Bindi Cole

Biography

Bindi Cole is an award-winning artist. In 2009, she won the $25,000 Deadly Art Award as part of the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards and has also been a finalist in the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (the Telstra) and the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Her highly successful Sistagirls series was first shown in Melbourne in 2010 and has since travelled to Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin. It will be shown
internationally in 2012 at the Kluge-Ruhe Museum, University of Virginia, USA. Bindi Cole's work is held in the collection of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Art
Gallery of Western Australia and in numerous private collections nationally.

For more information, visit Bini Coles' website here
Bindi Cole is represented by Nellie Castan Gallery

Artist Statement

The term 'Sistagirl' is used to describe a transgender person in Tiwi Island culture. Traditionally, the term was 'Yimpininni'. The very existence of the word provides some indication of the inclusive attitudes historically extended towards Aboriginal sexual minorities. Colonisation not only wiped out many Indigenous people, it also had an impact on Aboriginal culture and understanding of sexual and gender expression.

As many traditions were lost, this term became a thing of the past. Yimpininni were once held in high regard as the nurturers within the family unit and tribe much like the Faafafine from Samoa. As the usage of the term vanished, tribes' attitudes toward queer Indigenous people began to resemble that of the western world and the religious right. Even today many Sistagirls are excluded from their own tribes and suffer at the hands of others.

Within a population of around 2500, there are approximately 50 Sistagirls living on the Tiwi Islands. This community contains a complex range of dynamics including a hierarchy (a queen Sistagirl), politics, and a significant history of pride and shame. The Sistagirls are isolated yet thriving, unexplored territory with a beauty, strength and diversity to inspire and challenge.

During August and September of 2009, the artist spent a month living with the Sistagirls on the Tiwi Islands creating a series of highly stylised portraits of them. She loaded a barge with a four-wheel drive, lights, a generator, cameras and enough film to fill a suitcase. Each day brought an emotional roller coaster from moments of elation around what was being achieved with the images to complete anxiety from the many dramas that occurred. This time affected Coles in a profound way. The Sistagirls touched her heart. Coles' hope is that in some way she has captured the essence of who the Sistagirls are and the spirit of their community. The artist intends to be a regular visitor to Tiwi to visit the Sistagirl community for the rest of her life.