Atong Atem (SS/AU)
Image: Atong Atem, from the series Surat, 2022. Commissioned by Photo Australia for PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography. Courtesy the artist and MARS Gallery.
Born 1994, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lives and works Melbourne, Australia
Atong Atem is an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Narrm/ Melbourne. Atem’s photographic practice explores migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the African diaspora, and concepts of identity, home, and liminal space. Her dynamic portraiture references widely, from Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keita to science fiction writer Octavia Butler. She was awarded the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria and MECCA M-Power scholarship in 2018 and the Brisbane Powerhouse Melt Portrait Prize in 2017.
PHOTO 2022 Exhibitions
[Commissions, Free, Exhibitions, Outdoor, Premiere]
Atong Atem (SS/AU)
Surat
29 April 2022 - 22 May 2022
Old Treasury Building (outdoor)
[Free, Exhibitions]
Atong Atem (SS/AU)
Banksia
15 April 2022 - 26 June 2022
Benalla Art Gallery
[Free, Exhibitions, Premiere]
Be Here Now
30 April 2022 - 22 May 2022
MARS Gallery
PHOTO 2022 Events
[Icon, Talks, Events]
Helmut Newton (DE/AU)
Developing Influences: Photography and Power
18 May 2022, 5:30-6:30pm (AEST)
The Wheeler Centre
[Talks, Free, Events, Online]
Pulling Apart Elements from History to Speak to My Own Presence
11 May 2022, 12-1pm (AEST)
[Talks, Free]
Talk: Atong Atem
14 May 2022, 1pm (AEST)
Benalla Art Gallery
[Book launch, Talks, Free, Events]
Book launch: Surat by Atong Atem
21 May 2022, 5-5:30pm (AEST)
Photography Studies College
[Talks, Free, Events]
Talk: Q&A with Atong Atem
7 May 2022, 5pm (AEST)
MARS Gallery
PHOTO 2021 Exhibitions
[Free, Exhibitions, Openings & After Hours, Outdoor]
PHOTO 2021 Projections
18 February 2021 - 21 February 2021, 8-10:59pm (AEST)
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor, Premiere]
Atong Atem (SS/AU)
Monstera Obliqua
6 February 2021 - 7 March 2021
MARS Gallery
[Free, Exhibitions, Indoor]
Atong Atem (SS/AU)
To Be Real
23 November 2020 - 7 March 2021
Immigration Museum
PHOTO 2021 Events
[Talks, Free, Events, Indoor]
Talk: Photography and truth: a history of unveiling
1 March 2021, 5-6pm (AEST)
MARS Gallery