proppaNOW

The collective was first conceived in Brisbane in 1997.{{Cite news |url=https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/3359/learning-to-be-proppa-aboriginal-artists-collecti/|title=Learning to be proppa : Aboriginal artists collective ProppaNOW|last=Neale|first=Margo|date=March 2010|work=Artlink Magazine|access-date=11 March 2018|language=en}}

At its initial meeting, proppaNOW proposed to form as a group of Aboriginal Australian artists who would support each other's work and "change ideas that people had about what Aboriginal art is and what it should be".{{cite web

| title = proppaNOW Artist Collective

| publisher = Scanlines

| url = http://scanlines.net/group/proppanow

| accessdate = 15 June 2014

}} The trigger to formalise the collective came in March 2004 soon after Queensland's Premier, Peter Beattie, established QIAMEA (Queensland Indigenous Artists Marketing Export Agency) to promote and market Queensland Indigenous art. The artists were concerned that QIAMEA's focus was initially directed towards the remote regions of Queensland such as Mornington Island, Aurukun and Lockhart River, thus reinforcing cultural stereotypes.

The collective has since evolved a mission to "give urban-based Aboriginal artists a voice...[to] reinforce that Aboriginal Australia is a living culture that has evolved over time".

In June 2019, proppaNOW presented an open day at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane.{{cite web | last=Brisbane | first=Institute of Modern Art | title=proppaNOW Open Day | website=Institute of Modern Art | date=8 June 2019 | url=https://ima.org.au/ima-events/proppanow-open-day/ | access-date=21 March 2020}}

An exhibition entitled OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW was originally scheduled for 2019, but was rescheduled (due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia) to run 13 February – 19 June 2021 at the University of Queensland Art Museum, described as a major exhibition of the artists' work "after a five-year hiatus to focus on their individual careers". The title of the exhibition references the Australian TV show A Current Affair, which is known for its sensationalist style and "derogatory representations of certain low socio-economic and minority groups".{{cite web | title=OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW |author=Lewis James Media| website=University of Queensland Art Museum | date=12 December 2019 | url=https://art-museum.uq.edu.au/whats/future-exhibitions/occurrent-affair-proppanow | access-date=4 February 2021}}{{cite web | title=OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW | website=University of Queensland Art Museum | url=https://art-museum.uq.edu.au/whats/past-exhibitions/occurrent-affair-proppanow | access-date=18 May 2022}}{{cite web | title=About Us | website=proppaNOW | url=https://proppanow.wordpress.com/about-us/ | access-date=21 March 2020}}

Founding members were Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd, Joshua Herd and Vernon Ah Kee.

Members of the collective {{as of|lc=yes|February 2020}} are Bell, Herd, Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Gordon Hookey, Laurie Nilsen and Megan Cope.

proppaNOW members Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd, Vernon Ah Kee, Gordon Hookey and Laurie Nilsen have all been interviewed by the State Library of Queensland for the James C. Sourris {{post-nominals|country =AUS|AM}} Collection. In the interviews each artist talks about their life, their art and their inspirations.{{Cite web |title=James C Sourris AM Collection |url= https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/research-collections/art-and-design/james-c-sourris-am-collection |access-date=18 May 2022 |website=State Library of Queensland}}

In October 2022 it was announced that the collective had won the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice for 2022–2024, by a unanimous decision of the jury, which commented: "...[proppaNOW] has broken with expectations of what is proper ('proppa') in Aboriginal art; created a new sovereign space for First Nations artists internationally outside colonial stereotypes, desires for authenticity, and capitalist capitulations; and opened new political imaginaries".{{cite web |url=https://aboriginalartdirectory.com/proppa-prize-winners |title=Proppa Prize Winners |website=Aboriginal Art Directory |date=2022-10-27 |access-date=2022-10-28}}

The collective has mounted a number of exhibitions, starting with one in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2005. Since then, many have been based in Queensland, but several have toured the country or mounted in other locations. Some recent exhibitions include:

