Brook Andrew is an Australian Wiradjuri/Celtic artist and writer.
2023 Biennial Year Find out more
Andrew is Enterprise Professor Interdisciplinary Practice and Director of Reimagining Museums and Collections at the University of Melbourne.
His interdisciplinary practice is driven by the collisions of intertwined narratives, often emerging from the mess of the “Colonial Wuba (hole)”. His practice is grounded in his perspective as a Wiradjuri and Celtic person with matrilineal kinship from the kalar midday (land of the three rivers), Australia.
Brook’s artworks, research, leadership roles and curatorial projects challenge the limitations imposed by power structures, historical amnesia and complicity to centre and support Indigenous ways of being through systemic change and yindyamarra (respect, honour, go slow and responsibility).
Liverpool Biennial 2023
'NGAAY' (2023)
Brook Andrew works with his mother tongue of Wiradjuri (Indigenous Australian), as a way of freeing himself from the heaviness of trauma caused by colonial violence. The concept of ‘Yindyamarra’ (the idea of living well with respect and kindness and going slowly) is central to his work.
For Liverpool Biennial 2023, Brook Andrew presents a new large-scale neon work at Stanley Dock, entitled ‘NGAAY/SEE’ (‘ngaay’ is a Wiradjuri word meaning ‘to see’). ‘NGAAY/SEE’ combines languages including Irish, Scottish Gaelic, isiXhosa, Wiradjuri, Urdu, Mandarin and Welsh and symbolises the cultural and historical linguistic diversity of Merseyside.
It is at once a celebration and a critical examination of this diversity, highlighting its origins in the city’s history of trade in goods and enslaved peoples.
Brook Andrew works with his mother tongue of Wiradjuri (Indigenous Australian), as a way of freeing himself from the heaviness of trauma caused by colonial violence. The concept of ‘Yindyamarra’ (the idea of living well with respect and kindness and going slowly) is central to his work. For Liverpool Biennial 2023, Brook Andrew presents a new large-scale neon work at Stanley Dock, entitled ‘NGAAY/SEE’ (‘ngaay’ is a Wiradjuri word meaning ‘to see’). ‘NGAAY/SEE’ combines languages including Irish, Scottish Gaelic, isiXhosa, Wiradjuri, Urdu, Mandarin and Welsh and symbolises the cultural and historical linguistic diversity of Merseyside. It is at once a celebration and a critical examination of this diversity, highlighting its origins in the city’s history of trade in goods and enslaved peoples. The River Mersey acts as a witness to these histories of violence and extraction which remain mapped across the world today: Sydney, Australia is home to a place called Birkenhead Point and a suburb named Liverpool. These duplicate monikers serve as reminders of the British colonial exploits that span the globe. Through centring Indigenous language and perspectives, Andrew’s work questions the limitations imposed by colonial power structures, historical amnesia, and stereotyping. Drawing on his Wiradjuri heritage Andrew disrupts Western conventions of space and time, to present alternative histories and ways of being. The different languages present in NGAAY are a tribute and a point of connection between people who live in different cities yet share, like Liverpool a river and riverbed that holds memories and histories. Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial.
'NGAAY' (2023)
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Brook Andrew, NGAAY SEE, 2023. Installation view at Stanley Dock, Liverpool Biennial 2023. Photography by Rob Battersby. Courtesy Liverpool Biennial
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Brook Andrew, NGAAY SEE, 2023. Installation view at Stanley Dock, Liverpool Biennial 2023. Photography by Rob Battersby. Courtesy Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial 2023
‘SMASH IT’ (2018)
‘SMASH IT’ brings together imagery of the destruction and defacement of monuments, old films, and news stories. Throughout, there are excerpts from the artist’s interviews with Indigenous intellectuals and creatives Marcia Langton, Wesley Enoch, Lyndon Ormond-Parker and Maxine Briggs about cultural protocols and the artist’s earlier video work ‘The Pledge’, which is a reinterpretation of ‘Jedda’ (1955) – the first colour feature film made in Australia and arguably the first starring Aboriginal peoples in lead roles.
The title is a reference to the history of smashing and defacing monuments which has particular resonance today. The artist interweaves, reveals and disrupts primitivist narratives and right-wing extremist thought which continue to influence our lives. The work is created as a form of digital collage, including a hypnotic soundtrack, with
‘SMASH IT’ brings together imagery of the destruction and defacement of monuments, old films, and news stories. Throughout, there are excerpts from the artist’s interviews with Indigenous intellectuals and creatives Marcia Langton, Wesley Enoch, Lyndon Ormond-Parker and Maxine Briggs about cultural protocols and the artist’s earlier video work ‘The Pledge’, which is a reinterpretation of ‘Jedda’ (1955) – the first colour feature film made in Australia and arguably the first starring Aboriginal peoples in lead roles. The title is a reference to the history of smashing and defacing monuments which has particular resonance today. The artist interweaves, reveals and disrupts primitivist narratives and right-wing extremist thought which continue to influence our lives. The work is created as a form of digital collage, including a hypnotic soundtrack, with materials sourced from the Internet, the Smithsonian Institute’s collections, and Andrew’s extensive archive of printed materials. Ending with the Wiradjuri word ‘NGAAY’ meaning ‘to see’, SMASH IT brings colonial archives into relation with the present moment, inviting viewers to experience these images anew and to reimagine a different legacy. Edited by Giacomo Sanzani and Brook Andrew. This project was produced through a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and on residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien 2017–18 assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery Sydney; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels.
‘SMASH IT’ (2018)
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Brook Andrew, SMASH IT, 2018. Installation view at World Museum. Courtesy of Liverpool Biennial. Photography by Mark McNulty
