Art + Soul

Hetti Perkins presents art + soul, a powerful and emotionally engaging television series about contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, and the artists who create it. An Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon desert woman, Hetti is senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, daughter of... More »

Hetti Perkins presents art + soul, a powerful and emotionally engaging television series about contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, and the artists who create it. An Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon desert woman, Hetti is senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, daughter of political activist Charles Perkins and sister of filmmaker Rachel Perkins (First Australians, Bran Nue Dae).

With great generosity, she shares her extraordinary knowledge of Aboriginal art, visiting the homes and studios of artists in remote desert communities, the tropical top end, and in urban environments. She also brings personal anecdotes to the fore, recalling her family’s own story, and her father’s legacy: "Art for me is a way for our people to share stories and allow a wider community to understand our history and us as a people."

Past and present, tradition and modernity, the imagination and individual experiences of artists, converge. art + soul views Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art through a political prism, which allows for a richer appreciation of the artworks—and thereby of Aboriginal Australia and the life forces that underpin it. The series celebrates the survival and resilience of a whole culture. Less «