he accepted her invitation for a solo show in London on condition that he could meet Queen Elizabeth II.{{cite news| work=The Sydney Morning Herald| title=Celebration of an Artist who Took on the World| date=10 May 2004|type=Culture Art and Design|
url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/celebration-of-an-artist-who-took-on-the-world-20040510-gdiw68.html}}{{cite news| work=The Independent|title=Rebecca Queen of the Desert| date=26 March 1998| last1=Walsh|first1=John|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/rebecca-queen-of-the-desert-1152931.html}} When Possum arrived in London for the opening of his 1990 exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery, he was indeed taken to meet the Queen and gifted her one of his paintings for her collection.{{cite web|work=Rebeccahossack.com|date= 24 July 1990|title=clifford_possum_letter_from_the-queen|url=https://www.rebeccahossack.com/usr/documents/press/download_url/1133/clifford-possum-letter-from-the-queen.pdf}}
In addition to her London galleries, Hossack had a gallery on Mott Street in New York for ten years that she relocated to Little Havana in Miami in 2019, opening with a show called Priceless, by Kansas-based artist, John Holcomb.{{cite web|work=Mutual Art|type=Exhibitions|title=John Holcomb|url= https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/John-Holcomb--Priceless/98E6B683D0399733}}
Hossack was a member of the board of LAPADA,{{cite web|website=LAPADA Modern|title=Committee|url=http://www.lapadamodern.org/index.pl?id=2223;}} and a Trustee of FANZA (the Foundation for Australian and New Zealand Arts) for many years.{{cite web|work=FANZA Org|title=About Us|url=https://www.fanza.org/about-us/}}
Hossack's galleries exhibit craft, sculpture, and art, and while specialising in Aboriginal art,{{cite web| work=Aboriginal Art Directory| title=Rebecca Hossack at SF Fine Art Fair|url=https://aboriginalartdirectory.com/san-francisco-rebecca-hossack-art-gallery-at-sf-fine-art-fair/}} her exhibitions cover fine and decorative arts.{{cite web| website=The Association of Illustrators| title=Jason Jameson: The Robin The Fir Tree| date=26 November 2022| url=https://theaoi.com/event/jason-jameson-the-robin-the-fir-tree/}}{{cite news|work=The Art Newspaper|date=31 January 2002| title=Are the Decorative Arts Finally Sexy|last1= Moncrieff| first1=Elspeth|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2002/02/01/are-the-decorative-arts-finally-sexy-europes-first-international-crafts-fair-gets-under-way-this-month}} The gallery’s list of Western artists includes Pippa Small, Rose Blake,{{cite news|work=Studio International|title=Rose Blake: I have always found it easier to express a thought through picture|date=28 December 2015|last1=McKenzie|first1=Janet|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/rose-blake-interview-easier-to-express-thought-through-picture-rather-than-words}} Andrew Logan (sculptor),{{cite web| work=YouTube| title=Andrew Logan in Conversation| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joaaEvPRtmU}} Ann Stokes and Joan Dannatt.{{cite news| work=The Financial Times| type= HTSI Magazine| title=At Home with Just William…And His Mum|last1=Woodcock|first1=Victoria| date=2 September 2022|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c09a22d4-0a5b-49f2-87c3-f6bcfa169929}}
=Promotion of aboriginal artists=
Emily Kame Kngwarreye had her first solo show there in 1994.{{cite web| website=Delmore Gallery| page=Emily Kame Kngwarreye|title=Emily Kame Kngwarreye|url=https://delmoregallery.com.au/pages/emily-kame-kngwarreye}} Other notable Aboriginal artists who first showed in Europe at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery include Clifford Possum,{{cite news|work=The Spectator|title=The trivial details about royalty are what really fascinate us - Craig Brown's A Voyage Around the Queen|date=31 August 2024|last1=Hensher|first1=Philip|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-trivial-details-about-royalty-are-what-really-fascinate-us}}{{cite web|website=National Library of Australia|title=Catalog 1329661|url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1329661}} Robert Campbell Jr.,{{cite web| website=Indigenous Australia| type=Biography| last1=Regan|first1=Jayne| title=Robert Campbell Jr|date=2017|url=https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/campbell-jnr-robert-25181}}{{cite web|website=Chartwell