Ajay, from the series Sistagirls

Label

The two images of Crystal and Ajay are part of a larger series for which Bindi Cole collaborated with a group of transgender women—or as they describe themselves, “Sistagirls”—from the Tiwi Islands. Indigenous communities—like the Fa’afafine of Somoa—are often more willing to accept transgender people than gay people, and while there are few openly gay men in the Tiwi Islands, the Sistagirls have been accepted over time.

Ajay, whose simultaneous strength and vulnerability are beautifully captured by Cole, searches beyond the horizon, perhaps dreaming of a place where and when racism, sexism, and transphobia do not exist. Crystal, who is an aunty figure within the community, has devoted her life to educating the broader community and encouraging younger members to be strong in the face of prejudice.

"I want to make sure that these works respect the local traditions but also allow the Sistagirls to celebrate themselves. There are also those connotations around the tableau photograph—those artificial studio postcards from the Victorian era that were so popular at the time butwere really degrading to Indigenous people. I feel responsible for all those things in my work and so I feel very protective of my Sistagirls." -- Bindi Cole

From the 2020 exhibition Shifting the Lens: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Photography, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art

Course History

WRIT 5, Indigenous Knowledge and Development, Kenneth Bauer, Winter 2013

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

WRIT 5, Nature and Imagination: The Meanings of Place, William Nichols, Fall 2012

SART 29, Photography I, Brian Miller, Fall 2012

SART 30, Photography II, Brian Miller, Fall 2012

SART 25, Painting I, Esme Thompson, Fall 2012

SART 25, Painting I, Enrico Riley, Fall 2012

ANTH 30, Hunters and Gatherers, Nathaniel Dominy, Fall 2012

THEA 28, Dance Composition, Ford Evans, Fall 2012

SART 15, Drawing I, Gerald Auten, Fall 2012

SART 20, SART 71, Drawing II, Drawing III, Colleen Randall, Fall 2012

NAS 42, Gender Issues in Native American Life, Vera Palmer, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50.4, Indigenous Australian Art and the Politics of Curation, Stephen Gilchrist, Winter 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50.4, Indigenous Australian Art and the Politics of Curation, Stephen Gilchrist, Winter 2012

WGST 65, Queer Visual Culture, Gabriele Dietze, Winter 2014

SART 30, Photography II, Virginia Beahan, Spring 2014

WGST 96, Times of Crisis, Annabelle Martin, Spring 2014

WGST 65.6, Radical Sexuality: Of Color, Wildness and Fabulosity, Eng-Beng Lim, Winter 2015

SART 17.9, The Photographer as Activist: Making Art Inspired by the Hood Museum's Collection, Virginia Beahan, Winter 2015

SART 30, SART 75, Photography II and III, Virginia Beahan, Spring 2019

WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender, and Society, Douglas Moody, Fall 2019

WGSS 10.02, Sex, Gender, and Society, Kristen O'Rourke, Fall 2019

WGSS 10.03, Sex, Gender, and Society, Jenn Sargent, Fall 2019

WGSS 10.04, Sex, Gender, and Society, Susan Brison, Fall 2019

WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender, and Society, Susan Overton, Winter 2020

WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender and Society, Douglas Moody, Winter 2021

WGSS 10.01 , Sex, Gender and Society, Francine A'Ness, Fall 2021

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

GEOG 72.01/AAAS 67.50/WGSS 66.09, Black Consciousness Black Feminism, Abby Neely, Spring 2022

WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender, and Society, Zahra Ayubi, Summer 2022

WGSS 10.02, Sex, Gender, and Society, Zahra Ayubi, Summer 2022

Exhibition History

Crossing Cultures: The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 15, 2012-March 10, 2013; Toledo Museum of Art, April 11-July 14, 2013.

Shifting the Lens: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Photography, Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 15–June 21, 2020.

Publication History

Stephen Gilchrist, editor, Crossing Cultures, The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Art at the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2012, p. 61, Fig 5.3; p. 156, no. 106.

Provenance

Nellie Castan Gallery, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia; sold to Will Owen (1952-2015) and Harvey Wagner (1931-2017), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, July 27, 2010; lent to present collection, 2011; given to present collection, 2013.

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