Pacific Arts: The Journal of the Pacific Arts Association

This is an edited transcript of an interview with Vernon Ah Kee conducted by Sophie McIntyre in which the artist discusses his 2021 exhibition nothing important happened today, held at the Spring Hill Reservoir in Brisbane, Australia. The discussion explores the history of the site, to which several of Ah Kee’s works in the exhibition responded, and broader national and global issues relating to colonisation and sovereignty. The conversation also touches on ongoing themes within Ah Kee’s practice, such as race relations and the politics of denial in Australian society.

Ah Kee details the methodologies used to create his artworks—which range from videos to large-scale drawings to installations—with McIntyre observing in them the relationship between beauty and violence. Ah Kee ruminates on the role of art in society, particularly in Australia, where there remains a significant divide between the experiences of First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples, and our perspectives on history and sovereignty, which were major themes explored in the “Grounded in Place” symposium panel of which Ah Kee was a part.