Org| title= Campbell Jnr, Robert|url=https://chartwell.org.nz/making/artists/robert-campbell-jnr/}} Jimmy Pike who showed with her 1991 and 2001,{{cite web| website=Japingka aboriginal art|type=Collections| title=Jimmy Pike|url=https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/collections/jimmy-pike/}} Owen Yalandja, Lloyd Kwilla who showed at the Gallery in 2008,{{cite web|work=Everywhere Art|title=Lloyd Kwilla|url=https://everywhenart.com.au/artists/225-lloyd-kwilla/biography/}} Janice Murray,{{cite web|work=I Like Events|type=news|title=LA Art Show|url=https://ilikevents.com/news/185422-laartshow-2020-08-27-05-59-29}} Jean Baptiste Apuatimi with an exhibition titled Tapalinga in 2009, and Alick Tipoti in a show titled Malungu (From the Sea) in 2008. A 2011 exhibition featured artists of the Garrawa, Marra, Gurdanji, and Yanyuwa peoples. According to Will Self, three of the featured artists, Nancy McDinny, Madeleine Dirdi, and Stewart Hoosan came to the gallery in London for the vernissage.{{cite web|work=Will Self online, from The Independent|title=Australian Aboriginal Art|last1=Self|first1=Will|url=https://will-self.com/2011/08/02/australian-aboriginal-art}}
Hossack has worked with Papunya, Yuendumu, Lajamanu Aboriginal communities,{{cite web|work=National Gallery of Victoria|type=Collections|title=Caring for First Nations|url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/conservation/caring-for-first-nations-collections/lajamanu}} Balgo Hills,{{cite web|work=rebecca hossack gallery|title=Balgo Hills|url=https://www.rebeccahossack.com/balgo-hills}} Ampilatwatja, Spinifex people, Arnhem Land, Warmun Community, Fitzroy Crossing, Tiwi Islands, amongst others.{{cite web|work=Aboriginal Art Directory|title=bark|url=https://news.aboriginalartdirectory.com/tags/Bark}}{{cite web| work= Aboriginal Art Directory|title=Tiwi Islands|url=https://news.aboriginalartdirectory.com/2004/07/the-independent-wandjina-rebecca-hossack-gallery.php}} The art of these communities has been growing in international stature across the fine art world. "I don't understand why Aboriginal art is not on the national agenda in schools", said Jonathan Jones in 2011, and that: "After all, it's the only art movement to come out of Australia."{{cite news|work=Elsewhere Magazine NZ|date=31 January 2011|last1=Reid|first1=Graham|title=Jonathan Jones Interviewed 2010|url=https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/culturalelsewhere/2961/jonathan-jones-interviewed-2010-illuminating-the-past-and-present-the-beyond-and-between/}}
Other roles
=Cultural Development Officer=
From 1993 to 1997, Hossack served as the first Cultural Development Officer at the High Commission of Australia, London, at the newly created Australia Centre with separate entrance on the Strand.{{cite web| website=Australian Parliament House |title= Global Australians Summit| date=2006|page=46|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/wopapub/senate/committee/fadt_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004_07/public_diplomacy/submissions/sub31_a2_pdf.ashx}}{{cite web| website=Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade|title = 14 Australia's House|last1=Sleight|first1=Simon|page=233|url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/high-commissioners.pdf}} During her time in office Hossack organised literary and cross-cultural events centering on Australia House and across London. When her term ended in 1997, the Australian community in London, including Barry Humphries, Clive James, Germaine Greer, and Kathy Lette, protested publicly.{{cite news| work=The Evening Standard| title=London Needs it's Cultural Leader Back|last1=Greer|first1=Germaine| date=20 September 2013|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/oz-needs-its-cultural-leader-back-says-germaine-greer-8829262.html}}
=Camden councillor=
Rebecca Hossack was elected to London's Camden London Borough Council, as a councillor for Bloomsbury in May 2006. At the time, she was the first Tory candidate elected to the Bloomsbury ward in 36 years.{{cite web| website=Camden Council| title=Local Election Results| date=4 May 2006|url=https://www.camden.gov.uk/local-election-results-4-may-2006#Bloomsbury}} While in office, Hossack campaigned for the planting of more trees in the borough,{{cite web| website =Mayor of London|title=All London Green Grid|page=99|url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/af12_central_london.pdf}} and for other green issues.{{cite web| website=London Clean Air| title=Camdeners - Rebecca Hossack| url=https://londoncleanair.org/?page_id=19836}}{{cite news| work=Camden New Journal| title=Gallery Owner Rebecca Hossack Save Our Trees| date=16 June 2023|last1=Carrier|first1=Dan| url=
