The 2015 Western Australian Indigenous Art Award of $50,000 was this week awarded to Melbourne artist and Noonucca/Ngugi woman Megan Cope by judges Amy Barrett-Lennard (Director of PICA), Kimberly Moulton (Curator/Project Officer at Birrarung Gallery) and Clotilde Bullen (former curator of Indigenous Art at Art Gallery of WA).
The panel of judges stated “Megan Cope’s multi-layered video work The Blaktism speaks to a contemporary reality for Indigenous Australians. In it, she offers a theatrical and humorous insight into the complexities of Indigenous identity”.
The Western Australian Artist Award of $10,000 was awarded to Eunice Yunurupa Porter of Wirrkural, who is a senior Ngaanyatjarra woman. The People’s Choice award of $5,000 (the artist with the highest number of votes from the public) will be announced on Thursday, October 1.