Art with heart

As a curator of Indigenous art at London's Tate Modern, Kimberley Moulton is passionate about putting First Nations art on the international stage

- ALEXANDRA ENGLISH

Curators are the unsung heroes of the art world. So unsung, in fact, that when Kimberley Moulton – who has spent 17 years as one – was studying art at university, she didn’t know what it was.

Derived from the Latin cūrāre, a verb meaning “to take care of”, curators do exactly that: take on the immense responsibility of ensuring an artist’s works, ideas and imagination are cared for when they are on display to the public. It involves interpreting an artist’s message and utilising a gallery to communicate it effectively through positioning, light, colour and physical space. It’s an invisible collaboration – curators are the showrunners of the art world, quietly working in the background to bring about impactful cultural moments.

Currently an adjunct curator of Indigenous art at London’s Tate Modern, Moulton is working to amplify First Nations art on an international stage. It’s been a big first year, with Moulton and her colleagues achieving two major acquisitions from Indigenous Australian artists, one of which was Yolŋu artist Naminapu Maymuru-White’s Milŋiyawuy (Milkyway)*, a series of bark paintings that tell the story of how her ancestors travel along a river leading to the sky and can be seen in the stars.

Moulton was also involved in the Tate’s acquisition of Archie Moore’s monumental installation kith and kin, which won the Golden Lion (the art Oscars) at this year’s Venice Biennale. The Bigambul/Kamilaroi artist was only the second First Nations artist to solo-represent Australia and the first Australian to take home the top prize.