Associate Professor
Overview
Dr Foley has a national and international profile as a leading contemporary artist and historian. Her work has produced substantial new knowledge around the Queensland Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (1897), and her numerous exhibitions have shared this knowledge with audiences across the globe. Fiona has exhibited a total of 50 solo exhibitions and 175 group shows; created 14 public art commissions, and her art works are held in 23 collections including The British Museum and the Hood Museum of Art in New Hampshire, USA.
Her work comes with a string of accolades. Her monograph Biting the Clouds: A Badtjala perspective on the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act was awarded the Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance in 2021, alongside a Highly Commended in the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. In recognition of her very fine achievements, Fiona has been elected an Honorary Fellow in the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
Most recently, Fiona was awarded a DECRA for her project, “Investigating the Agency of Aboriginal Frontier War Memorials”.
Research Interests
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Investigating the agency of Aboriginal Frontier War memorials
DE230101072 This project aims to unite conflicting versions of Australian history by investigating the impact and effectiveness of Australian Aboriginal Frontier War memorials. It will expand our understanding of the shared sacrifices by First Nation and settler Australians during the frontier war and demonstrated the reconciliatory potential of memorialising art informed by Indigenous oral history and creative arts research and practice. The social and cultural benefits include developing a new understanding of historical construction of Australian national identity and the potential of Indigenous art to transform the function of Australian military monuments as well as a permanent archive of short documentary films and publication.
Qualifications
- Diploma of Education, Sydney Institute of Education
- Bachelor of Arts - Visual Arts, University of Sydney
Publications
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Book Chapter: Reason and Reckoning: Provocations and Conversations About Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University
Foley, Fiona, Bargallie, Debbie, Carlson, Bronwyn and Nicoll, Fiona (2023). Reason and Reckoning: Provocations and Conversations About Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University. The Palgrave Handbook on Rethinking Colonial Commemorations. (pp. 263-296) Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-28609-4_15
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Book Chapter: Disrupting the silence: Australian Aboriginal art as a political act
Foley, Fiona (2022). Disrupting the silence: Australian Aboriginal art as a political act. Expanding the parameters of feminist artivism. (pp. 51-64) edited by Gillian Hannum and Kyunghee Pyun. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-09378-4_3
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Journal Article: After Boomalli: Art, activism, and feminism - Fiona Foley in dialogue with Paola Balla
Foley, Fiona and Balla, Paola (2022). After Boomalli: Art, activism, and feminism - Fiona Foley in dialogue with Paola Balla. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 22 (2), 151-159. doi: 10.1080/14434318.2022.2151552
Grants
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Investigating the agency of Aboriginal Frontier War memorials
(2023–2026) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
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Art, Knowledge and Indigeneity in the Sandstone University
(2013–2014) Copyright Agency Cultural Fund
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(2013–2014) Research Donation Generic
Publications
Book
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Foley, Fiona (2020). Biting the Clouds: A Badtjala perspective on the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland Press.
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Courting blakness: recalibrating knowledge in the sandstone university
Foley, Fiona, Martin-Chew, Louise and Nicoll, Fiona eds. (2015). Courting blakness: recalibrating knowledge in the sandstone university. St. Lucia, QLD, Australia: UQP.
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The art of politics the politics of art: The place of indigenous contemporary art
Fiona Foley ed. (2006). The art of politics the politics of art: The place of indigenous contemporary art. Southport, Qld., Australia: Keeaira Press.
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The Eye of the Storm: Eight Contemporary Indigenous Australian Artists
Foley, Fiona ed. (1997). The Eye of the Storm: Eight Contemporary Indigenous Australian Artists. Canberra, ACT Australia: National Gallery of Australia.
