Hetti, from the portfolio "Michael Riley Portraits 1984-1990", 1990 (printed 2013)

Hetti Kemerre Perkins (b. 1965), Arrernte and Kalkadoon curator, cultural adviser, writer and activist, completed her arts degree at the University of New South Wales in 1986 and gained a job at the Art Gallery of New South Wales three years later. She worked there until 2011, curating major survey exhibitions including Australia’s representation at the Venice Biennale of 1997 and spending thirteen years as senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. In 2010 she curated art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art which gave rise to an influential exhibition, book and television documentary. She has worked with federal agencies, community arts organisations and local government to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts, serving as curatorial adviser to Eora Journey, the City of Sydney’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public art program in 2010 and joining Bangarra Dance Theatre as an artist-in-residence in 2011. She was awarded the Australia Council Fellowship at the National Indigenous Art Awards of 2018. Once widely known as the daughter of the footballer and activist Charles Perkins, she is now widely known as the mother of the actor, model and activist Madeleine Madden.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
© Michael Riley Foundation