Christian Thompson Combines Art and Artefact at Harvard Museum

Visual and performance artist Christian Thompson is something more than multi-disciplinary. Originally trained as a sculptor, Thompson has also worked in photography, video, and installation. The artist has been mentored by the legendary Marina Abramović, and is one of only two Aboriginal people to have been admitted to the University of Oxford.

Several of the prolific artist's recent works are currently being exhibited at Harvard University, in a show titled Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia. The exhibition showcases more than 70 works, many of which have never been shown outside of Australia. As well as Thompson, some of the other artists featured include Rover Thomas, Emily Kam Kngwarray, Judy Watson, Doreen Reid Nakamarra, and Vernon Ah Kee.

While the exhibition focuses on the last 40 years of Indigenous art, it also includes historical objects from the rich collections of Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Everywhen explores both continuity and change; while Indigenous cultural practice has translated into contemporary art forms, Indigenous artists have also applied innovative new techniques to their practices that break out of established paradigms and defy expectation.

Thompson lives and works between London and Melbourne, and recently completed a doctoral dissertation at the University of Oxford’s Trinity College. The artist’s research focused on the series We Bury Our Own, which was formed as a response to the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum Collection. Thompson's thesis placed this body of work within the canon of other artists who have worked with museum collections, such as Hans Haacke, Fred Wilson, Renee Green, and former collaborator Abramovic.

Three pieces from the We Bury Our Own series are featured in Everywhen: 'Danger Will Come','Invaded Dreams' and 'Lamenting the Flowers'. Speaking to The Creators Project about the show, Thompson explains the benefits of exhibiting a mixture of urban art, desert art and ethnographic art together. “It's a small show but a beautiful selection of work,” the artist says. “Some subtle and more obvious references…I think the combination of the art and artefacts resonated with me very strongly, and it was quite poetic to see how their differentiation is something we cultivate and project onto material things.”

Instead of titling artefacts with no credit, curator Stephen Gilchrist, of the Yamatji people, credited each to an 'Unknown artist'. “Which I thought was very compelling and subtle,” Thompson says. According to chronology, works are separated into different smaller galleries. “Each gallery explores a different notion of time,” he explains.

The artist is heading back to London this month, having been awarded the Australia Council for the Arts London ACME Studio for six months. Thompson will continue to explore the intersection between cultural artefacts and contemporary art. “I'll be producing a new series and book in response to the Cambridge Museum Australian Photographic Collection.”

Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia continues until September 18 at Harvard Art Museums. You can find out more about Christian Thompson here.

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