My creative practice takes place on the lands of the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri Woiwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, their ancestors and families, acknowledging their deep and ongoing spiritual connection to Country. I extend my respects to Wathaurong Waddawurrung peoples, whose lands I was birthed and raised upon that have deeply shaped me and my experiences.
I acknowledge Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri custodianship of the lands, waterways and skies that I continue to live, work and benefit from, recognising that sovereignty was never ceded. I come with an intention to deepen my understanding of ancestral pathways as a diasporic being, while sharing, learning and creating on unceded lands (Melbourne, Australia).
I extend this acknowledgement and pay my respects to peer African and Indigenous peoples across the globe viewing this website.
Roberta Joy Rich is a transdisciplinary artist interested in critical fabulation and anarchiving as processes for unearthing silenced and emergent narratives, and in doing so, the possibilities they conjure for Black empowerment. With a focus on communal knowledge systems, alterity, Black fugitivity and socio-political histories, her projects explore resilience, power, memory, belonging and truth-telling, often drawing upon her lived experiences as a diaspora kaapse Southern African woman. Her practice utilises text, video, installation, photo, print, archives, satire and storytelling as platforms to interrogate constructs of race, gender, history and notions of authenticity. Roberta aims to deconstruct colonial modalities through her work, while proposing collective sites of self-determination.
Roberta has exhibited in South Africa and settler nation Australia exploring their colonial, historical and creative entanglements. Recent exhibitions include in every room; Campbelltown Arts Centre (2025), Lying Inside; Latrobe Art Institute Biannual Façade Commission (2024) and The Purple Shall Govern; Footscray Community Arts (2022), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2023). Roberta is based on Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country of the Kulin Nation (inner west Melbourne, south-eastern Australia) and is a current Gertrude Contemporary Studio Artist (2025-2027).
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