;2012

• Touchy Fearly, Fehily Contemporary, Collingwood, Victoria, July 19 – August 11, 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://glasscentralcanberra.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/proppanow-in-melbourne_page_1.jpg|title=proppaNOw {{!}}Touchy Fearly|date=22 July 2012|website=glass central canberra|access-date=2 July 2019}}
• Existence Resistance, Bega Regional Gallery, Bega, New South Wales, July 13 – August 18, 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://canberracontemporaryartspace.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/existence-resistance-proppanow-in-bega/|title=Existence Resistance Proppanow in Bega|date=15 July 2012|website=Canberra Contemporary Art Space|access-date=2 July 2019}}
• proppaNOW, kuril dhagun State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, May 14 – September 10, 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://antarqld.org.au/node/192|title=AQ Monthly September 2012|date=27 August 2012|website=ANTAR|access-date=2 July 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/indigenous-voices/2012/07/10/hello-world/|title=proppaNOW|last=Hayman|first=Amanda|date=10 July 2012|website=Indigenous Voices|access-date=2 July 2019}}{{cite web | title=proppaNOW | website=State Library Of Queensland | url=https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/proppanow |date=10 July 2012 | access-date=21 March 2020}}
• proppaNOW Studio Works, Montague Road Studio Space, Brisbane, Dec 6 – 30, 2012.

;2013

• Insurgence, Museum of Australian Democracy, Canberra, ACT, October 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://www.moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/insurgence/#|title=Past Exhibitions: Insurgence|date=October 2013|website=Museum of Australian Democracy|access-date=2 July 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://proppanow.wordpress.com/about-us/exhibition-history/|title=Exhibition History|date=2013|website=proppaNOW|access-date=2 July 2019}}

;2014

• The Black Line{{Cite web|url=http://www.bettgallery.com.au/artists/proppanow/blackline/blacklineindex.html|title=proppaNOW the black line|date=2014|website=Bett Gallery|access-date=2 July 2019}}

;2015

• Dark + Disturbing: Gordon Hookey for proppaNOW, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, August 2015.{{cite web | title=Dark+Disturbing features Gordon Hookey at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2015|first1=Leesa |last1=Watego|first2=Vernon|last2=Ah Kee| website=Dark and Disturbing | date=9 August 2015 | url=https://www.darkanddisturbing.com.au/gordon-hookey-ciaf-2015/ | access-date=21 March 2020}} Dark + Disturbing is a curatorial project by Ah Kee.{{cite web | title=About | website=Dark and Disturbing | date=21 June 2016 | url=https://www.darkanddisturbing.com.au/about/ | access-date=21 March 2020}}

;2024

• Tanah Tumpah Darah: Taring Padi & proppaNOW, Griffith Art Museum, March 2024.

• Monument: Yininmadyemi - Thou dids't let fall: Four standing bullets and three fallen shells in black marble and steel with bronze finish inscribe with war stories, installed in Hyde Park, Sydney on 25 April 2015{{cite web

| last = Albert

| first = Tony

| authorlink =

| title = Monument: Yininmadyemi - Thou dids't let fall

| work =

| publisher = City of Sydney, Australia

| date = 2013

| url = http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/cityart/projects/hydeparkmonument.asp

| format =

| accessdate = 16 June 2014

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140628001049/http://cityartsydney.com.au/cityart/projects/hydeparkmonument.asp

| archive-date = 28 June 2014

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

| title = Grandfather’s war story inspires Aboriginal artwork

| publisher = City of Sydney Media Centre

| date = 8 November 2013

| url = http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/grandfathers-war-story-inspires-aboriginal-artwork/

| accessdate = 16 June 2014

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://proppanow.wordpress.com/}}
• [https://vimeo.com/853503213 proppaNOW in conversation], State Library of Queensland Vimeo

Category:Australian Aboriginal art