Rebecca Hossack

Rebecca Hossack is an Australian-born London gallerist, who has played a leading role in introducing Australian Aboriginal art to a British audience.^[1][2][3][4] She is widely recognised as an expert on Aboriginal Art, Australian Aboriginal culture and non-Western art traditions,^{[5] [6]} who was the first to introduce many of the greatest Aboriginal Australian artists to Europe, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.^{[7][8] [9][10] [11]} She also curates African Art and indigenous art from other countries such as Papua New Guinea.^[12][13]

The Rebecca Hossack Gallery, founded in 1988, is considered to be the longest continually running gallery of Aboriginal art in the world. Janet McKenzie, co-editor of Studio International says "During (this 30 years) Hossack has almost single-handedly introduced Australian Aboriginal art to Britain and Europe".^[3]

In 1989 Hossack launched the first of her ongoing Songlines seasons of Aboriginal art, which run from June to September annually. The exhibitions are named in honour of Hossack's friend Bruce Chatwin, inspired by his famous novel about Aboriginal culture, The Songlines.^[14]

Hossack was born and raised in Hawthorne, Melbourne, one of four daughters of the surgeon Donald W. Hossack OBE, ^[15][16]and his wife Joan. Her father was awarded the OBE for his pioneering research into the wearing of seat belts in cars to prevent fatalities. This resulted in Victoria (Australia) being the first jurisdiction in the world, in 1970, to mandate the wearing of seatbelts. ^[17]As a comparison, the UK mandated seat belts in 1983. Dr Hossack published his autobiography at the age of 90. ^{[18][19][20] [21]}

Rebecca Hossack attended St Catherine’s School in Melbourne ^[22] and Geelong Grammar School ^[23] and went on to study law at the University of Melbourne ^[24][25] in addition to taking a History of Art degree at the Australian National University in Canberra. ^[26] She was president of Melbourne University Alumni in the UK for nearly two decades.

Hossack’s eponymous galleries exhibit craft, sculpture and art, and while specialising in Aboriginal art ^[27] her exhibitions are also noted for bridging the gap between fine and decorative arts.^[28][29] The gallery’s list of Western artists includes Pippa Small, Rose Blake,^[30] Andrew Logan (sculptor),^[31] Ann Stokes and Joan Dannatt. ^[32]

Hossack opened her first London gallery in Windmill Street, Fitzrovia, in March 1988. ^[33][34] Before long she opened a second space at 28 Charlotte Street. In 2007 she took the lease on a four-storey building in Conway Street and retained the Charlotte Street gallery as a secondary space in central London. ^{[35] [36]}

In 1989, Hossack met the legendary Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum in Alice Springs and he accepted her invitation for a solo show in London, on condition that he could meet Queen Elizabeth II. ^[37][38] When Possum arrived in London for the opening of his show at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in 1990, he was indeed taken to meet the Queen and was able to gift her one of his paintings for her collection.

In addition to her London galleries, Hossack had a gallery in Mott Street, New York for ten years, which in 2019 she relocated to Little Havana, Miami, opening with a show called Priceless, by Kansas-based artist, John Holcomb. ^[39]

Hossack was both a member of the board of LAPADA ^[40] and a Trustee of FANZA (the Foundation for Australian and New Zealand Arts) for many years.^[41]

Many Aboriginal artists had their first European solo exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London. Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1999) had her first solo show there, in 1994. ^[42]Other leading Aboriginal artists who first showed in Europe at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery include Clifford Possum, ^[43] Robert Campbell Jr. ^[44][45](1944-1993), Jimmy Pike (1940-2002) who showed with her 1991 and 2001, ^[46] Owen Yalandja, Lloyd Kwilla who showed at the Gallery in 2008, ^[47] Janice Murray ^[48] Jean Baptiste Apuatimi with an exhibition titled Tapalinga in 2009, and Alick Tipoti in a show titled Malungu (From the Sea) in 2008 . A show in 2011 featured artists of the Garrawa, Mara, Gurdanji and Yanyuwa peoples, and according to Will Self, three of the featured artists, Nancy McDinny, Madeleine Dirdi and Stewart Hoosan came to the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London for the vernissage.^[49]

Hossack has worked closely with a large number of Aboriginal communities: Papunya, Yuendumu, Lajamanu, ^[50] Balgo Hills, ^[51] Ampilatwatja, Spinifex people, Arnhem Land, Warmun Community, Fitzroy Crossing, Tiwi Islands, and more. ^[52][53]The art from these communities is gathering in international stature across the fine art world. "I don't understand why Aboriginal art is not on the national agenda in schools," said Jonathan Jones (artist) in 2011. "After all, it's the only art movement to come out of Australia."^[54]

From 1993-1997 Hossack served as Cultural Development Officer at the High Commission of Australia, London. ^[55][56] During her time in office Hossack organised many literary and cross-cultural events centering on Australia House and across London. When her term ended in 1997, the Australian community in London, including Barry Humphries, Clive James, Germaine Greer and Kathy Lette, protested vociferously. ^[57]

Rebecca Hossack was elected onto London’s Camden London Borough Council, as a councillor for Bloomsbury (ward) in May 2006. She was the first Tory candidate to be elected to the Bloomsbury ward in 36 years. ^[58]

While in office Hossack campaigned consistently for planting more trees in the borough ^[59] and other green issues. ^{[60] [61][62]}

Hossack is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society also known as the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (NADFAS), an international organisation with around 450 local societies and 80,000 members across the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. ^{[63] [64]}

She campaigned to have Aboriginal artists included in Obituaries in leading British newspapers, and has written several herself in The Guardian and The Independent as well as obituaries for Western artists.^[65][66] Hossack also writes introductions to art books. ^[67]

Hossack has been married to biographer and historian Matthew Sturgis since 1991 and a portrait of the couple by Abigail McLellan was painted in 1998^[68]. A photographic portrait of Rebecca Hossack in 1999 by Polly Borland is held at the National Portrait Gallery, London. ^[69]Hossack rides a bicycle to get around in Central London. ^[70]She writes regularly for Resurgence & Ecologist, the magazine of the Resurgence Trust founded by Satish Kumar, one of the longest running ecological publication in the UK. ^[71] Many of Hossack’s articles are concerned with Australian Aboriginal culture and communities. ^[72]Her house in London's Fitzrovia has been photographed for the front cover of World of Interiors and featured in many other magazines. ^[73]