NITV: Dr Fiona Foley takes top literary prize for truth-telling about QLD history
:quality(82)/media/news/FionaFoley1.jpg)
NITV: Dr Fiona Foley takes top literary prize for truth-telling about QLD history
Article by Nadine Silva
Badtjala artist, academic and NAS alum Dr Fiona Foley has won the top prize at this year’s Queensland Literary Awards for her book which sheds a light on the colonial-era practise of paying Indigenous workers with opium.
The book ‘Biting the Clouds: A Badtjala perspective on the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897’ took out the $25,000 Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of ‘State Significance’.
Read the full announcement through the link below. Find out more about the artist and her practice through the Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum article, published in 2020.
Image: Fiona Foley. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer.
Latest News
Thursday 09 July 2026
:quality(82)/media/100425_Dobell-Prize_Kristen-Sharpwinner_Rosemary-Lee_001_Peter-Morgan-2048x1477.jpg)
Thursday 09 July 2026
Applications are now open for The 25th Dobell Drawing Prize. The Dobell Drawing Prize is Australia’s leading prize for drawing, and an unparalleled celebration of technique, innovation and expanded practice. Presented at the National Art School in partnership with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, this biennial exhibition continues to highlight the enduring relevance and changing role of dra…
Tuesday 30 June 2026
:quality(82)/media/news/Nick-Collerson-2026_Dithyramb_0384.jpg)
Tuesday 30 June 2026
Please see below for current and forthcoming exhibitions and events featuring our staff and alumni. Dr Carolyn McKenzie-Craig: Becoming Penguin (Act II) Head of Printmaking, Dr Carolyn McKenzie-Craig, presents Becoming Penguin (Act II) at PARKER Contemporary, Brisbane. The exhibition asks what it means to seek protection from a world that continues to decide who is seen, who is suspected, and w…
Thursday 25 June 2026
:quality(82)/media/Michael-Leslie-Image-Credit-James-Brickwood-AFR.jpg)
Thursday 25 June 2026
This NAIDOC Week, the theme Fifty Years of Deadly recognises the enduring strength, resilience and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Fifty Years of Deadly is a tribute to the people who built this movement. The Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after …