Othering the Ethnologist, Augustus Pitt Rivers, from the series Museum of Others

Christian Thompson formally trained as a sculptor, but his practice now includes photography, film, sound and performance. Thompson has spent many years studying overseas, both at the Dasarts Academy, Amsterdam and at the University of Oxford, where he undertook his Doctorate. However, he frequently returns to his country around Barcaldine, southwest Queensland.

Thompson’s work is largely biographical and explores concepts of identity and Indigeneity. In his work he morphs into a range of personas through carefully orchestrated poses, costumes and settings. In many works, Thompson refers to the role of photography in developing notions of Indigenous identity and presence, interrogating this to offer a very different perspective in the present from his own unique viewpoint.