Thursday, 28 March 20243:00PM - 4:30PM (AEST)Schaeffer Library Seminar Room, 210 RC Mills Building, University of Sydney Camperdown and Zoom
Installation view of Brad Kahlhamer, “Swap Meet Trailer,” 2022, at SMoCA. Photo credit: @williamlegoullon (@greyshedstudio)
I do not recall the first time I met Brad Kahlhamer, though I do know it was in New York City in the 1990s at several exhibitions. I once saw him at the Denver Art Museum, other times I would connect with him through his work. At each of these instances, it was always a pleasant surprise to catch him or his work. Perhaps this is symbolic of his story: he shows up in unexpected places. To be a wanderer, a nomad, is to always be elsewhere yet appear completely at home in the moment. For many decades, the Indigenous community has suspected many people claiming Indigeneity often calling them “pretendians.” Kahlhamer was adopted as a baby and his entire life has been one of searching for his Indigenous heritage. This presentation addresses his story.
Part of the Art History Seminar Series, convened by Mary Roberts and presented by the discipline of Art History at the University of Sydney, with support from the Power Institute.
This seminar is also accessible via Zoom (click here to join).
Gerald McMaster is the Director of Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge at OCAD University in Toronto, and a leading voice nationally and internationally, with over 30 years of experience in contemporary art, critical theory, museology, and Indigenous aesthetics. He is Plains Cree from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation and a member of the Siksika Nation. He has served as the Canadian Commissioner for the 1995 Venice Biennale, Artistic Director of the 2012 Biennale of Sydney, and Curator for the 2018 Venice Biennale of Architecture. He is the recipient of Governor General’s Awards for Visual and Media Arts from the Canada Council for his prolific curatorial legacy. McMaster has served as Adjunct Curator for Remai Modern since 2018.