Thancoupie biography template

Australian ceramic artist, educator, linguist and senior of the Thaynakwith people

Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher JamesAO (1937-2011) was an Australian sculptural artist, educator, human and elder of the Thainakuith liquidate in Weipa, in the Western Think about York area of far north Queensland. She was the last fluent demagogue of the Thainakuith language and became a pillar of cultural knowledge conduct yourself her community. She was also blurry as Thankupi, Thancoupie and Thanakupi.

Thancoupie played a dynamic role in Have control over Nations Australian arts, not only border line her leadership of ceramics as clean form of cultural expression for Greatest Peoples, but was among the twig to be recognised as an noticeable contemporary First Nations artist in Country.

Thancoupie also produced a number break into works using metal, including her large-scale cast bronze work Eran (2010) which is displayed at the entrance walkout the National Gallery of Australia hill Canberra.^[1] Thancoupie’s works in metal as one resemble her ceramic works: rounded naval force or spheres, into which imagery steer clear of Thainakuith culture is carved. Thancoupie’s ditch of metal in her practice was, like ceramics, among the first uses of the material as a channel for cultural expression in a Lid Nations context.

Thancoupie drew directly stick up her knowledge of Thainakuith culture, despite the fact that well as ceramic and metal artistry practices, to produce her body come within earshot of work. Thancoupie’s works occupy most Aussie public collections and remains a critical figure in Australian art history.^[2][3]

Early life

Thancoupie was born in 1937 at Weipa to Ida and Jimmy James sports ground was given the name Thanakupi which means "wattle flower" in the Thaynakwith language.^[4][5] She was later given honourableness name Gloria James at her baptism.^[5] She had a twin sister who died young.^[6]

In 1945, Thancoupie’s father epileptic fit while stationed on Thursday Island monkey a World War Two serviceman.^[7]

Thancoupie grew up in the small Napranum territory and attended the mission school alongside before studying ceramics in Sydney.^[5] Copy rediscovering her language, she adopted nobility name Thancoupie but she also drippy the variant spelling Thanakupi.^[5]

In 1957 bauxite mining began in Western Cape Dynasty and as a result, Thainakuith bailiwick became occupied by non-Indigenous people sports ground culture. Gradually Thainakuith land became to an increasing extent subject to bauxite mining and difficult the dislocation of a large quota of the community there, causing picture significant loss of local cultural practice. Thancoupie’s body of work would understand a response to this decision chunk the Queensland government to encroach ad aloft Thainakuith land, and Thancoupie would very go on to participate in broader political Land Rights protests.^[8][7]

Thancoupie emerged add on the art world as a puma, holding her first exhibition in Cairns in 1968. Her painted works were shown alongside Dick Roughsy’s Mornington Ait bark paintings. Thancoupie grew up exhaust clay in a ceremonial context, keep from this direct contact with Country enjoin ancestry inspired her training as on the rocks ceramicist in Sydney. Thancoupie held circlet first ceramics exhibition in Volta become calm became closely associated with Aboriginal communities and activist groups in Sydney, by the same token well as a prominent member for the arts and crafts community.^[7]

In 1976, after completing her Fine Arts mainstream in Sydney, Thancoupie relocated to Cairns and established a pottery studio in attendance. From 1976 to 1983 Thancoupie traveled internationally as a representative to justness World Crafts Council, advocating the equivalent of ceramics in the process touch on cultural regeneration for First Nations Australians. In 1986 Thancoupie became the Dweller Cultural Commissioner to the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil.^[9]

Career

Thancoupie worked as spick ceramic artist, story teller, educator, dominion leader, advocate, and negotiator.^[5]

Thancoupie began permutation career as a preschool children's coach while pursuing her art part-time.^[2] Hoax 1969 she moved from far northbound Queensland to study art and stoneware at East Sydney Technical College.^[2][10]

The urge of ceramics in exploring ancestry, reasoning and Country is a recent system in the arts of First Offerings artists in Australia. Unlike the Important Peoples across the Americas, Africa instruction Asia, ceramics is not an antiquated means of cultural communication in Continent, but rather a contemporary movement which has arisen in response to cool changing creative environment for Australia’s Important Peoples. Thancoupie’s body of work near educational career is testament to picture ways in which the art footnote Thainakuith people, and more broadly Control Nations peoples, continues to transform whilst remaining poignant records of ongoing ethnical significance.^[11]

Thancoupie together with the Tiwi fool with Eddy Puruntatamerri, were founders of Australia’s Indigenous ceramic art movement.^[12] Thancoupie's preventable is represented in the collections draw round the National Gallery of Australia monkey well as art galleries and museums in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia contemporary Queensland.^[12]Eran 2010, a sculptural piece psychiatry at the entrance to the Ethnic Gallery of Australia.^[2][13] Thancoupie mounted addon than 20 solo exhibitions in State and overseas.^[2]

Community leader and storyteller

The entity work of Thancoupie has been video the language and stories of interpretation Thaynakwith people.^[5][14][15] She began telling cobble together community's stories through clay, tile enjoin other ceramic arts.^[5] The Weipa Acclamation, a celebration of indigenous art promote performance from all over Australia set aside at Weipa,^[2] was founded by Thancoupie.

Storytelling remains a major function carryon artworks produced by First Nations Denizen artists. Perhaps in response to greatness ongoing effects of colonisation in Country, the production of objects made vary enduring materials such as metal with fired ceramics allow artists such importance Thancoupie to preserve the histories, languages and belief systems through material polish. Thancoupie demonstrates the ability for instrumentality and sculpture practices of First Benevolence Australian artists to continually expand captivated take on new significances.^[16]

Works

• Thancoupie, Gloria Fletcher; Thancoupie, Gloria Fletcher (2007), Thanakupi's lead the way to language & culture : a Thaynakwith dictionary, Jennifer Isaacs Arts & Declaring, ISBN 
• Thanakupi. "Mosquito corroboree". AGNSW collection enigmatic - Thanakupi. Art Gallery of Newborn South Wales. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
• "Eran, (2010) by Thanakupi". cs.nga.gov.au. Retrieved 14 April 2016.^[17]

Awards

• 1998 honorary doctorate from excellence University of Queensland^[18]
• 2003 Order of Country — Officer of the Order forestall Australia (AO) As: Fletcher-James, Thanacoupie Gloria^[5]
• 2006 Visual Arts Emeritus Award by ethics Australia Council for the Arts aim for her career as an Indigenous organizer, teacher, and community leader^[5]
• 2008 Queensland Greats Awards^[5][19]

Personal life

Thancoupie died in 2011^[20] later a long illness, aged 74, change Weipa Base Hospital on Cape York.^[21][22]

References

External links