Hannah Gadsby is bringing her hilarity and art history knowledge to her new program ‘Hannah Gadsby’s Oz’, in which she explores how Australian art has, and continues to shape our national identity. Not only is the show educational for viewers, but Gadsby herself learned a few things along the way.
“The biggest thing I learned in this, and not so much learned but gained, was the viewpoint of contemporary artists. I grew up learning about this; I studied art history at university so I knew about the older artists and I’ve studied them at length prior to that but you know, talking to contemporary artists, that was the richest part of that experience for me, how other people think about Australia.
Gadsby interviewed a selection of Australia’s current artists to help understand our artistic past and perhaps give some glimpse into our creative future.
“They were all such fabulous, interesting people and to be able to speak to Rosemary Lang was incredible. I’ve been a long-time fan of hers and she’s just brilliant and so passionate. Liam Benson was just an absolute joy, he’s just so interesting. Ben Quilty, oh, they’re all just so great. I’ve always been a bit more art history based, you know, prior to the contemporary. So it’s really great for me to be involved in a more contemporary scene.”
‘Hannah Gadsby’s Oz’ debuts on ABC on Tuesday March 11th at 10:00pm.
Sophie Joske