Archie Moore, an Indigenous Australian artist, was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion for Best National Participation for his exhibition kith and kin, which was presented at the Australia Pavilion at the 60th La Biennale de Venezia 2024. The news was brought to the attention of international news sources and social media channels over the course of the weekend.
In the 130-year history of the Biennale, this is the very first time that Australia has been given this accolade.
Located in Queensland Both of Moore’s works have been responsible for the transformation of the Australia Pavilion at the Giardini Gardens this year. He spent many months hand-writing the names of his family tree, which went back 65,000 generations, using chalk. He painted the walls of the pavilion blackboard black and then proceeded to continue writing the names. His creation of a reflecting pool in the middle of the pavilion, which is topped by a rectangular plinth, is a remarkable achievement. On top of this basis are hundreds more records that have been censored and detail the deaths of First Nations people while they were in the custody of the police.
Moore, in the course of kith and kin, alters the Australia Pavilion by means of a comprehensive genealogical map that has been hand-drawn in chalk. Taking on the appearance of a cosmic map, it extends across the length of the Pavilion’s wall, which is sixty meters, and its height is five meters.
Archie Moore and Ellie Buttrose with ‘kith and kin’ 2024. Australia Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2024. Photo: Andrea Rossetti
The artwork is based on the First Nations Australian view of time, which is characterized by the coexistence of the past, the present, and the future.
Moore’s Kamilaroi, Bigambul, British and Scottish history are all included into the project, which, according to Creative Australia’s explanation of the sculpture’s theme, “brings international awareness to the vitality of First Nations kinship, in spite of facing systemic injustices since British invasion in 1770.”
On receiving this award, Archie Moore told media: ‘As the water flows through the canals of Venice to the Lagoon, then to the Adriatic Sea, it then travels to the oceans and to the rest of the world – enveloping the continent of Australia – connecting us all here on Earth. Aboriginal kinship systems include all living things from the environment in a larger network of relatedness, the land itself can be a mentor or a parent to a child. We are all one and share a responsibility of care to all living things now and into the future.
‘I am very grateful for this accolade; it makes me feel honoured to be rewarded for the hard work one does. I am grateful to everyone who has always been part of my journey – from my kith to my kin – to my Creative Australia team and everyone else back home and those of the Venice Lagoon.’
Additionally, kith and kin demonstrates the transition from indigenous languages to European languages, the translation of oral languages into written text, the introduction of racial classifications and insults, as well as the traumas that are involved with colonization.
More than five hundred document stacks, the most of which are coroner inquests on the deaths of Indigenous Australians while they were in police custody, are hanging over a reflection pool that is located in the middle of the Pavilion. This pool provides an ambiance that is reminiscent of a memorial.
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