John Carty
School of Humanities
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
John Carty is a Professor of Museum and Curatorial Studies at the University of Adelaide. His career bridges academia, cultural institutions and cultural diplomacy. He has worked with the National Museum of Australia, The British Museum, UNESCO and spent 9 years as Head of Humanities at the South Australian Museum.
His movement between academia and cultural institutions focusses on connecting the collections and contemporary politics of Museums with innovative research and partnerships with Aboriginal artists, thinkers and communities. His major focus in recent years has been around the repatriation and reburial of Aboriginal Australian ancestors from both Australian and international institutions.
He has worked extensively with Aboriginal artists and custodians throughout Australia on books, exhibitions and repatriation programs. In recent years that work has grown to focus on the cultural and cross-cultural histories encompassed by objects in museum collections. His projects explore new methodologies and models for bringing Aboriginal voices and values further into mainstream narratives of Australian history, Australian research, and contemporary Australian culture. His creative engagement with public debate and events is broad, spanning the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Adelaide Festival, Illuminate Adelaide and Tasting Australia, amongst others.
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Journals
Year Citation 2021 Carty, J. (2021). Ceremony Men: Making Ethnography and the Return of the Strehlow Collection. ABORIGINAL HISTORY, 45, 191-193. 2019 Carty, J. R. (2019). To imagine an Australian museum. Anthropological Forum, 29(4), 384-396.
Scopus12013 Carty, J. (2013). The limits of criticism. Artlink: Australian contemporary art quarterly, 33(2), 56-61. 2012 Carty, J. (2012). Purnu, Tjanpi, Canvas: Art history in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. Art Monthly Australia, 256, 64-68. 2008 Carty, J., & Musharbash, Y. (2008). You've got to be joking: Asserting the analytical value of humour and laughter in contemporary anthropology. Anthropological Forum, 18(3), 209-217.
Scopus58- Carty, J., & Dorion-Coupal, K. (n.d.). Yiwarra Kuju, ou comment l’espace a été transformé en lieu au National Museum of Australia. Anthropologie et Sociétés, 38(3), 207-230.
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Books
Year Citation 2023 Carty, J., & Scholes, L. (2023). Sun and Shadow: Art of the Spinifex People. Perth, Western Australia: Upswell Publishing. 2021 Carty, J. (2021). Balgo: Creating Country. Crawley, Western Australia: UWA Publishing. 2015 Carty, J. (Ed.) (2015). Patrick Tjungurrayi: Beyond Borders. UWA Publishing. 2015 Carty, J. (Ed.) (2015). Patrick Tjungurrayi: Beyond Borders. UWA Publishing. 2015 Sculthorpe, G., Carty, D. J., Morphy, H., Nugent, M., Coates, I., Bolton, L. M., & Jones, J. (2015). Indigenous Australia Enduring Civilisation. 2012 Carty, J., & Acker, T. (Eds.) (2012). Ngaanyatjarra Art of the Lands. Australia: Uwa Pub. 2012 Carty, J., & Acker, T. (Eds.) (2012). Ngaanyatjarra Art of the Lands. Australia: Uwa Pub. 2011 Fontaine, M., & Carty, J. (Eds.) (2011). Ngurra Kuju Walyja One Country, One People : Stories from the Canning Stock Route. Australia: Macmillan Art Pub. 2011 Fontaine, M., & Carty, J. (Eds.) (2011). Ngurra Kuju Walyja One Country, One People : Stories from the Canning Stock Route. Australia: Macmillan Art Pub. 2010 Carty, J. R. (2010). Prettyone: the art of Billy Atkins. Newman: Martumili Artists. 2010 Carty, J., Davenport, C., & Lafontaine, M. (2010). Yiwarra Kuju The Canning Stock Route. -
Book Chapters
Year Citation 2021 Carty, J. (2021). Djalu's Yidaki: bridge of sound. In G. Petitjean (Ed.), Breath of Life (pp. 31-55). Milan, Italy: 5 Continents Editions. 2019 Carty, J., & Musharbash, Y. (2019). You've got to be joking: asserting the analytical value of humour and laughter in contemporary anthropology. In J. Rehak, & S. Trnka (Eds.), The Politics of Joking Anthropological Engagements (pp. 12-20). Routledge. 2017 Carty, J. (2017). After lightning. In B. Bradley (Ed.), Painting on Country (pp. 2-13). Alice Springs, NT; Australia: Tjungu Palya Aboriginal Corporation. 2016 Carty, J. R. (2016). Carlene West: The End of Exploring. In H. Skerritt (Ed.), Marking the Infinite Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia (pp. 92-105). New York, USA: Prestel. 2016 Underwood, R., Hallett, B., & Carty, J. (2016). Wati pilanguru : the man from spinifex. In Unknown Book (pp. 20 pages). Alice Springs NT: RAFT Artspace. 