Members of Reference Group for Artists in the Black

John Harding

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, John Harding's family is originally from Darnley Island in the Torres Strait. John is of the Ku Ku Clan in far North Queensland.

With an extensive background in the arts and with a focus on the performing arts, John's experience has encompassed acting, comedy, dance, play writing, cultural consulting and directing. Some of the works that John has been involved with include "No Parking" part of the Bless Your Big Blak Arts Festival in 2001, "Enuff" and "Black Inside" in 2002, and "Black & Tran 11; The Two Marketeers", "Reconciliation", "The Blacking up of Jimmy Strong", "Nyets Nyets Picnic", "Entanglement" and "Falling Up" in 2004.

John currently works with the Department of Justice, and was also recently appointed to the Indigenous Advisory Committee, of the Equal Opportunity Committee. Previous positions held by John include: Project Officer for the Melbourne Development Board, Indigenous Artistic Coordinator for the Melbourne Moomba Waterfest, and Assistant Coordinator for the Bless Your Blak Arts Festival.

Over the years John has won numerous awards including, both the National and Victorian NAIDOC Indigenous Artist of the Year in 1992, and in 1997 the Australia Council Performing Arts Fellowship, Special Mention-NSW Premiers Literary Award, Special Mention-Victorian Premiers Literary Award and RAKA Award (University of Melbourne for Play writing). In 1998 he was awarded the Australian Human Rights Award - Drama Category, for “Up The Road” by Belvoir St Theatre.

Members of Reference Group for Artists in the Black

Kevin Dolman

Kevin describes himself as an Aboriginal-Irish Australian. His mother is from the Eastern Arrernte people of central Australia, near Alice Springs and his father is an Irish immigrant from Derry in Northern Ireland. Currently, he is a Senior Policy Officer in Department of Indigenous Affairs WA working on Indigenous Governance issues. In 1999, he graduated from the University of NSW with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce, and was formerly a journalist with ABC Television News. He has worked in Aboriginal affairs in a range of capacities for the past fifteen years with Aboriginal communities from many different parts of Australia.

Kev Carmody

Kev Carmody grew up on a cattle station near Goranba, 70 km west of Dalby in the Darling Downs area of south eastern Queensland. His father was “mad Irish, fighting Irish” and his mother a Murri woman.

Kev’s musical career started at University, his inspiration came from a truly rural and oral tradition. Music always had been around him; he did not & still does not see himself as “a musician”. He told one newspaper that his musical career was “a far cry from the 15 year old who thought he’d spent the rest of his life pressing wool. Mind you, I had a job then, I was making bloody money. Not with this music caper….”

Kev has released the following albums Pillars of Society, Eulogy (for a Black Person), Bloodlines, Street Beat, Images and Illusions and Freedom, which was written with Bart Willoughby.

Kev has performed at venues such as the Maleny Folk Festival, Womadelaide Festival in Adelaide, Womad Festival at Reading in England, Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, Opera House in Sydney and Kev has toured extensively through Ireland, Scotland, UK & Germany.

He is now one of Australia’s most visible ambassadors and the message that he brings, although rooted in experience of Australia’s Aboriginal community, has universal resonances which reach and touch audiences around the world.

Dr Irene Watson

Irene Watson currently (2004) works for the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement as a legal practitioner, and also lectures in law at the Flinders University Law School, in South Australia. Irene has written and spoken extensively within Australia and abroad on indigenous issues, law, culture and justice. In particular her work in the area of advocating for indigenous human rights involved participation and advocacy before the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples from 1990-1995. In 1996 Irene was appointed by the Chiefs of Ontario, Canada to sit as one of seven indigenous judges on the 'First Nations International Court of Justice'. Irene has recently self-published Looking at you, looking at me, 2002, a short history on the colonisation of the lands of her ancestors. This work features amongst many other journal articles and writings. Irene is a member of the Tanganekald and Meintangk peoples, first peoples of the Coorong and south-east of South Australia. Her work spans a 32 year long history of Aboriginal activism, involving the ‘road map to peace’ in the face of the very desired recognition of land rights, self-determination and recognition of basic human rights for Aboriginal Peoples. This is a long winding road, a continuing work in progress.

Carol Innes

Carol is a Noongar woman born in Narrogin in the South West of Western Australia. Carol is the mother of three children and stepmother of four. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Science for Aboriginal Community Management & Development. Carol has nine years experience in arts administration at state and national levels, and with other government agencies at various levels and is currently employed as the Manager Regional Development & Indigenous Networks for ArtSource the Artist Foundation of Western Australia. Carol is the Chair of the Healthway Arts Advisory Committee. She is a presenter on RTR FM 92.1 which is an Arts Radio station in Perth and she actively promotes the arts and Indigenous issues across the community. Carol has chosen to stay in the arts sector as she believes that it is the tool that can make changes and it is working with artists to achieve their dreams. Carol strongly believe that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists need to be more aware of their legal rights and have an understanding of copyright and intellectual property issues. Carol is actively involved in reconciliation issues in Perth in the arts sector and more broadly with a group here in Western Australia.