South Sudanese Australian artist Atong Atem on art, politics and family

Published: June 17, 2022, 8 p.m.

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They say the personal is political – that our own intimate experiences can’t help but inform larger social structures. The same is true in the stunning photographic work of visual artist Atong Atem, whose hyper-saturated images are at once joyous, traditional, surreal and deeply connected to her familial roots in South Sudan. 

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Atong Atem talks art, politics and family with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland on the latest episode of Good Weekend Talks. Atem is the inaugural recipient of the $80,000 La Prairie Art Award. It involves the acquisition by the Art Gallery of NSW of a large four-panel photographic self-portrait by Atem, and a residency at Art Basel in Switzerland, where the La Prairie skincare company is based, and where Atem will head later this month.

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