Urszula Szulakowska and the Brisbane Art Scene in the 1980s
Panel discussion
25 May 2024
2–3pm
Last year, art historian Urszula Szulakowska passed away. A key figure in the Meanjin/Brisbane art scene of the 1980s, she was an influential teacher, critic, curator, and mentor. The local art magazine Eyeline was named after her own eyeliner. Back then, Meanjin/Brisbane was a different place, still under the thumb of police-state premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was culturally isolated, with little of the arts infrastructure we now take for granted. Along with two other key British-born, Brisbane-based academics—Graham Coulter-Smith and Nicholas Zurbrugg—Szulakowska was a catalyst for change. Join Michele Helmrich, Jeanelle Hurst, Luke Roberts, and Nancy Underhill as they discuss Szulakowska’s influence and impact on the scene.
Urszula Szulakowska, courtesy ARI Remix Living Archives and Social Memory Project.