The Australia Council has announced this year’s recipients of its highly sought-after Fellowships.

Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski congratulated all of the Fellowship recipients, saying they represented some of Australia’s most exceptional artistic talent.

“I’d like to particularly acknowledge First Nations artists; Vernon Ah Kee, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Jacob Boehme, who are among the eight outstanding recipients of this year’s Fellowships. We celebrate their success, in line with our ongoing commitment to fostering greater understanding and appreciation of First Nations arts and culture,” he said.

Among the recipients is Brisbane-based visual artist Vernon Ah Kee, whose conceptual text pieces, videos, photographs and drawings form a critique of Australian culture from the perspective of the Aboriginal experience of contemporary life.

Mr Ah Kee plans to use the Fellowship to develop and make two new bodies of work, and to develop his career internationally through an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London and other international exhibitions.

Australia Council Fellowships are offered once a year and peer assessed by a panel of experts from within the relevant art form.

The Fellowships, each worth $80,000 support creative activity and career development for mid-career and established artists for up to two years. The 2018 Fellowship recipients are;

• Vernon Ah Kee – Visual Arts
• Ali Cobby Eckermann – Literature
• Jacob Boehme – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
• Paula Abood – Community Arts and Cultural Development
• Jude Anderson- Emerging and Experimental Arts
• Joanna Lloyd- Dance
• Nicola Gunn – Theatre
• Katy Abbott – Music

Read more about the Fellowship recipients’ stories.