About the Artist
Georgia Anne (she/her) is a proud Central and Eastern Arrernte woman and a multi-disciplinary artist living in Naarm on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.

Through a multi-disciplinary practice, and a thoughtful melding of traditional and contemporary styles, Georgia’s works are a journey of identity, challenging conventional labelling in the modern art world, and unapologetically confronting biases that seek to pigeonhole her as solely an ‘Aboriginal artist’. Her work provokes the viewer to consider the boundaries that block participation from those working outside of the confines of the artistic institution.

About the Artwork

Confirmation of Aboriginality (2024) is a raffia-woven sculpture featuring three guns arranged in a triangle, symbolising the criteria for the Confirmation of Aboriginality process: being of Aboriginal descent, self-identifying as Aboriginal, and being accepted by your community.

This piece critiques the lateral violence embedded in the colonial state-imposed process, which requires Aboriginal people to police each other’s identity. The three-part test, intended to confirm Aboriginal identity, forces communities to enforce colonial expectations on each other, often resulting in painful exclusion, especially for Stolen Generation members, their descendants, and those separated from their communities. This policing, enforced by Land Councils, perpetuates a cycle of state control over Aboriginal identity.

In the arts, the confirmation process grants access to resources, grants and representation, but often with the burden of proving one’s “Aboriginality.” This policing divides communities, as people examine each other’s appearance and cultural knowledge to decide who qualifies as “Aboriginal enough.”

The outward-pointing guns symbolise a call to redirect focus from internal policing to challenging the colonial structures that exploit Aboriginal culture without redistributing its benefits. This work advocates for unity as we challenge the colonial institutions that perpetuate division and exploitation, and then reap the benefits.