2015 Carty, J., & Morphy, H. (2015). Understanding Country. In . (Ed.), Indigenous Australia Enduring Civilisations (pp. 20-119). United Kingdom: British Museum Press. 2015 Carty, J. (2015). Boxer Milner Tjampitjin: Portraits of water. In H. Skerritt (Ed.), No Boundaries Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting (pp. 118-131). Germany: Prestel Publishing. 2014 Carty, J., & Taylor, N. (2014). You Don’t go out in Country by Yourself: collaborative Creativity in Martu Art. In Martu Art from the Far Western Desert (pp. 30-37). Australia: Museum of Contemporary Art. 2014 Carty, J. R., & Taylor, N. (2014). You Don't go out in Country by Yourself. In A. Davis (Ed.), Martu Art from the Far Western Desert (pp. 30-39). Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art. 2013 Mahood, K., & Carty, J. (2013). A lake in time: histories of Paruku. In M. Morton, M. Martin, K. Mahood, & J. Carty (Eds.), Desert Lake Art, Science and Stories from Paruku (pp. 57-67). Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing. 2013 Mahood, K., & Carty, J. (2013). A lake in time: histories of Paruku. In M. Morton, M. Martin, K. Mahood, & J. Carty (Eds.), Desert Lake Art, Science and Stories from Paruku (pp. 57-67). Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing. 2013 Carty, J. (2013). The Shape of the Lake. In K. Mahood, S. Morton, & J. Carty (Eds.), Desert Lake Art, Science and Stories from Paruku (pp. 203-213). CSIRO PUBLISHING. 2011 Carty, J. (2011). West Side Story: Aboriginal art history in the Canning Stock Route Country. In J. Carty,, & L. Fontaine (Eds.), Ngurra Kuju Walyja One Country, One People : Stories from the Canning Stock Route (pp. 179-195). Macmillan Art Pub. 2011 Carty, J., & French, A. (2011). Art of Central Australia: refigured ground. In J. Anderson (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Australian art (pp. 122-142). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2010 Carty, J. R. (2010). Drawing a Line in the Sand: the Canning Stock Route and Contemporary Art. In J. Carty (Ed.), Yiwarra Kuju The Canning Stock Route (pp. 23-32). National Museum of Australia. 2010 Carty, J. R. (2010). Drawing a Line in the Sand: the Canning Stock Route and Contemporary Art. In J. Carty (Ed.), Yiwarra Kuju The Canning Stock Route (pp. 23-32). National Museum of Australia. -
Curated or Produced Public Exhibition or Events
Year Citation 2024 Chadwick, R. (2024). Spinifex People: art and stories from Pila Nguru (No. Of Pieces: 3 months duration) [Exhibition]. Western Australian Museum: Western Australian Museum. 2021 Carty, J. (2021). Balgo Beginnings (No. Of Pieces: 3 Months) [Museum Exhibition]. South Australian Museum: South Australian Museum. 2021 Carty, J., Parker, K., & Marshall, I. (2021). Adelaide Festival of Ideas (No. Of Pieces: 4 days) [Curated Festival]. Adelaide University: University of Adelaide /Illuminate Adelaide. 2021 Carty, J. (2021). Before and Now: Arrkurla nakala, kurunga lyaata-ntama (No. Of Pieces: 200 square meters) [Exhibition]. South Australian Museum: South Australian Museum. 2017 Carty, J., & Gurruwiwi, D. (2017). Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia (Exhibition Curator) (No. Of Pieces: The exhibtion last for 4 months in Adelaide, toured Japan in 2018, and is now touring nationally.) [Exhibition]. Adelaide. 2010 Carty, J. (2010). Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route (No. Of Pieces: 6 months) [Exhibition]. Canberra: National Museum of Australia. 2010 Carty, J. (2010). Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route (No. Of Pieces: 6 months) [Exhibition]. Canberra: National Museum of Australia. -
Theses
Year Citation 2012 Carty, J. R. (2012). Creating Country: Abstraction, economics and the social life of style in Balgo Art. (PhD Thesis, Australian National University).
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2021 Co-Supervisor Image Gardens: A study of Vanuatu sand drawing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Stephen Zagala -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2017 - 2024 Co-Supervisor Muda is bigger than the archive: Analysing Adnyamathanha use of archival photographs in communicating and negotiating Adnyamathanha Aboriginal identities Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Rebecca Grace Richards
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Board Memberships
Date Role Board name Institution name Country 2021 - 2024 Board Member Council for Museum Anthropology American Anthropological Association United States 2021 - ongoing Board Member Council of Museum Anthropology American Anthropological Association Australia 2017 - 2022 Board Member Australian National Commission for UNESCO UNESCO Australia
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