Daniel Boyd receives top accolade at the 2020 ACT Architecture Awards

Photo courtesy of the artist and RiotACT.

Tuesday 9 June 2020

ANU alumnus, Daniel Boyd, together with architecture studio, Edition Office, have taken out the top accolade at the 2020 ACT Architecture Awards, receiving the prestigious Canberra Medallion.

The Australian Institute of Architects announced the awards in a live broadcast on Friday 5 June, kicking off the season of state and territory chapter awards for 2020.

The work, ‘For Our Country’ commemorates the formal military services of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as memorializing those who lost their lives in the Frontier Wars. Commissioned by the Australian War Memorial, you can watch Boyd speak more about the award-winning work here.

Boyd of the Kudjila/Gangalu peoples was born in Cairns, Queensland, in 1982 and lives and works in Sydney. Boyd reinterprets Eurocentric perspectives of Australian history, often appropriating images that have played significant roles in the formation and dissemination of that history. Whilst completing his studies at the ANU School of Art & Design, Boyd painted ‘Captain No Beard’ in 2005, and the following year the piece was acquired into the public collection of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA).

Listen to Daniel Boyd talk about ‘Captain No Beard’ in a recently filmed interview by the NGA here. This is a particularly special interview with his young children acting as the interviewers.

“Captain No Beard was painted in 2005 in response to the colonial dominant narrative and how history is taught in schools. As an Indigenous person, I wanted to reinterpret this iconic image and share my perspective. People have been taught to look at portraits from history and see captains, kings, governors and sirs. I just see thieves and pirates.” Daniel Boyd

After watching the interview, you may like to colour and collage a portrait of Captain No Beard! Click to download the free PDF here.

Daniel Boyd is represented by Roslyn Oxley Gallery.