Susan Betts
Susan 'Susie' Betts is a First Nations artist, illustrator and cultural advisor. She has ancestral connections to Wirangu, Kokata and Mirning country, community and language groups on the far West coast of South Australia.
Career
[edit]_SYD_06JAN99_(6582247581).jpg)
Betts' artworks created whilst employed at Balarinji Design Studio include the Nalanji Dreaming design[1] covering a Qantas jet in 1995.[2][3] She developed the Sweet Water design for an oversized Coca-Cola bottle displayed at the 1996 Olympics and now in Atlanta Museum.[4]
She designed a cultural football guernsey for the Adelaide Crows worn during 2016 for the Australian Rules Football Indigenous round at the request of her nephew Eddie Betts.[5][6][7]
Betts has undertaken international research through a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 exploring the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) constellation and creation stories (Tjukurpa) across Indigenous cultures in Australia and overseas. As a part of this fellowship she was able to visit the Elliston and Streaky Bay areas which had been taboo to her people for many years; this was possible after a ceremony acknowledging the Waterloo Bay massacre and what had been lost.[8]
Betts said of this:[8]
We want to make this connection back on country because for thousands of years our people have been coming here, our ancestors and doing ceremony.
— Susan Betts, 8 October 2020, ABC Eyre Peninsula
As of 2024, Betts is a Board member of Country Arts SA and part of their First Nations Advisory Committee.[9]
Selected works
[edit]Children's books
- Warna-Manda Baby Earth Walk (2021) by Susan Betts and Mandy Foot[10]
- Lullabies for Bed Time (2017) by Susan Betts, Phil Cummings, Mike Dumbleton, Katrina Germein and Louise Pike[11]
- It's Bed Time (2009) by Katrina Germein, Phil Cummings, Susan Betts and Tania Cox[12]
Awards
[edit]- The Gladys Elphick awards - Quiet Achiever award in 2016.[13]
- Churchill Trust Fellowship in 2018.[14]
- Shortlisted in 2022 for The Wilderness Society Karajia Award for Children’s Literature for her picture book Warna-Manda Baby Earth Walk, written and illustrated by Susan Betts with co-illustrator Mandy Foot.[15][16]
References
[edit]- ^ Regional Development Australia collaborations (2016-10-25). "Wiyana Spirit". Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ National Museum of Australia, Acton Peninsula. "National Museum of Australia - Balarinji art and design collection". www.nma.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ Qantas (3 July 2024). "Flying Art Series".
- ^ Lange, Jacques (1997). "Coke art, folk art: The Coca-cola salute to folk art". Sabinet African Journals: 15–16.
- ^ "Adelaide Crows unveil new Indigenous jumper". NITV. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ "Crows to don Indigenous jumper". afc.com.au. 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
- ^ Homfray, Reece (25 May 2016). "Eddie's Pride". Advertiser, the (Adelaide): 66 – via Ebsco.
- ^ a b "Seven Sisters stars creation story reconnecting people to their country after clifftop massacre taboo lifted". ABC Eyre Peninsula. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ "Our People". Country Arts. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ Austlit. "Warna-Manda Baby Earth Walk | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ Austlit. "Lullabies for Bed Time | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ "It's bed time / illustrations by Katharine Lahn ; music by Mike Steer ; words by Phil Cummings,... - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ "Award Categories". Gladys Elphick Awards. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
- ^ "Susan Betts - Churchill Trust". www.churchilltrust.com.au. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
- ^ Austlit. "Susan Betts | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ Mem: 7752768. "Wilderness Society announces Environment Award shortlists, new Karajia Award | Books+Publishing". Retrieved 2024-06-24.
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