Lilla Watson
Encyclopedia
Lilla Watson is an Indigenous Australian or Murri visual artist, activist and academic working in the field of Women’s issues and Aboriginal epistemology.
Lilla Watson is a Gangulu woman who grew up on the Dawson River Central Queensland
her 'Mother's Mother's country'. Moving to Brisbane in the late 1960s, she and other members of her family have become well known through their involvement in the Indigenous community. Watson worked at the University of Queensland
for ten years, the last six as Lecturer in Aboriginal Welfare Studies within the Social Work Department at the University of Queensland where she developed inter-disciplinary courses on Aboriginal perspectives. Watson has also held membership on the university senate, and has since retired.
Watson has served as the Inaugural President of the Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency, was a founding member of the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association, and was a Vice President of the Aboriginal and Islander Independent School Board, Acacia Ridge. She has acted as a consultant and a member of working groups, panels and selection committees for many Government and non-Government bodies.
After leaving her lecturer post in the nineties she developed her own medium for visual art: elaborate patterns of hundreds of holes scorched in layers of paper, pieces she calls "burnings." Many of her works draw their themes from traditional Aboriginal art and the landscape of Queensland. Watson describes her work as having an "ants eyeview", looking up through roots and foliage from beneath the ground, looking up through the earth, the "Land". As an artist, Watson has developed portrayals of her cultural and spiritual identity that are admired nationally and internationally.
Watson has expanded her art practice greatly over the years. From collaborative works, such as Soft Night Falling (2005) with saxophonist, Tim O’Dwyer to public artworks which can be seen in the New State Library
(Brisbane, Qld), the Roma Street Parkland
and the New Magistrates Court in Brisbane city.
She is often credited with the quote:
This quote has served as a motto for many activist groups in Australia and elsewhere, including United Students Against Sweatshops
. A possible origin for the quote is a speech given by Watson at the 1985 United Nations
Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi
.
Watson has said of this quote that she was "not comfortable being credited for something that had been born of a collective process" and prefers that it be credited to "Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970s."
Lilla Watson is a Gangulu woman who grew up on the Dawson River Central Queensland
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
her 'Mother's Mother's country'. Moving to Brisbane in the late 1960s, she and other members of her family have become well known through their involvement in the Indigenous community. Watson worked at the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
for ten years, the last six as Lecturer in Aboriginal Welfare Studies within the Social Work Department at the University of Queensland where she developed inter-disciplinary courses on Aboriginal perspectives. Watson has also held membership on the university senate, and has since retired.
Watson has served as the Inaugural President of the Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agency, was a founding member of the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association, and was a Vice President of the Aboriginal and Islander Independent School Board, Acacia Ridge. She has acted as a consultant and a member of working groups, panels and selection committees for many Government and non-Government bodies.
After leaving her lecturer post in the nineties she developed her own medium for visual art: elaborate patterns of hundreds of holes scorched in layers of paper, pieces she calls "burnings." Many of her works draw their themes from traditional Aboriginal art and the landscape of Queensland. Watson describes her work as having an "ants eyeview", looking up through roots and foliage from beneath the ground, looking up through the earth, the "Land". As an artist, Watson has developed portrayals of her cultural and spiritual identity that are admired nationally and internationally.
Watson has expanded her art practice greatly over the years. From collaborative works, such as Soft Night Falling (2005) with saxophonist, Tim O’Dwyer to public artworks which can be seen in the New State Library
State Library of Queensland
The State Library of Queensland is a large public library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988...
(Brisbane, Qld), the Roma Street Parkland
Roma Street Parkland
Roma Street Parkland covers 16 hectares in the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Roma Street Parkland is adjacent to Brisbane Transit Centre and the Roma Street Station...
and the New Magistrates Court in Brisbane city.
She is often credited with the quote:
This quote has served as a motto for many activist groups in Australia and elsewhere, including United Students Against Sweatshops
United Students Against Sweatshops
United Students Against Sweatshops is a student organization with chapters at over 250 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In April 2000, USAS founded the Worker Rights Consortium , an independent monitoring organization that investigates labor conditions in factories that...
. A possible origin for the quote is a speech given by Watson at the 1985 United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
Watson has said of this quote that she was "not comfortable being credited for something that had been born of a collective process" and prefers that it be credited to "Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970s."
External links
- Profile at ELISION Ensemble 2007
- The affirmation of indigenous values in a colonial education system, a chapter by Watson in the book The Excluded Past: Archaeology in Education edited by Stone and MacKenzie
- Quotes from a 1976 speech by Watson
- Interview with Phillip Adams