Performance and installation artist Barbara Campbell is the latest recipient of the coveted Mordant Family/Australia Council Affiliated Fellowship.

Offered through the generous support of the Mordant Family, this opportunity enables an Australian artist to spend two months at the American Academy in Rome (AAR).

Barbara Campbell said she was honoured to receive the fellowship that will enable her to further develop a new body of work she commenced during her own crowd-funded trip to the AAR last year.

“My initial visit to Rome was a reconnaissance for my new line of creative enquiry. I am particularly inspired by the terracotta votive figurines of the sixth to second centuries BCE and wanted to see the American Academy in Rome’s impressive collection at close range. A longer period and access to studio space supported by this fellowship will allow me to build on the potential of this initial research,” she said.

On behalf of the Mordant family, Simon Mordant AM congratulated Barbara Campbell.

“Barbara is an established artist with an impressive track record of performance and installation work in a career spanning more than 30 years. We are delighted she will have the opportunity to continue to develop her creative work, drawing on the extensive resources of the Academy, and can’t wait to see what she does next.”

Barbara Campbell, reference photographs for “To Fill The Hollow”, 2019 from the collection of the American Academy in Rome.

Barbara Campbell is the fourth recipient of the Mordant Family/Australia Council Affiliated Fellowship . Previous recipients include Lynne Roberts Goodwin, Jenny Watson and Alex Seton.

Australia Council CEO Adrian Collette AM thanked the Mordant family for their continued support.

“This is a significant opportunity for outstanding Australian artists to undertake meaningful professional development in an unparalleled international setting. We congratulate Barbara Campbell on her success and sincerely thank the Mordant family for their continued support of this fellowship which supports our goal of ensuring Australian arts and creativity can develop and thrive internationally.”

Established in 1894, the American Academy in Rome is the oldest American overseas centre for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. Through the Affiliated Fellowship Program, artists and scholars from all over the world have the opportunity to pursue their work in an inspiring, collaborative and supportive environment, with accommodation and studio space provided in an historic building on the Janiculum Hill.