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ABSTRACT
Perth-based art dealer Mary Macha was engaged with Indigenous art for almost fifty years. She played a critical role in the development of Aboriginal art in Western Australia firstly in the government sector and subsequently as a private dealer. Her clients included Alistair McAlpine (Lord McAlpine) and Robert Holmes a Court. She was the key player in the development of what became known as the East Kimberley School of art and formed a close relationship with the key artists, Paddy Jamanji and Rover Thomas. After her death in 2017, her archive was sorted and collated by her executors with assistance from the University of Melbourne and vested with the Battye Library in Perth.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Frank Gare, ‘Legislative Background to Marketing Aboriginal Arts & Crafts in Western Australia’, unpublished manuscript, Mary Macha Archives.
2. Mary Macha, ‘Marketing & Development of Aboriginal Art and Craft in Western Australia 1971 to 1983’, unpublished manuscript, c.1993, Mary Macha Archives.
3. Mary Macha, ‘Letter to Ronald Berndt Thanking Him for His Dedication to Her in a Catalogue’, 1988, Mary Macha Archives.
4. Macha, ‘Letter’.
5. Mary Macha, ‘Materials Used by Aboriginal Artists for Painting Surfaces or Images on Works for Commercial Purposes’, unpublished manuscript, 1992, Mary Macha Archives.
6. Kim Akerman, ‘Eulogy for Mary Macha’, unpublished manuscript, 2017, Mary Macha Archives.
7. Later Lord McAlpine when he was created a life peer in 1984.
8. Kim Akerman 'Eulogy for March Macha’, unpublished manuscript, 2017, Mary Macha Archives.
9. Fred Myers, Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art, Duke University Press, Durham NC and London, 2002.
10. Alistair McAlpine, From Bagman to Swagman: Tales of Broome, the North-West and Other Australian Adventures, Allen & Unwin, St Leonard, NSW, 1999, p. 212.
11. Janet Holmes à Court and Terri-Ann White (eds.), Muse: A Journey Through an Art Collection, UWA Publishing, Perth, WA, 2017, p. 220.
12. McAlpine, pp. 211–12.
13. McAlpine, pp. 211–12.
14. McAlpine, pp. 211–12.
15. Akerman.
16. Steve Edwards, Artists and Artefacts – Halls Creek 1977–1980, unpublished manuscript, c.1992, Mary Macha Archives.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Suzanne Spunner
Suzanne Spunner, is an Honorary Fellow in Indigenous Studies, at the University of Melbourne. She is a playwright and writer on Indigenous art and theatre. Her PhD was about issues in the oeuvre of Rover Thomas. She had completed a book about him, All-About Rover Thomas.