Crystal

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

Crystal looks directly at the viewer with an arresting gaze and a confident pose, communicating a strong sense of self-assuredness. Adorned with paint, plants, and flowers and surrounded by a calm and beautifully decorated scene, she defines herself through her connections to homeland and her personal expression of gender nonconformity.

This portrait comes from Bindi Cole’s 2009 series Sistagirls, depicting a community of Aboriginal transgender women of the Tiwi Islands, Australia, who are traditionally called Yimpininni. The incredible strength and resilience related through Cole’s masterfully made images speaks to Indigenous understandings of diverse gender expression, which preceded and continue to outlast colonial understandings of a strict gender binary.

From the 2024 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity in the Pacific and Beyond, curated by Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern

Course History

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Fall 2019

ANTH 3.02, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Fall 2019

Native American and Indigenous Studies 60.01, Ecology and Art in Oceania, Brinker Ferguson, Fall 2024

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 10.01. Sex, Gender, and Society, Doug Moody, Fall 2024

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity Throughout Pasifika and Beyond, Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 2 – December 21, 2024.

Object label for 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.

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; given to present collection, 2017.

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Subjects