In the fifth lecture in our The Artist As… series, co-presented with Curatorial Practice at Monash Art Design and Architecture, Brook Andrew will reflect on his collaborations and interventions in museums both within Australia and internationally. Andrew will examine the important role his own extensive archive has played within these works, and what led him to begin collecting in the first place.

Occupying the position of ‘the artist as archivist’, Andrew suggests, presents an opportunity to activate, provoke, and confront hidden histories, especially in regards to the display of alternate narratives within institutions. This work is often undertaken in collaboration with communities and private collections.

Brook Andrew examines dominant Western narratives, specifically relating to colonialism, placing Australia at the centre of a global inquisition. Apart from drawing inspiration from vernacular objects and the archive Andrew travels internationally to work with communities and various private and public collections. Creating interdisciplinary works and immersive installations Andrew presents viewers with alternative choices for interpreting the world, both individually and collectively, by intervening, expanding and re-framing history and our inheritance. In 2016-2018 he has been awarded a prestigious three-year Federal Government Australian Research Council grant. This project titled Representation, Remembrance and the Monument is designed to respond to the repeated high-level calls for a national memorial to Aboriginal loss.

Brook Andrew is represented by Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels.