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By Archie RoseISSUE #054 HERE'S TO THE WOMEN SHAPING OUR SPIRITS | News

The National Gallery of Australia’s ‘Know My Name’ Program, Six Years On

Archie Rose has long been a supporter of the National Gallery of Australia, and in particular their Know My Name program – a national program of exhibitions, commissions, education programs, partnerships and creative collaborations that celebrates the diversity and creativity of Australian women artists throughout history and to the present day.

In 2019, the National Gallery acknowledged that only 25% of its Australian art collection and 33% of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collection was by women artists. Know My Name came out of this acknowledgement and builds on the global movement to increase the representation of women-identifying artists and to address the historical imbalance that has occurred in how the work of women artists is presented and collected. A commitment was made to change this by establishing the Gallery’s first Guiding Principles for Gender Equity in collection development, programming and organisational structures. In 2019, Archie Rose released a limited edition #KnowMyName gin in support of the November 2020 exhibition, Know My Name: Australian women artists 1900 to Now.

Now, the National Gallery is the best performing major gallery on gender representation in the Australian art sector (2022 Countess Report published in 2024). Highlights include the highest proportion of women artists represented in exhibitions, at 84% (up from 25% in 2018), and First Nations artists represented in 24% of programming, with 65% being women artists.

To celebrate our long-term partnership with the National Gallery and Know My Name, we spoke with Samantha Braniff, Head of Marketing and Partnerships, to hear more about their amazing work.

Sam, what is your favourite part of working at the National Gallery of Australia?

The art! Having the National Gallery as your everyday workplace is a daily treat, I never take it for granted. Connecting our members, visitors and partners through the stories of art and artists is my favourite part of the job. I’m fortunate to work with amazing creative teams across the Gallery through my role.

Archie Rose is a big supporter of the National Gallery’s Know My Name initiative. Can you share the goals of this program and why it's so important to the National Gallery?

We’ve been collaborating with Archie Rose since 2018. The Know My Name initiative was launched in 2019. It aligned so well with Archie Rose’s inclusive approach to business, it was a natural fit for us to collaborate to highlight Australian women artists. Our aim with the initiative was to create programs, exhibitions, commissions, partnerships and creative collaborations that increased the representation and visibility of women artists. The Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee collaboration is now our fourth bespoke Archie Rose Tailored Gin artistic label. Our audiences share a love of culture, and it’s been wonderful to include the artists as part of the design process with the Archie Rose team to develop the gin labels.

What have been some of the highlights of Know My Name? Any specific exhibitions that have left their mark on you?

I love all of them! However, Cressida Campbell, Emily Kam Kngwarray and Lindy Lee have been particular highlights. Being able to work with living artists, in the case of Cressida and Lindy, to bring partner collaborations to life has been so much fun. Then touring Emily Kam Kngwarray to the Tate Modern in London last year was very special; we’ve reached new global audiences in the United Kingdom.

Who are three female artists that everyone should know about right now?

The fierce Aretha Brown, currently on display in the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain. Her mural based work is grounded in truth-telling and celebrates First Nations history, knowledge and empowerment.

Gemma Smith, who we recently acquired an epic work, Compression dissolve 2024, for the national collection. You just get lost in the colours and scale.

Anne Dangar, who had a moment last summer with the National Gallery presenting a major retrospective of her work. She was a pioneer in the Cubism movement and I love that a whole new generation of art lovers have discovered her.