Christine Judith Nicholls

Senior Lecturer in Australian Studies, Flinders University
Christine Judith Nicholls
Dr Christine Nicholls is a writer, curator and Senior Lecturer in Australian Studies at Flinders University, where she also coordinates Postgraduate Humanities students. She is well published in the fields of visual art, linguistics, and education (particularly Indigenous Australian languages and Indigenous Australian artistic practice, as well as Indigenous education) about which she has been tracing developments, writing books and articles, and speaking, in both Australia and overseas, for several decades now.

Christine has been involved in education, both in the tertiary and schooling sectors, since launching her teaching career in Sydney in the early 1970s. Beginning in the early 1980s, Christine Nicholls spent more than a decade living at Lajamanu, a remote Warlpiri Aboriginal settlement in the Tanami Desert of the Northern Territory, where she worked first as a linguist and then as the Principal of the local school, and played an instrumental part during the beginning of the art movement at Lajamanu. She is also a proficient speaker of, and/or understands, a number of Aboriginal languages, particularly the Warlpiri language.

In terms of her background in Indigenous matters, Christine was an expert witness in the Royal Commission into the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and is quoted in the report; she has also continuously acted as an Expert Examiner for the Federal Government (since being appointed by the Howard Government in 1998, she continues in this role up until to the present day, the purpose of which is to consider applications for potential overseas purchasers of Aboriginal artworks and artefacts, i.e. considering the applications of those who wish to purchase such objects for placement in overseas galleries or collections); has worked on the National Curriculum in Aboriginal Languages (which is now used in schools throughout Australia) and is currently involved in the developmental phase of the Indigenous Art component of the Australian National Curriculum in Visual Art, scheduled to become operational in 2013.

Christine has also worked, either short term as a visiting scholar, or for longer terms, at numerous universities outside of Australia, including Klagenfurt University (Austria), University of Geneva (Switzerland) and University of Tokyo (2004-2005) where she was Professor of Australian Studies. Over the years she has also served on a number of Boards, including, most recently, the Boards of Craftsouth and The JamFactory in Adelaide, with those terms expiring earlier in 2012, and is currently a SALA Board Member and has very recently been appointed as an Art Monthly Board Member.

In terms of her background in curatorial work, Christine Nicholls has curated many visual art exhibitions, including two for the Adelaide Festival of Arts (2000 and 2002), two jointly curated (with MCA staff) major exhibitions at the MCA Sydney (Kathleen Petyarre: Genius of Place, and Dancing Up Country: the Art of Dorothy Napangardi) and a major and very popular exhibition of Indigenous prints, Yilpinji: Love, Magic and Ceremony which has been touring the world for a number of years now. Most recently she curated two major Indigenous art exhibitions in Croatia and Serbia. She is also in high demand as a public speaker, particularly in the area of Indigenous Australian art.

Christine has published more than twelve books, all of which have won significant prizes (for example, Kathleen Petyarre: Genius of Place, co-written with Ian North, and published by Wakefield Press, and one of the earliest publications in the SALA series, won The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand publication Prize for the Best Visual Art Book published in the region, in 2001). Among Christine’s more recent publications is the framing essay Painting Alone in Yulyurlu: Lorna Fencer Napurrurla, published by Wakefield Press in 2011, and EarthWorks, and overview of the history of Indigenous Australian ceramics, which is accompanied by a book that she has written on that history of Indigenous ceramics.

In addition to Indigenous Australian art, Christine writes about diverse areas of visual art, including sculpture, jewellery, ceramics and public art. She also writes, translates and edits children’s books. Unusually perhaps, while Christine works at ‘high end’ of the visual art world, she is equally committed to writing about and acting as an advocate for emerging and unknown artists, many of whom have since gone on to receive public acclaim.

Dr Nicholls is also currently the Australian Editor of two high circulation visual arts magazines - Asian Art News and World Sculpture News, both based in Hong Kong. She has curated numerous art exhibitions in Australia, Europe and Asia. At present Christine is working on more books about aspects of Australian Indigenous art and languages for a range of different publishers.