After spending several years in Taiwan and China carrying out postgraduate and curatorial research, and working in public art museums, Sophie McIntyre is currently completing her PhD at the RSH. Her PhD focuses on contemporary art from Taiwan and explores the impact of issues relating to identity and representation, and specifically the expression of ‘Taiwanese consciousness’ or bentu yishe in the visual arts, which surfaced during the post-1980s period.
Prior to her PhD study, Sophie completed a Master of Art Administration and Curatorial Studies (University of New South Wales) and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Queensland University of Technology). In 1994, she was awarded the inaugural ‘Sir Edward Weary Dunlop Asia Fellowship’ along with a Mandarin language scholarship which enabled her to return to Taiwan to undertake field research and to further her studies in Chinese.
In 1997 she was awarded a scholarship by the National Endowment for Culture and the Arts in Taiwan to undertake a curatorial residency for three months at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Other scholarships she has received include a Travel Fellowship (Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities – 1997); Taiwan Research Scholarship (University of Sydney – 1996); Queensland-China Cultural Exchange Scholarship (Queensland Education Dept – 1991). In 2007, she was invited to Hong Kong to undertake a research residency as part of the ‘Asian Cities and Cultural Change’ Kuang Fong Cultural Research and Development Program and is carrying out a comparative analysis of the contemporary visual arts in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
During the past fifteen years Sophie has worked in public and university art museums in Australia and New Zealand. Most recently she was Director at the Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (2002-2007); prior to which she was Gallery Manager of the Dell Gallery, Griffith University, Queensland (1999-2002). She has also worked in the Asian and Education/Public Programs Departments at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1992-4) and at other galleries in Sydney and Brisbane. She has curated numerous solo, group and touring exhibitions, several of which have focused on the Asia-Pacific region.
Selected Curatorial Projects:
2008
Penumbra: Contemporary Art from Taiwan. Samstag Museum of Art, in conjunction with the Adelaide International Festival of the Arts.
2006
Islanded: Contemporary Art from New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. Co-curated with Lee Weng Choy (Artistic Co-Director Substation, Singapore) and Dr Eugene Tan (Director ICAS, Singapore). Adam Art Gallery, Wellington and toured to ICAS, Singapore.
The Captain’s Ghost: Three Contemporary Artists from Australia and New Zealand. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington.
2005
Still Present: Exploring Psychiatric Institutions in Photography including works by Chang Chien Chi, Anne Ferran and Johnathon Rotman. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington.
Breaking Ice: Re-Visioning Antarctica. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington. Toured to Southland Museum and Art Gallery 2006.
Play: Performance and Portaiture in Video Art from Australia and New Zealand. Co-Curated with Blair French.Adam Art Gallery, Wellingtonand toured to PICA, Perth 2006.
2004
Concrete Horizons: Contemporary Art from China. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington.
2003
Tatau: Pe’a – Photography by Mark Adams & Measina Samoa: Lisa Taouma. Co-curator Peter Brunt. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington and toured five venues in Australia and New Zealand.
Kainga Tahi Kainga Rua: New Work by Brett Graham. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
2001
Transit Narratives: 30 Artists from Australia (Exhibition Touring Co-ordinator). Dell Gallery Gallery, Griffith University, Brisbane and toured to two venues in northern Italy.
Place/Displace. Dell Gallery, Brisbane (inaugural exhibition at Griffith University’s new Dell Gallery, South Bank campus).
2000
Fiona Foley: New Work. QCA Gallery, Brisbane.
1999
Face to Face: Contemporary Art from Taiwan. Gold Coast Art Gallery. Toured to six venues in Australia and New Zealand. Co-organised by Gold Coast Art Gallery & Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
1990
Great Wall: five Chinese-Australian artists. Metro Arts Gallery, Brisbane. |
