Curated by Thea-Mai Baumann and Con Gerakaris

Dr Christian Thompson AO – HOUSE OF GOLD

Dr Christian Thompson AO traverses and dissolves binary boundaries through an artistic practice that spans photography, performance, sculpture, moving image and sound. The artist critically engages with concepts of race, sexuality, gender and memory by inhabiting imagined personas, captured in fantastical environments frequently centered on native flora. In House of Gold Thompson shifts focus to explore his Chinese heritage, dating back to the 1850s Gold Rush migration boom.

House of Gold draws inspiration from a line of Song Dynasty poetry 书中自有黄金屋 [shū zhōng zì yǒu huáng jīn wū], or, ‘a book in the hand holds a house of gold’. The exhibition chronicles a personal history of intersectional identity at generational scale, where Thompson gives us glimpses of intimate moments shared between both his First Nations Bidjara and Cantonese family – learnings of language, food and self that make the artist whole.

Curated by Thea-Mai Baumann and Con Gerakaris with curatorial support from Reina Takeuchi from 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, the national tour of House of Gold, developed with Museums & Galleries of NSW, will bring this exhibition to regional and public galleries across Australia from 2025 to 2028.

Dr Christian Thompson AO explains: “The story of First Nations Chinese Australian people is not something that has necessarily been given a focus or a lot of recognition but there is a very specific relationship and history emerging of cultures and identities […] I hope that people are able to take that and apply it to their own personal stories and their family’s own stories, and their own sense of what we now consider Australian identity to be, outside of the dominant colonial narrative that we’ve been fed.”

A 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art exhibition, in partnership with Golden Dragon Museum Bendigo, supported by The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Global and touring nationally with Museums & Galleries of NSW. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program.

Image: Double Happiness, 2021. C-type print on Fuji Pearl Metallic paper. Courtesy Studio Dr Christian Thompson AO, Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney and Berlin.

The Exhibition will open on the 24th of September. Museum entry applies.

Scroll down to learn more about Dr Christian Thompson AO, Thea-Mai Baumann and Con Gerakaris. 

Dr Christian Thompson AO – HOUSE OF GOLD
hometrending_flatWhat's Ontrending_flatDr Christian Thompson AO – HOUSE OF GOLD

The Artist & Curators behind House of Gold

Dr Christian Thompson AO

Dr Christian Thompson AO is a Bidjara/Irish/Chinese-Australian contemporary artist whose work explores notions of identity, cultural hybridity & history. Formally trained as a sculptor, Thompson’s multidisciplinary practice engages mediums such as photography, video, sculpture, performance & sound. His work focuses on the exploration of identity, sexuality, gender, race and memory. In his live performances and conceptual portraits, he inhabits a range of personas achieved through handcrafted costumes & carefully orchestrated poses & backdrops. In 2010 Thompson made history when he became the first Aboriginal Australian to be admitted into the University of Oxford in its 900-year history. He is currently a research affiliate at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. Thompson holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (Fine Art), Trinity College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Master of Theatre, Amsterdam School of Arts, Das Arts, The Netherlands; Masters of Fine Art (Sculpture) RMIT University and Honours (Sculpture) RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Thompson has exhibited all over the world during his career that spans across the last two-decades. His work is held in major collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art and Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria; Queensland Art Gallery and the University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane; and the Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht. A major survey exhibition of Thompson’s work, Christian

Thea-Mai Baumann & Con Gerakaris

Thea-Mai Baumann joined 4A as Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2023. She is a creative executive, artist, creative technologist and producer of Vietnamese-Swiss heritage.

Con Gerakaris is Curatorial Program Manager at 4A. He is a curator, arts administrator and writer. His areas of interest frequently revolve around social phenomena, subcultures, contemporary urban experiences and our relationship to the built environment.

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