Description
Atong Atem is a South Sudanese artist and writer from Bor now living in Narrm (unceded Aboriginal land outside Melbourne, Australia). Born in Ethiopia, she spent her first years in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp before moving to Australia as a child. Atem’s photos explore the experiences of young immigrants, and how they knit together the different cultures that surround them. She focuses on migrant narratives, postcolonial practices in the diaspora, the relationship between public and private spaces, and identity through portraiture. Atem’s distinctive artistic practice combines both photography and hand painting, incorporating bold color and pattern inspired by her South Sudanese background. Atong Atem studied painting at Sydney College of the Arts in 2012 before furthering her studies at RMIT University in Melbourne. i-D and Okayafrica have featured her work and she recently exhibited at Brisbane Powerhouse Museum, where she won the inaugural MELT Portrait Prize.