Book Chapter
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Reason and Reckoning: Provocations and Conversations About Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University
Foley, Fiona, Bargallie, Debbie, Carlson, Bronwyn and Nicoll, Fiona (2023). Reason and Reckoning: Provocations and Conversations About Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University. The Palgrave Handbook on Rethinking Colonial Commemorations. (pp. 263-296) Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-28609-4_15
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Disrupting the silence: Australian Aboriginal art as a political act
Foley, Fiona (2022). Disrupting the silence: Australian Aboriginal art as a political act. Expanding the parameters of feminist artivism. (pp. 51-64) edited by Gillian Hannum and Kyunghee Pyun. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-09378-4_3
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Creative frictions in the neoliberal university: Courting Blakness at The University of Queensland
Foley, Fiona, Nicoll, Fiona, Volcic, Zala and O'Donnell, Dominic (2019). Creative frictions in the neoliberal university: Courting Blakness at The University of Queensland. Resisting neoliberalism in higher education: seeing through the cracks. (pp. 179-203) edited by Dorothy Bottrell and Catherine Manathunga. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-95942-9_9
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Foley, Fiona and Martin-Chew, Louise (2015). The politics of art and place. Courting Blakness: Recalibrating Knowledge in the Sandstone University. (pp. 14-21) edited by Fiona Foley, Louise Martin-Chew and Fiona Nicoll. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland Press.
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Just little bits of history re-repeating
Foley, Fiona (2012). Just little bits of history re-repeating. MCA Collection. (pp. 24-29) edited by Glenn Barkley, Judith Blackall, Isabel Hesketh, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor and Ivan Muniz Reed. Sydney, NSW Australia: Museum of Contemporary Art.
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Foley, Fiona (1999). A blast from the past. Performing hybridity. (pp. 46-58) edited by May Joseph and Jennifer Natalya Fink. Minneapolis, MN, United States: University of Minnesota Press.
Journal Article
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After Boomalli: Art, activism, and feminism - Fiona Foley in dialogue with Paola Balla
Foley, Fiona and Balla, Paola (2022). After Boomalli: Art, activism, and feminism - Fiona Foley in dialogue with Paola Balla. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 22 (2), 151-159. doi: 10.1080/14434318.2022.2151552
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Exploding time past and time present
Foley, Fiona (2021). Exploding time past and time present. Griffith Review, 73, 140-152.
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The People of K’Gari/Fraser Island: Working through 250 years of racial double coding
Foley, Fiona (2020). The People of K’Gari/Fraser Island: Working through 250 years of racial double coding. Genealogy, 4 (3) 74, 1-15. doi: 10.3390/genealogy4030074
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All men choose the path they walk: art and the scales of justice
Foley, Fiona (2019). All men choose the path they walk: art and the scales of justice. Griffith Review, 65, 97-108. doi: 10.3316/informit.576957026855491
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I speak to cover the mouth of silence
Foley, Fiona (2012). I speak to cover the mouth of silence. Art Monthly Australia (250), 55-57. doi: 10.3316/informit.669565431397169
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The elephant in the room public art in Brisbane
Foley, Fiona (2012). The elephant in the room public art in Brisbane. Artlink, 32 (2), 66-69.
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Foley, Fiona (2011). When the circus came to town. Art Monthly Australia (245), 5-7. doi: 10.3316/informit.548549969265294
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Foley, Fiona (1997). A blast from the past. Periphery, 31, 5-7.
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Where the salt water meets the fresh water
Foley, Fiona (1996). Where the salt water meets the fresh water. Periphery, 27, 20-23.
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Traditional boundaries: new perspectives
Foley, Fiona (1994). Traditional boundaries: new perspectives. Periphery, 18, 8-10.
Other Outputs
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Bogimbah Creek Mission: The first Aboriginal experiment
Foley, Fiona (2021). Bogimbah Creek Mission: The first Aboriginal experiment. Booral, QLD Australia: Pirri Productions.
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Why truth telling is the first step towards healing
Foley, Fiona (2020, 11 07). Why truth telling is the first step towards healing The Australian Financial Review 29-29.
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Foley, Fiona (2014). Courting Blakness exhibition. St. Lucia, QLD, Australia:
Grants (Administered at UQ)
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Investigating the agency of Aboriginal Frontier War memorials
(2023–2026) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
-
Art, Knowledge and Indigeneity in the Sandstone University
(2013–2014) Copyright Agency Cultural Fund
-
(2013–2014) Research Donation Generic
