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Vivien Johnson Vivien Johnson i(A115117 works by)
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Johnson is a Sydney based writer and sociologist. She has been an Australian Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Cross Cultural Research at the Australian National University, and previously an Associate Professor in sociology at Macquarie University, establishing one of the first courses on Indigenous Australian art in the university sector. Her influential monographs on Western Desert artists and her work on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights have had wide social impact.

In 2006 Vivien Johnson worked on the History of Papunya Tula Artists, the founding Western Desert painting company, finished the Early Papunya Boards book, did background documentation and archival filming for the Title Deeds exhibition and catalogue (National Museum of Australia) and worked with IAD Press in Alice Springs on the production of Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists.

In 2008, Professor Johnson headed a major collaborative ARC funded project, Dictionary of Australian Artists On-line.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2020 recipient National Library of Australia Fellowships — Supported by the Ray Mathew and Eva Kollsman Trust for Research in Australian Literature for 'Writing Papunya: The Making of an Illustrated Vernacular Literature 1974-1991'.
1998 recipient Australian Academy of the Humanities Fellowships and Medals — Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
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Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists Alice Springs : IAD Press , 2008 Z1550770 2008 single work bibliography Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists chronicles the beginnings of the Western Desert art movement and the phenomenal development of its founding art company over four decades. Through comprehensive and widely researched biographies of more than 200 men and women the book illuminates lives balanced between first contact and international stardom, poverty and record auction prices.

In the early 1970s, a small group of Western Desert 'painting men' at Papunya in Central Australia seized the opportunity to experiment with new techniques and materials, producing vibrant and innovative works that give enduring expression to their powerful tjukurrpa (Dreamings). In the years since, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd has made a profound contribution to the Western Desert art movement and international contemporary art. (Publisher's Notes)
2009 shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Best Non-Fiction Book
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Last amended 23 Nov 2023 13:33:06
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