Hetti Perkins

Hetti Kemerre Perkins (born 1965) is an Aboriginal Australian art curator and writer. She is known for her work at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where she was the senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the gallery from around 1998 until 2011, and for many significant exhibitions and projects.

Early life and education Hetti Kemerre Perkins is an Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman from Central Australia. She was born in 1965, the daughter of Aboriginal Australian activist Charles Perkins and his wife Eileen Munchenberg. Hetti is a granddaughter of Hetty Perkins; sister to film director Rachel Perkins and brother Adam Perkins. Her mother created an art gallery showcasing Aboriginal art in the family home's garage in Canberra, and she was influenced by her father's Indigenous rights advocacy. She attended the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972.

Perkins completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986.

Career Perkins started her career working at Aboriginal Arts Australia, In 1991, she curated the Aboriginal Womens Exhibition, which included a national tour. This was aired in October 2010, and later shown on Sveriges Television as "Aborginernas konst".

Perkins was curator of the NPG's fourth National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony (26 March–31 July 2022). in 2022.

She co-produced four series of Colour Theory for SBS/NITV, and co-curated the Australian Indigenous Art Commission at the Musee du quai Branly in Paris, France.

Personal life Perkins is the mother of actress and activist Madeleine Madden. Crossing Country: the alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art. (2004) . Contemporary Aboriginal Art: the Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund. (2006) . One Sun One Moon: Aboriginal Art in Australia. (2007) Eds. Hetti Perkins and Margaret West. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales. . Half light: Portraits from Black Australia. (2008) . Nganana Tjungurringanyi Tjukurrpa Nintintjakitja (We are here sharing our dreaming). (2009) In association with Papunya Tula Artists. . Art + Soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art. (2010)