https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/gallery-owner-rebecca-hossack%E2%80%88save-our-trees}}{{cite web| website=Camden New Journal| title=Middlesex Hospital Site Sale Property Developers| date=6 August 2010|last1=Foot|first1=Tom| url=https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/middlesex-hospital-site-sale-property-developers-aviva-investors-and-exemplar-properti}}
Lectures and writing
Hossack is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society (also known as the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies, or NADFAS).{{cite web| work=The Arts Society YouTube Channel| title=Aboriginal Art: Recording the Dreamtime, lecture by Rebecca Hossack|last1=Hossack|first1=Rebecca| date=18 June 2020|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI18rQLdQTQ}}{{cite web | last1=Hossack| first1=Rebecca| website=The Arts Society| title=Become an Instant Expert in Australian Aboriginal Art| date=19 February 2024|url=https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/become-instant-expert-…australian-aboriginal-art}} She campaigned to have Aboriginal artists included in the obituaries sections of the leading British newspapers, and has written several herself—including obituaries for Western artists—in The Guardian and The Independent.{{cite news|work=The Independent|last1=Hossack|first1=Rebecca|title=Obituary, Emily Kngwarreye|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-emily-kngwarreye-1362024.html}}{{cite news| work=The Guardian|type=Obituaries| title =Abigail McLellan | date=18 October 2009|last1=Hossack|first1=Rebecca| url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/oct/18/abigail-mclellan-obituary}} Hossack has also written introductions for art books.{{cite web| website=Waterstones| title=Merzuka Doparzo with Prologue by Rebecca Hossack| date=1 March 2020 | last1=Hossack| first1=Rebecca|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/mersuka-dopazo/mersuka-dopazo/rebecca-hossack/9788499361475}}
She has also written regularly for Resurgence & Ecologist, the magazine of the Resurgence Trust founded by Satish Kumar.{{cite magazine| magazine=Positive News| title=Pioneering Environmental Magazine Celebrates 45 Years| date=11 June 2012|url=https://www.positive.news/society/media/pioneering-environmental-magazine-celebrates-45-years-2/}} Many of Hossack’s articles are concerned with Australian Aboriginal culture and communities.{{cite news |work=Resurgence Magazine| title=Author Profile, Rebecca Hossack|url=https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/author154-rebecca-hossack.html}}
Personal life
Since 1991, Hossack has been married to biographer and historian Matthew Sturgis—a portrait of the couple by Abigail McLellan was painted in 1998.{{cite web|work=Studio International |date=27 February 2014|title= Abigail McLellan|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/abigail-mclellan}} A 1999 photographic portrait of Hossack by Polly Borland is held at the National Portrait Gallery, London.{{cite web| website=National Portrait Gallery| page=Collections| title=Rebecca Hossack |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp15418/rebecca-hossack}} Their house in London's Fitzrovia has been photographed for the front cover of World of Interiors and featured in many other magazines.{{cite magazine|magazine=Town & Country House Magazine|title=Interview, Rebecca Hossack, Gallerist|last1=Metcalf|first1=Charlotte|date=July 2024|url=https://www.countryandtownhouse.com/culture/rebecca-hossack-interview/}} Hossack is known to ride a bicycle to get around in Central London.{{cite news| work=Camden New Journal| title= Friends Reunited: Rebecca Gets her beloved Bike Back| last1=Newman|first1=Sara| date=7 August 2008|url=http://www.thecnj.com/camden/2008/080708/news080708_03.html}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.rebeccahossack.com/ Official website]
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Category:People from Melbourne
Category:People educated at Geelong Grammar School
Category:University of Melbourne alumni
Category:Australian National University alumni